THE BEST SPORTS QUOTES OF 2015
JANUARY:
27: "I'm here so I won't get fined." - Seattle Seahawks running back MARSHAWN LYNCH'S response to all 29 of the questions he was asked at the pre-Super Bowl media opportunity. He wasn't fined.
27: "The number one thing that you should remember is that my story stays exactly the same as the way I told it." Golfer ROBERT ALLENBY denies any wrongdoing after his abduction claims in Hawaii.
FEBRUARY
5: "Champions of Asia? It's a big call, Asia's got a lot of people." 2SM broadcaster JOHN LAWS to Tim Cahill after the Socceroos won the Asian Cup. The line went dead immediately.
22: "I am thoroughly sick of standing in front of cameras to defend this club when it comes to off-field matters. It's not why I took on this job." Gold Coast CEO GRAHAM ANNESLEY echoes the frustrations of all Titans fans after a number of players are embroiled in a cocaine scandal.
MARCH
11: "When it comes to understanding the policy about he whose name you cannot mention - let's call him Voldemort - I clearly understand the policy, paragraph 31 sub-clause two, that comment means just that. So you can't say anything nice about them. You can't say anything positive about them. You can't say anything about the Voldemorts and you just can't comment." - DES HASLER shows an incredible knowledge of Harry Potter while commenting on the NRL's new policy banning coaches from talking about referees.
29: "We are still thinking about him, we are still talking about him and we always will. We believe we played this World Cup with 16 players in our squad and that will continue for the rest of my career." - MICHAEL CLARKE dedicates Australia's Cricket World Cup victory to the late Phillip Hughes.
29: "Are you feeling thirsty?" - SHANE WARNE to almost every Australian player following their Cricket World Cup win.
APRIL
7: "Would the AFL say that you can steal a car once and you can steal a car twice, but on the third time you steal a car we're actually going to (do something?). It just doesn't make sense. It's illogical to me that you can promote something that's illegal." - Melbourne coach PAUL ROOS on the AFL's three-strike drug policy. The policy was amended in October.
10: "His voice was even more present than the chirping of the cicadas in our suburbs and towns and that voice, tragically, is now still." - Prime Minister TONY ABBOTT conveys his emotions on the death of Richie Benaud.
16: "Some people got some geography lessons last night, found out some countries they probably didn't think existed." - ANGE POSTECOGLOU after the Socceroos drew Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan in their World Cup qualifying group.
17: "Have I been a good father? To my son, I had a disconnect because of footy. I just immersed myself, got consumed and was selfish with as much time I committed to footy ... I lost that connection and I'm trying to reconnect with my son, which I have done." - PHIL WALSH in a chilling interview with News Corp Australia. Walsh's son, Cy, allegedly murdered the Adelaide coach just two-and-a-half months later.
MAY
9: "Basically, you've got to be like a midget in a urinal - you've got to be on your toes." - NICK CUMMINS explains how the Western Force will try to beat the Waratahs. Thanks Nick.
30: "The Indigenous All Stars game might not even happen again, so to do that war cry (last night), that might be my only opportunity. I was just grateful to be able to do it and for the right people to embrace it for what it was. And everybody else take a chill pill." - ADAM GOODES on his indigenous war dance goal celebration which began a turbulent time for the Sydney Swans star.
JUNE
3: "I understand one thing: this probably doesn't look very honourable, the actions I've taken over the last 48 hours, and I understand that." - DALY CHERRY-EVANS after announcing he would backflip on a multi-million dollar deal with the Gold Coast Titans to sign a lifetime contract with Manly.
9: "I didn't get carried out on a chariot, but on a medivac - that's how it ended." Carlton legend CHRIS JUDD after a knee injury ended his 279-game AFL career.
10: "He gives us everything until the tank is empty. He even has a small little reserve tank." Cleveland Cavaliers' LEBRON JAMES on Aussie teammate Matthew Dellavedova, who starred through the NBA finals series.
