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Winning is only important in war and surgery.

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
Surgery
Basketball
Winning
War
Important

More quotes by 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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I'm an Einstein of the streets and an Oxford scholar of common sense.
Al McGuire
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If a player leaves Marquette and doesn't have some of my blood in him, then I don't think I've done a good job.
Al McGuire
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Live every day as if it were Saturday night.
Al McGuire
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I tell the players that they can't relive any day in their lives and that they can't relive the minutes of a game, so they should make a great effort, a Mount Everest type effort, to live up to their potential. Success is a communal type thing, and if we win, then everyone can be considered successful and we can move uptown together.
Al McGuire
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I went into a restaurant one night and ordered lobster, and the waiter brought me one with a claw missing. I called him over and told him about it. He told me that in the back there's a tank they keep the lobsters in and while they're in there, they fight and sometimes one loses a claw. I told him 'then bring me a winner.'
Al McGuire
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If winning weren't important nobody would keep score.
Al McGuire
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Help one kid at a time. He'll maybe go back and help a few more.
Al McGuire
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The world is run by C students
Al McGuire
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That's it. Curtains. Off to the races. Treetops. Seashells and balloons.
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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When a guy takes off his coat, he's not going to fight. When a guy takes off his wristwatch, watch out!
Al McGuire
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There's no one who's dropped on top of the mountain. You've got to work your way to the top.
Al McGuire
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If you're straight with your players, they'll be straight with you.
Al McGuire
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They call me eccentric. They used to call me nuts. I haven't changed. The only difference between being eccentric and being nuts is the number of security boxes you own.
Al McGuire
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I don't know why people question the academic training of an athlete. Fifty percent of the doctors in this country graduated in the bottom half of their classes.
Al McGuire
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I had my moment on the stage. The trick in life is to know when to leave.
Al McGuire
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If the waitress has dirty ankles, the chili is good.
Al McGuire
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When I'm losing, they call me nuts. When I'm winning, they call me eccentric.
Al McGuire
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Remember, half the doctors in this country graduated in the bottom half of their class.
Al McGuire