Quotes from Mike Lupica

Michael still thought of Havana as home, because he was born there. And he had been Miguel Arroya there. Here, he was Michael.

It's like they take poison and then hope for the other person to die.

We'd be fools not to.

For this one night, the less he cared, the more he made.

ten-thirty in the morning, being free

great coaches are the ones who take their belief in their players and get the players to believe in themselves.

Will was pretty sure that the only successful business in Forbes was the one that printed the "For Sale" signs.

But Rao's sauce, as always, saved the day. Jesse had long since stopped calling it gravy, what his Italian mother had called it when he was growing up, and it had so often been just the two of them eating like this at the kitchen table.

What had him smiling was that Chris Conlan had called him his best friend.

Nick wasn't sure what he thought about

I had managed to live this long not knowing any Russians, not really, and yet now my life was crawling with them, like I was an election they wanted to hack.

I'm never going to understand girls.

The coach who yells at refs? I'm never gonna be that guy.

Pedro had two private places he liked best, places where he was completely happy to be alone with a basketball, places where he did his

The six-game schedule would begin in two weeks, one game against each of the other seven teams in their league.

nobody goes through life undefeated

i.mpossible.

Evil is smart, boy. Never forget that." Zach was certain he wouldn't.

Zach Harriman was home. Not worried about watching his back now. Just thinking that the Bads better watch theirs. He wasn't worried about them chasing him, not anymore. From now on, he was chasing them.

Practice with a purpose. Practice like you play.

Sometimes what mattered most in sports was overcoming something. It brought out the best in you.

Her shit, Jesse liked to tell himself, had finally come in.

Sometimes not giving up has consequences.

The key to real happiness in this world is appreciating what you have, and knowing what you want. Everything else is just noise.