We had a party with the rest of the skaters in our trailer and then the next day we were off to see Jimmy Carter. And then we had the World Championships the next weekend, so not a lot of chance to catch up.
I love the game of basketball, and as long as I can do that, keep playing and try to get some more championships with the organization, I'll be happy.
I was able to do Classics, the U.S. national championships and the Pan American Games and feel like I improved with each meet, but I was still struggling with a lot of residual pain from the two surgeries.
If I'm able to win the world championships when I'm not even at my best, then with another year until Rio, maybe I could even become Olympic champion.
The ones who want to achieve and win championships motivate themselves.
It's what happens in other major championships - I just lose my head a little bit.
No matter how much you've won, no matter how many games, no matter how many championships, no matter how many Super Bowls, you're not winning now, so you stink.
I'm just trying to pass Tim Duncan in championships if I can one day. That's my motivation; that's what I strive for. Tim is one of the greatest players who has ever played, so if I could get close or reach that plateau and have my name on that list.
So I'm going to tell you, it's going to be a good year. There are good players all over this country, and it is our job as a scouting department to find them, draft them, sign them, develop them, and help us to continue to win championships. So it's going to be a good year.
I am not an expert in this field but I do try to keep up to date with the Bundesliga. And I do follow World Cups and European Championships more closely.
I think there's a lot of different ways to win. You've seen teams that win championships with a super-duper star like Kobe Bryant. Those championship teams with Michael Jordan certainly had a great, great player.
Actually, the Kentucky moment was better than winning the two National Championships, because it was the epitome of what I try to get from a team in a crisis situation.
I don't worry about numbers. I worry about wins. You can see all the years that my numbers went down and how many championships I've got. That's what I worry about.
I'm trying to let winning the world championships settle in right now before I begin training again shortly. During the skating season, we skate on average 20 kilometres a day. On top of that, we're riding a lot and lifting a lot of weights.
When I wrapped 'Falling Skies,' I took a trip to the Caribbean to visit my grandma, which is great. I was out there for two weeks in Grenada. Then after that, I went to Poland for two and a half weeks to go watch some of the European soccer championships.
Fans, especially ours, demand championships. That's what we're striving for.
Even if the pace is slow in championships, you can still sprint well and still power in the last 200, which is always the main part when the race is slow.
Time will tell how you rate against the rest of the competition. I'll let everyone else worry about championships. I'm going to worry about qualifying at Pomona.
You don't have to find out what someone's mechanical abilities are. All those factors are already a known commodity. I've seen teams win championships and have their entire team quit the next day because they weren't happy.
It never bothered me when people would say, 'You only win championships because you're playing with Shaq.' It bothered me when he said it.
What I think happened to the new arenas is that you need some memories. I remember going when the Staples Center first opened and it was like, 'OK,' but a couple championships later, and all of a sudden it becomes your house. You have to stake claim to it.
Joe Gibbs helped define what the Washington Redskins stand for - integrity, hard work, determination, winning and championships.
As a player, you experience so many different moments, but you never truly sit back and reflect on them. You enjoy them, but with the championships, we were so busy celebrating with everyone that we didn't really realize what we had accomplished as individuals and as a team.
I became number one just after the World Championships in India. I was very young then, and I remember it was just a great feeling, my first World Championship.
I focus on one thing and one thing only - that's trying to win as many championships as I can.
Ultimately, if you can say that I'm a bad owner and we're winning championships, I can live with that. But if we're not making the playoffs and we're spending and losing money, then I have to look in the mirror and say maybe I'm not taking the necessary steps to doing what it takes to run an organization.
My focus in 2010 was on just running fast races. My focus in 2011 was for winning at the World Championships. This year has been a combination of the two so we'll see what kind of time it brings.
I can say when it comes to championships it's a tactical race and normally you don't have a pacesetter who can set a pace for fast times. That is why you see that obviously we fall around 1:43 because that is the most favorable one can run from the front.
I have to work harder than what I am now to make sure that I stay on top of this and stay on top of the world and be competitive in major championships.
You don't win championships by just being normal, by just being average.
At the end of the day, if you're not beating the teams on the road recruiting that you have to beat on the field, then you're probably not going to win many championships.
It's tough to win major championships. So many things and emotions go through your mind.
I believed in what I was. I didn't believe that would translate into any of the five championships. But I knew that I could affect the game.
I want to leave a great legacy behind me and continue to win major championships.
When you're on the court, there is certain things that you would do that you wouldn't do off the court. When you get off, you obviously have to be gracious and a humble person. When you are on the floor, be a team player. Championships are what you are defined by - legacy. Go about things the right way.
I'm not going to be a guy that retires and keeps coming back. When I'm gone, I'm gone. Same thing as amateur wrestling; when I won the world championships in Olympics, I left and I never went back. Same for pro.
