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THEY SAID IT – From each month in 2022, The Daily Gazette sports department is compiling 10 quotes from our interview subjects that stuck out the most for us, based on how they either made us think or laugh — or some combination of both.
Selected quotes come both from reporting for stories that appeared in The Daily Gazette and interviews associated with episodes of “The Parting Schotts Podcast.” Not all quotes used were previously published.
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“I almost did.”
— Union men’s hockey goalie Connor Murphy, laughing and jokingly answering whether he was tempted to join the fights that broke out around him at the end of the Dutchmen’s 3-2 win on Dec. 3 over Northeastern, his old team.
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“As of right now, I still have a job with the Blue Jays and I kind of know where I’m headed next spring training and next year. It really helps the brain a little bit, just to kind of settle down, then take care of my body and rehab, get ready for next season.”
— Former Broadalbin-Perth High School and Siena College standout Matt Gage, on Dec. 8, discussing his first offseason as part of a Major League Baseball team’s 40-man roster. Gage was placed on the Toronto Blue Jays’ 40-man roster at the end of the season, after making his MLB debut as a relief pitcher for Toronto this past June.
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“A characteristic about myself that I like is that I’m very blunt. I would say that I’m not a very fake person. I say what’s on my mind, but I also have this rule that I’ve learned throughout the years, especially from my parents, a three-second rule where there might be something on my mind, but I have to bite my tongue and count to three if I think it might be detrimental to the situation.”
— Union College women’s hockey senior captain Emily King, describing her personality, in the Dec. 15 “Opening Faceoff.”
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“He just cared about people. He wasn’t concerned with what job they had, what title they had or how much money they made. He knew everybody had a story to tell, and as busy as his life was and as challenging as things were for him, he always made time for other people to listen, let them know he cared. He was just a genuine, caring, loving, devoted person.”
— Lori Anctil, athletic director at The College of Saint Rose, on Dec. 16 as she remembered former Siena men’s basketball coach Louis Orr, who died Dec. 15 following a battle with pancreatic cancer. Anctil worked with Orr as an academic advisor during his lone season at Siena in 2000-01, then served as his director of basketball operations for five years at Seton Hall.
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“We support him and want nothing but the best for him. This was primarily about a family move. It just puts him back within 40 minutes of his folks, it’s closer to his wife’s family and puts them within a four-hour trip to Notre Dame as opposed to a 12-hour trip where his son will be playing for the next four years.”
— Union College athletic director Jim McLaughlin, talking about Jeff Behrman, who stepped down as Union football head coach Dec. 19 to become head coach at John Carroll University, Behrman’s alma mater.
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“And you never know when it’s going to come in running. And that’s the worst and best thing about the sport, waiting for those breakthroughs to happen. When they do, it’s really special. And the key that I’ve found in my life, which I’m very lucky and I think a lot of people don’t always find, is I think I’ve been able to find the joy in the process and in the sport. If you put too much pressure on yourself, it’s not fun, and even if you do get the time, it’s what’s next? You have to enjoy it, or it’s not worth it.”
— Former Niskayuna High and Boston College distance running star Lou Serafini, on Dec. 20, after running a personal-record 2:14:59 at the California International Marathon.
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“If I’m being honest, I think right after the new ownership transition, I really started to get the itch to get back into the college game. Having been a college coach for 26 years and 23 as a head coach, I just started thinking more and more about the college game, and my son started his season. He plays over at Sage for Brian Barnes and going to his games and watching all these games on TV. I missed the college game while I was coaching with the Patroons. But I just started to miss it, more and more.”
— Former UAlbany men’s basketball coach Will Brown, on why he stepped down as head coach and general manager of the Albany Patroons, on the Dec. 21 edition of “The Parting Schotts Podcast.”
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“Oh my God, absolutely, because I wondered why he decided to come back, and it can’t be easy for somebody who has had himself associated with football in the fall since he was 8 years of age.”
— ESPN Radio’s Freddie Coleman, when asked if Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady should have stayed retired, on the Dec. 21 edition of “The Parting Schotts Podcast.”
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“That eight seconds we’re on a bull, you can’t be thinking about strategy, you just have to let your mind go to a place that gets you through it.”
— Professional bull rider Daylon Swearingen, the 2022 Professional Bull Riders world champion, on Dec. 23 talking about how bull riding is mostly a mental sport.
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“That’s how I got into college hockey. I went to UNH games, and it was really fun. I remember, when I was little, we’d get out of school early sometimes on Fridays and go out to Durham to watch UNH games. So it’s pretty cool.”
— Union freshman goalie and New Hampshire native Kyle Chauvette, after making 34 saves in leading the Dutchmen to a 3-2 win over the University of New Hampshire, on Dec. 31.
