Nobody turned a phrase quite like Casey Stengel. Mark Kauffman/Getty Images

One of the more pleasing by-products of the world of sports is the great quote -- the well-turned phrase, amusing insight, or colorful expression uttered by athletes, coaches and media hounds.

A great quote can stay with you for years, perhaps even a lifetime, and be repeated, paraphrased, or simply appreciated like a fine piece of music. Thus I present unto you my all-time favorites, culled from my four-plus decades here on God's Golf Ball. It is by no means complete, but these utterances are the ones that always make me smile or chortle.

Please pardon the preponderance of Casey Stengel. I've always loved his way with words. But all of the below say something about the game, a particular situation, or the human condition in a way that strikes a chord with my sensibilities.

My all-time favorite -- any subject, any sport -- is Stengel's poetic, "I had many years that I was not so successful as a ballplayer, as it is a game of skill." I also love journeyman pitcher Frank Sullivan's brutally frank assessment, "I'm in the twilight of a mediocre career." And Sullivan on how he pitched to Mickey Mantle: "With tears in my eyes."

More brilliant appraisals of talent (or lack thereof):

• Pitcher Dizzy Dean upon his induction to the Hall of Fame: "I was blessed with a strong arm and a weak mind."

• Stengel on his Amazin' Mets: "They've shown me ways to lose I never knew existed."

• Stengel on his rookie catcher: "I got a kid, Greg Goosen, he's 19 years old and in 10 years he's got a chance to be 29."

• Stengel on Chris Cannizaro: "He's a remarkable catcher, that Canzoneri. He's the only defensive catcher in baseball who can't catch."

• Stengel at a birthday party for bungling first baseman Marvelous Marv Throneberry: "We was going to get you a cake, but we figured you'd drop it."

• Head coach John McKay, during the Tampa Bay Bucs' 28-game losing streak, when asked after a game what he thought about his team's execution: "I think it's a good idea."

Pith from our national pastime:

• Pitcher Bill "Spaceman" Lee: "Baseball's a very simple game. All you have to do is sit on your ass, spit tobacco, and nod at the stupid things your manager says."

• Seattle Pilots manager Joe Schultz' one-size-fits-all advice to pitchers (from Jim Bouton's masterpiece Ball Four): "Throw him low smoke and we'll go pound some Budweiser."

The ultimate in motivational speech:

• Coaching legend John Heisman: "Gentlemen, it is better to have died as a small boy than to fumble this football."

• NHL legend Conn Smythe: "If you can't beat 'em in the alley, you can't beat 'em on the ice."

Words to live by:

• Outfielder Mickey "the Great Gozzlehead" Rivers: "Ain't no sense worrying: If you have no control over something, ain't no sense worrying about it -- you have no control over it anyway. If you do have control, why worry? Either way, there ain't no sense worrying."

• NFL coaching legend Vince Lombardi: "Be fired with enthusiasm or you'll be fired with enthusiasm."

• Pitcher Tug McGraw on money: "Ninety percent I'll spend on good times, women and Irish whisky. The other 10 percent I'll probably waste."

• Dodgers manager Tom Lasorda: "There are three kinds of people -- the kind that makes things happen, the kind that watches things happen, and the kind that wonders what happened."

• Pinch-hitter extraordinaire Smokey Burgess: "I felt pretty good when I got up this morning, but I got over it."

Life with the Yankees:

• Pitcher Goose Gossage (referring to George Steinbrenner): "Ask the fat man upstairs."

• Pitcher Sparky Lyle, in The Bronx Zoo, describing the consequences of manager Billy Martin telling two reporters that Reggie Jackson and Steinbrenner were made for each other because one was a born liar and the other was convicted: "When George found out about it, it was church."

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• Chicago Tribune/Sun-Times columnist Mike Royko: "Hating the Yankees is as American as pizza pie, unwed mothers, and cheating on your income tax."

On fans:

• Pitcher Bo Belinsky: "Philadelphia fans would boo funerals, an Easter egg hunt, a parade of armless war vets and the Liberty Bell,"

• College football pundit Beano Cook, on the former Iranian hostages receiving lifetime passes to major league ballparks: "Haven't they suffered enough?"

I'm sure you have your own favorites and I invite you to send them in. I'm always happy to open our factory showroom floor to the general public.

The Game's The Thing

We now continue with our stirring series of readers' submissions of the best games they've every seen in any old sport.

Dennis McCulloch, Kansas City: Redskins at Municipal Stadium to play the Chiefs in 1971. Many considered it a Super Bowl preview, and the old AFL-NFL rivalry was still fresh in the minds of the players and the fans. The game went back and forth, but the highlight was Otis Taylor making a one-handed catch of a Len Dawson pass in the end zone in spite of Pat Fischer illegally holding Taylor's other arm. The Chiefs went on to win. In many ways, this was probably the best Chiefs team ever, but it lost the famous Christmas Day marathon against the Miami Dolphins.

Ian S., Vancouver, B.C.: Innsbruck Olympics, 1976. Franz Klammer standing atop the Patscherkofel in front of a screaming home country crowd. He was the last skier down, and Bernhard Russi, the defending Olympic champ, had set a very fast time. Klammer went wire to wire on the absolute edge of control. The tight line he cut over the last 2000 feet was reckless. I was jumping out of my chair watching, thinking there was no possible way he could stay on his skis. It was an awe-inspiring display of total abandonment of one's safety. He won by 1/3 of a second, in what is one of the most magical sporting moments of my lifetime.