With all our present uncertainties in the CFL this Baltimore/football pro thing feels like a very First World problem to me.
That’s the definition
The definition of a professional athlete is someone who gets paid to perform in an athletic event. Period. Anything else are people's personal additions.
And just as a reference, at one time 95% of NHL players had second jobs. They were never called anything else but professional hockey players.
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Well the dictionary disagrees
Bingo.
Here are the relevant definitions from Webster's:
2a : participating for gain or livelihood in an activity or field of endeavor often engaged in by amateurs
a professional golfer
b : having a particular profession as a permanent career
a professional soldier
c : engaged in by persons receiving financial return
professional football
Ok....so then what is the difference between pro and semi-pro?
I don’t think it does actually.
Semi-pro is when you have a regular occupation, and you participate in the sport as a side venture mostly confined to the weekends and your spare time. A good example of this in a sports context are curlers. The game is in the infant stages of true professionalism, with athletes getting paid, however for the vast majority they have “regular 9-5” jobs where they derive most of their personal income. They work these jobs throughout the year including the season.
well, for some players I guess the CFL could be considered semi-pro then.
I am quite sure that they didn't neglect to mention the CFL because they considered it semi pro, but rather because they didn't consider it at all.
As for USFL I bet it was simply forgotten as that teams single year was less memorable than the Stallions two years, two championship games, and one championship win, as well as the leagues quick demise.
I find myself always having to say, oh right there was the USFL. This in spite of Doug Flutie starting his career in it.
Who is to say which is the side venture? Jock Clime was a lawyer while playing football…Eric Lapointe was a banker or stock broker(something along those lines) Brandon London was a model and TV personality…Tony Proudfoot was a CEGEP teacher
I am not dis-respecting the league, to me it is a professional league. I am only saying that an argument can be made to say it is semi-pro
for sure bla bla bla 20 character minimum
I agree … the semi-pro sport provides little if any income … many pro athletes do have “side gigs” if you will in preparation for their post-football career (e.g., Laurent Duvernay-Tardif completing his medical degree; Jock Climie and law) but the the non-football work is fit around the football schedule … in semi-pro the football is the secondary consideration.
A side venture is something you participate in that is not your primary income source, or takes up the majority of your working time. Climie was not a full-time lawyer while playing in the league. He became one after leaving football. Again, his primary occupation and income source was playing football.
The curling example shows what semi-pro is. Your primary activity you take part in and where you make your most money in, is xyz job, and you curl on the weekends. or in your spare time. You cannot have a 9-5 “regular” job and play on a CFL team on the side like a curler does. That is the difference between pro and semi pro.
I would say the CFL is full on pro simply by the base of the salary .
You only need to look at the median wage in Canada and realize that if one chooses if they are on the 42 man roster one can easily get by playing ONLY football . I know players who did just that so how can they not be full pro football players .
I know many people it takes two wages to get them over the 60 k mark .
Because the season is 6 months why wouldn't a player dabble with the second career they are young and have tons of time on their hands .
Just because your not set for life which is what the lottery of the majors gives players today in the NFL , MLB , NHL etc ,,, it does not disqualify the CFL as a pro league .
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I don't care what americans or canadians think if our league. I love the CFL. I watch a little hockey, but i live for the CFL. Dont like it, turn the channel.
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So having a second interest or job makes the CFL semi-pro.
What about all the players in the "major" leagues" that run restaurants, clothing lines, and other businesses and ventures. These are all second incomes. Does that make them semi-pro?
I’m with you on that.
I disagree with the semi-pro argument. Players don’t hold second jobs while they’re playing. “Hey coach! I can’t make Friday’s game - gotta work.”
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How so… technically and by definition. Just wondering? Which technical definition are you employing? Methinks you may be employing personal opinion and barely remembered ‘something you once read somewhere’ just like most of us. 