Tournament Quotations | Page 4

I'd much rather go into this tournament after winning the Big East, but now that we haven't, I think what we will take from that is gaining a little bit of hunger and the understanding that we can get beat by anybody.

I'd like to see another 15-year-old girl -- or a 15-year-old in general -- do that. There's not many guys in this tournament who can hit that shot.

I didn't care if I scored a career high or no points at all. All I wanted was the win. Now I'm excited to go to the conference tournament and find out who we have to play.

I don't know that we ever go into a tournament that much under the radar. But if that's the case then this year would be certainly as close to that as I've seen in a while.

I don't know where we're going, but you've got to look up. The NCAA tournament obviously is in jeopardy. If we want to be there, then we've just got to play.

I don't care about seeding, they can seed us anywhere. We just wanted to get to the NCAA Tournament and play the best that we can play. People who complain about seeds probably are doomed to lose very quickly. It's like complaining about the officials. You can't do anything about them, so you do the best you can.

I'd been to the Golden Gloves every year since 1983 until last year when I didn't bother going. The last few years it has been such a dry tournament with no interest. My first year in the Gloves there were 16 guys in my weight class. That hasn't happened in years. Last year my weight class had one guy. Some weight classes had nobody. When you go from 16 guys in weight classes to nobody, you have a problem.

I can honestly say I never thought I would say that I actually win a tournament using my head. But honestly this weekend, I think I won this tournament playing smart golf, using course management and staying patient. I mean, somebody is going to have to find out when the last time somebody won a tournament making one birdie on the weekend. That may have never happened before in the history of golf, by the way.

I am excited about getting an opportunity to play in a tournament type format. Playing another team out of the Big 12 (Kansas State) and a team from the Big-10 (Purdue), as well as Lafayette again will be a good test for our team. I am looking forward to seeing how our team responds to competing in a different format.

I am disappointed because the chance to win a tournament was right here.

I am completely focused on accepting the things I can not change, and I can not change the weather and player injuries. But when we have the luxury and privilege of having a combined men?s and women?s tournament for the first time, and we have a Connecticut native who is on his way back up after some struggles, who brings a group of fans who give this stadium an almost-Davis Cup feel, I feel lucky. I feel grateful.

I am a little surprised to be leading the tournament after an even-par round today. Everybody was moving up and down today. I'm just enjoying the moment.

I am a little disappointed. However, the tournament was just to 'get the rust off' and get back into the competitive mindset. I have high expectations for this weekend, as I know that we have the ability to beat all the teams there.

I am going to Gulf Shores to spend the week with some friends. But I can't go until Tuesday night because we have a baseball tournament Monday and Tuesday. I can't wait. This is a big week for us.

I am headed to the World Amateur Championships in Myrtle Beach, ... I will be leaving next Sunday and the tournament goes from late August to early September.

I am extremely happy with the playing (on Saturday). This was a tournament we thought that we could win. We came off a hard game against Carbondale, we were pumped up and we were mad about losing - we were pumped up (Saturday).

I am extremely disappointed to still feel the affects of the final match in Indianapolis. I'd be doing the tournament and myself a disservice to go out there at 50 percent. I'm going to take a few days to recover and prepare for the ATP Masters Series events.

I am just amazed at what Rees Jones has done with nature. His genius, along with the advice he gets from others, is one professional accomplishment. I think the Houston Golf Association is brilliant for hiring him, and we're proud to put our name on this course, to have a tournament on this course.

I believe the winner of our district tournament will have a decent chance to go all the way. Because of the move up in classification, we have not faced any of the district teams. We only know St. Petersburg and Palm Harbor have great teams.

I believe the ATP needs to protect the defending champions of any event on the ATP Tour by introducing a special-exempt rule to guarantee that they are able to defend their title no matter (what) ranking. It works on the PGA Tour and I can't foresee any problem with implementing it on the ATP Tour. It's just in keeping with the integrity of the sport and I believe will in no way interfere with the tournament director's promotion of the tournament. It may even be of benefit.

