sportspeople-from-san-diego

"'It's the best feeling to help survivors of health setbacks live out their dreams of physical adventure. My friends think I'm crazy, but quitting is not an option!'"

"'In the middle of the night I did have a moment of crisis. I couldn't keep my balance on the board and worried the muscles supporting my hip replacements weren't up for the job."

"“And I learned that when people leave their egos at the starting line in pursuit of a common goal and form a deep and genuine connection to one another along the way—otherwise known as human synergy—they create a beautiful and unstoppable force that can handle whatever the winds, the mountains, the rivers and the jungles throw their way.”"

"Being an Athena, you’re not just a survivor, you’re an adventurer,” Benincasa said. “We give them a different label to put on themselves, and it’s something they become on their way to the finish line.”"

"You don't inspire your teammates by showing them how amazing you are. You inspire them by showing them how amazing they are."

"I learned many lessons from my first race with my heroes. I learned it was easier to breathe when I cried, so I cried often and without shame. I learned that a teammate's faith in you can propel you up any mountain. I learned that winning requires an entirely different mind-set than not losing. I learned that the best teams in the world share not only their strengths but also their weaknesses. I learned that you don't inspire your teammates by showing them how amazing you are. You inspire them by showing them how amazing they are."

"I find the best thing to do is look at what you still can do, instead of what you can't. I can't run very far anymore because of my condition, but that lead to me to something I love even more - the sport of paddling,'"

"I did this for all of the amazing women I know who are recovering from medical setbacks. I want to show what's possible when you choose not to focus on what you've lost, but on being the best of what you are today,'"

"We don’t achieve the greatest heights by stepping on the backs of our opponents, but rather by putting our teammates on our shoulders.”"

"“Great leaders embrace their setbacks as a chance to learn,”"

"The secret to long-term success is to work as a team,” Benincasa said. “The greatest results happen when people connect.”"

"“Maybe somebody always wanted to run a 10K but got cancer, and now they need the motivation to not let that dream fade,” she said. “It’s not about the setback, it’s about the comeback.”"

"I always found a way to get through whatever it was, so I pretended it wasn’t happening for a little while. And then I was being rolled into surgery for my first hip replacement.”"

"“I was in shock, because my body had never betrayed me before,”"

"Very often people are saying, ‘OK, I survived. But now what?’ ” , the nonprofit’s founder. “We want to be that now what.”"

"If there's anyone out there who has taken extreme to a new level, its Joe De Sena - in adventure racing, in business, and ultimately in the business of adventure! Spartan Up! is must-read."

"The most gratifying thing is the moment when you see someone realize they’re going to make it, when you see the fear disappear … and they realize how awesome they are.”"

"“We often hear, ‘What else can I do?’ It gives them a whole new perspective,” Benincasa said. “It’s not about trying to get back what you were, it’s about trying to be the best of what you’re capable of today, this minute.”"

"Today was a tough day. It was going to be a war of attrition and I knew that from the gun. I figured if we're going to hurt we might as well run fast."

"I think it was the best race for me. I got everything out of myself so I'm very pleased."

"At this point in my career I enter each race with a heightened sense of urgency and have become very selective in what races I'm willing to commit my time and energy to."

"I’m not an emotional person, but today was huge for me, I’m really proud of myself. You don’t get those moments too often, so I’m going to soak it in, be happy, then go back to being a competitor and try to take that next leap forward in racing down Boylston again. Today’s just as big as 2011 for me."

"The nights those guys aren't going good and Bill Walton's needed to do something else, he'll do that. He's the most unselfish star player I ever saw [']."

"I’ve had 37 orthopedic operations. I ground my feet up into dust. I’ve got a new knee. I‘ve got a new spine. I’m the lucky one... I never thought going through all of it that I would be healthy at the end. And I almost wasn’t."

"As usual, the vegetarian tiger played as if he had dined on red meat all week: as if he had slept sweetly and spent all his waking hours on the practice court: as if his knees were made of steel cables; as if his only icons were the ball and the hoop."

