A. E. Housman on sports

Loveliest of trees, the cherry now
Is hung with bloom along the bough

When I was one-and-twenty
I heard him say again,
‘The heart out of the bosom
Was never given in vain;
‘T is paid with sighs a plenty
And sold for endless rue.’
And I am two-and-twenty,
And oh, ‘t is true, ‘t is true.

Golf is a good walk spoiled.

I was gonna rip his heart out. I’m the best ever. I’m the most brutal and vicious, the most ruthless champion there has ever been. No one can stop me. Lennox is a conqueror? No! He’s no Alexander! I’m Alexander! I’m the best ever. I’m Sonny Liston. I’m Jack Dempsey. There’s never been anyone like me. I’m from their cloth. There is no one who can match me. My style is impetuous, my defense is impregnable, and I’m just ferocious. I want his heart! I want to eat his children! Praise be to Allah!

Mike Tysonborn 1966Interview with Jim Gray (2000).

You teach me baseball and I’ll teach you relativity…no we must not. You will learn about relativity faster than I learn baseball.

Albert Einstein1879–1955

• Baseball