Potluck Quote of the Day (5 of 10): Muhammad Ali

Today's quote of the day comes from the legendary boxer Muhammad Ali (1942-2016) who died earlier this year. We found this quote on a tribute by Keith Knight in his political cartoon series "The K-Chronicles." We are also happy to learn that Knight now resides in Chapel Hill,NC, which puts him in the same state as our good friend Chris Knight (no relation, in fact Keith is black, and Chris is white) who is based in Reidsville.

Ali's legacy continues through the Muhammad Ali Center in Louisville, Ky.

Here is today's potluck quote of the day: "If you even dream of beating me, you'd better wake up and apologize."

http://www.alicenter.org

http://www.kchronicles.com

http://www.muhammadali.com

We are featuring Ali today as a tribute to the 2016 Rio Olympics. On our sister blog "The Daily Vampire" http://www.nocturnalguy38.blogpsot.com we have a quote from Romanian gymnastics legend Nadia Comaneci.

Reports Via Twitter from the Olympic Village

Given that NBC's Olympics coverage so far has been grilled, perhaps it was best to be following the 2012 London Olympics on Twitter as we did earlier tonight. It's 4:00 a.m. here in Danbury, Connecticut (not really where I'm blogging from, but the same time zone) and it should be about 9:00 a.m. in London.

Here are the tweets:

1) Scott Simon @nprscottsimon: Stuck on train platform SFO. Unable to see what NBC is cutting out of Olympic broadcast tonight. Pole vaulting by the pope?"

2) Professor Snape @_Snape: "More people would be watching the Olympics if Quidditch was played.

3) Ebba Rezeq @Gazanism: "I have nothing but respect for the Tunisian swimmer who refused to compete because of the Israeli swimmer."*

4) Joanna Fokas @Joanna Fokas: "I can't help but laugh when these men do gymnastics." **

5) Nicole Dunn @DunnyDizzzie: "I feel like I'm the only one that has watched basically every event on the Olympics today, literally all day long."

6) Nadia Comaneci @nadiacomaneci10: "On to the reception w/ Michelle Obama."***

7) Forbes @Forbes: "Olympic Games: NBA apparently thinks it's 1992 seemingly unaware of Twitter's existence."

8)  Shalane Flanagan @shalaneflanagan: "Woke up with butterflies!!!! One week to go!"****

*-First of all, I don't condone the actions of that Tunisian swimmer Takri Mrabet, even though I am a Turkish-American. Mrabet was disqualified by the Olympics for his actions. The Israeli swimmer Gal Nevo, whom Mrabet refused to swim against in the 400-meter relay finished a respectable tenth. One other Muslim athlete Ahmed Atari of Qatar did swim, but he alas finished last (36th).  American swimmer Ryan Lochte won this race, which also saw Michael Phelps finish a shocking fourth.

**_We don't agree with this view either, but it was amusing.

***-Yes, this is a tweet from the real Nadia.

****-Shalane Flanagan is an American distance runner; she has won a bronze medal for her efforts in a previous Olympics.

http://www.shalanefalanagan.com

http://www.qatarairways.com

http://www.nadiacomaneci.com

http://www.timesofisrael.com

Quote of the Day/Week-Olga Korbut

Today, in honor of the upcoming 2012 London Olympics, we are quoting the great Belorussian gymnast Olga Korbut who competed for the Soviet Union in the 1972 Munich Olympics and again at the 1976 Montreal Olympics, which saw the emergence of Romanian gymnastics star Nadia Comaneci. Korbut, 56, who now lives in Arizona, won four gold medals and two silvers during her Olympic career.

We quoted Korbut back in November when we were quoting famous Russians. We quickly saw on Korbut's Wikipedia page that we had whoops!, made a major mistake. Today, Belarus and Russia are two separate countries.

Here is her quote:

"This is probably why, my life is easier, and my family is very happy, because we never lie (to) each other."

Quote of the Day/Week-Mary Lou Retton

Today, we continue quoting American athletes who won either gold or silver medals at the Summer Olympics with a quip from Mary Lou Retton, 44, whose image with a red, white and blue leotard is making its way back to Wheaties cereal boxes.

We will be quoting international athletes, including perhaps Nadia Comaneci of Romania, who was a major influence on Retton, who won both team and individual gold medals at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.

Retton is from Fairmont, West Virginia, and she is a member of the President's Council on Physical Fitness, which is slightly ironic as Retton is a Republican as she attended the 2004 Republican convention.

Gymnasts of today have also been influenced by Retton as she developed 'the Retton flip' move on bars.

Here is her quote:

"If I had a bad performance in a particular leotard, I threw it in the trash."

SIDEBAR: People in Retton's home state of West Virginia are likely not to happy today as West Virginia University lost to Gonzaga in the NCAA tournament yesterday.

I was also disappointed to see Harvard lose to Vanderbilt 79-70 though President Barack Obama, a graduate of Harvard, said he had to reluctantly pick Vandy since that school has just won the SEC Tournament.

But, there is happy basketball news for my home state of Virginia because Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) 'upset' Wichita State 62-59 in Portland, Oregon, in the NCAA tournament last night.

UPDATE: When we posted this entry earlier in the day, we did not know the first name of Mary Lou Retton's sister who was a great gymnast in her own right at West Virginia University. Her name is Shari Retton.

As for the current Mountaineers gymnastics team, they head to Baton Rouge, La., tonight for a meet with SEC power LSU. For WVU, current gymnast Kaylyn Milick was named EAGL Conference Gymnast of the week. The Mountaineers also have an exceptional, nationally-ranked gymnast in Hope Sloanhaffer.

Ten People with Long Names (Females)

Those of us with long names, such as my own (Gokbudak), always feel deep sympathy for those with even longer names. Imagine trying to get a table at Applebees, a pair of bowling shoes or medications at the pharmacy with these names!

1. Ludmilia Petrushevskaya- (pictured) This 72-year-old Russian playwright/author had her short story "A Withered Branch" recently published in "The New Yorker."

2. Antoaneta Stefanova. It is actually the first name of this 32-year-old world chess champion from Bulgaria which poses more issues!

3. Sebnem Kimyacioglu. She is a 27-year-old Turkish-American who now plays pro basketball in Istanbul, Turkey, with the team GalataSaray. She played for the Stanford Cardinal in college, and her sister Yasemin plays for Santa Clara University.

4. Nadia Comaneci- At first glance, the name of this 49-year-old Romanian gymnastics legend doesn't appear to be that difficult, but just try saying it!

5. Svetlana Boginskaya- This 38-year-old gymnast who was known as "The Belarusian Swan" was butchered many times by American tv announcers when she won gold at the 1988 Seoul Olympics and the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. She also competed until her late-twenties, which is unusual for a gymnast.

6. Agusta Erlendsdottir- This 29-year-old Icelandic singer who is famous in her homeland probably wishes her name was more simple like Bjork, a rock singer who is perhaps the most famous person from Iceland in the world.

7. Gro Hammerseng- Sticking with Scandanavia, this 31-year-old Norwegian athlete helped her country win team gold in handball at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

8. Melina Kanakaredes- Greek-American actress, 44, who is best-known for her tv work on the shows "Providence" and "CSI: New York."

9. Kim Kashkashian- This 58-year-old violonist and Armenian-American who has played with Yo Yo Ma should not be confused with the model/actress/reality tv show persona Kim Kardashian, who all of us are probably following on Twitter.

10. Deepika Padukone-This 25-year-old Bollywood actress was born in Copenhagen, Denmark- of all places!