17: "AT LEAST WE'RE NOT DRUG CHEATS." The Courier-Mail's back page on the morning of Origin II, emblazoned over a photo of NSW captain Paul Gallen.
JULY
4: "It's like saying: Here, Pat, here's a salary. They are giving him a budget. He doesn't know what he's doing. What's his job? (They're saying): Deal with it, Pat. You're the mask." - Part of BERNARD TOMIC'S tirade against Pat Rafter and other senior Tennis Australia figures after losing in the third round of Wimbledon.
7: "If they don't like it, go back to where their fathers or their parents came from. We don't need them here in this country if they act like that." - DAWN FRASER on Bernard Tomic and Nick Kyrgios.
8: "You're the worst halfback NSW have ever seen at Origin level. If you want to touch the shield, your best chance is to go up and touch the Wally Lewis statue out the front of the stadium. I'll take the picture, that will be the closest you get to the shield in your lifetime." - JOHNATHAN THURSTON'S alleged sledge on NSW halfback Mitchell Pearce in State of Origin III.
21: "To walk away from that, I'm just stoked." Australian surfer MICK FANNING after being attacked by a shark while competing in South Africa.
21: "At first I was frozen. Mick was looking at me, a big old fish popped up behind him. It was a lot bigger than him. I saw him start to get kind of manhandled by the shark and I was kind of freaking out." - Fellow Australian surfer JULIAN WILSON reflects on seeing Fanning get attacked by a shark. Wilson went on to help Fanning escape.
29: "For people to say it's not racist ... What else can it be? They are booing someone who is a dual Brownlow medallist and someone who has a hundred other accolades." MICHAEL O'LOUGHLIN on the booing of Goodes:
AUGUST
8: "It's the right time. Hopefully I'll get a microphone and sit beside you in the commentary box if Channel Nine will have me." - MICHAEL CLARKE announces his retirement to Shane Warne after losing the fourth Ashes Test.
11: "Someone get the message out there to tell Peter Sterling to arrange a meeting with my family ... I'd like him to look at the pain in my mother's eyes and to tell her face to face why he thinks the tackle on my brother should not be banned." ANDREW ACKERMAN responds to the debate on the NRL shoulder charge after his brother, James, dies in a Queensland Cup match in June.
11: "Players like Steve Waugh, Adam Gilchrist, Ricky Ponting and others really tried to make the Baggy Green culture something special, but I could sense it was under threat and under Michael's captaincy I can sense it has disappeared a bit and that disappointed me." Former Australian coach JOHN BUCHANAN after the retirement of Michael Clarke.
13: "Kokkinakis banged your girlfriend, sorry to tell you that mate." NICK KYRGIOS to Stan Wawrinka after losing a point in a Montreal tennis match.
13: "What was said I wouldn't say to my worst enemy. To (stoop) so low is not only unacceptable but also beyond belief." - WAWRINKA'S far classier reply on Twitter.
16: "It's just bloody sensational." Diamonds netballer LAURA GEITZ after she captained Australia's third straight Netball World Cup win.
26: "I've been told if I stay I will be playing reserve grade." - ROBBIE FARAH reveals the stark message he received from Wests Tigers when being told he had permission to look elsewhere.
SEPTEMBER
6: "It always works out! Thank God for what he has done and going to do on this incredible journey!! I'm on the 53-man roster for the 49ers." - JARRYD HAYNE tweets the confirmation of his spot on NFL team San Francisco's 53-man roster.
6: "You're talking about a guy coming into the game who has never played. I mean, the odds of an American, that grows up in this game playing in the National Football League ... I don't know the exact odds but they're out there somewhere. And it's astronomical." - 49ers coach JIM TOMSULA on Hayne making the cut.
8: "He wants people to know about it. He wants people to understand what he's going through, and would like to ask people to respect that fact." - Sydney Swans coach JOHN LONGMIRE on Buddy Franklin's decision to sit out the AFL finals series, citing mental illness.
