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You always hear that tragedies put sports in perspective, that they prove we shouldn't care this much about the successes and failures of a bunch of wealthy strangers. I'm going the other way - sometimes, sports put everything else in perspective.

I am not someone who deserves to be dissected and analyzed like some tragic example of everything that can possibly go wrong for a professional athlete.

I don't see many people as heroes and, though I love sport, I believe athletes rarely deserve that praise.

The pro athlete is a sad tale. He signs a big contract and thinks he's set for life. I didn't think I was set for life, and I don't now. As athletes, we are important, celebrities, in demand and rich. Then we are out of the game and we are not important, not celebrities, not in demand and not rich.

Team sports, there's always some kind of sacrifice happening... A team, if we lose, if Michael Jordan has a bad night, you hang it on him a little bit... but if you lose as a tennis player, you have no one to blame but yourself, and that's a different beast.

The selfish thing about an athlete is you always look at the side of things where you say I could've done that better.

As athletes, we all have egos, we all think we can help, and when you're not given that chance, it's hard to watch.

Every professional athlete owes a debt of gratitude to the fans and management, and pays an installment every time he plays. He should never miss a payment.

Sympathy is something that shouldn't be bestowed upon the Yankees. Apparently it angers them.

Any athlete has massive reserves in their body and their emotional landscape.