A Quote by Charles Oakley
When I first got into this league, I knew a lot. But I made myself better by listening and working hard.
Related Quotes
I think when I came into the league, I had to find something that would keep me around. I knew I wasn't going to get the ball a lot, being the younger guy on my team. I knew I wasn't going to play a lot unless I made some sort of impact on the floor. I wasn't the best shot blocker, so I said, 'Let's be the best rebounder the league has ever seen.'
I knew that was going to be the last chance to play in the Champions League final - I was desperate to win, I put a lot of pressure on myself. Finally I got hold of that cup - it was the defining moment of my career. I got really emotional and nearly fainted on the pitch.
People think my career started when I sent that tape to Renaissance. I’d actually been working hard for seven years before I got to that point. I was putting on parties and booking DJs around me to get my name on the flyer. I knew I had to do it for myself. I knew no one was going to come knocking on my door. I knew it was up to me.
I cried after the game when we won the league - it was hugely special to me. The first season we came second and got to the Champions League semifinal, and I knew I needed to come back and win with Chelsea.
That's one thing I pride myself on is working hard in the weight room, working hard in practice, trying to become a better player.
I know my Dad's a National League guy. I'm an American League guy. I tell him all the time we got better hitters. He's like well we got better pitchers. I'm like cause you all got those easy outs at the end.
My talent in playing football was not the highest but I was very hard-working, interested to learn and get better, and this focus made me better and better.
I know how I could beat myself: by not being disciplined, by slacking, by not dedicating myself to my craft, by not working hard, by not listening, by thinking I know it all - short like that.
I remember listening to the radio as a kid and finding that the songs always made me feel more peaceful. Funny, but the more hurtin' the music was, the better it made me feel. I think of that now when I write my songs. I may not be feelin' the blues myself, but I'm writing them for other people who have a hard life.
I believe I can bring a lot because I am totally different to a lot of people in the Premier League. That is the way I have seen it and I will continue to keep plugging away and working hard.
It was hard when my mother left us. I said to myself: 'You must keep working hard for her.' She was a teacher, a big influence. She made me work harder. So when I'm not doing something right or when I'm not playing or working hard enough, I remember what she used to say to me. She gets me moving. She pushed me to work hard.
Since I came on the tour so young and I won my first match, I've had a lot of comments like 'You'll be a top player one day.' I got to the point where, as nice as it was to hear that, I almost stopped listening to it. I was almost putting added pressure on myself.
Most of my life, everybody made more money than I did at the places I worked. In fact, when I've been an employee, I have never been anywhere close to being the highest paid person there, never. I was working hard. I was working hard. I was doing things I didn't want to do, that I thought I should do. I was getting up every day, going to work, did not phone in sick. Striving. Trying to get ahead, you know, doing what Obama says, working hard and applying myself and trying to get ahead. There was always somebody, there were always a lot of people that earned more than I did.
When I went to auditions, if I didn't know the lines, I wasn't getting the job. If I knew my lines, if I knew what I was supposed to be doing, I got the job. And it was always like that - if I'm working hard, I get the result that I'm looking for.
I got down on myself a lot, but the D-League gave me a chance to get that confidence back.
My own father had always said the measure of a man wasn't how many times or how hard he got knocked down, but how fast he got back up. I made a pledge to myself that I would get up and emerge from this debacle better for having gone through it. I would live up to the expectation I had for myself. I would be the kind of man I wanted to be.
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