12: "With this, winning today, my life is perfect. It's magical ... One more thing I have to say. This is the way I would like to say goodbye to tennis. - FLAVIA PENNETTA announces her shock retirement after winning the US Open.
18: "The FFA wants us to be full-time athletes, but they pay us like we're on the dole ... Pay us a little bit more and we wouldn't have to eat our arm." - Matildas striker MICHELLE HEYMAN during the Matildas' pay strike.
21: "I'd love to say, 'I told you so', but that wouldn't be very nice ... I would still thank them (for deriding me) because that was kind of the fuel that lit the fire for me ... because I knew a lot of people were thinking against me on that." JASON DAY hits back at his detractors after becoming world golf No.1.
OCTOBER
4: "Don't worry if you miss the kick. We have got the game. We will win it from here, whether you slot it or not." MATT SCOTT, trying to take the pressure off Johnathan Thurston before his conversion attempt after full-time in the NRL grand final.
4: "I've never been a fan of golden point. It's a lottery ... it's unfair on everyone and it's most unfair on everyone here tonight. I don't see why we can't just have a draw." - WAYNE BENNETT wasn't such a fan of the way the match ended.
24: "There were bits of pink left, but it was more green than pink by the end." - ADAM VOGES sums up the early attitude to the pink ball following the Prime Minister's XI match.
31: "We've got to eat this and it's not going to be nice." - Wallabies star MICHAEL HOOPER after Australia lost the World Cup final.
NOVEMBER
3: "To think that (trainer) Darren Weir has given me a go and it's such a chauvinistic sport, I know some of the owners were keen to kick me off. And John Richards and Darren stuck strongly with me ... And I want to say to everyone else, get stuffed, because women can do anything and we can beat the world." - Melbourne Cup-winning jockey MICHELLE PAYNE.
10: "All I know is that he didn't have the stomach to see out his contract. For me this was the time to roll his sleeves up and become the player that I thought he could be, and he chose not to." - Bath coach MIKE FORD's views of Sam Burgess' decision to leave the club and return to the NRL.
10: "1185 days have passed since I raced in London. How many more do I have to wait until I receive my Olympic gold medal?" - Australian walker JARRED TALLENT'S reaction to the Russian doping claims. Tallent finished second behind disgraced Russian Sergey Kirdyapkin.
17: "The final decision was more just the hunger and those tough days. I didn't want to be there. I felt like I couldn't compete at this level anymore." - MITCHELL JOHNSON explains his decision to retire from international cricket after the Perth Test.
19: "I don't think John knows a thing about the Baggy Green, having never worn one. He's still living off the fact that he coached a team that anyone, even my dog Jerry, could have coached to world domination." - MICHAEL CLARKE hits back at John Buchanan in his Ashes diary, after the former coach questioned the culture established under Clarke's leadership in August.
19: "Andrew Symonds went on TV to criticise my leadership. I'm sorry but he is not a person to judge anyone on leadership. This is a guy who turned up drunk to play for his country. It's pretty rich for him to be throwing rocks." - CLARKE didn't miss out on returning fire at Andrew Symonds in his book either.
24: "Is this like terrorism in Paris? The leaders have no guts?" - ALAN JONES comparing the lack of leadership on A-League fans to the terrorist situation in France.
DECEMBER
1: "I think pretty much everything beyond this will be gravy. If that's all it entails then I've had a pretty good run. But I'm hoping that's not it." - TIGER WOODS hints that retirement isn't all that far away.
2: "The FFA cannot use the fans as a marketing tool but then continually mistreat them, while asking them to help grow the game. It is counter-intuitive and hypocritical." - Western Sydney Wanderers fan group the RED AND BLACK BLOC launch a stinging attack on Football Federation Australia after the names and photos of 198 banned A-League fans were leaked to the media.
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