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Year End

Year In Review: Quotes Of The Year, Part Two

You need to cross the Grand Canyon in a rocket ship. When it lands on the other side it needs to explode into cash to make this worth looking at.

-- FFA CEO David Gallop, to proponents of allowing Asian clubs into the A-League.

It is very improbable that someone is able to jeopardize Bayern Munich for the foreseeable future. That isn’t
Hans-Joachim Watzke
beautiful but the truth.

-- Borussia Dortmund Managing Dir Hans-Joachim Watzke, on Bayern Munich's current stronghold of the Bundesliga.

We should have a situation where sponsors are not only willing to come back but we should have sponsors fighting to sponsor FIFA.
-- FIFA presidential candidate Prince Ali bin al-Hussein, on restoring FIFA's image, which has suffered under Sepp Blatter's leadership.

I suggest it's pretty clear that if it’s a battle, we're not winning it.
-- Australian Football League side Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley, on the league's fight against illicit drugs.

Toto can have a lovely inscription on his gravestone that says, 'I helped to kill Formula One.'
-- F1 CEO Bernie Ecclestone, on Mercedes exec Toto Wolff's unwillingness to make changes to F1's current
Bernie Ecclestone
regulations.

Man, it would be expensive.
-- New Zealand PM John Key, on a potential joint bid to host the '26 or '30 FIFA World Cup together with Australia.

I want to set an example.
-- Dutch businessman Helmut Bohnhorst, on buying $4.3M worth of shares in Bundesliga side Hamburg SV.

It's hard to work magic without magic dust.
-- ACT Brumbies CEO Michael Jones, on the struggle to build attendance for the Super Rugby club.

It’s no good talking to these people. They will have to be told.
-- F1 CEO Bernie Ecclestone, on getting teams to agree to push through engine changes for '17 as a way of "improving the show."

The election for the president of Barça is exactly like a regular political election. The good parts and the bad parts.
-- Barcelona presidential candidate Agustí Benedito, on the La Liga club's upcoming election.

It's a huge fanbase and it's a fanbase that you want supporting your game for all sorts of reasons.
-- AFL GM of People, Customer & Community Dorothy Hisgrove, on why the league is focused on recruiting women.

This is creating a new financial model for rugby.
-- London Wasps CEO David Armstrong, on the club's plan to leverage its Ricoh Arena to become "the richest rugby club in the world."

We had six years of teasing the public. You couldn't buy the publicity.
-- Top Rank CEO Bob Arum, on how years of talks doubled the value of Sunday's Mayweather-Pacquiao fight.

China has everything a World Cup should offer.
Alex Soosay

-- Asian Football Confederation General Secretary Alex Soosay, on China's hopes of one day hosting a FIFA World Cup.

Barça and Real Madrid will have to work harder.
-- Mediapro VP Mario Bayarri, on the impact of the Spanish government's approval of new rules on TV rights.

I might buy it, not at a ridiculous price but a price that the owners won’t want to resist.
-- African billionaire Aliko Dangote, on his plan to buy Arsenal despite being rebuffed in an earlier bid.

It is incomprehensible that the RFEF wants to stop football. It's based on ignorance.
-- Spanish Superior Sports Council President Miguel Cardenal, on the Spanish Football Federation's move to suspend play.

I'm retiring from competitive running, not from running. You cannot stop running, this is my life.
-- Ethiopian runner Haile Gebrselassie, on ending his 25-year career, which included two Olympic Gold Medals and eight world championships.

It's a brick in the wall but a significant one.
-- Emirates Team NZ CEO Grant Dalton, after Emirates Airline confirmed that it would continue to sponsor the team.

Sebastian Coe
There are now a host of relatively new nations, many with ‘-stan’ as a suffix to their names, and they all want to be involved in the sports business.

-- IAAF presidential candidate Sebastian Coe, calling on major events to embrace the developing world as hosts.

There are swathes of people doing jobs which don't need to exist and doing them in a mediocre way.
-- ITV Dir of Sport Niall Sloane, on rival broadcaster the BBC.

