xperience and overall importance to the future of this franch

In the end it can all be about how it ends. So often for the greatest of all time, it is the final chapter in their careers that they struggle with the most. The lines, having come easy for these supreme performers for so long, suddenly look muddled and make no sense. The confident swagger is replaced by anxiety of what comes next. This leads many to tear apart the passionate bond they have created with their team in search for pastures new; a time to flirt with others in a desperate attempt to keep the dream alive for just a little bit longer. Time waits for no one, though, and eventually every athlete is forced into their final act. Having spent much of their career in control, while excelling, it is this chapter where many lose control. After all, for every Derek Jeter, there is a Brett Favre. Steven Gerrards footballing career is not coming to an end but with a remarkable piece of gratitude, his Premier League one is. Gerrard has been the gift that has kept on giving for a generation of Liverpool fans starved of success and too often forced to live in the past. Never blessed with incredible natural ability, Gerrard was the ideal Red, the perfect Liverpool player who went out and made his own moments and because of his incredible self-belief, he has been in the middle of everything great the club has accomplished this century. His latest big moment has come away from the pitch. Gerrard has embraced the final chapter by picking it up before most expected, ensuring he can write it himself. With many of their great rivals winning far more, Liverpool fans were terrified of seeing the image of Gerrard playing for someone else. Yet, this was never going to be a player who would sign for another club and play against Liverpool. The comparisons with Frank Lampard will always exist, after all the two excelled in the league at the same time, playing for England over 100 times each and 59 times together, even though they never came close to clicking as teammates. Lampard has many strengths and is entitled to his own success but make no mistake, there is no chance that Gerrards career would see him playing for another team in the Premier League and going up against Liverpool. He had chances to leave, more than once, during his time and privately, he will have wondered if he made the right choices but it was all of those times in which he said no that has now led him to the most final of yess. It was just time. There are some who have wondered if Steven Gerrard was born twenty years too late. It turned out that he was born right in the middle of greatness on Merseyside. Liverpool Football Club were the kings of English football and would go on to win 10 English titles and four European Cups between 1975 and 1990. It was a time in the world that Gerrard would have loved to play in. Surrounded by genuine superstars, he would have relished being apart of so many massive occasions. Liverpool led the way on and off the field during that time and it was no coincidence that trophies came their way because of their work in recruitment. More than anyone, they knew when to let a player leave. Better for someone to go a year early than a year late. Decades on, the team is no longer in a position to have such a stance. When greatness leaves you, sometimes your choices can be more limited. This time, it is their club captain who makes such a decision. Liverpool had offered him a new contract, yet it was one he clearly had decided against taking and no one could blame him for that. Throughout his Liverpool career, Steven George Gerrard was a talisman, a player who scored enormous goals and regularly made a massive difference over the course of 90 minutes. At 34, less and less of these games are happening. He could have accepted the clubs offer and enjoyed scoring more goals against clubs like Leicester, while sitting on the bench to rest weary limbs against others, like Ryan Giggs did in recent years for Manchester United, for example, but he knew the club had an enormous problem with this proposition. No longer close to being a genuine championship contender, Liverpool have no one in their team that they can play in midfield and make people think its a good idea to rest Gerrard. He may be way past his best but it is a true indictment on the club that he remains so valuable to them. It is a responsibility that Gerrard has embraced for years but in recent weeks, it has become a huge burden. Despite his importance, he can no longer be trusted to play deeper because the playmaking role has gone with the absence of genuine top class centre forwards. As the game at Old Trafford last month showed, he is just a vulnerable central midfielder that gets swallowed up by big games, albeit one that can still show rare moments of individual brilliance. Once again, the fact that he wasnt surrounded by top players in a top team hurt him and is now forcing him to move, but as he does, he recognizes his worth to the club and the city. Many a tear will roll down a Scouse cheek in the next six months now that Gerrard has decided to leave Anfield for good but as they wish him well in his next stage abroad, they know he has left as one of them. Fewer and fewer players in all sports have reasons to be so connected with their clubs but for Gerrard and the city of Liverpool, it was the complete opposite. He was one of their own that understood what they felt. For a community that is obsessed about their football club and what it means to play for them, this meant everything to that fan base. Liverpool lost a world-class striker and a Premier League title in 2014. A day into 2015, they are already losing something bigger. Theyll be lucky to find anyone close to another Steven Gerrard at Anfield. A place where hell never walk alone. Cheap Shoes . Terms of the contract were not disclosed by the club. Clemons spent his first five NFL seasons with the Miami Dolphins, who selected him in the fifth round of the 2009 draft out of Clemson. Cyber Monday Shoes . Future Hall of Famer Ricky Ray is in his prime and back for a third season in double blue. The 34-year old was magnificent in 2013, throwing for just under 2,900 yards despite missing eight games, tossing an impressive 21 touchdowns against just two interceptions, completing 66 per cent of his passes in the process. https://www.fakeshoeswholesale.com/ . After Mariota was pushed around by Stanford on Thursday, finishing 20/34 with 250 yards and two touchdowns in Oregons Title hope-crushing defeat, hes going to need a poor performance or two from the remaining frontrunners to have a shot at the most coveted individual trophy in college sports. Wholesale Shoes . -- Edwin