Athlete’s at any level have a hard time accepting retirement, but mostly the Pro’s who are reluctant to step aside from a sport they have dedicated their lives to as well as the involvement in the community.
Times have long gone when a team was “loyal” to the city in which they played and this goes both ways as the teams who “own” the players rights don’t necessarily have a sense of devotion to the player(s) that have been an integral part of their organization.
The main difference between pro players and the weekend amateur is that the amateur goes on to play “beer league” sports as long as they can, without any regard to the overall safety of the young up and coming players.
They address the sport or play in a manner in which they have officials that simply don’t care about growing the sport, but rather are more focused on getting paid.
Times have changed and over the past, say 20 years far too many officials ask “how much are they paid” even prior to being assigned the game.
I have personally assigned and officiated many, many games and never once have I ever asked that question to the assignor and when I am asked, I simply state the game is now filled and assign another official.
Sounds harsh, but it’s reality about having a love for the sport and considering the officials are getting paid and don’t pay any tax, you would think they would be thankful for the game, but that’s not the case.
When any pro athlete or pro official retires they understand that “enough is enough” and it’s time to move on.
Even pro athletes understand this and while it’s hard to swallow, they do it, but somehow maintain the thought process that the sport will live on without them.
We are hearing that 30 year-old BC Lions Canadian receiver Shawn Gore has 
announced his retirement from the game after seven seasons in the CFL with the BC Lions.
Over that time span he had 307 catches for 3,911 yards and 20 touchdowns in 113 games and the press release stated that he was “pursue a new path.”
Quite possibly it might be due to the fact that in Week 15 of last season he suffered a concussion missing a game prior to returning to the lineup.
He stepped back into the lineup and played the next two weeks before getting hurt again and was forced to miss the regular-season final and the West Division semifinal, but did manage to dress for the West Final in which the BC Lions lost to Calgary.
BC Lions Head Coach/GM Wally Buono mentioned in a press release “We are very grateful for his many contributions to our organization both on and off the field.”
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Sticking with the BC Lions it’s reported that DB Steven Clarke could see a change forthcoming after coming off a torn anterior cruciate ligament and is apparently moving well and “turned heads” at the club’s recent mini-camp lining up at free safety after a short eight months following the injury.
In the past the free safety position with the Lions was normally reserved for a Canadian, but bench boss Wally Buono stated that “he has no issue using an American if it helps the Lions improve on their CFL-low nine interceptions from 2016.”
Mike Edem was signed to play free safety last season, but the hard-hitting Brampton, Ont., product had just two picks in 17 games.
In addition the Lions also drafted Montreal’s Anthony Thompson in hopes of making him into another Canadian safety, but this might change as they head to training camp starting the end of the May again being held in Kamloops.
He (Clarke) is originally from Lauderdale Lakes Florida and started 15 games for the Lions in 2015 then rejoined the Lions last spring following a “cup of coffee” with the Tennessee Titans.
The 26-year-old regained his starting role when fellow halfback T.J. Lee was lost for the year with a torn Achilles tendon in July, but would himself go down with his injury just a month later.
Last year (2016) the Lions had a good season on defence in the stats department and managed to tie in league lead in sacks while allowing the least (combined) yards.
Wishing the Lions a successful season!!
