Alright folks, lemme tell you about this little side project I kicked off – “quotes of boxing.” Sounds simple, right? Well, it was… kinda.
It all started ’cause I was watching some old boxing matches, you know, Ali, Tyson, the greats. And they always have these killer one-liners, these sayings that just stick with you. So, I thought, “Hey, why not collect ’em?”
First thing I did was hit up Google. Started searching for “famous boxing quotes,” “boxing sayings,” all that jazz. I found a bunch of lists online, but they were all, like, the same ten quotes repeated over and over. Needed to dig deeper.
Next, I went to YouTube. Figured I could watch interviews and documentaries, jot down anything interesting. This actually worked pretty well! I’d pause the video, write down the quote, and note who said it and when.
Then came the messy part: organizing everything. I started a simple text file, but that quickly became a nightmare. Too hard to search, too easy to lose stuff. So, I switched to a spreadsheet. One column for the quote, one for the speaker, one for the source (YouTube link or website), and another for any notes.
After a week or so of collecting, I had a decent little database. But just having a list wasn’t enough. I wanted to make it accessible, searchable. That’s when I thought about putting it online.
I’m no web developer, but I know enough to be dangerous. I found a free website builder, chose a simple template, and started adding the quotes. It was mostly copy-pasting, but it took forever! Especially formatting everything so it looked decent.
The biggest challenge was definitely the search function. The website builder had a built-in search, but it wasn’t great. It would only find exact matches, which meant if you misspelled something, you were out of luck. I looked into adding a better search engine, but that was way beyond my skill level.
So, I settled for what I had. A simple website with a list of boxing quotes and a basic search function. Not perfect, but it works.
I even tried adding a little “submit a quote” form, hoping other boxing fans would contribute. Got a few submissions, which was cool. Had to verify they were real, though. Turns out, people like to make stuff up.
Lessons learned? Don’t underestimate the time it takes to organize data. And sometimes, good enough is good enough. It’s a simple project, but I learned a lot, and now I have a place to find those awesome boxing quotes whenever I need ’em.
- Started with a simple idea.
- Googled for existing quotes.
- Used YouTube to find more obscure ones.
- Organized everything in a spreadsheet.
- Built a basic website to display the quotes.
- Added a “submit a quote” form.
Future improvements?
Maybe someday I’ll learn enough to build a proper search function. Or even turn it into a mobile app. But for now, I’m happy with what I’ve got.
