Famous quotations about sports

Champions aren't made in the gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them -- a desire, a dream, a vision.
Muhammad Ali
American Boxer and three times World Heavyweight Champion.

Doctors and scientists said that breaking the four-minute mile was impossible, that one would die in the attempt. Thus, when I got up from the track after collapsing at the finish line, I figured I was dead.
Roger Bannister
After becoming first person to break four-minute mile, 1952.

My thoughts before a big race are usually pretty simple. I tell myself: Get out of the blocks, run your race, stay relaxed. If you run your race, you'll win....Channel your energy. Focus.
Carl Lewis
American athlete and winner 9 Olympic gold medals.

Whoever said, 'It's not whether you win or lose that counts,' probably lost.
Martina Navratilova
American tennis player.

Football is like life -- it requires perseverance, self-denial, hard work, sacrifice, dedication and respect for authority.
Vince Lombardi
American football coach.

I always turn to the sports pages first, which records people's accomplishments. The front page has nothing but man's failures.
Earl Warren
Chief Justice of the United States.

Fail to prepare, prepare to fail.
Roy Keane
Irish soccer player and English football club manager.

It's just a job. Grass grows, birds fly, waves pound the sand. I beat people up.
Muhammad Ali
American boxer.

Every kid around the world who plays soccer wants to be Pele. I have a great responsibility to show them not just how to be like a soccer player, but how to be like a man.
Pele
Brazilian soccer player, considered possibly world's greatest.

Golf is a good walk spoiled.
Mark Twain
Golf is a game whose aim is to hit a very small ball into an even smaller hole, with weapons singularly ill-designed for the purpose.
Winston Churchill

If you watch a game, it's fun. If you play it, it's recreation. If you work at it, it's golf.
Bob Hope

The English are not very spiritual people, so they invented cricket to give them some idea of eternity.
George Bernard Shaw

I never play cricket. It requires one to assume such indecent postures.
Oscar Wilde
Irish writer.

I am a winner. I just didn't win today.
Greg Norman
Australian golf champion.

People don't win because they're physically stronger. It's because they're stronger between the ears.
Alex Shaffer
American alpine skier.

I never ran 1000 miles. I could never have done that. I ran one mile 1000 times.
Stu Mittleman
American ultra-distance runner.

Football is a mistake. It combines two of the worst things about American life. It is violence punctuated by committee meetings.
George Will
American journalist and author.

Leaders aren't born, they are made. And they are made just like anything else, through hard work. And that's the price we'll have to pay to achieve that goal, or any goal.
Vincent Lombardi
American NFL football coach.

I'm tired of hearing about money, money, money, money, money. I just want to play the game, drink Pepsi, wear Reebok.
Shaquille O'Neal
American basketball player.

The way a team plays as a whole determines its success. You may have the greatest bunch of individual stars in the world, but if they don't play together, the club won't be worth a dime.
Babe Ruth
American baseball great.

Men forget everything; women remember everything. That's why men need instant replays in sports. They've already forgotten what happened.
Rita Rudner

It's not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog!
Archie Griffin
American football player and two time Heisman Trophy winner.

Perhaps the single most important element in mastering the techniques and tactics of racing is experience. But once you have the fundamentals, acquiring the experience is a matter of time.
Greg LeMond
American champion cyclist and three times winner of Tour de France.

If the Bible has taught us nothing else, and it hasn't, it's that girls should stick to girls' sports, such as hot oil wrestling, foxy boxing, and such and such.
Homer Simpson

You need to play with supreme confidence, or else you'll lose again, and then losing becomes a habit.
Joe Paterno
American football coach.

Cricket is basically baseball on valium.
Robin Williams

The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will.
Vince Lombardi
American football coach.

You have to have the mentality of executing your game when you don't feel like there's a lot of hope. I think the best feeling is when somebody pushes you to the limit and you dig down a little bit extra. By the same token, you also need a little luck. Sometimes they come together.
Andre Agassi
American tennis champion.

If you can believe it, the mind can achieve it.
Ronnie Lott
American professional NFL player.

