"Wins don't impress me. The way Sparky manages impresses me. If he wasn't a great manager, he would have never gotten a shot at 2,000."--Tony Phillips, Tigers infielder.

***

"I learned more about baseball last year [his first in Detroit] than I had playing since I was 8 years old."--Chad Kreuter, Tigers pitcher, on Sparky Anderson's 2,000 win.

***

"I tried my best but I made a few too many mistakes, but I'm going to learn from them. I'm a little disappointed....I really wanted to win for the guys more than myself.

"On the ice I do not feel like a woman. I'm a hockey player. I don't think of myself as the first woman hockey player."--Manon Rheaume, professional hockey's only female goalie, after making her first start. Her team, the Atlanta Knights of the International League, lost 8-6.

***

"The most disappointing thing is that we didn't take the bull by the horns. That fourth-place spot was open for the last three weeks. We were trying to make up lost ground with a less effective team.

"If we didn't think we were a good team, we wouldn't be so disappointed right now. I think the expectations we had, certainly to make the playoffs, [were] legitimate."--Mike Richter, Rangers goaltender, after the Rangers were eliminated from postseason play.

***

"It's like Connie Hawkins said: "The older I get, the better I used to be.""--John McEnroe.

***

"I'm not surprised. I knew what would happen as soon as the incident took place. In the NBA's manual on violence, Page One and Article One is 'When in doubt, fine Laimbeer heavily.'

"I just look at the fines as the price of doing business. It's like paying graft."--Bill Laimbeer.

***

"They used to call me Slow Death in juniors because I scored four overtime goals usually around the 4:50 mark."--Hartford's Mark Janssens, who scored in overtime to beat the New York Islanders 5-4.

***

"We had about 10 highs and 70 lows this season."--Rick Bowness, Ottawa Senators coach.