"Training is what you are doing while your opponent is sleeping in." -Brian Owen

"Never underestimate the heart of a champion." -Rudy Tomjanovich

"Teammates are there for each other even after the noise of the crowd is gone." ---Jim Brown

"Champions separate the important from the unimportant. They know that good press, playing time or individual honors aren't as important as knowing that you and your teammates have responded to the challenge together." -Don Shaw

"Wear your battle scars as medals of honor." 

"Winning is only half of it. Having fun winning is the other half." -Bum Phillips

"Almost all of our limitations are self-imposed. Those that are not can be overcome by cooperation with others whose strengths compliment our weakness." -Bill Koch

"No matter how many errors you make, no matter how many times you strike out, keep hustling. That way you'll at least look like a ballplayer." -Tony Kubek, Sr.

"Sports for me is when a guy walks off the court, and you really can't tell whether he won or lost, when he carries himself with pride either way." -Jim Courier

"I always wanted to be somebody...If I've made it, it's half because I was game to take a wicked amount of punishment along the way, and half because there were an awful lot of people who cared enough to help me."  -Althea Gibson

"You can motivate players better with kind words than you can with a whip." -Bud Wilkinson

"There's nothing greater in the world than when somebody on the team does something good, and everybody gathers around to pat him on the back." -Billy Martin

“My responsibility is to get my twenty-five guys playing for the name on the front of their uniform and not the one on the back." -Tommy Lasorda 

Even when you've played the game of your life, it's the feeling of teamwork that you'll remember. You'll forget the plays, the shots, and the scores, but you'll never forget your teammates." -Deborah Palmore

"Victory goes to the player who makes the next to last mistake." 

"I do good when people doubt me. When someone says I can't do something, I want to do more. I won't back down from anybody." -Kenyon Martin

"If it wasn't for failure, we wouldn't have succeeded." -Lucas Hellmer

"I think it's the mark of a great player to be confident in tough situations." -Jackie Joyner-Kersee

"Part of being a champ is acting like a champ. You have to learn how to win and not run away when you lose. Everyone has bad stretches and real successes. Either way, you have to be careful not to lose your confidence or get too confident." -Nancy Kerrigan

"High school sports: where lessons of life are still being learned, and where athletes still compete for the love of the game and their teammates." -Michael Powers

"Strive to be the best you can be...focus, watch, listen, and learn. Try never to be satisfied with 'good enough'...and above all, love what you do--share that passion with others, and always stay humble. Nobody likes a 'big head' no matter how good you are." -Robby Naish

"Coaches have to watch for what they don't want to see and listen to what they don't want to hear." -John Madden

"No matter how much I've won, or how much outside praise has come my way, or where it goes from here, there's one clear fact that has never, ever been lost on me. I didn't do this alone." -Power Bar

"What I've learned in my years as a competitive wheelchair athlete is this--what separates a winner from the rest of the pack is not raw talent or physical ability; instead, it is the drive and dedication to work hard every single day, and the heart to go after your dream, no matter how unattainable others think it is." -Linda Mastandrea

"The glory of sport comes from dedication, determination and desire. Achieving success and personal glory in athletics has less to do with wins and losses than it does with learning how to prepare yourself so that at the end of the day, whether on the track or in the office, you know that there was nothing more you could have done to reach your ultimate goal." -Jackie Joyner-Kersee

"The difference is almost all mental. The top players just hate to lose. I think that's the difference. A champion hates to lose even more than she loves to win." -Chris Evert

"Win or lose you will never regret working hard, making sacrifices, being disciplined or focusing too much. Success is measured by what we have done to prepare for competition." -John Smith

"Every time you compete, try harder to improve on your last performance. Give nothing short of your very best effort." -Elgin Baylor

"In life, we choose whether or not we want to be a winner or a loser. To be a winner, we must devote time and hard work. To be a loser you do nothing, and that's exactly what you will get, nothing." -Patrick Boles

"Teamwork is the fuel that allows common people to produce uncommon results."   

"It's really impossible for athletes to grow up. On the one hand, you're still a child, still playing a game. But on the other hand, you're a superhuman hero that everyone dreams of being. No wonder we have such a hard time understanding who we are." -Billie Jean King

"Whether I fail or succeed shall be no man's doing but my own. I am the force; I can clear any obstacle before me or I can be lost in the maze. My choice; my responsibility; win or lose, only I hold the keys to my destiny." -Elain Maxwell

"Sports can do so much. They've given me a framework: meeting new people, confidence, self-esteem, discipline, motivation. All these things I learned, whether I knew I was learning them or not, through sports." -Mia Hamm

"In life, as in sports, you will try, and you will sometimes fail. There will be no apparent reward except to know that you did your best." -Charles Lawrie

