Sports coaches often emphasize the importance of practice. This quotation appeared in a syndicated newspaper column in April 1979:
“Basketball coach Abe Lemons’ book includes this advice to players: ‘You’ve got to practice every day. One day of practice is like one day of clean living. It ain’t gonna help.’”
American college basketball coach Abe Lemons (1922-2002) was known for his colorful sayings. The book is probably “You Scored One More Point than a Dead Man”: The Irresistible, Sardonic Humor of Abe Lemons (1978).
“One day of practice is like one day of clean living. It doesn’t do you any good” is a popular version of the saying that has been printed on many images.
Wikipedia: Abe Lemons
A.E. “Abe” Lemons (November 21, 1922 - September 2, 2002) was an American college basketball player and coach. As a coach at Oklahoma City University, Pan American University and The University of Texas, he compiled a record of 599 wins and 343 losses in 34 seasons.
OCLC WorldCat record
“You scored one more point than a dead man” : the irresistible, sardonic humor of Abe Lemons
Author: Abe Lemons; Robert Heard
Publisher: Austin : Lemons-Heard Co., ©1978.
Edition/Format: Print book : English
28 April 1979, The State (Columbia, SC), “The Broadway Beat” by Earl Wilson, pg. 16-A, cols. 1-2:
Basketball coach Abe Lemons’ book includes this advice to players: “You’ve got to practice every day. One day of practice is like one day of clean living. It ain’t gonna help.”
Google Books
Sportswit
By Lee Green
New York, NY: Ballantine Books
1986, ©1984
Pg. 282:
ABE LEMONS Texas basketball coach:
“One day of practice is like one day of clean living. Doesn’t do you any good.”
Google Books
The Best Things Anybody Ever Said about Sports, Management and Marketing
By Louis E. Boone and David L. Kurtz
Thomson South-Western
2006
Pg. 116:
“One day of practice is like one day of clean living. It doesn’t do you any good.”
Abe Lemons (1922-2002)
American college basketball coach
Google Books
The Quotable A**hole:
More than 1,200 Bitter Barbs, Cutting Comments, and Caustic Comebacks for Aspiring and Armchair A**holes Alike
By Eric Grzymkowski
Avon, MA: Adams Media
2011
Pg. 158:
One day of practice is like one day of clean living. It doesn’t do you any good. —Abe Lemons, former Oklahoma City University men’s basketball coach
Google Books
Quotable Quotes:
Wit and Wisdom from the Greatest Minds of Our Time
By Editors of Reader’s Digest
White Plains, NY: The Reader’s Digest Association, Inc.
2013
Pg. ?:
One day of practice is like one day of clean living. It doesn’t do you any good. —ABE LEMONS
Twitter
Athlete Quotes
@AthleteQuotes
One day of practice is like one day of clean living. It doesn’t do you any good. ~Abe Lemons #quote
3:22 PM - 25 Jun 2017
Above, a 1934 plaque from the Big Apple Night Club at West 135th Street and Seventh Avenue in Harlem. Discarded as trash in 2006. Now a Popeyes fast food restaurant on Google Maps.
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Above, Big Apple Corner at 54th Street and Broadway in Manhattan. Google Maps.
Above, John J. Fitz Gerald, from the Aug. 15, 1931, Binghamton (NY) Press, pg. 14.
Listen to Robert Emmerich introduce "The Big Apple," a hit song from 1937. Music written by Bob and performed by Tommy Dorsey's Clambake Seven with Bob on piano. Lyrics written by Buddy Bernier and sung by Edythe Wright. Audio provided by Dorothy Emmerich.
Also listen to a 1937 "The Big Apple" song by Ozzie Nelson and his Orchestra. See a 1929 photo of John J. Fitz Gerald and a 1931 photo of John J. Fitz Gerald.
This site is edited by Barry Popik.