Quote Sport Unquote
By John Barber
()
About this ebook
‘Football’s a funny old game Brian’ –Jimmy Greaves, footballer (Chelsea, AC Milan, Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham and England –goal machine!).
To some people Cricket, Golf, Tennis, Baseball and Snooker is just as funny. Not to mention Lawn Mower Racing, Tiddleywinks, Croquet and many others.
They are all mentioned in this book of sporting quotes along with the sportsmen and sportswomen who play them. As well as officials, spectators and the press. They can all be relied upon to offer some useful pointers along with often embarrassing insights into their profession.
This is a collection of sporting gems; some to make you laugh, some to ponder on the player’s expertise and other quotes best kept private and not spoken in public. The latter has given rise to what the American’s know as bloopers and what the British affectionately call ‘Colemanballs’ after that doyen of the BBC microphone David Coleman; and there are plenty of them in this book.
It is perhaps not a book to read cover to cover but dipped in to. Sports are listed alphabetically and include poetry, literature and newspaper reviews. There are serious musings on sport as well but as Bill Shankly, legendary manager of Liverpool FC once remarked: ‘Some people think football is a matter of life and death. I can assure them it is much more serious than that’, usually misquoted as 'football is more serious than life and death'.
John Barber
John Barber was born in London at the height of the UK Post War baby boom. The Education Act of 1944 saw great changes in the way the nation was taught; the main one being that all children stayed at school until the age of 15 (later increased to 16). For the first time working class children were able to reach higher levels of academic study and the opportunity to gain further educational qualifications at University. This explosion in education brought forth a new aspirational middle class; others remained true to their working class roots. The author belongs somewhere between the two. Many of the author's main characters have their genesis in this educational revolution. Their dialogue though idiosyncratic can normally be understood but like all working class speech it is liberally sprinkled with strange boyhood phrases and a passing nod to cockney rhyming slang. John Barber's novels are set in fictional English towns where sexual intrigue and political in-fighting is rife beneath a pleasant, small town veneer of respectability. They fall within the cozy, traditional British detective sections of mystery fiction. He has been writing professionally since 1996 when he began to contribute articles to magazines on social and local history. His first published book in 2002 was a non-fiction work entitled The Camden Town Murder which investigated a famous murder mystery of 1907 and names the killer. This is still available in softback and as an ebook, although not available from Smashwords John Barber had careers in Advertising, International Banking and the Wine Industry before becoming Town Centre Manager in his home town of Hertford. He is now retired and lives with his wife and two cats on an island in the middle of Hertford and spends his time between local community projects and writing further novels.
Read more from John Barber
Insults - Old, New, Borrowed, Blue Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMy Almost for His Highest Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSo! You Want to Be British Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsComplete Color Mixing Guide for Acrylics, Oils, and Watercolors: 2,400 Color Combinations for Each Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How to Approach Writing a Risk Assessment for Event Managers Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFifty Business Ideas Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Death, Dying and Disappearing in the 1980's Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe 1980's Quiz Book Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsChildhood Eczema Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNotes from the Stage Manager's Box Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5The Wicked Lady Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Trees Have Goats: A Story of Arab Women’s Struggle for Love Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEpitaph Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Tunnels of Hertford Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAn Echo from the Green Fields Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Gods in the Mirror Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Lost Traveller Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsChristopher Marlowe: The Man Who Wrote Shakespeare Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Mysterious Death of Sarah Stout Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Mystery Professor Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to Quote Sport Unquote
Related ebooks
Great Sporting Wisdom: Legendary Quotes from the World of Sport Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsClassic After-Dinner Sports Tales Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Tales from the Minnesota Gophers: A Collection of the Greatest Gopher Stories Ever Told Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSix Decades of Baseball: A Personal Narrative Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsIf These Walls Could Talk: Baltimore Orioles: Stories from the Baltimore Orioles Sideline, Locker Room, and Press Box Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSoccer FAQ: All That's Left to Know About the Clubs, the Players, and the Rivalries Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe 1975 Portland Timbers: The Birth of Soccer City, USA Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Fifty: Football's Fifty Most Influential Players Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFootball FAQ: All That's Left to Know About the Clubs, the Players and the Rivalries Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsClose Quarters: An Extraordinary Season on the Brink and Behind the Scenes Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFour Lions: The Lives and Times of Four Captains of England Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Book of Sports Virtues – Youth Edition: Finding Success Through Sports Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCalcio's Greatest Forwards: Serie A's Finest Attackers Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings101 Quirky Football Facts Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWill You Manage?: The Necessary Skills to be a Great Gaffer Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Ultimate Goalkeepers Quiz Book: 111 Challenging Questions About the Men Between the Sticks Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Greatest Comeback: From Genocide To Football Glory: The Story of Béla Guttman Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5We Are Sunday League: A Bitter-Sweet, Real Life Story from Football's Grass Roots Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLancashire Turf Wars: A Football History Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Way Forward: Solutions to England's Football Failings Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Ashes Quiz Book: 250 Questions on Ashes History Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGerrard's Blueprint: The Tactical Philosophy Behind Rangers 55th Title Triumph Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEibar the Brave: The Extraordinary Rise of La Liga's Smallest Team Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Everton: The School of Science Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsYou Can Have Chips: The Autobiography of Steve Wignall Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPlaymaker: My Life and the Love of Football Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSportsWorld: An American Dreamland Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTales from the Top Flight: A review of the 2015/16 English Premier League Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPhilosophy and Football: The PFFC Story Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Trivia For You
