TORONTO -- Veteran sportscasters Steve Armitage and Mark Lee are the latest high-profile casualties of budget cuts at the CBC. Armitage, 70, lent his booming voice to CBC sports events for some 49 years -- handling play-by-play on 29 seasons of "Hockey Night in Canada," 27 Grey Cups and 15 Olympic Games. "I loved my job," he said. "I felt like I had been dodging the bullet. I really thought if the sports department was going to take a major hit, Id be high on their target list because of the years I had worked. "I was probably due to go. I didnt want to go because I liked my job, but when you gotta go, you gotta go." The majority of CBC sportscasters are hired on contract. Of four prominent sportscasters the network had on staff, Scott Russell is keeping his job. Armitage and Lee were let go, while Brenda Irving is moving to another department. The CBC lost NHL hockey rights last November to Rogers Media in a whopping $5.2-billion deal, leading to a dramatic loss of advertising revenue for a network already struggling with federal budget cuts. In April, CBC president Hubert Lacroix announced that 657 jobs would be slashed to meet a $130-million budget shortfall. Lacroix said at the time that 42 per cent of the sports department would be laid off, trimming 38 sports jobs from 90 current positions. He also announced in April that the broadcaster would no longer compete for professional sports rights and would cover fewer sports events, including amateur sports. Armitage and Lee learned they were being laid off in early May and recently wrapped up their final days at CBC. Both were given the opportunity to bump newer employees out of their positions but chose not to displace younger workers. Lee said hes struggling to adjust to his new life after spending 34 years with the public broadcaster. At 58, he is not ready to retire and hopes to find work in the industry. "Im still feeling a little bit lost. Its only been about 10 days since my last day there," he said. "It becomes a real big part of your life. You have a second family at work -- people you get to know really well and you travel with and spend large amounts of time on the road with at major events like the Olympics, Hockey Night in Canada, the CFL on CBC." The Gemini Award-winning sportscaster fondly recalled some of his proudest moments at CBC, including calling Usain Bolts world record-setting Olympic gold medal race at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and producing a documentary on Muhammad Ali. Lee said CBC simply cannot compete at this point with Rogers and Bell Media for professional sports rights due to federal budget cuts. He said CBC has been doing all it can to keep certain types of programming on the air, but it is becoming impossible. "I hope that Canadians take notice. I hope that Canadians really cherish their CBC and lobby the government to maybe fund it the way it should be funded. Its one of the poorest funded public broadcasters in the western world," he said. Jeffrey Orridge, executive director of sports properties and general manager of the Olympics at CBC, said it was "extraordinarily sad" to see Armitage and Lee go. "They are consummate professionals, veterans in the industry and theyre both iconic. Frankly, their talent and their personalities are irreplaceable," he said. However, he said that CBC was in "very challenging times" and significant cuts had to be made to the sports department. "I think this is part of an overall strategic decision to respond to the changing landscape in sports at CBC and really, in response to the overall picture at CBC/Radio-Canada. Resources have been significantly diminished and decisions have to be made," he said. Carmel Smyth, national president of the Canadian Media Guild, which represents most CBC workers, called it "appalling" the Conservative government has cut CBC so deeply. "Who will cover amateur sports and give our athletes the exposure they need?" she asked. "We are losing exceptional talent that takes decades to develop. Will kids today ever have a chance to become the next Steve Armitage or Mark Lee?" Armitage joined CBC in 1965 as a late-night sports reporter in Halifax -- "There was one criteria: you needed to know how to type," he said with a laugh -- and went on to win three Gemini Awards, the Foster Hewitt Award and was inducted into the B.C. Hall of Fame during his nearly 50-year career. In the past two weeks, hes been enjoying his countryside home near Halifax but misses sportscasting. He said he doesnt have "sour grapes" about being forced into retirement but made clear he disagrees with the direction CBC is taking on sports. "The CBC has decided to put its priorities and what little money it has left into other areas," he said, adding that remaining sports staff are "dedicated, hard-working and will do their level best to preserve whats left." "But what worries me is if you keep taking people away, you take away the experience and the depth that CBC Sports had, and the ability to mount major projects and continue to do the high level of work and keep up the standards that the CBC had for many years. That becomes more and more difficult because the people just arent there." Wil Myers Jersey ... maybe even more than that. Maybe all season I have to take a few blows. Custom San Diego Padres Jerseys .C. -- Theyll remember the OT from the first Syracuse-Duke game -- and the Ts that decided Round 2. http://www.padressale.com/padres-dave-winfield-jersey/. They know how difficult it is to beat the San Antonio Spurs. George scored 28 points and Indiana defeated San Antonio 111-100 on Saturday night, snapping an 11-game skid against the Spurs. Rickey Henderson Jersey . Completely. Two days after releasing Peyton Manning, the longtime face of the franchise, the Colts announced they were cutting four fan favourites: running back Joseph Addai, linebacker Gary Brackett, safety Melvin Bullitt and tight end Dallas Clark. Trevor Hoffman Jersey . The Asheville, N.C. native, who signed as a free agent with the CFL club last May, didnt see any action with Edmonton this season after opening the year on the injured list.TORONTO, Ontario -- As the captain of the Hamilton Bulldogs, Martin St. Pierre relishes the opportunity to be the go-to guy. St. Pierre scored twice, including the game winner, as the Bulldogs edged the host Toronto Marlies 2-1 on Saturday in American Hockey League action. It was the Bulldogs second win in five meetings with the Marlies this season but its first against Toronto in regulation time. "Weve had some troubles winning games in this building," St. Pierre said about the Ricoh Coliseum. "Weve played well. Its good to get contributions from every body and get the two points in this building." The win puts Hamilton in a three-way tie with Toronto and Lake Erie atop the North Division standings. St. Pierre scored his fifth and sixth goals of the season to give Hamilton (11-10-3) a 2-0 lead. But Korbinian Holzer responded for the Marlies (12-9-1) at 17:44 of the second period to cut the Bulldogs lead in half. "Marty bounced back. I dont think he liked his game last night (in Lake Erie)," said Bulldogs head coach, Sylvain Lefebvre. "He bounced back with two big goals tonight." Toronto had an excellent chance to tie it with 3:22 remaining in the third with Nick Tarnasky off for high sticking. Kevin Marshall had the Marlies best chance with the mman advantage, but his shot from the top of the face-off circle sailed over the crossbar.dddddddddddd. "It couldve (been costly) and thats what makes our team," said Lefebvre of the late penalty. "The other guys wanted to bail guys out and thats what makes a winning team. Youre there for one another and you care for one another." Drew MacIntyre made 21 saves for just his second loss on home ice this season. Robert Mayer made 22 saves in the win. St. Pierre one-timed a Mike Blunden feed past a sprawling MacIntyre for his first goal of the game at 11:52 of the first period. Then at 1:02 of the second, St. Pierre put home a no-look feed from Christian Thomas. The goal marked St. Pierres team-leading 22nd point of the season. "We knew we had to get a good dump-in and work their defence," St. Pierre said of the game-winner. "It was a great forecheck by Patrick Holland and a great pass by Thomas." Holzer beat Mayer from a sharp angle for his second goal of the season with Hamiltons Tarnasky off serving a double minor for butt-ending Jamie Devane at 15:59 of the second period. Toronto went 1 for 5 with the man advantage while Hamilton scored on 1 of 3 power play opportunities. The two teams face-off once again Fri., Dec. 13 in Hamilton. 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