"Sport, indeed, is a bare canvas to which we present ourselves... fully, completely, and exquisitely." -Dr. Carole Oglesby

"An athlete experiences the emotions of pain and elation through triumph and defeat, through teamwork and individuality, as nothing more than a human being...that is the true glory of sport." -Aimee Mullins

"Sport, at its best, at its most human, is able to inspire an innocence and joy that is unique to each of us." -Richard Corman

"You find that you have peace of mind and can enjoy yourself, get more sleep, and rest when you know that it was a 100 percent effort that you gave--win or lose." -Gordie Howe

"When anyone tells me I can't do anything...I'm just not listening anymore." -Florence Griffith-Joyner

"I remember when I was in college, people told me I couldn't play in the NBA. There's always somebody saying you can't do it, and those people have to be ignored." -Bill Cartwright

"If you aren't playing well, the game isn't as much fun. When that happens I tell myself just to go out and play the game as I did when I was a kid." -Tom Watson

"I never gave up, even when people told me I'd never make it." - Bob Wickman

"Sports should always be fun." -Charles Mann

You have to accept whatever comes, and the only important thing is that you meet it with the best you have to give."

All of us get knocked down, but it's resiliency that really matters. All of us do well when things are going well, but the thing that distinguishes athletes is the ability to do well in times of great stress, urgency and pressure." -Roger Staubach

"Sports should always be fun." -Charles Mann

“Training gives us an outlet for supressed energies created by stress and thus tones the spirit just as exercise conditions the body." ---Arnold Schwarzennegger

"In order to excel, you must be completely dedicated to your chosen sport. You must also be prepared to work hard and be willing to accept constructive criticism. Without a total 100 percent dedication, you won't be able to do this." ---Willie Mays

"The ones who want to achieve and win championships motivate themselves."  ---Mike Ditka

"I don't need to be the Number 1 on the team. This is what I train for day in and day out. I am the support player. If I need to hit, pitch, run, whatever, I will do it. If everything was going to be about me, I think I'd quit."  --Michele Smith

"The values learned on the playing field--how to set goals, endure, take criticism and risks, become team players, use our bodies, stay healthy and deal with stress--prepare us for life." --Donna de Varona

"The best feeling in the world is walking into an athletic atmosphere and knowing the other athletes are scared to death to compete against you." ---Matt Hurst

"A successful team beats with one heart." ---Sarah Redmond

"I like pressure. If I am not on the edge of failure, I'm not being sufficiently challenged." ---Jewel

"I will always be someone who wants to do better than others. I love competition." ---Jean-Claude Killy

"Athletics should reduce stress, not increase it." ---Mark Allen

"Do you believe you're a starter or a benchwarmer? Do you believe you're an all-star or an also-ran? If the answers to these questions are the latter, your play on the field will reflect it. But when you've learned to shut off outside influences and believe in yourself, there's no telling how good a player you can be. That's because you have the mental edge." ---Rod Carew

"Every athletic career, no matter how modest or lofty, is a journey." ---Dan Millman

"I don't think I can play any other way but all out... I enjoy the game so much because I'm putting so much into it." ---George Brett

"The point of the game is not how well the individual does but whether the team wins. That is the beautiful heart of the game, the blending of personalities, the mutual sacrifices for group success."
---Bill Bradley

"The problem with referees is that they just don't care which side wins." ---Tom Canterbury

"People always think kids' sports are about fun. The kids have fun playing, but that's not why they play. The real reason they play is to find out about who they are...It's a vehicle for self-discovery." ---Paul Clements

"Build for your team a feeling of oneness, of dependence on one another, and of strength to be derived by unity." ---Vince Lombardi

"Part of being a champ is acting like a champ. You have to learn how to win and not run away when you lose.... Everyone has bad stretches and real successes. Either way, you have to be careful not to lose your confidence or get too confident." -Nancy Kerrigan

"I've always made a total effort, even when the odds seemed entirely against me. I never quit trying; I never felt that I didn't have a chance to win." -Arnold Palmer

"Before I go out on the field every day, I tell myself, 'You are having fun, and you want to set a good example to those who are watching.'" -Cory Snyder 

"There is no doubt in my mind that there are many ways to be a winner, but there is really only one way to be a loser, and that is to fail and not look beyond the failure." -Kyle Rote, Jr.