I beat him at the Dvorak Tournament and he beat me in a triangular meet. I knew he was going to start gassing so I just had to keep pushing him to get him gassed a little bit earlier. I feel a lot better with how I'm doing here this year compared to last year.

I am so happy that they got their first tournament win and they made history tonight. I hope we can make more history as they go farther and farther down the road.

I am really happy because I finally won a tournament after two years, ... I had been playing well but, for some reason, I couldn't win a tournament.

I am surprised with what I have done but I have been pretty confident since the tournament started,

I am very excited about the opportunity to defend the United States' title during a tournament as prestigious as the World Cup of Hockey, which features the best players our sport has to offer. I look forward to working with USA Hockey to assemble another potential championship team.

I am very disappointed for Jason. It is always tough to miss time with an injury, but when it happens during the stretch run and around conference tournament time it is a big let down.

I apologize to the team, to the coaches, the university and the fans for my violation of a team rule. I accept the coach's decision to be suspended from the Pac-10 Tournament. I wish the team well and hope for its success. I'm looking forward to participating in the NCAA Tournament if Arizona is invited.

I anticipate this district tournament to be a very competitive tournament. If we are able to get past White County in the first round, we could face a very good squad in Riverdale, which has only lost three games all season.

I anticipate a hard game. We know what Radford does. Radford knows what we do. The team that rebounds is going to be the team that puts itself in a great position to win. And in tournament play, you've got to have players step up and make shots. If you don't have players make shots, it's hard to win in tournament play.

Certainly it's an honor to be a member of Augusta National, and the tournament is important to the club. But I've got a commitment here to the race team, especially this year with Kurt being new on the team.

But this new tournament has given us something new to aim for.

But it's not the end of our season. The teams we play in the tournament will be as tough if not tougher, and we've got to be better prepared.

Buffett invited me to a golf tournament in Omaha and I went to play in it, and we became friends. And he invited me to his stockholders meeting.

Because we had the nucleus of our team win that tournament two years ago -- the juniors and seniors right now were freshmen and sophomores -- I worry about that being more of a negative than a positive. These kids have recognized that they've already done that.

Because those involved in the '98 and '99 tournaments set such a high standard, obviously we want to do the tournament justice. We want to run a tournament that is organized and is really positive for the kids and gives them a memorable experience.

Imagine what we can do if we took this tournament to 1.3 million people as opposed to just Greensboro. There's a huge market for this golf tournament that's just waiting to be tapped into.

I'm always a lot into the matches. She's a top player. She stepped up her game. It's a learning process and you get experience every match. I'm relieved. It was my final tournament of the season and I'm tired.

I have a lot of tournament experience, but I'm always nervous on the first tee. I settled down quickly. Nerves disappear when you're hitting the ball that well. I'm hitting every club perfectly and I just have to concentrate on my short game. I'm ready. I want to go.

I have always said that if I am healthy, competitive enough, and can contribute to the tournament by being a part of the field, then the Memorial Tournament is the one event I would like to play,

I have been looking forward to this tournament for a while, and I'm very satisfied with where I'm at.

I have been getting stronger as the tournament went on and I felt good today in the second set again.

I have been around this tournament for 13 years and I can't remember it ever being cut short. But typically, one tournament a year will be cut short.

I have a ton of respect for them. They are really good. But this league is also really balanced and at a conference tournament on a neutral floor, anyone is capable of beating anyone.

I hate this a lot because I'm a native of Raleigh and I grew up watching the Glaxo tournament come through its infancy. But we do have Charlotte kids on our roster and they would prefer to play in Charlotte, and it's about the kids.

I felt mentally good enough to achieve that. Now I have to go to (next week's Masters Series tournament in) Paris where the conditions are completely different.

I felt I should've won this tournament by quite a few strokes, ... But this weekend I putted bad, and that's that.

I feel this is my hometown tournament and one in which I have always looked forward to playing. My back is just not ready yet for competition.

I feel the team as a whole realizes how important this is, getting these home games and try to put ourselves in a good position so we can get an NCAA Tournament bid.

