Top 140 Quotes & Sayings by Karch Kiraly - Page 2

I informed the team three years before the Olympics that I was retiring from indoor. It's not as if I left six months before the Olympics and left them with a gaping hole to fill. I retired in July of '89. The Olympics were July of '92.

I love beating guys who are younger than me.

I don't think beyond tomorrow or the next day.

I want to accomplish some things on the beach that I haven't been able to before, such as being a part of the best team on the beach in any given summer, racking up the most wins in any given summer.

In many parts of this country, there is still a stigma about volleyball, that it is a sissy game, the one to go out for if you can't win a letter in anything else. People don't realize what a difference there is between the picnic game and the top level.

I'm very happy being able to travel freely and go anywhere I want to.

The Ariake Arena is stunningly beautiful.

I got to play so much more than I ever thought I would.

Somehow after a few vodkas, the language barrier always seems to disappear.

I have a hunger to grow and to learn, so coaching is a natural extension of a lifelong love of the game of volleyball.

People think of beach volleyball as something you just play and have fun. They don't realize there's a lot of discipline involved in playing at this level.

I'm not at my physical peak, but if I can still beat guys, many of whom were born after I won my first tournament, that's a great accomplishment.

I absorbed a lot from my dad. He's very disciplined, very productive, and uses his time well. Those are all things you want when you compete.

If I avoid injury, who knows how long I can go?

We don't like to be forced off our own tour, onto foreign soil, to qualify for our Olympic teams. That's ridiculous.

Our big hope is to get to the Olympics and win the first beach volleyball gold medal - if we can make it.

It's natural to have butterflies, sweaty palms... that's a good sign you're prepared for battle, prepared to take on something difficult.

I really have no long-term goals.

Any beach is more attractive than the inside of any stadium in the world.

I guess I feel that competing well and signing all the autographs and just being available to the fans every weekend is the way I can best promote the sport.

This country just has a different set of priorities. It's the same thing with soccer as with volleyball. If soccer is going to struggle to have a pro league after the most successful World Cup in history, it's even more of a struggle for other sports.

I certainly think it's ironic that beach volleyball was first played in the 1930s in Santa Monica and tournaments of a high caliber have been happening in this country since the 1940s, and the FIVB, for many years, has ignored beach volleyball.

I've heard every pronunciation ever, but the worst was when I was in New York for a radio show at some restaurant. On the door it said, 'Now appearing: Kard Kiard.'

As a player competes less, I would imagine doing promotional work becomes a higher priority.

The actual work of reviewing, teaching and learning is human to human.

There will always be people who think volleyball, at least for boys anyway, is a sport you play when you can't letter in anything else.

Our seasons aren't like most sports, where the climax comes at the end. With us, the Olympics are much more important than anything else.

When I started playing on the beach there was nothing, no prize money at all. I didn't expect there to be any, and I didn't even dream there would ever be money.

It's nice at the beach. You don't have to wear a shirt.

Chicago is one of my favorite cities because it has great sand, weather and an enthusiastic crowd.

I do not wish to be mobbed by people everywhere I go.

I never played on a court or in an actual game until I was 9.

The United States has a superb cadre of coaches, some of the best minds of volleyball ever, and I aspire to join that group.

What better way to make a living than going to the beach?

And I really felt like I would regret never accomplishing my goals on the beach, or missing special moments with my kids, more than I would miss winning a third gold medal.

We'd get right up and go straight to the beach for practice. Afterward, we'd leave on our wringing, dirty clothes and jump in the ocean. Then we'd leave them drying on the beach. That was our laundry break. Then, we'd play all afternoon.

I can help promote the sport best by competing better, rather than playing poorly and losing out in the tournament early.

We surprised ourselves in '84 when we thought we could win a major tournament but hadn't yet until we won the gold medal.

Al was already a legend when I got to campus. You wanted to play for the best? You went to UCLA to play for Al Scates.

Once the ball goes up, nobody's paying attention to what we're wearing.

The beach game taught me great lessons about how to elevate the play of my teammate, or teammates, and how to anticipate and expect the ball so much more than the indoor game ever could. It taught me - even forced me - to be a much better all-around player. That allowed me to help our USA Olympic Team in many more ways than I ever could have otherwise.

I never did. I only prepared to win the next day.

I have adrenaline going and then focus on what I have to do and do it well. I know we'll have a good chance to win the match that way. I don't concern myself with the other team.

No volleyball play can begin without a serve, and the serve is the only technique that is totally under your control. In other endeavors, you cannot succeed without believing in yourself, and that belief is completely under your control.

I had four different colors of hats, one of which was pink. I just got on a roll with the pink hat. So what started out as a superstition grew into a tradition and an easy way for my family to find me at tournaments because I am the only one with cojones big enough to wear a pink hat.

It's a serve and pass game.

Practice like it's competition and compete like it's another day on the practice court.

My general rule, which I have followed throughout my coaching career, is that everyone doesn't necessarily get treated the same way, because I'm not sure that's possible. But everyone has to be treated fairly. Moreover, they have to know and trust that they will be treated fairly. Dennis Green, NFL Coach There's nothing worse than the feeling of wishing you had another chance at a play because you weren't ready. Every athlete has those feelings to mull over, and over, and over... Don't even expose yourself to the possibility of being caught off-guard.

We are all going to fall short. We are going to have some bitter losses, very painful defeats and failures. We have to use those to come back even stronger. That's what makes it sweeter, when we can overcome those and figure out a way to win. The great teams can do that, and those are the gold medal winning teams.

I didn't want to use anything as a crutch and ever have excuses heading into a match.

Playing against better competition makes you better and more focused, so you can do what you have to, to win.

Not everything you're going to do in volleyball - or in life, for that matter - is exciting or fully functional, but if you have the willpower to make each minute count, you'll benefit in some way. And it will make you a better player and a better person in the long run.

I want to be as self-reliant as possible and do it all from within.

It's hard to give a career like this up, when I tell my wife I'm going to the office, and it's the beach.

There's nothing worse than the feeling of wishing you had another chance at a play because you weren't ready. Every athlete has those feelings to mull over, and over and over ... Don't even expose yourself to the possibility to being caught off-guard. ?

The indoor game is much more of a team game, having to work effectively with a group of 15 to 20 people, striving to improve every day, every drill, even every contact. The beach game is much more of an individual game within a team sport, much less about organized practices with coaches and much more about just playing the game.

Physically I'm not as strong as I was, but I try to make up for it mentally. It's a big challenge, and I relish it, competing with guys half my age.

Volleyball is not like a formula so we must give players some freedom.

When you’ve done everything you can to train yourself for competition, you’ll sleep well when the tournament is over, win or lose.

Most people put a hat and glasses on to go incognito. I take them off.