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VANCOUVER -- Buck Pierce prepared for his retirement from the CFL by getting into the restaurant business while he was still playing. But the quarterback hopes to stay involved in football after officially calling it quits Tuesday. "Id love to look at those opportunities as they arise," Pierce said in an interview from his Winnipeg eatery. "(Football) is my passion. Ive always been a student of the game and looked up to coaches. "Obviously, (the passion doesnt end) just because you stop playing. That competitive fire will never burn out." Pierce split last season between the Lions and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, throwing for 1,176 yards, five touchdowns and seven interceptions. Over nine seasons with Winnipeg and B.C., he completed 1,200 passes for 15,289 yards, 76 TDs and 63 interceptions. "I feel pretty good about (retiring) actually," he said. "I feel that, over the last nine years, its been a great career for me. I enjoyed every minute of it. The teammates, the organizations were the part that were great experiences for me. Its a hard day also, in a way, for me because its what Ive known. Its what Ive been about for the most part of my life. "So its a big day in both ways. But Im also excited about the next phase of my life and moving on." Pierce, a 32-year-old Hutchinson, Kan., native who played collegiately at New Mexico State, originally signed with the Lions in 2005. He was a key member of the club as both a backup and starter through five seasons before playing 3 1/2 seasons with the Blue Bombers. He returned to B.C. last September in a trade that brought wide receiver Akeem Foster to Winnipeg. "Buck was a fearless competitor who never hesitated to put his body on the line for our organization," Lions general manager Wally Buono said in a news release. Pierces career was marred by multiple injuries as he chose to take a hit instead of sliding or running out of bounds before getting tackled. But he said the rewards were worth the punishment. "I wouldnt change anything I played the game the way that I felt this game should be played, and I felt that I represented myself extremely well on and off the field," he said. "Theres always going to be critics, and people are going to say what theyre going to say, but at the end of the day, I represented myself and my family and this league in a positive way." He won a Grey Cup with the Lions in 2006 and led the Bombers to the 2011 championship game, where they lost 34-23 to B.C. "Obviously, winning the Grey Cup in 06 was a big point in my life," he said. "Theres lots of memories. You dont necessarily remember all of the big wins and stuff like that. But when you play almost a decade, you have lots of teammates and you see lots of teammates be traded and all these things, so you have lots of memories that stick with you. "Obviously, when I helped the Bombers get to a Grey Cup in Vancouver, that was a big part, and I felt very good about what we accomplished that year." His final CFL campaign, when he was relegated to third-string status with the Blue Bombers before being dealt, was "extremely difficult." "But its all about what he you take away from situations and what you learn," he said. "I was fortunate enough to get traded to B.C., where it all started, and I had some great games at the end of the year. Im privileged and excited to be retiring as a Lion." Pierce had "extremely minor" arthroscopic surgery on his shoulder following the season and would have needed to get another contract from the Lions. But neither his health nor contract issues affected the decision to retire. "I didnt know what was going to happen (after) last year," he said. "I wanted it to be my decision. It wasnt money. It wasnt about injuries. It wasnt about anything else. It was about where I was at my point in my career and moving forward and taking that next step -- and about taking advantage of some of the opportunities that I have out there." Noting he had reached a state of contentment, Pierce expressed gratitude to fans, teammates and his two clubs alike. "The CFL and Canada have been great to me," he said. "Ive been fortunate to have amazing teammates, great mentors all throughout my career, and have played in great cities in the league -- and became a part of the culture here in Canada." He and his wife Lori, who is from Winnipeg, live in the Manitoba capital and plan to reside there until the future opportunities take them somewhere else. "Winnipegs the place that I call home right now," said Pierce. After announcing Pierces retirement, the Lions also announced the signings of quarterbacks John Beck and Jarrett Lee. Pending any early cuts following a mini-camp, the Lions are slated to have five quarterbacks at training camp in June in Kamloops, B.C. In addition to starter Travis Lulay, whose recovery from off-season shoulder surgery is considered ahead of schedule, the Lions have holdover QBs Joey Elliott, the apparent No. 2 at this point, and second-year pro Chris Hart. Noe Ramirez Angels Jersey . Van Slyke drove in a career-high four runs with two homers off struggling left-hander Tony Cingrani, and the Los Angeles Dodgers pulled away to a 6-2 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Monday