Craig Smith Quotations

When you try to do everything you can and still come up with an 'L,' you feel bad. Some bad shots near the end hurt us.

We're finally jelling. It took us a while, but better to have a fall in the beginning than in the end.

We let them back in it. We can't sit back and relax.

We know what to do and what not to do because of last year. That's why we're in this position right now.

We're still just a bunch of guys who love to sail.

We've got guys who can do lot of different things.

We've watched three of their games on film. They play in a very good league and finished second. Their 6-foot-9 kid (Ronald Wright) leads the country in blocked shots. They have great size and they're an excellent shooting team.

We were in a rhythm. We wanted to come out and be the aggressors for once and bring it to the other team, and we did.

The fact that so many people were here, so early, is amazing. It's a real confidence boost to know that we will have a legitimate home court advantage with such a strong student section.

The process could take two or three days. If there were mistakes, we had to start over. Our system was antiquated. We have nine different schools with approximately 15 different departments. There were multiple ID templates floating around.

There are very deep concerns in the oil complex that the terrorists will now reset their targets on the oil complex, thus disrupting the flow of oil to the free world. That has probably cost oil a $15 premium right there.

Last year was probably the youngest team we had in six or seven years. We're a real veteran team this year and we're looking forward to this season.

One of the advantages of not campaigning in Iowa is that it frees up a huge amount of time to stay in New Hampshire.

Obviously he was missing for most of the game. But when he's open, he's got to take it. He's a shooter.

If we get our trap going inside, it helps us a lot. We thought we'd run the ball, eat up the clock and keep their offense off the field because they have some good athletes on offense.

If we can put up with them, we can put up with anybody in the nation.

I bring my A-game every time - I'm pretty confident.

Basically, our game plan was to come out and be very aggressive. In the regular season...we let teams bring it to us, so we wanted to come out and bring it to the other team for once. We were just in a rhythm, and we got it going.

I felt like (Minot) out-played us, out-hustled us and out-coached us. They deserved to win. We felt that at our place (in January) we dominated the post. (Saturday) Minot dominated the post.

I felt good coming out, and then it popped. I tried to go on, but I couldn't.

I can't explain. It is pretty tough. ... It was a tough loss losing by one. Not much you can say.

When he's determined to run the ball hard, he can be a physical presence.

He's a big running back. He runs low and breaks tackles. We're a run-oriented offense. If he's running well and the offensive line is blocking well, that means we're doing well.

He knows the biotech world very well. We need someone like that at this stage.

I think we did a fairly good job. Obviously, we just gave him a little bit of space. When you give a great player like that a little bit of space, he can knock the shot down.

I think we should be in the upper half and contend with the top teams. I think we match up a lot better against teams in the league this year.

I think that speaks to the diversity and strength of the dining experience downtown.

It is kind of funny. We started 0-3 in the ACC, we ended up the No. 3 seed, we're 3-0 in North Carolina, we won this game by three points and now we're in our third game.

I went around to different points and as I caught her I would have her do different running techniques. Otherwise Brooke's mind might go stagnant from being bored.

I will put Southview and Northview in front. Both have a lot back and Maumee had a nice run last year and has a lot of good guys back.

Jeff was really hot early. And that's the nice thing about having so many options, they tried to stop him and my teammates started finding me. I got a lot of easy baskets.

Our goal from Day 1 was to get back to the national tournament. But there are two championships to win in our conference. We're a little bit greedy. We want to win them both.

Our game plan was to come out and be aggressive. We were just in a rhythm and got it going.

I was thinking we had won a hard-fought battle, and I was going to celebrate.

I was in a groove, and I had to get it done.

I think more of us are interested in eating better.

Just knowing (Andrus) was able to run on her ankle is a confidence boost.

Williams is a very good defensive presence, sometimes we may happen to get beat, and he's there to take care of the work, and it gets us in a good flow in our defensive game.

We just did not compete and were second best in most things, although we did create five good chances only to miss them all.

We played like a veteran team, and that's what we expected from this squad this year. I was happy with our defense and our special teams, too - I thought we played very, very well.

We played hard. I think we showed a lot of toughness and I would like to think we showed America that, 'Hey, don't count us out.

We came off that court feeling we were a better team than them. We just didn't execute.

We have been using Howard at the point with Sanchez at the two guard. That is a tough match up for anyone. Ron had a good game. He is capable of that.

We know more about the surface of the moon than many areas of the deep sea.

We were just so proud of the kids.

We're known throughout the state for taking 30 or 40 boats and going off someplace. Nobody does that.

We led most of the game. We just didn't make enough plays to win.

This year, we had our slump in the beginning, and it's better to have in the beginning than at the end. I think we've been going uphill since, and we've been showing people that we can be a force come tournament time.

Weather is not everything. But it'd be good to go to San Diego and get a little tan or something.

With approximately 100 days left to go before the voters have their say, we are making the key investments necessary to ensure that Joe Lieberman will be the Democratic nominee in 2004.

When you are talking about Howard Jackson, you have to talk about his speed, ... Howard has a chance to be both a return specialist and a running back in this league.

