43 Quotes by Al McGuire
Al McGuire was a successful college basketball coach and analyst, known for his colorful personality and unorthodox coaching style. He led the Marquette Golden Eagles to a national championship in 1977 and later became a well-respected sports commentator, known for his witty commentary and off-beat observations. McGuire was a larger-than-life figure in the world of basketball, inspiring generations of players and coaches with his passion, humor, and unwavering dedication to the sport. (Bio)
Al McGuire Quotes
The only mystery in life is why the kamikaze pilots wore helmets. (Meaning)
I think everyone should go to college and get a degree and then spend six months as a bartender and six months as a cabdriver. Then they would really be educated.
Help one kid at a time. He’ll maybe go back and help a few more.
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.
My rule was I wouldn’t recruit a kid if he had grass in front of his house. That’s not my world. My world has a cracked sidewalk.
Winning is overrated. The only time it is really important is in surgery and war. (Meaning)
A team should be an extension of a coach’s personality. My teams are arrogant and obnoxious.
Life is what you allow yourself not to see.
Remember, half the doctors in this country graduated in the bottom half of their class.
You can always tell the Catholic schools by the length of the cheerleaders’ skirts.
If the waitress has dirty ankles, the chili is good.
Keep it simple, when you get too complex you forget the obvious.
Don’t call me son unless you’re going to include me in your will. (When Adolph Rupp called him, “Son.”)
Don’t be just another guy going down the street and going nowhere.
There’s no one who’s dropped on top of the mountain. You’ve got to work your way to the top.
Our guys took Shop and Advanced Shop. Shop is when you make a chair. Advanced Shop is when you paint it.
Live every day as if it were Saturday night.
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.
The world is run by C students
The next time I will cry is when I die. My life has been that beautiful.
If winning weren’t important nobody would keep score.
When a guy takes off his coat, he’s not going to fight. When a guy takes off his wristwatch, watch out!
When I was losing, they called me nuts. When I was winning they called me eccentric.
The best thing about freshmen is that they become sophomores.
It’s a profession in which, the longer you stay, the closer you are to being fired.
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.
Dean Meminger was quicker than 11:15 Mass at a seaside resort.
All love affairs end. Eventually the girl is gonna put curlers in her hair.
Every obnoxious fan has a wife at home that dominates him.
On how to make the game more exciting – Eliminate the referees, raise the basket four feet, double the size of the basketball, limit the height of the players to 5 feet 9 inches, bring back the centre jump, allow taxi drivers in for free and allow the players to carry guns.
I come from New York where, if you fall down, someone will pick you up by your wallet.
That’s it. Curtains. Off to the races. Treetops. Seashells and balloons.
I’m an Einstein of the streets and an Oxford scholar of common sense.
I don’t think any decent human being enjoys recruiting.
I had my moment on the stage. The trick in life is to know when to leave.
You measure a player from the head up.
God didn’t miss any of us.
We rush for the stars as we crawl toward our graves.
Live in the moment that you are in.
Make your life exciting. Do what you have to do as long as you don’t hurt people.
I let ballplayers yell back at me because I wasn’t trying to prove I’m boss. I know I’m boss.
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.
Can’t win without talent, you know.
― Al McGuire Quotes
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Tal Gur is an impact-driven creator at heart. After trading his daily grind for a life of his own design, he spent a decade pursuing 100 life goals around the globe. Tal's journey and recent book, The Art of Fully Living, inspired him to found Elevate Society.