I feel like I can go with anybody in the country, but at the same time there's so many tough guys in the weight class that anything can happen; it's just who worked the hardest during the season and who wants it the most in the national tournament. Somebody could run through the (NCAA) tournament killing everybody, but I don't think that's going to happen.

If I'm up two sets to one and a break, I'm not going to start getting ahead of myself, thinking, 'This is Andre Agassi, the legend, I'm going to beat,' ... I'm just going to try to keep the same maturity and the same focus and perspective I've had so far this tournament and this whole year.

If I play more golf and feel competitive, it's going to be on the regular tour. I don't see myself adjusting my schedule for senior tournament golf.

I feel good about our chances. We're playing well. It's important to go into the tournament at full strength and with some momentum.

I feel good about our chances going into this tournament based on our team. If we end up playing on Sunday for that championship, I think our confidence is going to be the biggest thing. And passion, heart. We've got so much on this team, it's incredible.

I feel pretty good about our position as far as the NCAA tournament goes. But every game is an opportunity to improve your position. Every game is an opportunity to improve your overall team play. Hopefully we haven't peaked yet.

I feel like I got knocked out Day One, ... The difference in a tournament as large as this is that you have to pace yourself. I just tried to play like I was in a side game. You know it's the World Series of Poker, but it's just difficult to stay that intense for seven days.

I feel like we took a couple of steps backward in the direction of our season. But we still have a couple of weeks left. There's still a long way to go between now and the state tournament and I'm confident the kids can come back and play the way we are capable of playing.

I feel like it's anybody's tournament. The team that wins the tournament is the team that can play aggressively and make some big shots.

I did mention to Kevin before the game that his state tournament career started with Desert knocking us out in the quarters. He didn't want it to end that way.

I didn't have great expectations when I got here. But I've felt better and better as the tournament has gone on.

I can't remember ever losing a tournament game at Shelby.

I can't recall when we last closed due to snow. We came close last year during one of the state tournament weeks on March 18.

I can't really believe it happened so fast. I watched the tournament when I was a little kid, the whole time wondering when it was going to be my turn, and it is.

Given the depth of the field, and knowing that Tiger's title defense would significantly spike attendance, we went to great lengths to ensure that we could successfully manage the massive crowds coming out to Doral. To have 265,000 golf fans turn out over a two-year period, for what has become one of the premiere events on the PGA TOUR, is a testament to just how big of a family event this tournament has become in South Florida.

Getting to the state tournament was what we were working for. Our goal was never the streak; it was to win the state championship. Playing those teams definitely made us better, and that's why coach (Bob Vaughan) scheduled those games.

Getting to the state tournament has always been tough. Being there for the third year in a row is a testament to our kids in the program -- they've all worked hard to get there.

Getting to the NCAA Tournament is so special. It's like our football team getting to their first bowl game. It opens a lot of doors. And there's nothing like the first time.

Getting the seven wins was a great start to the day. We were in second place after the first session, but unfortunately the tournament doesn't end until (today).

Getting beat in our own tournament was definitely embarrassing.

Getting a win in this year's tournament was huge for us. It was a definite improvement from last season.

Free-throw shooting is a lost art. It's not as good as it once was, and maybe it is because coaches are limited with how much time they can dedicate to free throws in practice and kids don't really work on them on their own as much as they should. Foul shots aren't flashy, but they certainly win games, and we try to stress that to our guys. Especially at tournament time.

Franklin High is here and Amity added some tough kids. Look at New Milford. They were second last year and they're fourth this year. Fourth with a good team that is top 10 in the state. We added some tough teams to the tournament this year.

For sports fans, watching events like this weekend's Super Bowl or the upcoming March Madness tournament in crystal clear HD is the next best thing to being in the front row.

From number seven on I played very well. I knew just to stay in the tournament I would need to shoot three- or four-under. Fortunately, a 66 was good enough on a very demanding golf course.

From my perspective, the pressure is off. This season we came in knowing that next year we're going to be 1B and it's going to be a completely different format. We've been to state seven straight, so in the back of the kids' minds I think they didn't want to be the group to miss out on the last year the tournament is in Spokane.

