Shimer considering return to coaching

It's funny how the ever-changing climate of the business world can impact personal decisions. Former athletes and coaches are not immune to this dynamic.

Just four months after participating in what he said most likely was his last Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, as the driving coach for the United States, Naples native Brian Shimer is having second thoughts.

The lukewarm real estate market is partly to blame, along with a United States Bobsled and Skeleton Federation that seems eager to lock up the services of one of the most respected men in the sport.

Shimer has been working with his wife, Ann-Marie, representing Premier Properties in Naples since his return from Europe, but is in negotiations with the USBSF.

"I told them I would consider it under certain circumstances, and that's giving me a lot more control than our other coaches have had in the past," the 44-year-old Shimer said Saturday before the National Sports Gala at the Radisson Suite Beach Resort on Marco Island, where he was among several honorees.

"I have been in this sport longer than anybody in America that's still involved, and I'd rather go to the Olympic Games as the coach, not win a medal and it be my fault. This time all I could say is I did my part as an assistant coach."

What Shimer was alluding to was the fact that the U.S. did not medal in either the two-man or four-man competition, leaving himself and Todd Hays as the last two drivers to stand on the medals podium. Hays won silver and Shimer bronze at the 2002 Salt Lake City Games, ending a 46-year medal drought for America.

But Hays slipped to seventh place in Italy and was beaten out by his teammate in the USA-2 sled, Olympics rookie Steve Holcomb. Like Shimer in 2002, Hays opted to retire, but he announced it during the Games.

"He announced it after the first day of the two-day event, and I don't think it was the best timing, especially when his team is pulling for him and fighting for him to come back," said Shimer, who said the Canadians also have been trying to lure him to be their driving coach. "He pretty much knew that there was probably no chance of coming back for a medal at that time, and probably didn't know what else to talk about."

As for his own retirement, both as an athlete and from the coaching ranks, Shimer didn't feel any hesitation in February before the bobsled competition. He and Ann-Marie have a one- year-old daughter, Brianna, and he was growing tired of not seeing them enough.

Ann-Marie, who learned how to to being a single mom for most of 2005 and early 2006, also was ready to see more of her husband. But she has been in real estate long enough to see how tough things were about to become, so she softened her stance.

"It's a tough decision, but there a lot of factors that come into play," she said. "It's still a good market, it just takes a lot more creative work, and with me not being committed 9 to 5 on site, I have the flexibility in my business to go travel with him. That's probably the only reason why I was okay with it, because we can pick up and go."

Shimer depicted the process a little differently.

"She's actually said don't let the door hit you on the (backside) on the way out," he joked. "So that's another reason why I'm considering it. I think I can maybe do a little better. My focus will be on bringing home a medal in 2010 in Vancouver instead of trying to set the world on fire on the World Cup circuit, but it's going to take a lot of work."

Something he's very accustomed to.