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Winning is overrated. The only time it is really important is in surgery and war.

Al McGuire

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Al McGuire
Age: 72 †
Born: 1928
Born: September 7
Died: 2001
Died: January 26
Basketball Coach
Basketball Player
Queens
New York
Basketball
Leadership
Sports
Winning
War
Important
Really
Overrated
Time
Surgery

More quotes by Al McGuire

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God didn't miss any of us.
Al McGuire
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Don't call me son unless you're going to include me in your will. (When Adolph Rupp called him, Son.)
Al McGuire
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If the waitress has dirty ankles, the chili is good.
Al McGuire
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Life is what you allow yourself not to see.
Al McGuire
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I come from New York where, if you fall down, someone will pick you up by your wallet.
Al McGuire
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I don't believe in looking past anybody - I wouldn't look past the Little Sisters of the Poor after they stayed up all night.
Al McGuire
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Make your life exciting. Do what you have to do as long as you don't hurt people.
Al McGuire
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It bothers me that the average fan, the average sportswriter for that matter, pays so much attention to what's in a box score. A box score does not properly represent the most important thing - team play. It shows some guy scoring 27 points, but it doesn't show that my 27-point man let his guy score 30.
Al McGuire
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The next time I will cry is when I die. My life has been that beautiful.
Al McGuire
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Keep it simple, when you get too complex you forget the obvious.
Al McGuire
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Butch, you come from DeWitt Clinton. There are five thousand brothers in that school. You're the best there. You've been all-city two years in a row. How bad can you be? You come with me and we'll make nice music.
Al McGuire
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We rush for the stars as we crawl toward our graves.
Al McGuire
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I let ballplayers yell back at me because I wasn't trying to prove I'm boss. I know I'm boss.
Al McGuire
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It's so ridiculous to see a golfer with a one foot putt and everybody is saying Shhh and not moving a muscle. Then we allow nineteen year-old kids to face a game-deciding free throw with seventeen thousand people yelling.
Al McGuire
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Our guys took Shop and Advanced Shop. Shop is when you make a chair. Advanced Shop is when you paint it.
Al McGuire
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Can't win without talent, you know.
Al McGuire
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I'm an Einstein of the streets and an Oxford scholar of common sense.
Al McGuire
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Remember, half the doctors in this country graduated in the bottom half of their class.
Al McGuire
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The nicest thing about coaching is that one day you feel like you can play handball against a curb, and on other days you feel like you can fly to the moon.
Al McGuire
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A team should be an extension of a coach's personality. My teams are arrogant and obnoxious.
Al McGuire