Golf and sex are the only things you can enjoy without being good at them!
Jimmy Demaret
American golfer.

Ask not what your teammates can do for you. Ask what you can do for your teammates.
Magic Johnson
American NBA basketball star.

Serious sport has nothing to do with fair play. It is bound up with hatred, jealousy, boastfulness, disregard of all rules and sadistic pleasure in witnessing violence: in other words, it is war minus the shooting... there are quite enough real causes of trouble already, and we need not add to them by encouraging young men to kick each other on the shins amid the roars of infuriated spectators.
George Orwell
The Sporting Spirit.

Leadership is a matter of having people look at you and gain confidence, seeing how you react. If you're in control, they're in control.
Tom Landry
American football player and coach.

Football doesn't build character, it reveals character!
Marv Levy
American NFL football coach.

If you train hard, you'll not only be hard, you'll be hard to beat.
Herschel Walker
American NFL football player.

To succeed...You need to find something to hold on to, something to motivate you, something to inspire you.
Tony Dorsett
American NFL football player.

I guess there is nothing that will get your mind off everything like golf. I have never been depressed enough to take up the game, but they say you get so sore at yourself you forget to hate your enemies.
Will Rogers
American actor.

The difference between the old ballplayer and the new ballplayer is the jersey. The old ballplayer cared about the name on the front. The new ballplayer cares about the name on the back.
Steve Garvey
America baseball player.

One day of practice is like one day of clean living. It doesn't do you any good.
Abe Lemons
American basketball coach.

Most games are lost, not won!
Casey Stengel
American baseball player and manager.

A lifetime of training for just ten seconds!
Jesse Owens
American Olympic sprinting gold medalist.

An athlete cannot run with money in his pockets. He must run with hope in his heart and dreams in his head.
Emil Zatopek
Czechoslovakian runner and winner four Olympic gold medals.

If winning isn't everything, why do they keep score?
Vince Lombardi
American NFL Coach.

My mind is my biggest asset. I expect to win every tournament I play.
Tiger Woods
American golf champion.
It is almost impossible to remember how tragic a place the world is when one is playing golf.
Robert Lynd
Irish Writer.

So you wish to conquer in the Olympic games, my friend? And I too, by the Gods, and a fine thing it would be. But first mark the conditions and the consequences, and then set to work. You will have to put yourself under discipline; to eat by rule, to avoid cakes and sweetmeats; to take exercise at the appointed hour whether you like it or no, in cold and heat; to abstain from cold drinks and from wine at your will; in a word, to give yourself over to the trainer as to a physician. Then in the conflict itself you are likely enough to dislocate your wrist or twist your ankle, to swallow a great deal of dust, or to be severely thrashed, and, after all these things, to be defeated.
Epictetus
Greek Stoic philosopher.

Baseball has the great advantage over cricket of being sooner ended.
George Bernard Shaw
Irish playwright.

Sporting Trophies

Trophies can take the shape of two-handled cups, bowls, or mugs (all usually engraved); statues of people, animals, and architecture while displaying words, numbers or images. While trophies traditionally have been made with metal figures, wood columns, and wood bases, in recent years they have been made with plastic figures and marble bases. This is to retain the weight traditionally associated with a quality award and make them more affordable to use as recognition items. Recently trophies have also been made using a resin and molds.

Sporting

Some sporting trophies include:

Association football

The Copa Libertadores Trophy.

The European Champion Clubs' Cup.

The FA Cup.

Some of the world's most famous association football trophies are:

· FIFA World Cup Trophy — Awarded to the winners of the FIFA World Cup from the 1974 FIFA World Cup onwards. Previous winners were awarded the Jules Rimet Trophy (known simply as Victory until 1949), which was awarded in perpetuity to Brazil after their 3rd win in the 1970 FIFA World Cup. Both are referred to colloquially as the World Cup

· Copa Libertadores Trophy - known simply as Libertadores or Copa, awarded to the winners of the Copa Libertadores since 1960. It is the most prestigious laurel in the Western Hemisphere.