Encarnacion hit a three-run homer, Colby Rasmus drove in two runs and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Detroit Tigers 9-4 on Saturday. Discount Shoes . - The RBC Canadian Open will return to Glen Abbey Golf Club next year, marking the 27th time that the national open championship will be played at the Oakville, Ont.BROOKLYN - As the Raptors opening round series shifts back into quasi must-win territory on Sunday, their playoff lives could rest on the shoulders of a 23-year-old sophomore, who is already having a tough time adjusting to the pressure of his first postseason. Through three games with the Nets, Toronto has yet to play its best basketball, the easiest explanation for their 2-1 series deficit. Its under-performing starting small forward, Terrence Ross, has been a primary factor. Stepping in for the traded Rudy Gay early in the season, Ross played an under-appreciated role in the Raptors turnaround and push to the playoffs. From Dec. 8 onwards, the second-year guard-turned-forward averaged 12.2 points, nearly doubling his pre-trade scoring mark while logging an addition 10 minutes a night. He shot the three-ball at an impressive 40 per cent clip and became Torontos most relied upon perimeter defender. Since making his playoff debut a week ago, Ross has looked like a fish out of water. Despite starting all three games and playing an average of 21 minutes, hes hit just three of his 16 jumpers while looking overwhelmed on defence against Brooklyns bigger, more physical wing players. Overall, the Raptors have gotten just 4.7 points per game from the small forward position, good for last among the NBAs 16 playoff teams by a wide margin. With Fridays 102-98 loss in the back of his mind, Dwane Casey wouldnt rule out the possibility of a lineup change for Sundays crucial Game 4. "Were still going to look at that," Casey said following a Saturday afternoon practice on the campus of a nearby university in New York City. "The decision hasnt been made but we will look at it. Right now we dont want to do anything drastic." "Its not panic time, but we do have to look at that position and get more productivity out of that spot." Its been the most problematic conundrum Casey has had to wrestle with in this series. The Raptors do not have an easy answer for Joe Johnsons unique combination of size, strength and finesse. The Nets crafty veteran - listed at 6-foot-7, 240 lbs - has had Torontos number in nearly every facet of the game. He can beat you from midrange, post-up smaller players and hes deadly from beyond the arc. "We have been double teaming him and blitzing him and hes been getting a lot of his [points] in those one-on-one situations," Casey pointed out. Defensively, Landry Fields has had the most individual success against Johnson. Casey turned to the sparingly used forward in Game 2, a well-received lineup adjustment that helped neutralize Johnson in the fourth quarter and spark Torontos comeback victory. Johnson would go on to lead the Nets with 29 points in Fridays Game 3 but was held scoreless, missing both of his shots, in seven first-half minutes with Fields guarding him. However, Fields was limited to just eight minutes in the loss. This time the Nets had prepared for him. Anticipating his reluctance to shoot, Brooklyn used Fields defender to apply even more pressure to DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry. With Jonas Valanciunas in foul trouble, Fields shared the floor with Tyler Hansbrough - another player the defence can afford to overlook - and the Raptors offencce took an immediate hit.dddddddddddd "Its give and take," Casey said in regards to utilizing Fields in this series. "You sacrifice some offence for defence. I thought he did a heck of a job [defensively] but you do suffer in your spacing." John Salmons returned to the rotation, scoring four points in 12 minutes on Friday after sitting out in Game 2. The 35-year-old has battled lingering back pain while struggling with his jumper. He too has been exposed by Johnson. "Weve got to find ways to get them the ball," Casey said of Fields and Salmons. "Whether its cutting, screening, running the floor, so that we get something from that spot [and] they cant just load up and go 5-on-4 at the defensive end. We want to make sure we do get something offensively out of that position." Their best chance is to get Ross going. Fields moves well without the ball and gives you consistent effort on defence, Salmons brings a certain veteran savvy that has been useful in the past but Ross - when right - is the two-way contributor Toronto desperately needs to gain the upper hand in this series. For the young Ross, boosting his confidence could be the key to unleashing the natural ability he has displayed throughout his second season. It could be something as simple as seeing an early shot fall, getting a big first-quarter stop or throwing down one of his trademark slam dunks. "Hes still the same Terrence," DeRozan said Saturday. "We all understand everybodys not going to have their best night [all the time]. We all understand that. Our job is to keep everybodys confidence high." Through three playoff games, Ross and fellow sophomore Jonas Valanciunas - who leads the Raptors in turnovers - have the worst +/- on the team. Toronto has allowed 24 more points than its scored with Ross on the floor, outscored by 21 with Valanciunas on the floor. The Raptors are the only playoff team to feature two second-year players in their starting lineup. Their inexperience and overall importance to the future of this franchise is largely responsible for the leash theyve been given. "If they werent young guys, if that wasnt our future, our direction, they probably wouldnt be in there with some of the mistakes theyre making," Casey admitted. "But, theyre our guys. Theyve got to learn, its their first playoffs. I expect most of their mistakes. Were going to ride with them in those situations." "Its tougher, but a big part of the reason were here is because of their play. Im not blind to the fact they are our future and the only way were going to learn is to go through it. The amount of time might be a little shorter, but theyve got to get out there." Regardless of his role, Ross will continue to play. Yes, win or lose this is a valuable learning experience for the 23-year-old but more than anything else, Casey knows how quickly the complexion of this series could change if Ross shots begin to fall. For Ross, the player, that would mean more confidence and likely a more engaged defensive effort, even if he cant guard Johnson one-on-one. For the team it could aid their spacing, take the pressure off Lowry and DeRozan and breathe life into their suffocating offence. ' ' '