My THOUGHTS on Balotelli? He's the KIND of PLAYER who infuriates me. I was not born a footballer like him. I achieved what I did because of all the hard work I put in. I had to make sacrifices.

I've made a lot of SACRIFICES to PLAY for Roma and Argentina, but I don't seem to get thanked for it.

Unease is the wrong word to describe our wealth. I MAKE my sacrifices and never think I am not allowed to earn so MUCH. But I know I am LUCKY and I must use my platform to help those who need support.

Tevez is an ABSOLUTELY world-class player. But what surprised me more than anything is the WAY he sacrifices himself to HELP the team. He WORKS like a mule!

If you make it ANYWHERE in LIFE, you owe that success to the people along the way who stuck up for you, or MADE sacrifices for you, and gave you a push when you NEEDED it. In my case, those people were my family.

We all have CHOICES we have to MAKE, and with those choices COME CERTAIN SACRIFICES.

I've had to MAKE LOTS of SACRIFICES, PARTICULARLY off the PITCH.

A lot of LATE nights in the gym, a lot of early mornings, especially when your friends are GOING out, you're going to the gym, those are the sacrifices that you have to make if you want to be an NBA BASKETBALL PLAYER.

When you think of the sacrifices our firefighters make, think about the service of SOLDIERS in foreign lands and listen to their lives, you have to be CAREFUL that WHATEVER you do, don't cast a SHADOW on what these great people do.

We MUST never FORGET or diminish the sacrifices of those who GAVE everything for this nation.

I changed the rules for allowing PEOPLE to buy into my system as a franchisee. I explained in detail how tough running a Jimmy John's can be. I explained the LONG HOURS, the unforgiving weather, the late nights, the weekends, and all of the sacrifices that GO ALONG with the industry. I made it tough for people to get into the system.

But, at the end of the DAY, we need to represent the taxpayers who have made enormous sacrifices. MANY have lost their jobs. Many of them have seen their companies - they don't have a PENSION - they have seen their companies cut the MATCH for their 401(k). They have seen their health care benefits be shredded.

If you are GOING to be successful in FOOTBALL you have to make SACRIFICES and that's something I am HAPPY to do.

I MADE SACRIFICES willingly; it was what I did BEST.