The first time you ever play for Liverpool Football Club is a dream come true. Everything else after that was a bonus for me.
-- Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard, reflecting on his 17-year career with the Reds after his final home game at Anfield.

This could get ugly.
-- Newcastle Jets Owner Nathan Tinkler, after the FFA terminated his ownership of the club because of unpaid salaries, debts.

On a scale of one to 100, [Ashley] doesn't get up to one in terms of a threat.
-- New Rangers Chair Dave King, on dealing with recalcitrant shareholder and Sports Direct boss Mike Ashley.

What is all that about? It’s ridiculous.
-- British Fed Cup team captain Judy Murray, on the ITF board makeup that includes 14 men and no women.

It's out of order.
-- Tokyo Gov. Yoichi Masuzoe, after being asked to "foot" the $400M cost of the main stadium for the 2020 Games.

The indictment alleges corruption that is rampant, systemic and deep-rooted both abroad and here in the
Loretta Lynch
United States.

-- U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch, on charges against 14 FIFA execs and marketing officials filed by U.S. and Swiss authorities.

I have respect for all the media, it's got nothing to do with you, but it's just a lot healthier if I don't continue. Thanks.
-- Canberra Raiders coach Ricky Stuart, abruptly ending his press conference to avoid another fine for criticizing referees.

We reject these falsehoods with the contempt they deserve.

-- South African Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula, denying that the $10M paid by South Africa to CONCACAF was a bribe.

You could not get the alien out of that spaceship, no matter how hard you tried.
-- Former FA Chair David Bernstein, likening Blatter's decision to stay on until a new president is elected to the film "Alien."

We will fight to the end to win the live broadcasting rights for the next EPL auction.

-- True Corp. President & CEO Suphachai Chearavanont, on the expected bidding war with "arch rival" CTH for Premier League rights.

The FIFA president, Sepp Blatter, the director of communications and the general secretary are all sitting in a car -- who is driving? The police.
-- Walter De Gregorio's joke that got him fired as FIFA's Dir of Communications.

When you spend that much money, you want to see a positive effect.
-- Businessman Reinhard Fromm, on dropping his jersey sponsorship for Swiss Super League club Grasshoppers Zürich.

I can't wait for Juve to be able to go there to beat you.
-- Juventus President Andrea Agnelli, congratulating AS Roma President James Pallotta on the club's stadium project.

The sport will crash and burn before it gets turned around.
-- Former McLaren Team Principal Martin Whitmarsh, on what the future of F1 could look like given its current state.

It's two different things. It's like comparing London to a city on the beach.
-- FIA President Jean Todt, on Richard Branson's statement that Formula E will overtake F1 in terms of popularity "within five years."

Lots of small things have to be done, but at the end lots of small things become a big thing.
-- Track designer Hermann Tilke, on the required work to turn Baku's streets into an F1 racetrack.

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: March 25, 2024

NFL meeting preview; MLB's opening week ad effort and remembering Peter Angelos.

Big Get Jay Wright, March Madness is upon us and ESPN locks up CFP

On this week’s pod, our Big Get is CBS Sports college basketball analyst Jay Wright. The NCAA Championship-winning coach shares his insight with SBJ’s Austin Karp on key hoops issues and why being well dressed is an important part of his success. Also on the show, Poynter Institute senior writer Tom Jones shares who he has up and who is down in sports media. Later, SBJ’s Ben Portnoy talks the latest on ESPN’s CFP extension and who CBS, TNT Sports and ESPN need to make deep runs in the men’s and women's NCAA basketball tournaments.

SBJ I Factor: Nana-Yaw Asamoah

SBJ I Factor features an interview with AMB Sports and Entertainment Chief Commercial Office Nana-Yaw Asamoah. Asamoah, who moved over to AMBSE last year after 14 years at the NFL, talks with SBJ’s Ben Fischer about how his role model parents and older sisters pushed him to shrive, how the power of lifelong learning fuels successful people, and why AMBSE was an opportunity he could not pass up. Asamoah is 2021 SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.

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