"I know you've heard it a thousand times before. But it's true--hard work pays off. If you want to be good, you have to practice, practice, practice." -A.J. English

"There has never been a great athlete who died not knowing what pain is." -Bill Bradley

"Sports ideally teach discipline and committment. They challenge you and build character for everything you do in life." -Howie Long

"I never thought about losing, but now that it's happened, the only thing is to do it right... We all have to take defeats in life." -Muhammad Ali

"Obstacles are challenges for winners and excuses for losers." -Gentlehands by M.E. Kerr

"Let others cheer the winning man, there's one I hold worthwhile; 'Tis he who does the best he can, then loses with a smile." -"A Smile"

"For every finish-line tape a runner breaks--complete with the cheers of the crowd and the clicking of hundreds of cameras--there are the hours of hard and often lonely work that rarely gets talked about." -Grete Waltz

"You go for it. All the stops are out. Caution is to the wind and you're battling with everything you have. That's the real fun of the game." -Dan Dierdorf

"Enjoy the successes that you have, and don't be too hard on yourself when you don't do well. Too many times we beat up on ourselves. Just relax and enjoy it." -Patty Sheehan

"Heart in champions has to do with the depth of your motivation and how well your mind and body react to pressure--that is, being able to do what you do best under maximum pain and stress." -Bill Russell

"I learned that the only way you are going to get anywhere in life is to work hard at it. Whether you're a musician, a writer, an athlete or a businessman, there is no getting around it. If you do, you'll win--if you don't, you won't." -Bruce Jenner

"A winner never whines." -Paul Brown

"The most important thing is to love your sport. Never do it to please someone else--it has to be yours. That is all that will justify the hard work needed to achieve success. Compete against yourself, not others, for that is who is truly your best competition." -Peggy Fleming Jenkins

"I've always tried to do my best on the ball field. I can't do any more than that. I always give one hundred percent; and if my team loses, I come back and give one hundred percent the next day." -Jessie Barfield

"I just don't feel right unless I have a sport to play or at least a way to work up a sweat." -Hank Aaron
"It is a matter of spirit, not strength. It is a matter of doing your best each little moment. There's never a break. You must have desire, a very intense desire to keep going." -Janet Guthrie

"We generally make too much of winning. Let's face it, someone always has to win; that is the nature of competition. But the mere fact of winning doesn't make you great." -Wilt Chamberlain

"Winning has a joy and discrete purity to it that cannot be replaced by anything else. Winning is important to any man's or woman's sense of satisfaction and well-being. Winning is not everything; but it is something powerful, indeed beautiful, in itself, something as necessary to the strong spirit as striving is necessary to the healthy character." -A. Bartlett Giamatti

"We all have days when we just don't seem to have the energy or the interest in working out at peak effort. These are the times to reach inside ourselves and try to find that extra umph that will motivate us." -Kara Leverte Farley and Sheila Curry

"The harder we work every step of the way, the quicker and more efficiently we'll reach our goals." -Kara Leverte Farley and Sheila Curry

"Hard work is the only way to go. Strive to be the best you can be and remember that when you try your best, you can't ask any more from yourself, and people can't ask any more from you." -Michael Chang

"What we need are positive, realistic goals and the willingness to work. Hard work and practical goals." -Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

"I ran and ran and ran every day, and I acquired this sense of determination, this sense of spirit that I would never, never give up, no matter what else happened." -Wilma Rudolph

"Once I get the ball, you're at my mercy. There is nothing you can say or do about it. I own the ball....When I'm on my game, I don't think there's anybody that can stop me." -Michael Jordan

"I can accept failure. Everyone fails at something. But I can't accept not trying." -Michael Jordan

"Do not throw in the towel; use it for wiping the sweat off your face." 

"It's not how hard you pushed along the way. It's having something in you to finish." -Michael Jordan

"It's not the will to win that matters--everyone has that. It's the will to prepare to win that matters." -Paul "Bear" Bryant

"A group becomes a team when each member is sure enough of himself and his contributions to praise the skills of the others." -Norman Shidle

"The feeling of accomplishment welled up inside of me...three Olympic gold medals. I knew that was something nobody could ever take away from me, ever." -Wilma Rudolph

"Competition is a painful thing, but it produces great results." -Jerry Flint

"I believe I'm one of the best pitchers in the world--I know I am as far as results go. But you can't live on your legacy. Every time I step on the mound I have to prove it." -Michele Smith

"I refuse. I refuse to lose. To be average. To fail. I refuse to die. To be afraid. I refuse to be taken. I refuse." -Gatorade

“There is no defeat except for those who give up." -Joseph Warthlin

"It takes a fighter to be a true champion." -Chris Busey

"I can't play being mad. I go out there and have fun. It's a game, and that's how I am going to treat it." -Ken Griffey, Jr.

"You have to wonder at times what you're doing out there. Over the years, I've given myself a thousand reasons to keep running, but it always comes back to where it started. It comes down to self-satisfaction and a sense of achievement." -Steve Prefontaine

"Most people run a race to see who is fastest. I run a race to see who has the most guts." -Steve Prefontaine

"When you're playing against a stacked deck, compete even harder. Show the world how much you'll fight for the winner's circle." 

