Notes and quotes

"If I did this at Ohio State I'd be pumping gas." — Vanderbilt chancellor Gordon Gee, a former university president at football powerhouse Ohio State, acknowledging that he faces far less pressure than his peers at schools with big-time football and basketball programs. Vanderbilt will eliminate its athletic department in favor of merging departments that control varsity and intramural athletics, putting sports under the central university administration.

"One man? I don't care if you go get a Hall of Famer out of the Hall of Fame, he's not going to be the difference in that football game." — Patriots defensive lineman Richard Seymour on Lawyer Milloy's impact on Buffalo's 31-0 win after he was cut by New England and signed by the Bills.

"It's going to be a fight every single game. To be the best you have to play the best, and we understand that." — Mia Hamm about the upcoming Women's World Cup soccer tournament.

"We killed ourselves Sunday night. We're going to try to rebound and come out and dominate. I would rather sit and watch golf on TV than sit in a special teams meeting. I'd rather watch ice cubes melt. An extra hour meeting to watch me block for four field goals was a little much." — Raiders offensive lineman Mo Collins, after the entire team spent extra time in a special teams meeting.

"I just want to get it together. We should have won the game, but who cares? We're moving on. If you sit there and think about it and not flush it, then you're definitely going to get beat again this week. You have to forget about it and all the drama that's made out of it. We need to get desperate and we need to win big games." — Miami linebacker Zach Thomas on the Dolphins' opening-day upset by the Houston Texans.

"When somebody says in this game, 'It's just business,' you just got unfairly treated. That's the exact words that were put to me. And that's what it was when it came out to me being cut. It's just business. Listen, I gave back $2 million the year before that, how is my contract a problem? They do what they want to do." — Corey Fuller, who hasn't forgiven coach Butch Davis or the Cleveland Browns for releasing him.

"We're waiting to see how the Tigers did. We might have gained a game on them." — Colorado manager Clint Hurdle after his team beat St. Louis 8-1. The Rockies are 16-32 since the All-Star break. Only Detroit (12-39) has been worse in the second half.