Political Quotes

“I mentioned the Basketball Hall of Fame. Jerry Tarkanian made it into the hall of fame--20 years too late, but he made it. Why didn't he get in earlier? Because this courageous man took on the NCAA, which has absolute control over college athletes. I hope that as the years go by, we as a Congress will take a look at that more closely. But I don't want to move away from the important day it is in Jerry Tarkanian's life. Jerry is now over 80. He doesn't get around like he used to, and he doesn't chew on the towels like he is famous for. Here is a man who was held out of the hall of fame for far too long. This man won 990 games as a coach. He had more than an 80-percent winning record. He is a very fine man with a good family. His wife is a member of the Las Vegas City Council. He brought such excitement to Las Vegas. He coached the Runnin' Rebels into four final fours, won the championship once, and but for some politics within the university system, he would probably still be coaching there. Some things came up so that he no longer was able to coach at UNLV. But I admire him as a person and certainly send my congratulations to all of those Runnin' Rebel fans today because we have something to celebrate. Finally, he took on the NCAA and won. He won a large money judgment against them as a result of how they treated him--it was so unfair--him and his players.…”