I was actually supposed to be a basketball player, not an actress. My parents had me playing basketball on competitive teams when I was in kindergarten. Even though my heart belongs to the arts, I’m a tomboy at heart, too.
Every player had a roommate for out-of-town games, so I had to slip into the bathroom early each morning and secretly take my insulin injection. I feared that if the Cubs found out and I slumped badly, they would attribute it to the diabetes and send me back to the minors – or worse, release me.
If you want to become a professional football player at any level, when you’re growing up, you have to make sacrifices, and it’s very difficult. It’s not easy, but you have to train hard, you have to live right, and you have to rest.
As a captain, I can’t make the same mistake twice. As a player, you can get away with that, but if the captain does that, then it affects the whole team.
I need to go someplace faraway that doesn’t have telephones and doesn’t have a record player and doesn’t have movie theaters and people walking down the street in order to not do anything.
I will always remain a fan of Pescara. My time there was crucial to grow and improve as a player. It was my launchpad to top football.
Isco is at a very good level and Bale is a very important player for us.
I’m proud of my career as a player.
I’m not a player that’s going to grind at the baseline – I like to dictate and control the point and try to use my drop shot as a weapon.
There are a lot of hours and a lot of sacrifices you have to make to achieve your dreams as a tennis player.
I feel like I’ve been very underrated and very kind of disrespected so far in my career. I just take the same approach every time out: try to go out there and dominate and be the best player on the court.
Ronnie O’Sullivan is the only player in history to be dominant and popular at the same time.
I learned early in sports that to be effective – for a player to play the best he can play – is a matter of concentration and being unaware of distractions, positive or negative.
I knew I was going to be a football player; I just didn’t know how. It was the only thing I was doing, the only thing that I knew. Always training, training, training, training.
Hashim Amla is someone that stands out. He’s a world-class player and I have not had a huge amount of success against him.
I’ve seen comparisons between myself and Bobby Moore. It’s nice to be told there are similarities, but nobody will come close to him – what a player, what a man!
I was a very good dribbler as a young player, but now that I’ve got more experience, there are some useless things that I don’t do anymore.
Miloslav Mecir – best anticipation of any player in our generation for sure. The most flexible… and then crazy good hands. He is the best player in the world to not have won a slam, for sure. No question in my mind. He should have won three or four.
For as long as I can remember I wanted to be a professional hockey player.
I’ve been lucky to have great coaching, great teammates, and a desire to keep getting better. That, slowly over time, helped me grow from an average high school player to the NBA.
Of course every player wants to go from good to better, but one should not be obsessed with it.
Greg Anthony’s a good player.
I don’t want to brag, but I do more homework on the course than any other announcer. I chart the greens to get all the breaks. I walk down into the greenside bunkers. I walk into the fairway bunkers to see whether a player can reach the green from them.
Christianity affects your whole life. I feel I’m more competitive, a better player, but off the field is where there is always a battle.
And I think because of the passion of every English player and every English supporter, and every English journalist for the game, most of the game is played with passion, love for football and instinct, but in football you also have to think.
It’s important for any player to be versatile enough to be able to play in different positions.
I didn’t want to be the bass player everyone forgot about.
I think every player who truly loves basketball wants to be in the game at all times.
At 49, I can say something I never would have said when I was a player, that I’m a better person because of my failures and disgraces.
I don’t think there’s any danger of me playing Indian music. However, I did a song of George Harrison’s ‘Beware of Darkness’ that was kind of like that. That was an illusion. I was playing that on a thumbtack piano, and Jim Gordon was playing tablas. He’s an amazing player. That was as close to India as I ever got.
The league is changing, and we don’t have many back-to-the-basket players. We now have a game that requires skill and versatility. A lot of that is about being able to think. It makes all the difference in the world to have a player in there with a high basketball IQ who can make the right decision.
I wanted to definitely be a musician or a good preacher or a heck of a baseball player. I couldn’t play ball too good – I hurt my finger, and I stopped that. I couldn’t preach, and well, all I had left was getting into the music thing.
Michael Jordan was a tremendous basketball player.
That’s the great thing about golf is you never know who is going to win. On good, tough golf courses, it brings it back to the best players. But it’s always the best player that week is going to win. I mean, so it could be anybody.
You can look at every game, some where I’ve been a defensive player and others where I’ve had an impact.
I don’t treat the band like I’m above them or that they’re a hired hand for me. We’ve never worked that way. So I’m a team player. I would be very uncomfortable having to do this alone.
No band is special, no player royalty.
When government – in pursuit of good intentions – tries to rearrange the economy, legislate morality, or help special interests, the cost come in inefficiency, lack of motivation, and loss of freedom. Government should be a referee, not an active player.
Liverpool are known for this ‘rock and roll’ football. I think I’ve adapted well to this even if, as a player, I like to hold onto the ball longer.
As a player, I could have the ball in my hands; I could kind of dictate what happens. I’m still learning, a young coach with young players. Sometimes I’m going to see things. They’re not going to see what I see. So it’s being able to translate that and help them see what I’m seeing.
If I hadn’t become a chef I would have loved to be a top tennis player, although I was never good enough so it wasn’t really an option. But that has never dimmed my love of the game, which started in childhood when I was lucky enough to be a ball boy at Wimbledon.
I was a hockey player growing up. Being a big guy and being imposing, I had to use my size to protect my teammates.
I couldn’t control Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, Tom Watson or Lee Trevino. The only person I could control was me. The only person I could prepare for events was me. And if I didn’t play well, I didn’t play well, and I wasn’t going to compete.
Obviously, everyone goes in the gym and does the biceps bells and the bench press, but when you’re injured, you work on your core, your pelvic floor, your groins, on glutes, and muscles you wouldn’t really know about. It does make you a stronger player all round in terms of injury prevention.
I am convinced that God wanted me to be a baseball player.
Whoever sees no other aim in the game than that of giving checkmate to one’s opponent will never become a good Chess player.
I was on the road with my buddy Alex – he’s my guitar player – and we watched the movie ‘Click’ by Adam Sandler. And I don’t know why, but me and him just got in our feelings. And then we ended up calling our girls, and we were like, ‘We’re so sorry. We wish you were here!’
Mike Brown wanted to hire me to work with LeBron in player development.
I’d first come to Chelsea from Kosice and, for me, that was a dream. It’s not easy making that move. I was maybe the first player to come from Slovakia to a club like Chelsea, who normally buy players from Holland, Spain, Italy, Portugal.
No player can rest on his laurels.
Charlie Christian played amplified guitar with Benny Goodman’s quartet. He was the greatest guitar player that ever was. But he never looked up from the guitar. But I put a little dance to it. They appreciate seein’ something along with hearin’ something.
I played handball up until I joined United, both as a goalkeeper and an outfield player.
Baggio is a unique player. It should not surprise you that he gets the most press. But you must remember that it takes a full team to win.
Each player has to dedicate himself to serve his motherland.
Patrick Peterson, obviously, is one of – it depends who you talk to – is the best, or one of the best, corners/return guys in the NFL. You just turn the film on and you’re like, ‘Wow, that guy plays corner? He looks like a linebacker and runs a 4.1’ or whatever. He’s a great player.
I have to keep developing and progressing and strive to be as good a player as I can possibly be.
I’ve got to give Larry Bird his due; he was a great player. He knew the game and he was smart.
I had daydreams and fantasies when I was growing up. I always wanted to live in a log cabin at the foot of a mountain. I would ride my horse to town and pick up provisions. Then return to the cabin, with a big open fire, a record player and peace.
