Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
I played ball in college and semi-professional, and aside from the game and all that, the most valuable thing is the relationships. Who can care how many rings you have or how many championships you've won or how many records you broke. The most valuable stuff is the intangible stuff.
The Olympics will be great for the growth of golf on a global scale, but my focus right now is on being the best player I can be, trying to win Major Championships and contributing to what will hopefully be a victorious European side at the forthcoming Ryder Cup Matches against the USA.
My goal is to live out my dreams, to have a long NBA career, win championships and provide for them. My mom works two jobs. She does security and event staffing. My sister is a waitress. Anytime I'm down or don't want to work out, I remember our situation and what I've got to keep doing.
Rivalries don't necessarily mean races being close at major championships. I had a rivalry with Butch Reynolds for many years. I won all the races, but Butch was the world record holder before I came into the sport, he was extremely talented and he was the only other man running 43 seconds.
When I set my eyes on the gold at the world championships, I was able to maintain that focus that whole day. That's what I aim to do in Rio - my focus is gold, so I can keep in that good state; I can't get too complacent. I can't relax; I can't be content. I need to be 100 per cent switched on.
As a scientist, I play in the top league - the Olympics, the World Championships - and I want to be in the lead. As a runner, I set personal goals, and I want to push beyond my own personal limits. I was very happy when I practiced for several months and then reached my goal to run a marathon in 2:50.
Ultimately, if you can say that I'm a bad owner and we're winning championships, I can live with that. But if we're not making the playoffs and we're spending and losing money, then I have to look in the mirror and say maybe I'm not taking the necessary steps to doing what it takes to run an organization.
But yeah, a lot of people compare me to Magic. The physical appearance, the tall point guard, the ability to pass the ball. But comparisons are one thing, it's up to me to go out and play my game, get those wins, those championships, that's the only way those comparisons can get closer, but he's a legend.
I can't count on both hands how many Grand Prixs I've done and how many world championships I've been to, so I think I've really earned the experience to know that when I step on the ice at nationals and when I step on the ice at the Olympics that I feel completely aware of my environment and what to expect.
This is UCLA. The expectations are higher here than anywhere. The amount of success both in terms of championships and wins as well as success off the floor has been second to none in college basketball. I knew that when I took this job. I know the expectation level, and no one has higher expectations than I do.
Maybe I didn't get new skates, but I got used skates. I made it to the national championships in used skates that were custom-made for another girl. I still have those skates. Underneath the arch, there was a name crossed out and my dad had 'Michelle Kwan' written in. Granted, they were a little big, but it worked.
I'm not here for anything other than world championships. I don't want to be here driving around and finishing races and scoring points. I only want to win and if I can't do that - if I can't see that I have a future with wins and championships - then I'm not up for Formula One, I'll do something else where I can win.
Hendrick definitely realises that we're young and trying to learn - and wrecking cars is part of how you learn. Jeff Gordon went through 20 something clips in his first season, but Rick Hendrick realised he had to take a chance on Jeff Gordon. They wrecked a lot of cars, but Jeff Gordon has given him four championships.
I was in the doldrums for a while after my athletics career ended in 1992. I spent six to eight hours a day training, for 18 years, and it took a long time to get over the regret that I wasn't competing in major championships any more. All I ever wanted to be was the best. But I find new projects and I keep things in perspective.
I tell people to look at me and understand that everybody first told me that I couldn't be a 6-foot, 9-inch point guard, and I proved them wrong. Then they told me I couldn't be a businessman and make money in urban America, and I proved them wrong. And they thought I couldn't win all these championships, and I proved them wrong there as well.
After the Olympics and being on such a high and then losing in the World Championships, I was distraught. But now, looking back on it, I think it was the biggest blessing. I was going into every fight thinking I have to win because I am Olympic champion and putting too much pressure on myself. I lost my hunger and stopped enjoying my taekwondo.
In my career, if you follow my career and watched everything that I've ever done from the time I was in high school to where I'm at now, I've always been able to reach the pinnacle. In football, I was able to win championships and go to bowl games in college, be an All-American linebacker, and there were a lot of things I was able to accomplish.