Been sitting on a few things for a while:

First, from today's Quickie:
Joey Cheek is my hero: After nabbing gold for the U.S. in 500m speedskating, Cheek started his press conference saying he'd donate his $25,000Olympic prize money to the kids in Darfur and asked his sponsors to matchhis generosity. Now that's the Olympic spirit. Can I get an AMEN?

Next, two quotes from Curt Shilling in his e-comm with the Sports Guy:
1) "Somebody on this team wants me to get booed to make them feel better, andthat really bothers me a lot." I love how he stated that, because it's so true. So many times we want others to fail so that we look better. Sad but true.

2) "...but the most exciting part of the end of my career is the thought of beinga dad, of trying to pay back my family in some way for the huge sacrificesthey have made to allow me to do this. From February to October everyyear, my family loses a member. The long hours at the park, the enormousamounts of travel, contrary to what some think, the enormous salariesdon't make that OK. The money won't buy back that time with my wife andkids, and for that I owe them. I can't wait to be a dad." The funny thing is, I believe him.

Finally, a quote about good coaches:
"It just seems like the smarter coaches figure out their five best players,play them as much as possible, spell them when they get tired with benchguys, then make sure those same five guys are playing the last 7-8 minutesof the game." Forgive me if you are not a hoops fan, but I've always said that basketball is the hardest sport to play and coach for one reason, the change from offense to defense is instantaneous and if you can't play one of the other, you'll have a hard time seeing the court. Coaching it is no different. Every player has to be on the same page or you will not succeed, no question about it, and it is your job to make sure that the lineup is proper for the situation. I'm sure there are other sports where this is the case, but I can't think of one that brings it to this extent. Throw me some examples if you disagree.