"The purpose of any athletic endeavor is to challenge human limits both on and off the playing field." 

"Experience shows that success is due less to ability that to zeal. The winner is he who gives himself to his work, body, and soul." -Charles Buxton

"When I was fifteen, I had lucky underwear. When that failed, I had a lucky hairdo, then a lucky race number, even lucky race days. After fifteen years, I've found the secret to success is simple: it's hard work." -Margaret Groos

"You either get better or you get worse. You never stay the same. As for me, I'd rather get better." -Jim Smith

"Don't get mad, get better." -Cindy Bristow

"Excellence is not a singular act but a habit. You are what you do repeatedly." -Shaquille O'Neal

"You win some, you lose some, but you always try again." 

"The higher the goal, the harder the climb, but taken each day, one step at a time. The goal is accomplished, the dream is attained, and the prizes? The wisdom and strength that are gained." -American Greeting Cards

"We all like to win, but enjoy the moments along the way, no matter the outcome. Just put your heart and soul into it, and give 110%. If you do this, you will always be a winner to the person who counts most...you!" --Marlene Blaszczyk

"The vision of a champion is someone who is bent over, drenched in sweat, at the point of exhaustion when no one else is watching." ---Anson Dorrance

"I remember the last season I played. I went home after a ballgame one day, lay down on my bed, and tears came to my eyes. How can you explain that? It's like crying for your mother after she's gone. You cry because you love her. I cried, I guess, because I loved baseball, and I knew I had to leave it." ---Willie Mays

"What I am, what I have, what I am going to leave behind me--all this I owe to the game of baseball." -Babe Ruth

"To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice your gift." -Steve Prefontaine

"I find motivation within myself. I run track not from a competitive nature, but because I'm a very goal-oriented person." -Gail Devers

"A good coach will make his players see what they can be rather than what they are." -Ara Parasheghian

"Football is a great deal like life in that it teaches that work, sacrifice, perseverance, competitive drive, selflessness, and respect for authority are the price each and every one of us must pay to achieve any goal that is worthwhile." -Vince Lombardi

"Teamwork is what the Green Bay Packers were all about. They didn't do it for individual glory. They did it because they loved one another." -Vince Lombardi

"They don't give you gold medals for beating somebody. They give you gold medals for beating everybody." -Michael Johnson

"The man who can drive himself farther once the effort gets painful is the man who will win." -Roger Bannister

"History has demonstrated that the most notable winners usually encountered heartbreaking obstacles before they triumphed. They won because they refused to become discouraged by their defeats." -Bertie Forbes

"Do you know what my favorite part of the game is? The opportunity to play." -Mike Singletary

"I've worked too hard and too long to let anything stand in the way of my goals. I will not let my teammates down, and I will not let myself down." -Mia Hamm

"If you set a goal for yourself and are able to achieve it, you have won your race. Your goal can be to come in first, to improve your performance, or just finish the race--it's up to you." -Dave Scott

"You learn you can do your best even when it's hard, even when you're tired and maybe hurting a little bit. It feels good to show some courage." ---Joe Namath

"The winners in life think constantly in terms of I can, I will, and I am. Losers, on the other hand, concentrate their waking thoughts on what they should have or would have done, or what they can't do." ---Dennis Waitley

"I'm playing baseball because I love it, not because I need the money or attention. That is why I've been so dedicated. I've accomplished a lot of things no one ever thought I could, and I've done it from hard work." ---Mike Piazza

"It's easy to figure out who isn't a team player. They'll constantly remind the coach just how good they are." ---Brian Jett

"The more you sweat in practice, the less you bleed in battle." 

"I make my weaknesses my strengths and my strengths stronger." ---Lisa Fernandez

"A true champion is someone who wants to make a difference, who never gives up, and who gives everything she has no matter what the circumstances are. A true champion works hard and never loses sight of her dreams." ---Dr. Dot Richardson

"I didn't fall out of bed and become an Olympic champion. I worked hard, I was dedicated, and I really worked to perfect all aspects of my game." ---Michele Smith

Basketball is like photography, if you don't focus, all you have is the negative. -Dan Frisby

"Like life, basketball is messy and unpredictable. It has its way with you, no matter how hard you try to control it. The trick is to experience each moment with a clear mind and open heart. When you do that, the game--and life--will take care of itself." -Phil Jackson

“Anyone can give up, it's the easiest thing in the world to do. But to hold it together when everyone else would understand if you fell apart, that's true strength!”

"I hated every minute of training, but I said, 'Don't quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion." -- Muhammad Ali

"One day of practice is like one day of clean living.  It doesn't do you any good."  -Abe Lemmons

“Ask not what your teammates can do for you Ask what you can do for your teammates.” - Magic Johnson