“Since Mike Lombardi and I are Moe and Larry, we set out to find Curly -- and we succeeded.”
-- Former Browns CEO Joe Banner, on the hiring of Mike Pettine as the team’s new coach. A reporter following the firing of former coach Rob Chudzinski asked if the team was run by the Three Stooges.
“I feel like I've already won. It was never about collecting money. It was about bringing awareness, causing conversations. It was about stimulating thoughts to this travesty that's going on at the college level. People are talking. We've won.”
-- Former UCLA basketball player Ed O'Bannon, who is suing the NCAA over the use of player likenesses, on Northwestern Univ. football players attempting to form a union.
“I don’t anticipate us being in any more harm’s way than going down the mountain in a bobsled at 85 miles per hour.”
-- U.S. bobsledder Dallas Robinson, on security concerns at the Sochi Games.
“I didn't realize how many people actually knew, and I was afraid that someone would tell or leak something out about me. I want to own my truth.”
-- Free agent NFL DE Michael Sam, on why he announced prior to the NFL Combine that he is gay.
“I have a set of tools available to me that David couldn't even have imagined.”
-- NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, on how he could have a greater impact on the game than his predecessor David Stern.
“You’re taking the red eye home?”
-- NBC’s Matt Lauer, delivering a punch line after the net's Bob Costas noted when he would be leaving Sochi following a bout with pink eye.
“When pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered. And they're getting hoggy. When you try to take it too far, people turn the other way. I'm just telling you, when you got a good thing and you get greedy, it always, always, always, always, always turns against you.”
-- Mavericks Owner Mark Cuban, on his belief the NFL is 10 years from "imploding."
“You know the old saying, sex sells. And nobody can argue with that. … But the LPGA has some attractive women and very fit women, so why not use them?”
-- Golfer Angela Stanford, on Golf Digest putting Paulina Gretzky on its cover.
“They treated us like we we're 'Real Housewives of Atlanta' and not elite athletes.”
-- UFC fighter Ronda Rousey, on her experience as a coach on “The Ultimate Fighter."
“It’s almost an out-of-body experience. This time of year, I’m normally presenting a trophy and getting booed. To receive one and get applause is really quite novel.”
-- NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, on being named Sports Exec of the Year at this year's
Sports Business Awards.
“We've spent the first 10 minutes talking soccer. If you want any proof that the game has finally arrived in this country, we're the proof.”
-- Quartz Managing Editor Bobby Ghosh, on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" opening up by discussing the U.S.-Portugal FIFA World Cup match.
“They better be there to watch me walk out the door because that's what's going to happen.”
-- MLB Commissioner Bud Selig, on skeptics who didn’t believe he would actually step down following the '14 season.
