The scary scene unfolded with 15:44 to play in the. The doctor said, Listen, tell you what, why dont you just sit on the stretcher? I said OK, I can do that, Smith says and now hes laughing. Hes feeling wobbly, so wobbly. We enjoyed working four football seasons together before his retirement. Referee Bert Smith is taken off the court on a stretcher after collapsing during the first half of an Elite 8 game between Gonzaga and Southern California during the first half of an Elite 8 game . It is by far the most difficult thing Ive ever done. Now he wonders. Then again, isnt that what Bert Smith has always done? REFEREE Bert Smith collapsed during the first half of the USC - Gonzaga game during the Elite Eight of the 2021 NCAA Tournament. I could be involved with Boys and Girls Clubs of America. I always thought he was a good dude, Lansing says. I do it because I love the ballgame. Youve probably seen him. The doctors who cared for him at Lucas Oil Stadium, Pat Kersey and Luke Berghoff; he appreciates their careand understands their stretcher subterfuge. Look at that picture again. She sits down next to the bed, Smith continues, and she says: I saw your fall tonight. I'm committed to it year round. I love officiating because of the rush of excitement I get every time a player rises over another for a nothing-but-net three-pointer or from two kids diving after a loose ball like its a $1 million bill. Find IndyStar columnist Gregg Doyel on Twitter at @GreggDoyelStar or at www.facebook.com/gregg.doyel. Shes an important part of this story.. Their goalie tried leaping to his left I love officiating for the same reason I love my wife. Smith, a veteran college basketball official of 28 years, lost consciousness five minutes into the game, falling backward in a scary moment captured on the TBS broadcast and banging his head against the hardwood court. Bunch of sixth-graders at Garfield Park in Chicago. The article is made available for educational use by individuals. Hed rather take the stairs, and Bert Smith doesnt walk them. He is the current president of the U.S. Basketball Writers Association, was the 2020 winner of the National Headliner Award as the country's top sports columnist and has twice been named North. Has it cued up on his iPad and everything.
Referee Bert Smith says blood clot in lung caused his fall at NCAA men Now Bert Smith is laughing again. Katie Trammel, he tells me slowly, then repeats her name, then spells it. Who will win each 2023 conference tournament? Hes got a wife, Jacquie, of 32 years, two daughters and two more grandchildren. 6 seed USC. Sometimes it just hits you. I dont know which bucket Im in.. According to kenpom.com, the Gonzaga-USC game was the 70th matchup Smith worked this season.
Referee Bert Smith in Stable Condition After Collapsing During Gonzaga Hes on the stretcher, and hes not even a little bit happy about it. Do we give an extra hug enough? All rights reserved. Referee Bert Smith is taken off the court on a stretcher after collapsing during the first half of an Elite Eight game between Gonzaga and USC during the first half of an Elite 8 game in the NCAA . He runs. If you saw it, you understand.
More Doyel:Referee Bert Smith got to hear ovation of a lifetime. . He wasnt one of those guys you couldnt talk to. After all, he hit the court hard, so hard that it left a giant bump on the back of his head. "It puts in perspective the value of each day, because we all go through our lives -- we're all guilty of it -- and we just live, right?" 1 seed Gonzaga and No. No, he said hed walk off under assistance. I love that we are the only participants who are not allowed to fail. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. Since I'm involved in an athletic contest I want to be able to participate to the full, and working out, proper nutrition and recovery allow me to be able to keep up with the players and game. Im happy I did it around a bunch of people who had the ability to help me.. [1] It was the 68th annual edition of the tournament. Who parks in the farthest spot from the entrance to Kroger? 1 seed Gonzaga and No. The passion and emotion of the contestants can never sway the judgment of the crew. More than a week later, he hasnt watched the moment. Youre going to get on one side, hes going to get on the other, were going to wave to the fans, and Im walking out of here.. The arrival at the arena, the pregame, being with various partners, the competition, the players, coaches, ambience, the focus and concentration needed on each possession. Hes not wobbly, no blurry vision, nothing.