All the Light We Cannot See: A Novel by Anthony Doerr | Conversation Starters Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5True Facts That Sound Like Bull$#*t: 500 Insane-But-True Facts That Will Shock and Impress Your Friends Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/51,001 Facts that Will Scare the S#*t Out of You: The Ultimate Bathroom Reader Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Nightingale: A Novel by Kristin Hannah | Conversation Starters Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5100 Things You're Not Supposed to Know: Secrets, Conspiracies, Cover Ups, and Absurdities Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Martian: A Novel by Andy Weir | Conversation Starters Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Serial Killer Trivia: Fascinating Facts and Disturbing Details That Will Freak You the F*ck Out Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Quiz Master: 10,000 general knowledge questions Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5100 Places to See After You Die: A Travel Guide to the Afterlife Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I Call Bullshit: Debunking the Most Commonly Repeated Myths Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Harry Potter - The Ultimate Book of Facts Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5101 Amazing Facts about The Hunger Games Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Best Bar Trivia Book Ever: All You Need for Pub Quiz Domination Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBad Days in History: A Gleefully Grim Chronicle of Misfortune, Mayhem, and Misery for Every Day of the Year Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Origin of Names, Words and Everything in Between Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Star Wars: Book of Lists Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMovie Quotes for All Occasions: Unforgettable Lines for Life's Biggest Moments Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Smartest Book in the World: A Lexicon of Literacy, A Rancorous Reportage, A Concise Curriculum of Cool Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5We Did That? Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Mental Floss History of the World: An Irreverent Romp Through Civilization's Best Bits Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5100 Mysteries of Science Explained Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Lazy Intellectual: Maximum Knowledge, Minimum Effort Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Reviews for Quote Sport Unquote
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
Quote Sport Unquote - John Barber
Introduction
This book is an offshoot of a similar book which is a collection of insults. Quite a few of the quotes came from the world of sport so it seemed a logical step to widen the scope.
Both books had their origin in a project about Great Britain during the 1980’s, so many of the quotes are rooted in that decade and are predominantly from British sportsmen and women. I have also drawn on letters written to the national press, occasional news items and some literary verses all with a strong British bias.
This wasn’t how I intended the book to be but I found that any sport played outside of these islands was a completely different ball game.
I suppose that is how others see us. What has emerged is a sort of snapshot of Britain viewed from the perspective of its sporting heroes. But more often than not, its failures.
It also became very apparent that other nations especially the Americans, see sport as completely different from the British.
The Americans use terms that are very aggressive whereas the British see playing sport, any sport, as being life itself – played to the rules.
The quotes are listed alphabetically by author in each section (with some editorial exceptions) but it is more of a book to pop into now and then rather than read from starting line to final whistle.
American Football
American Football is not a contact sport. Dancing is a contact sport, football’s a collision sport.
Mike Ditka, Chicago Bears coach
Winning isn’t everything - it’s the only thing.
Vince Lombardi, coach Green Bay Packers
I resigned because of illness and fatigue. The fans were sick and tired of me.
John Ralston, Coach, Denver Broncos
They don’t take the Marines and train them on the beach with ice cream in their hands and then tell them to fight. We’re preparing these guys for eleven individual wars. That’s what it amounts to.
Dick Vernell, coach Philadelphia Eagles
Athletics
You can’t train the way I do and go out with girls.
Joaquim Cruz, churchgoing Baptist, teetotaller and Brazil’s Olympic 800 metre gold medallist
Apart from becoming sweaty and uncomfortable, trainers are not designed for long periods of wear. The sole and midsole wear out too quickly. After about a month you might as well be wearing plimsolls.
Vivian Grisogono, chartered physiotherapist
I don’t have a Daley Thompson complex. Someday I’ll beat him, I’m sure. Of course I may be 80 by then
Jurgen Hingsen
The Americans should be ashamed of themselves, letting negroes win their medals for them. Do you really think that I will allow myself to be photographed shaking hands with a negro?
Adolf Hitler on Jesse Owens
The French cannot produce great track and field teams like it can produce great wines for probably that very reason. The winemakers got in first.
Michel Lourie, French national coach
There was so much barging and shoving; it was like trying to get into a Glasgow pub on a Saturday night.
Tom McKean
I don't really see the hurdles. I sense them like a memory.
Ed Moses
I went through a stage of feeling awful to one of feeling terrible. Once I started to feel terrible I was OK.
Steve Ovett on the California Mile
In my first marathon I got excited, even euphoric. It was a feeling I never had on the track. On the road competitors hand around sponges. In a 5,000 all they give you are elbows.
Dick Quax
Running doesn't make anyone immortal. It doesn't bestow or confirm identity. And it can't infuse meaning and purpose into lives that are otherwise unfulfilled.
Dr Richard Restak, neurologist, speaking after the death of Jim Fixx, credited with popularising jogging
Stella was a very nice person, very quiet. But I only saw her on the mount, never in the changing rooms or in our hotel in Los Angeles.
Hilda Sisson on Stella Walsh who was discovered to have no female sex organs after a post mortem which was conducted when she was shot dead outside a store in Cleveland. Sisson was beaten into second place by Walsh who won