From a tournament standpoint that will be it for me,

From what I've heard, Colorado Academy has a good team. They have some girls who went to the state tournament last year. Most of the Denver teams are good. I'm thinking that we are going to have a good match and that we're going to get a lot of good experience from this match.

I don't think about the NBA. Getting to the NCAA Tournament is what I think about. If coach (Wayne Morgan) recommends I go to the NBA, then it will happen. I wouldn't know. I just play.

I don't remember anyone making such an impact on a tournament since Pele in the 1958 World Cup in Sweden,

If anybody saw (the Memphis game) and knows we've beaten Arizona and LSU, if they don't think we're a tournament team, then they don't know basketball. I've taken worse teams than this to the Sweet 16. I don't think I have to lobby for it.

I don't think we understood what it took. We haven't been in that situation - since I have been here - in a game situation like that, where you are playing to go to Nationals and in a conference tournament championship. We haven't been in a game of that importance. So it was very good for us to be put in that situation.

I don't think you win or lose this tournament off the tee. I mean, it's all around the greens.

I expect a thrilling tournament as the championship is set to feature some of the best volley countries on the continent.

If accommodations have to be made, they'll have to be made in how the tournament is scheduled.

I enjoy being back. Just every tournament is a new one, and right now I really am happy to be playing and at that level again.

I don't think I've had back-to-back doubles in a long, long time. But it's very easy to do it out there. I was happy that I hung in there. I did not give up. You cannot win the tournament today; I wanted to make sure I didn't lose the tournament today.

I don't think I've ever played in a golf tournament with so many people rooting against me. It's hard when you know the crowd's not pulling for you.

I don't think I've ever had back-to-back doubles for a long, long time. I'm happy that I hung in there. I didn't give up. I cannot win the tournament today. I just made sure I wasn't going to lose too many shots.

I don't think one win or one loss puts you in or takes you out. I really don't believe it works that way. I think the thing that is helpful for us and healthy for us is to focus on what's in front of us. If we can somehow put together a terrific effort and win that first game, then I can say it doesn't hurt our chances for making the NCAA tournament field.

From the beginning, there was going to be a reshuffling of the deck and we were going to be playing lot of young kids. I knew we might struggle early, but if we could develop as we went, we might be a good team come tournament time. Based on the way we've played the last couple of weeks, I think we've done that.

For me there is enough stress in four rounds of a golf tournament that on Tuesday, you don't want any stress at all.

For us, this means a lot. We are a baseball country. I think this tournament will show who we are, how good at baseball we really are.

Give those kids credit. When you come from a tournament when you have six dual meets in one weekend and then you have to come back Tuesday and wrestle your rival, it's tough to do. Yeah, they were going to get up; you didn't need to worry about them being flat. But they had a long weekend. Those kids had to come back and make weight. Give them a lot of credit for what they did and what they accomplished. We came out and did what we had to do. We just came up a little bit short.

If it had happened again this year, I think it would have been a negative. For that one year, it was a neat story. Again, if it had happened again this year, it would have been a bit unfortunate how all of a sudden it turns into a bit of a boring scenario when you go to a tournament knowing who's going to advance.

If it was any other tournament and I hadn't shot 64 in the first round I might not be quite so determined. I don't want to give the trophy away too easily.

If it's their first tournament game, some kids do have the butterflies in the stomach. The guys that have been there before, it doesn't faze them.

If it stays pretty dry out there, the tournament is still won and lost on the greens. Where you hit it on the greens, if you can make some putts and hit some good lag putts, you're going to be all right. The greens, I still think, make the whole golf course.

I go into every tournament expecting to win. It was a little tougher here with the cross country travel, but I try to block all that out and just keep my mind and body at an even keel.

If we win the game, we'll go onto the Final Four tournament this weekend in Portland, Maine.

If the tournament started tomorrow, I think we?d be all right. But there?s still three weeks. Our main focus is just to remain sharp.

If we looked at how many guys had the 36-hole lead and won the tournament last year, it probably wouldn't be a great number. Still, it's a good position to be in.