I'm not sure how good we would have been without Kurt behind the wheel. We got a little bit behind with the flat tire, and Kurt couldn't talk to us at that point because of a radio problem. But Kurt drove a very hard set of laps. There's really nothing more that needs to be said. It's hard racing at Bristol. |
I'm not sure where we belong [in the national rankings] and I honestly mean that, but I want to make sure that when we go [to Xavier] that we play great defense, we take good shots, and we play the way we're capable of playing. The worst thing that can happen to us Thursday ... we can lose a basketball game. |
I'm not thinking about that right now, but he's playing in winter ball right now and Tony Pena told us he's doing well down there. We didn't think Cano would be ready until 2006, but he had a great winter ball season last year, showed up at camp and continued it. Some guys push themselves in the mix quicker. |
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I'm pretty devastated by it to be honest with you because he's a good friend, a guy who is so valuable to what we do, ... He's got that warrior mentality to him that I think feeds over to everybody else. It's a tough loss. I'd be lying if I said we'll move on because you can't move on losing a guy like that. |
I'm sure you've heard the word ambassador a lot today. That's the way he represented the sport in public; he was a great sportsman and handled victory and defeat with equal style and class. But I also had the privilege of seeing the leadership he gave to our industry in private, when the cameras were not on. |
I'm very excited. This is a great situation for me. I'm back in Alabama. I'm back in the Gulf South Conference. I'm close to Mississippi where I grew up. It's just a perfect situation. I think the timing is everything. It's so important in things that the timing seems to be excellent to come to West Alabama. |
I've been in this gym for five years, and I could not stand seeing that blank wall up there. Every summer we hold a camp, and I tell the fourth- through eighth-graders, 'Look at that wall, who's going to be the first ones to get their year up there?' Thank goodness we don't have to look at that wall anymore. |
I've been kick-boxing for exercise. And now if I turn on boxing on the television by accident, I watch it, and I love it. Whereas a year ago, I thought it was the stupidest thing I had even seen-that you would voluntarily watch these people beat the crap out of each other and think, oh, that's entertainment. |
I've been very pleased with how we've played. Our focus has been on getting better defensively, and I'm excited about what I've been seeing in both practice and games. Our veterans are playing smart, disciplined soccer and a lot of our younger players are getting quality playing time and valuable experience. |
I've had some great conversations with these guys and I'm not trying to talk them in or talk them out of anything. I'm just trying to get to know them and trying to do that in the best way possible. You have to respect these kids. I'm also dealing with it on the other side (in Oklahoma), and it is sensitive. |
I've had ups and downs, that's just the way football goes. You can't win them all. It's a matter of learning each week and taking everything in. I'm not going to make every play, I'm going to make some mistakes, but as long as I'm not making the costly ones that are going to hurt the team, I'll be all right. |
I've heard rumors, so it's not just me saying this. I've heard it from tons of people. It's not just me saying this. ... Something's going on because they hit so good at home. The way they hit here, you'd have to raise an eyebrow to figure something's going on. Look at the stats. I'm not just making this up. |
I've lived here for 20 years. This is the first time the blacks and the whites in the community have worked together on a project and it's turned out beautifully. I'm so pleased to be a part of the coalition. It's been a wonderful collaborative effort that I hope will continue on to bigger and better things. |
I've made rock records, classical records, jazz records, dub records. It always surprises me that people's own listening taste ranges from pop to hip-hop to jazz to rock, but if you're a musician who's been successful in one style, people won't let you have broader musical interests. It's ridiculous, really. |