NCAA Referee has SCARY COLLAPSE! Doctor examines WHY?? He wasnt one of those guys you couldnt talk to. Well, says one of the doctors, at least sit on the stretcher. You have to be in excellent physical condition in order to be in the correct position to rule on plays. What I mean is that we are the upholders of the integrity of the game. First as an athlete growing up in Buffalo, a high school small forward, receiver and 400-meter runner, then some junior college basketball. Look at his scowl. It is my release. Moves fast? The whole thing is mysterious, because hes a sculpture of a man, 6-3 and 195 pounds. After that he studies business administration at SUNY-Buffalo, gets a job at Avis Budget Group, moves fast up the ranks as his career takes him to Chicago, Houston and finally the Cincinnati area. Referee Bert Smith is taken off the court on a stretcher after collapsing during the first half of an Elite 8 game between Gonzaga and Southern California during the first half of an Elite 8 game . Smith abruptly collapsed during an Elite Eight game between No. When you live something like I did, it hits you square in the eyes that you really have to value each day.. Now Bert Smith is laughing again. I joined a rec team and Mike spent hours showing me how to play. And after it happens, with a replacement official stepping in for Smith, he spends two hours getting treatment at the stadium, where his vitals are normal pulse, blood pressure, oxygen level and he doesnt have a headache. Referee data is available for the 1988-89 through 2022-23 seasons. Officiating In Perspective with Barry Mano, Amid cancer fight, NBA ref Tony Brown returning to work, Recruiting & Retention: What WorkedWhat Didnt, Next Level Softball Umpiring Free Email Series, High School Volleyball Officials Quiz 2023. I still play in a mens league, have refereed more than 700 NCAA games and am in my 17th season as an MLS official. Might as well walk fast, too. I want to know why you fell. She checked a few things out, came back in and took me through the car wash. Just a lot of tests. It could have been a red flag, he said doctors told him, but then again "sometimes it just hits you.". It was fun and stress-free officiating, and I was able to help pay for college. He plans to return as soon as he can to the court, and that includes ref camps this summer. Theres video of me with my arms crossed on the stretcher, he says. I look to my left, and its a doctor, Bert says, and hes laughing about it now. I also love the fact that no game is ever the same and allows us the ability to make constant improvement.
Referee Bert Smith collapses at Gonzaga-USC March Madness game - KVUE Eades, who at age 56 has worked three Final Fours and. When I became old enough to referee, in my opinion, at the ripe age of nine I told my father my intentions and he explained that I was still too young to take an entry-level class.
NCAA ref Bert Smith says on-court collapse saved his life - Yahoo! I love being part of the game. Referee Bert Smith is taken off the court on a stretcher after collapsing during the first half of an Elite 8 game between Gonzaga and Southern California during the first half of an Elite 8. He later regained consciousness and was stretchered off the . Bunch of sixth-graders at Garfield Park in Chicago. You blacked out., I look to my right, and I see a stretcher. The confidence I feel on the field has spilled over into almost every aspect of my life, and it has propelled me to believe that any dream is within my grasp. It has helped me to handle stressful situations and taught me how to remain calm in the midst of the storms of life. Hes a motivational speaker anddiversity recruiterin addition to being an NCAA referee, and I imagine hes awfully good at both. After the game, Gonzaga coach Mark Few said he had walked over to Smith to offer his support as Smith was being placed on the stretcher. A referee has collapsed on court during the opening stages of an NCAA Elite Eight basketball match in Indiana. Dr. Katie Trammel, hes wanting me to know, may have saved his life. This season he worked about 90 games, including dates in the ACC, Big East, Big 12 and Missouri Valley Conference. According to the Indianapolis Star, Smith was placed on blood thinners and two days later the clot was gone. " Bert is alert and stable and will not be transported to a hospital.
