Sports Lines

'That's the biggest cheek I've seen in 15 years. The ref must be getting a hefty bonus from Karlsruhe. That was a swindle, cheating. And he's supposed to be the best referee in Germany . . . Krug did us down for 90 minutes.' - Bayern Munich soccer captain Lothar Matthaus fuming against referee Hellmut Krug after a 2-2 draw at Karlsruhe.

'If I said anything I'd be risking a 100-year ban from the DFB (German Football Association).' - Bayern Munich trainer Giovanni Trapattoni when asked if he supported Matthaus' allegations.

'I only said Karlsruhe ought to pay the referee a bonus. It was just a suggestion they could make him a little present, not an accusation of bribery.' - Matthaus again, a few days later, modifying his position.

'If I say I'm going to do something, then I'm going to do it. I don't care if the police are there or not. That's how I am. If I said I was going to kill her then I would have gone out and done it.' - Boxer James Toney after his manager Jackie Kallem told police she thought Toney was going to shoot her.

'The man is incompetent. I might take legal action over that matter. I think the man needs an eye test. You get a gut feeling a referee wants you to get beat. I would have felt much more comfortable with a man off the street in charge. I was 500-1 to win this tournament but when I saw John Street I knew my odds were 1,000-1.' - Controversial Northern Irish snooker star Alex Higgins blaming referee John Street for a first-round defeat at the UK Championships.

'You saw DiMaggio standing there and you knew you had a pretty damn good chance to win the game - and the enemy knew they had a pretty good chance to lose it.' - Joe DiMaggio's teammate Red Ruffing recalling the days of a great talent and the fear he instilled in the opposition.