Both Taylor and Steve are reliable receivers with good hands, ... Throughout their entire college careers, both guys had the ability to make big plays.

We've been practicing at 5:45 in the morning since we found out the pairings. I'm from Stephen (Minn.), so those early practices are kind of in the blood.

We've been practicing and playing for more than five months. We told our guys at the beginning of the year that it was a marathon, not a sprint. Now, it's time to finish it. Our guys have been waiting all year for this.

We want to get some payback. We'll be ready.

We knew and Brooke knew that the divisional is not as important as next week. We just wanted her to make it through three miles and after that fold it up and focus on state. The last thing Brooke wanted to do was maximize the pain in this race with state coming up.

We just stayed off our feet and took a couple of naps here and there. And we watched film a little bit. It's very long and boring but you just have to rest up.

Brittany had a real strong finish in which she passed some people. She's reaching the point where she could peak at state.

Brooke told me today that she feels fine. And just knowing she was able to run on her ankle is a confidence boost.

Brooke looked very good. It was the first meet and she and the others had a chance to get the butterflies out.

an extremely unusual result of a common process.

Another championship would be the perfect way to end this.

is like the mad cow calling the herd rabid.

I've been playing all four years with a chip on my shoulder. I just want to prove everybody wrong.

The story was that in her recovery, she pulled out her back by favoring her foot. That was the official story. But of course she had had this dreadful breast cancer, and everybody was terribly afraid it had metastasized to her back, but she wouldn't talk to us about it.

The tempo was right where we wanted it. We were able to pass the ball up the floor and score in transition and that plays to our strength.

The success of my teammates, getting them the ball, and them making plays, opens it up for me come the end of the game.

I've met him, and I think he's a pretty cool guy. But I just like the colors -- the colors are cool. He's an overall player. If I had the opportunity, I would.

North Carolina has a great tradition. BC we're just really starting to turn things around. There's nothing I can say about that. We're just in a situation where we've got to prove it to everybody in the nation.

Coach was preaching to come out and match their intensity. Obviously, we came out way more aggressive.

This is big. The last two years, we lost in the second round. Now that we're past that, the sky's the limit.

This is good for them. They have real chemistry.

There's a lot of excitement on campus. It's one weekend down, two more to go (to the Final Four).

This is tremendous news not only for central Iowa, but air travelers statewide. As more passengers use this airport, we can attract more opportunities for additional service.

They're a pretty talented team. It will be a battle. We'll be ready.

There's a need for three lanes in every direction.

The more you're around the place, the more you realize how nice it is -- it's just 20 years old.

It's fair to say that for many companies ... it's not just about protecting the business, it's about doing the right thing simply because it's the right to do.

It's a big accomplishment, obviously. Winning 300 is really big, and we did it in a big way in the Dean E. Smith Dome. I'm very happy we got it, and we're pretty much uphill from here.

It wasn't just open-look shots. He hit the tough ones, too. He did everything.

It was bothering us. It (stinks) not to have a win in your conference.

It's all about heart and how much he wanted it. He wanted that. He was a warrior out there.

It (stinks) not to have a win in your conference. We got one today and we're feeling a little bit better.

It makes my job that much easier. That's just how it is. Next game, against Virginia, you'll see it. They'll focus on the inside and we'll get it going on the outside.

It's an opportunity to make a statement. If we win, we have 2½ days off before our next game. We have to look at this as a good opportunity.

It's going to be a big game, obviously. It's going to be a road game for us. There will be a lot of North Carolina fans, but I'm very excited to get a chance to play in a semifinal game.

It's pruned a little but really isn't all that different. Things don't get big down here because they get pruned by storm after storm after storm.

It's pretty exciting. Overall, we've done a fine job, but we've still got business to take care of.

It's pretty tough. We put ourselves up. They ended up making a great play.

It's big. The last two years we fell off in the second round. This year, we really tried to focus on getting past this. Now that we're past this, we feel the sky's the limit.

It was nice to play a team that likes to get up and down the court.

They compacted it a little bit to slow us down. But that just gave more room for our guards to shoot.

They wanted to come in here and send a message that we're in the ACC now and they whooped our butts. They showed no mercy. They really poured it on and we didn't respond.

The fans are showing that they care tonight. We want to give back to them and have a great season. We'll be ready.

I hope that we showed America not to count us out in the tournament.

In general we favor people seeing the movie and then talking about it afterwards. Our whole goal is to give people answers to the questions they're asking.

In leadership, you become a lightning rod and a target. It gives you influence to deliver for your district, but that comes at a high political cost. There comes a point where voters ask, 'Is he more concerned about coming back here or staying up there?

I'm more of a visual, hands-on type of person, and that makes this more interesting and easier for me than Spanish, which I took for two years but didn't like much.

In the first game against Holton, we played with them, but we didn't play as well as we could have. In the second game, we were down by 10, and I gave them the goal to score 20 points before Holton scored 25 and we got to 23-21. It kept us fired up, because it showed us what we could do when we played the No. 1 team in the state in the classification above us.

I noticed Brooke slow down and she actually walked a few steps. I raced over to see if she was okay, but she was running again by the time I got there. Brooke recovered nicely and was never pushed.