· European Champion Clubs' Cup - colloquially the European Cup, awarded to the winners of the European Cup (before 1992/3) and the UEFA Champions League (since 1992/3). It is the most prestigious trophy in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is affectionately known as "old big ears" due to its shape.

· The FA Cup- awarded to winners of the primary English association football domestic knockout tournament, officially The Football Association Challenge Cup, often referred to as just the FA Cup. The tournament is the oldest such in club football, being incepted since 1871.

· The Scottish Cup - awarded to the winners of the primary domestic knockout cup tournament of Scotland (the Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup, or just Scottish Cup) and the oldest national trophy still awarded in the world.

The original Jules Rimet Trophy was stolen in Brazil in 1983 and has never been recovered. Replicas were awarded to winning nations up to the retirement of the genuine trophy. However, prior to the 1966 final, The Football Association made an (unauthorized) replica in secret in gilded bronze for use in post-match celebrations due to security concerns – the genuine trophy was made out of close to 2 kg of pure gold. This has led to several conspiracy theories regarding which trophy was stolen – the FA replica, or the real trophy. FIFA purchased the replica for £254,500 (ten times the reserve price) in 1997, with the inflated price attributed to such rumours. This trophy is held on behalf of FIFA by the National Football Museum in Preston. The current FIFA World Cup trophy inscribe the names of the teams that won the award at the underneath the base of the trophy.

A club that manages to win the Copa Libertadores trophy three consecutive times retain the trophy permanently. The current trophy has been used since 1975. Like the FIFA World Cup trophy, the winners of each edition of the tournament has their name inscribed on the trophy; unlike the FIFA World Cup trophy, a pedestal contains a list of winners in the form of badges. The current pedestal is the fourth in the trophy's history, having being used since 2009. The original trophy was awarded to Estudiantes de La Plata in 1970 (after their third win) - the present trophy is the third, identical edition.

Clubs that win the European Champion Clubs' Cup three times in successive seasons, or five times in total, are permitted to retain the trophy in perpetuity. The present trophy has been used since 2005/06 after Liverpool FC's fifth win in 2005. The original trophy was awarded to Real Madrid CF in 1966 (after their sixth win) – the present trophy is the sixth (identical) edition.

Tennis

· Wimbledon tennis trophies- although having no formal name, a cup is presented to the Wimbledon Men's (Gentlemen's) Singles Champion (The All England Lawn Tennis Club Single Handed Champion of the World, as stated on the cup itself). The women's (Ladies) Singles winner is presented with the Venus Rosewater Dish. Other trophies are presented to the winners of the Doubles and Mixed Doubles.

Motorsport

· Borg-Warner Trophy— Awarded to the Indianapolis 500 Champion.

· Harley J. Earl Trophy— Awarded to the Daytona 500 Champion.

Rugby league

· Challenge Cup, rugby league's oldest knock-out competition. Notable for the wide range of teams which start, some taken from amateur ranks, "developing nations" and university teams.

Rugby union

· Webb Ellis Cup– Awarded to rugby union's World Champion

· Bledisloe Cup – Awarded annually to the winner between New Zealand and Australia.

· Calcutta Cup – Awarded annually to the winner between England and Scotland in rugby union

Cricket

· Cricket World Cup Trophy - Awarded to the Winners of the ICC Cricket World Cup.

· The Ashes Urn –widely considered to be presented as a trophy to the winning team of the biennial cricket test series between England and Australia. However, the urn itself was never a trophy and remains in the MCC Cricket Museum at Lord's Cricket Ground. Only from 1998–99 were the winners of the Ashes presented with a replica (not to scale) of the urn in Waterford Crystal.

Sailing

· America's Cup– Awarded to Yacht Racing Champion

Australian rules football

· McClelland Trophy – Awarded to the Australian Football League's Home & Away season / Minor Premiership champion.

· AFL Premiership Cup– Awarded to the Australian Football League's Premier/ Winner of the AFL Grand Final

Golf

· Claret Jug— Awarded to the winner of The Open Championship.

· Ryder Cup— Awarded to the winner of a biennial competition between Europe and the USA.

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