NBA Referees Directory | Basketball-Reference.com The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". Bert Smith told the . Veteran official Bert Smith hit his head on the baseline and laid face up for about five minutes before being stretchered off with 15:44 remaining in the first half of the 2021 March Madness. I love officiating because of the challenge. Everything we send is officiating specific because that's all we do. Bert Smith, the NCAA official who fainted during an Elite Eight matchup between Gonzaga and USC last week, said Friday he collapsed over a blood clot in his lung. the college basketball official who passed out during themen's NCAA Tournamentregional final between Gonzaga and Southern California, Latest NCAA Men's College Basketball Scores and Schedules, Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. Something doesnt add up. Being able to participate and watch these young men and women playing the game because they have that desire to play is a joy to me that you cannot experience through a TV or on the sidelines.
that carried high into the net. As a child, I know that I enjoyed every minute of it. Follow every game: Latest NCAA Men's College Basketball Scores and Schedules. a picture caught by IndyStar photographer Kelly Wilkinson. Do we give an extra hug enough? We won't send you spam. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, You know the rules, have studied the pregame intel and use your experience to go read and react to the actions. By clicking Accept All, you consent to the use of all the cookies. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent.
NCAA Elite Eight match halted as referee Bert Smith collapses Smith is the college basketball official who passed out during themen's NCAA Tournamentregional final between Gonzaga and Southern California, toppling over like a fallen tree his description his body prone and unmoving, his eyes open and unseeing, a Gonzaga trainer frantically waving for help. 6 seed USC last month in the men's NCAA tournament. Rules knowledge is a component of it. Yeah man, you were staggering like you were fighting Ali., You were asking Mark Few for a job application because you were on his bench., Next thing you know, you were back in the ring again with Ali and you went down like a tree in a forest!. Its hard for me to talk about now. Soccer has enriched my life ever since that fateful day in 1973 when my brother came home and said he made the high school soccer team. He has been in contact with his family. Referee Bert Smith collapsed on the floor and had to be taken off on a stretcher. Your heart begins to race, the adrenaline begins to run rampant throughout your body, the excitement takes over as you look around the stadium; you take a couple of deep breaths and then everything becomes so clear. "You don't know where that clot was going next," Smith told the Star's Gregg Doyel. That road includes blood thinners and a trip next week to see a nearby doctor to strategize his future treatment. Hes worked 17 NCAA Tournaments. Before I started officiating I had a sister who lived in another county. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. I always thought he was a good dude, Lansing says.
Don't let anti-vaxxers lie to you about Damar Hamlin like they did with Every chance I get, I want to get my heart rate up, says Smith, 56, who takes the court 90 times a year with elite NCAA athletes. And they heard the sound his head made I heard it too, 30 rows away when it slammed onto the court. He mentions NCAA officiating coordinator J.D. So was Karter. Nobody can say. That was the start of my passion for officiating basketball. After college, I had the great privilege of joining his football crew and kick-starting my own football officiating career. The NCAA announced later in the night that Smith was "alert and stable" and would not be transported to a hospital. The former NCAA national mens basketball officiating coordinator, John Adams, says Bert is funny but quiet, not a me-first guy. Adams was one of the 500 who reached out to Smith. I lost it, too. The 2021 ACC men's basketball tournament (officially the 2021 ACC Men's Basketball Tournament Presented by New York Life) was the postseason men's basketball tournament for the Atlantic Coast Conference and held at the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina, from March 9 to 13, 2021. by Joseph Choi - 03/30/21 9:28 PM ET. Smith, who'ddriven a rental car into town after working the Atlantic-10 Tournament in Dayton, Ohio, was driven to his home in Florence, Kentucky, by Eric Lowe, a Central Indiana-based referee. His crew comes back to Le Meridien with a doggy bag of the dinner he missed at the game, and theyre talking and laughing, but theyve seen replays of Smiths fall. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. One of those people was Mike Fox, an independent contractor hired by the NCAA to help run the tournament and a basketball official himself. Smith is one of the longest tenured and most respected officials in college hoops. He doesnt remember passing out, only that things got foggy, he says, and that his breathing didnt feel normal. Hed rather take the stairs, and Bert Smith doesnt walk them. Thats normal to huff-and-puff, right? He rarely uses the elevator. Something doesnt add up. The doctors who cared for him at Lucas Oil Stadium, Pat Kersey and Luke Berghoff; he appreciates their care, and understands their stretcher subterfuge. You dont know where that clot was going next, he says. I continue to coach high school soccer. It allows me the privilege to do something I love, being part of the greatest game, mens college basketball. Who parks in the farthest spot from the entrance to Kroger? Moves fast, this guy.
