Quotes from Jessica Mendoza

The Olympic Games are the greatest sporting event in the world.

I got my masters in social sciences and education at Stanford, and initially - this is back in 2002 or 2003 when I graduated - I wanted to move to D.C. and work on education reform, specifically with No Child Left Behind.

It started with 'A League of Their Own.' I mean, to me, if you played softball or baseball as a girl growing up, that is the staple movie, like, where girls are portrayed as athletes, and real, like, different, from Madonna, you know, to Geena Davis. I mean, I could quote that movie, every single line.

If you see Michael Johnson running a race, and he beats someone by three strides, that's really dominating, but it's beautiful.

In college, I was failing almost every class I was taking my freshman year. I was having difficulty in managing my time; I was just overwhelmed. Even though I knew I was smart and knew I was good enough, at that point, I doubted all of it because I struggled to handle my sport, classes and social life all at once.

You don't need to be an athlete to enjoy the outdoors.

For Jennie Finch, she's a stud on the field and everyone's going to love her while she's playing, but no one is going to forget her because of the person that she is. That is what she has over almost any other person that's at the top of their sport.

I try not to think about it as much when I'm working, it's more just doing my job, but I realize I have more of a responsibility than probably your everyday analyst.

I think this is a sport where we can really challenge all of ourselves as baseball fans, as baseball players, even the casual viewers. It's just good to think, What can we do that hasn't been done?