Playing football and presenting TV are totally different things, but there are similarities: it's exciting, it can go well, it can go badly... the difference is when presenting goes badly, it doesn't really affect anyone's life, whereas when you have a bad day on the pitch, it affects people's moods for a whole week.
Interpretation
Football and TV presenting are different but share excitement; however, the stakes are higher in football.
In this quote, Gary Lineker highlights the distinct yet exciting nature of playing football compared to presenting on television. He emphasizes that while both roles can lead to thrilling moments and challenges, the impact of failure on the football pitch is significantly greater, affecting fans' emotions and experiences, in contrast to a poorly delivered TV segment which tends to have a lesser emotional toll.
In practice
During a sports presentation, you might reference this quote to discuss the emotional weight of sports.
Fundamentally, footballers don't look around a dressing room and think, 'He's a black player... he's Japanese.' They don't think like that. They think, 'He's a good player; he can help. He's not very good.' I'm not trying to defend anyone's actions, but there are going to be isolated incidents because it's an emotive, passionate sport.
The big thing is, everybody says it's being in the right place at the right time. But it's more than that, it's being in the right place all the time. Because if I make 20 runs to the near post and each time I lose my defender, and 19 times the ball goes over my head or behind me - then one time I'm three yards out, the ball comes to the right place and I tap it in - then people say, right place, right time. And I was there *all* the time.
Football is a simple game. Twenty-two men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end, the Germans always win.
I watched Leicester City lose in the 1969 FA Cup final with my dad and granddad when I was eight and cried all the way home. I have seen them get promoted and relegated. I played for them for eight years. I even got a group of like-minded fans and friends to stump up a few quid to salvage the club when they went into liquidation.
I had true rivalries. Not only did I want to beat my opponent, but I didn't want to let him up, either. I had a rivalry with Mac, Lendl, Borg. Everybody knew there was tension between us, on court and off. That's what's really ingrained in my mind: 'This is real. This isn't a soft rivalry.' There were no hugs and kisses.
Technique is not being able to juggle a ball 1000 times. Anyone can do that by practicing. Then you can work in the circus. Technique is passing the ball with one touch, with the right speed, at the right foot of your team mate.
Being a decathlete is like having ten girlfriends. You have to love them all, and you can't afford losing one.
I was a more aggressive rider than Armstrong. I would attack more often. He waits for the other guys, then counter-attacks.
I'd give a year of my life if I could hit a homerun on opening day of this great new park.
When we reach the point where the women athletes are getting their pick of dates just as easily as the men athletes, then we've really and truly arrived. Parity at last!
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