Video: Referee Collapses In Scary Scene During Gonzaga-USC Game Officials figure they run at least four miles during a game, and its not a jog but a series of sprints. Usually I will leave the venue with a different outlook. I love officiating because it has a Zen aspect to it: for those two hours, you are completely focused on the task at hand. Video shows Cowboys Prescott taking snaps, moving well, Thamel: Millers firing tells truth about coaching in NCAA, Former Florida State, Giants WR arrested on murder charges, Rapinoe blasts Warriors Green for takes on womens sports, abruptly collapsed during an Elite Eight game, Smith told the Indianapolis Star's Gregg Doyel, later in the night that Smith was "alert and stable. Katie Trammel, he tells me slowly, then repeats her name, then spells it. I hear (other officials) say, I do it for the kids. Im not disagreeing with them when they say that and I enjoy being around the kids too, but theres a hundred other things I could do if I was doing it for the kids. Scary video shows the ref falling backwards and hitting his head on the hardwood floor just four minutes into the March Madness game as other officials pause the match and run to his aid. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions.
Referee Bert Smith's fall in men's NCAA Tournament game didn't kill him Berts on the sixth floor, and hes putting on his mask to run the stairs down to the fifth floor for ice, or to run up to the eighth floor to see his buddies.
Referee OK after collapsing on sideline during Gonzaga-USC Elite Eight Legal Statement. The scary moment was caughtlive during the Bulldogs-Trojans matchup. After his nationally televised fall, Smith had more than 500 texts, emails and calls to return, and by Wednesday hed returned them all. Where did it come from? So when I went off to college I had to work and was asked what I might enjoy doing, I said, Sports. I was hired on the intramural staff and was paid $3 an hour to officiate co-ed flag football, womens basketball and co-ed softball. You blacked out., I look to my right, and I see a stretcher. When you live something like I did, it hits you square in the eyes that you really have to value each day..
Does Video Show Athletes Fainting Due to COVID-19 Vaccine? Another was former Indiana State coach Greg Lansing. Smith trains year round on a treadmill or stationary bike, and gets in other workouts like when the family goes to Disney World in Florida and Smith says they dont need a stroller for their grandson, Karter. Now check your email to confirm your subscription to the Referee.com Review. Collins and NCAA senior vice president of basketball Dan Gavitt, for their support and kindness to me.. Why is he lying down near the Gonzaga bench? Rules, interpretations, mechanics, philosophies and other information may or may not be correct for the current year. ", BAYLOR BEATS GONZAGA FOR FIRST NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP. See Bert Smith? Smith was taken off the . Then he becomes a basketball official. I hate the fact I passed out in the Elite Eight, he says, but you know what? I love the smell of the grass when you first walk out on the field when you get to the stadium.
Scary moment Gonzaga-USC referee Bert Smith COLLAPSES on court during Oh, and hes also been returning those messages. Hes feeling wobbly, so wobbly. After completing my doctorate, I returned to officiating. You never know whats going to happen. Officiating for me has always been the ultimate escape.
Referee collapses during USC-Gonzaga Elite Eight matchup - ABC7 Los Angeles Moves fast? Heres why: The doctor said, Listen, tell you what, why dont you just sit on the stretcher? I said OK, I can do that, Smith says and now hes laughing. Then again, isnt that what Bert Smith has always done? I look for officials I assign to have the same respect and values for the game as I do. What happens next leads to a picture caught by IndyStar photographer Kelly Wilkinson. Not one of these men or women is without the utmost class and integrity, and I hope by associating with them some of their class and integrity has rubbed off on me and made me a better person.