"When future basketball Hall-of-Famer Bill Walton was winning NBA championships for the Portland Trail Blazers and others, he was the best-known vegetarian in sports. A 1974 Time magazine article dubbed him “Basketball’s Vegetarian Tiger.” But folks wondered how he had such stamina without eating meat. He answered critics saying the vegetarian diet made him stronger. A recent study 40-some years later bolsters his claim."

"I've got a lot of experience with eating and with fasting. Part of the reason people fast, especially in a spiritual and religious context, is to understand that you don't need food as much as you think you do. … The main source of energy is the sun. … the energy we get from food is energy plants have metabolized through photosynthesis and then some animal eats it and it goes into the animal's tissue and then we eat their tissue. There are other ways to access energy. … The religions are many, but God is one. I believe based on what I've studied, all religions say the same thing but in different ways."

"I wouldn’t eat a chicken if it dropped dead in front of me holding up a sign that said, ‘Eat Me.’"

"[Vegetarianism] changed my game, and it changed my body. I had tons of energy."

"I'm talkin about Mountain Dews, baby!"

"It was so gnarly, dude, and I'd been on his show a couple times, so I basically figured we were homies. I yelled over to him, and I was like, 'Yo, Reg, what up?' And then get this: He called me the Red Onion! Dude, it was so epic. It was totally rad.""

"I hope somebody hits .400 soon. Then people can start pestering that guy with questions about the last guy to hit .400."

"If you don't think too good, don't think too much."

"A kid copies what is good. I remember the first time I saw Lefty O'Doul, and he was as far away as those palms. And I saw the guy come to bat in batting practice. I was looking through a knothole, and I said, "Geez, does that guy look good!" And it was Lefty O'Doul, one of the greatest hitters ever."

"Any pitcher throwing sinkers and hard sliders."

"A man has to have goals — for a day, for a lifetime — and that was mine, to have people say, "There goes Ted Williams, the greatest hitter who ever lived.""

"Batting coaches are just as important as pitching coaches. Lefty O'Doul gave me good advice when he said: "Don't ever let them change you." I also asked for help from Cobb, Foxx and Hornsby."

"Why do they cheer me for hitting a homer and then boo me for grounding out the next time up. I'm still the same guy, ain't I? They can all go to hell. I'll never tip my cap to them."

"The unbelievable part about the Babe, of course, was that he hit only 34 homers in the first two-thirds of the season and then smacked 26 homers in the final third. Wow! What a way to finish!"

"If I'm gonna be a champion, I want to win as a champion. I'm staying in to the end."

"You know why that's my favorite hit? Well, they say that the only other two players who ever hit one over there were Ruth and Gehrig. But now they have to say "only Ruth, Gehrig and Williams ever hit one over there.' Yes sir, that's putting the old string bean in some pretty fast company when they say that."

"Gee, I wish I could play here just one season just to see what I could do."

"Hmmm... wait until Foxx sees me hit."

"I sure have. I'd like to break every hitting record in the books. When I walk down the street, I'd like for them to say, "There goes Ted Williams, the best hitter in baseball.""

"If we were choosing sides and every player was in the pool my first pick would be Whitey Ford and my second would be Ted Williams. Beyond that there would be just too many and I would be afraid of leaving somebody out. Besides, with Whitey on the mound and Williams in the lineup, the rest of the team wouldn't much matter; we'd still beat just about anybody."

"For my money, Ted Williams is the greatest hitter of all-time. I'd take him over Ruth, I'd take him over Cobb. I'd take him over Cobb because of the combination of power and average. I'd take him over Ruth because with Ruth, you can only speculate about what he would have done in the modern era. Ted Williams hit .388 at the age of 39 in 1957. He was what few of us ever become; he was exactly what he set out to be. He said he wanted to be able to walk down the street some day and have people say "There goes the greatest hitter who ever lived". And if they don't say that, it's only because they don't know what they're talking about."

"If he'd tip his cap just once, he could be elected mayor of Boston in five minutes. I don't think he will ever do it."

"Williams is one batter I thought would break my lifetime batting average of .367. If he'd learned to hit to left, Ted would have broken every record in the book."