Tigers_eye
January 17, 2007, 12:31 PM
The man turned 65. He was the champion of champions. Perhaps the best in all sports. His witty answers and one liners can inspire anyone. I hope if our national cricketers could read the following quotes. This is how a Champ feels inside. This is shear mental strength over powering opponents even before the match starts. Believing in that we can win. I guess Whatmore's job could have been much easier if he could paste these in the locker-room.
1. "I'm not the greatest; I'm the double greatest. Not only do I knock 'em out, I pick the round."
2. "It's just a job. Grass grows, birds fly, waves pound the sand. I beat people up."
3. "I done wrestled with an alligator, I done tussled with a whale; handcuffed lightning, thrown thunder in jail; only last week, I murdered a rock, injured a stone, hospitalised a brick; I'm so mean I make medicine sick."
4. "I'm so fast that last night I turned off the light switch in my hotel room and got into bed before the room was dark."
5. "The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses - behind the lines, in the gym, and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights." - This is something that all our players must understand.
6. "I'm the best. I just haven't played yet." - Speaking of Golf. Self confidence and take no prisoners.
7. "Champions aren't made in gyms, champions are made from something they have deep inside them - a desire, a dream, a vision. They have to have last-minute stamina, they have to be a little faster, they have to have the skill and the will. But the will must be stronger than the skill." - Practice, practice and more practice to be ready to perform when the lime light is on.
8. "I am America. I am the part you won't recognise. But get used to me. Black, confident, cocky; my name, not yours; my religion, not yours; my goals, my own; get used to me." - If anyone trash talks (sledges) the players must do the talking with their bat and ball. Let performance speak volumes and shut up critics.
9. "A man who views the world the same at 50 as he did at 20 has wasted 30 years of his life." - This is one of my favorite quotes of Ali. One must adapt with time. Conservatives beware.
10. a) "I always bring out the best in men I fight, but Joe Frazier, I'll tell the world right now, brings out the best in me. I'm gonna tell ya, that's one helluva man, and God bless him."
b) "I said a lot of things in the heat of the moment that I shouldn't have said. Called him names I shouldn't have called him. I apologise for that. I'm sorry. It was all meant to promote the fight." - After the Joe Fraiser fight Thrilla in Manila. Humbleness what makes a man great.
c) Fraiser in response: "The Butterfly and me have been through some ups and downs and there have been lots of emotions, many of them bad. But I have forgiven him. I had to. You cannot hold out for ever. There were bruises in my heart because of the words he used. I spent years dreaming about him and wanting to hurt him. But you have got to throw that stick out of the window. Do not forget that we needed each other, to produce some of the greatest fights of all time."
11. "Hey Floyd - I seen you! Someday I'm gonna whup you! Don't you forget, I am the greatest!" - To then-world heavyweight champion Floyd Patterson during the 1960 Olympic Games. he was 17 then.
12. "If you even dreamed you hit me, you better wake up and apologize." - he wouldn't let his opponents even dream of beating him, lol.
13. When he was asked what would have happened if he had been a janitor rather than a boxer and he said.......
"I'd have been the best janitor in the world!"
14. "To be a great champion you must believe you are the best. If you're not, pretend you are." - Always Positive. Winning mentality.
15. "God gave me this illness to remind me I'm not number one; he is." - Humility learnt.
There are hundreds of Ali quotes that showed his cockiness, but most of the time he backed it up with deeds. He was that much self-confident. I am not asking our players to be a cocky-players but to learn from the greatest of them all that humility is what we all should stride for. One must prepare on the practice field and put forth his best effort in the game.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/boxing/6267397.stm
1. "I'm not the greatest; I'm the double greatest. Not only do I knock 'em out, I pick the round."
2. "It's just a job. Grass grows, birds fly, waves pound the sand. I beat people up."
3. "I done wrestled with an alligator, I done tussled with a whale; handcuffed lightning, thrown thunder in jail; only last week, I murdered a rock, injured a stone, hospitalised a brick; I'm so mean I make medicine sick."
4. "I'm so fast that last night I turned off the light switch in my hotel room and got into bed before the room was dark."
5. "The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses - behind the lines, in the gym, and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights." - This is something that all our players must understand.
6. "I'm the best. I just haven't played yet." - Speaking of Golf. Self confidence and take no prisoners.
7. "Champions aren't made in gyms, champions are made from something they have deep inside them - a desire, a dream, a vision. They have to have last-minute stamina, they have to be a little faster, they have to have the skill and the will. But the will must be stronger than the skill." - Practice, practice and more practice to be ready to perform when the lime light is on.
8. "I am America. I am the part you won't recognise. But get used to me. Black, confident, cocky; my name, not yours; my religion, not yours; my goals, my own; get used to me." - If anyone trash talks (sledges) the players must do the talking with their bat and ball. Let performance speak volumes and shut up critics.
9. "A man who views the world the same at 50 as he did at 20 has wasted 30 years of his life." - This is one of my favorite quotes of Ali. One must adapt with time. Conservatives beware.
10. a) "I always bring out the best in men I fight, but Joe Frazier, I'll tell the world right now, brings out the best in me. I'm gonna tell ya, that's one helluva man, and God bless him."
b) "I said a lot of things in the heat of the moment that I shouldn't have said. Called him names I shouldn't have called him. I apologise for that. I'm sorry. It was all meant to promote the fight." - After the Joe Fraiser fight Thrilla in Manila. Humbleness what makes a man great.
c) Fraiser in response: "The Butterfly and me have been through some ups and downs and there have been lots of emotions, many of them bad. But I have forgiven him. I had to. You cannot hold out for ever. There were bruises in my heart because of the words he used. I spent years dreaming about him and wanting to hurt him. But you have got to throw that stick out of the window. Do not forget that we needed each other, to produce some of the greatest fights of all time."
11. "Hey Floyd - I seen you! Someday I'm gonna whup you! Don't you forget, I am the greatest!" - To then-world heavyweight champion Floyd Patterson during the 1960 Olympic Games. he was 17 then.
12. "If you even dreamed you hit me, you better wake up and apologize." - he wouldn't let his opponents even dream of beating him, lol.
13. When he was asked what would have happened if he had been a janitor rather than a boxer and he said.......
"I'd have been the best janitor in the world!"
14. "To be a great champion you must believe you are the best. If you're not, pretend you are." - Always Positive. Winning mentality.
15. "God gave me this illness to remind me I'm not number one; he is." - Humility learnt.
There are hundreds of Ali quotes that showed his cockiness, but most of the time he backed it up with deeds. He was that much self-confident. I am not asking our players to be a cocky-players but to learn from the greatest of them all that humility is what we all should stride for. One must prepare on the practice field and put forth his best effort in the game.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/boxing/6267397.stm