"There really hasn't been a whole lot of talk about it amongst the team just because we are at the point now where every week there seems like there is something new to distract us" – Saints LB Scott Shanle, on news that suspended coach Sean Payton could become a free agent at the end of the season (New Orleans TIMES-PICAYUNE, 11/6).
"We have to finish the season. You can't be rushing to judgment. I wish life was that simple, that you could hire and fire people and things would change. I am committed to building a sustainable, winning organization" – Jaguars Owner Shahid Khan, discussing the team's struggles yesterday on WTEV-CBS' "Jaguars All Access" (JACKSONVILLE.com, 11/5).
"Because we have a Russian owner, we have a great platform for Russian players who want to get into the NBA. Perceptions of basketball in Russia are a lot different now" – T'Wolves F Andrei Kirilenko, crediting Nets Owner Mikhail Prokhorov for helping raise the profile of basketball in his home country (TWINCITIES.com, 11/5).
"I just think in this day and age we're in … drag racing is not like NASCAR. People make a big deal there about racial diversity, women in racing. I think NHRA has viewed it as, 'We're all Americans'" – NHRA driver Antron Brown, who this weekend could become the first African-American driver to win a top-fuel title (L.A. TIMES, 11/5).