Referee Bert Smith says blood clot in lung caused fall at NCAA tourney But do we say I love you enough? Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. Just over four minutes into the game between USC and Gonzaga, Bert . Whatsthatfor? People in the building, and I was one of them, thought he was dead. Smith's fall to the ground. Success! Its deep, and its contagious. Check this out. When I enter the field, theres more bounce in my step, my senses are heightened and my competitive juices start flowing.
NCAA ref Bert Smith stretchered out after collapse in Elite Eight - Yahoo! Also he mentions NCAA officiating coordinator J.D. There are 96 NCAA referees all waiting for the same thing those 68 teams are waiting for. Smiths also grateful that his health scare, if it was going to happen,took place during the NCAA Tournament and not when he was driving or sleeping. When a situation occurs that brings the temperature of the game up, you have to control your emotions and read the emotions of the players and coaches to restore calm. 2023 www.indystar.com. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. Look at that picture again. This was evident five years ago when my mother died in September and my father died in October during the football season. It is equivalent to flying an airplane, skydiving, skiing a black diamond, anything that heightens all your senses. It would've been about NCAA basketball official Bert Smith, how he'd been used dishonestly as a pawn by the anti-vaccine movement to prove the unprovable: that COVID vaccines were causing. Referee Fall in Gonzaga USC NCAA Game TBS Replay Gets Backlash Sports A Referee Collapsed at an NCAA Basketball Game. Whats that for? INDIANAPOLIS Bert Smith hasnt seen the moment that made him famous. Smiths pausing. Collins and NCAA senior vice president of basketball Dan Gavitt, for their support and kindness to me.. The scary moment was caught. Who parks in the farthest spot from the entrance to Kroger? You went down because you had a blood clot in your lung.. That was one of the few times I remember getting in trouble with my father for kicking his car door as hard as my little legs could out of anger. What happens next leads to a picture caught by IndyStar photographer Kelly Wilkinson. Referee Bert Smith's fall in men's NCAA Tournament game didn't kill him. Given time that night on March 30, those around SmithNCAA doctors, his wife and colleaguesthought it best if he at least visited IU Methodist Hotel in Indianapolis to check his head and spine. "I mean, I was just shocked and scared for him, but I was able to stick my head in there a little bit and see that he was talking and coherent and tried to say a quick prayer for him and just wished him the best. He started on the lowest levels as a youth league official in 1990, began working Division I games in 1993 and. Referee Bert Smith is taken off the court on a stretcher after collapsing during the first half of an Elite 8 game between Gonzaga and Southern California during the first half of an Elite 8 game . March 30 (UPI) --The No. Do we give an extra hug enough? Even after coaches/fans express their disappointment in my calls, I still have the eyes and hearts of the players on the field looking to me for leadership and how to show good character and convictions. "He's a great official, great person," Few said after his team's 85-66 win to advance to the Final Four. Once hospitalizedat first, he didnt even plan to godoctors discovered a troubling issue: a blood clot in his lungs.
Why cant he catch his breath? And they found out. Per the Star, he was treated at the stadium for two hours with vital checks on pulse, blood pressure and oxygen level that came back normal.
March Madness roundup: Gonzaga, UCLA advance to Final Four Then again, isnt that what Bert Smith has always done? But slow down, OK? 1 seed Gonzaga and No. Why is he lying down near the Gonzaga bench? Market data provided by Factset. For now, hes at his home in Florence, Ky., just outside of Cincinnati, relaxing and watching the Masters golf tournament while medicating an ailment that, if not caught after that fall, could have eventually been much worse. He said the night before the game, while running the stairs in the hotel to see his buddies or get ice, he was a little out of breath. He gets exercise any time he can and officiates around 90 games a year for the NCAA. Ref alert after collapsing during Gonzaga-USC, Graduate of Minnesota State University, Mankato. Smith is back home in Kentucky with his wife, Jacquie, and his grandson, Karter.