night, a rare comfortable win in their pitching-dominated series. Whitey Herzog Angels Jersey . The hard-serving 22-year-old from Thornhill, Ont., became the first Canadian to be ranked in the Top 10 on the ATP World Tour thanks to his runner-up performance at Rogers Cup in Montreal. https://www.cheapangels.com/703j-luis-ma...y-angels.html.C. - NASCAR team owner Rick Hendrick headlines this years electees into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame. Dave Niehaus Jersey .C. -- Kevin Harvick won his first career pole at Darlington Raceway on Friday as he looks to chase his first Southern 500. Dave Winfield Angels Jersey . Pearce had a career-high four hits and drove in two runs, and Wei-Yin Chen shut down Texas again as the Orioles completed a four-game sweep of the Rangers with a 5-2 victory on Thursday night.PITTSBURGH, Pa. - For a team seemingly so reliant on megastars Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, the Pittsburgh Penguins sure do seem to handle their business when forced to play without them.David Perron and Brandon Sutter scored power-play goals less than 4 minutes apart in the third period and the Penguins rallied for a 5-3 win over the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday night. Pittsburgh snapped a four-game losing streak and somehow improved to 9-0-1 in their last 10 games with both Malkin and Crosby — who have a combined three MVPs between them — out of the lineup.Even though they werent playing you want to make sure to prove to everyone that you can still play, Perron said. We found a way to win without them.Kris Letang had a career-high five assists in his return to the lineup after missing a week with concussion-like symptoms. Nick Spaling, Steve Downie and Patric Hornqvist also scored for Pittsburgh. Thomas Greiss stopped 19 shots as Pittsburgh beat the Jets for the 14th straight time at home.This one, however, came with a slightly different look. Rather than the sometimes dazzling play of Crosby and Malkin, the Penguins rode the streaking Perron — who has six goals in nine games since arriving in a trade from Edmonton on Jan. 2 — and a gritty performance from a patchwork lineup.Perron tied the game at 3 at 4:23 of the third period by jabbing the puck in between the legs of Winnipeg goaltender Ondrej Pavelec and Sutter put the Penguins in front 7:52 into the third when his centring pass from behind the goal line somehow deflected off Pavelec and into the net. All five Pittsburgh scores came with players in close proximity to the goal mouth.We got to that area better than we have, Penguins coach Mike Johnston said. Its been an emphasis for us. Weve got to get to the paint. Weve got to get to the blue area.Adam Lowry, Jacob Trouba and Chris Thorburn scored for the Jets, who saw their five-game winning streak snapped when they couldnt protect a third-period lead. Pavelec made 25 saves but was sloppy in the third period.Lowry gave Winnipeg the lead 59 seconds into the third before Perron and Sutter delivered on Pittsburghs pieced together power play.We were able to geet a couple leads throughout the course of the game, we just werent able to hold them, Thorburn said.dddddddddddd. So, its unfortunate.The Penguins limped into the All-Star break with their longest losing streak of the season and were forced to start the second half without their franchise cornerstones. Crosby received an injection last Thursday to treat a lower-body injury suffered against Montreal earlier this month and missed the All-Star Game. While Crosby could return on Wednesday in Washington, Malkin is not skating at the moment and could miss a week or more.For a night anyway, Pittsburgh survived without them.Having the blossoming Perron in place certainly helped. Buried on the third line in Edmonton, Perron has become the kind of scoring threat Pittsburgh needed to take some of the pressure off Crosby.Playing with Sid the last little while brought me the confidence, said Perron, who had just five goals in 38 games with Edmonton before the trade. Just trying to carry the wave.Spaling gave the Penguins a 1-0 lead 7:09 into the game following a pretty sequence in which Letang hit Perron with a long stretch pass. Perron drew two defenders and Pavelec as he streaked down the right side. Perrons centring pass landed right on Spalings blade and he flipped it into a wide-open net.Letangs assist was the 200th of his career. He added four more a week after taking a jarring hit from Philadelphias Zac Rinaldo that left the former Norris Trophy-finalist with concussion-like symptoms. He missed a shootout loss to Chicago last week but responded with sublime play on a night the Penguins needed it.I liked every decision he made, Johnston said. He made it with speed and he made it quick. He didnt hang on to it.NOTES: The Penguins traded forward Marcel Goc to St. Louis for centre Maxim Lapierre after the game. ... Crosby did not play on the same night the team gave away a bobblehead in his honour. ... Penguins D Rob Scuderi played in his 400th game with the team. ... The Jets play at Philadelphia on Thursday. ... Winnipeg fell to 13-5-4 against the Eastern Conference. ... The Jets did not have a power play. Pittsburgh went 2 for 3 with the man advantage. ' ' '