NCAA Men's basketball tourney ref collapses during Gonzaga-USC game | Fox News March Madness Published March 30, 2021 9:08pm EDT NCAA Men's basketball tourney ref collapses during. Referee, the worlds original sports officiating magazine, educates, challenges and inspires officials at all levels. Two Division I conferences told The Associated Press . MARCH MADNESS BAD BEATS BLOG: No. They were given permission to leave for dinner, and a sliver of the group went to a steakhouse in Indianapolis together that caused some of them to be removed by contact tracing. During the 2018 March Madness rounds of playoffs, there have been several referee blunders that could have changed the outcome of the game. Houston vs Villanova. Bert Smith, the official who collapsed during the Elite Eight, believes his fall could have saved his life. The NCAA has implemented strict protocols for players, coaches and staffers in this year's NCAA Tournament, including assigned seating for bus rides, to try and avoid contact tracing wiping out large swaths of teams and wreaking havoc on the bracket. Not only would it have tied for the the biggest comeback in March Madness history, but it would have been even more widely criticized as an example of how referees can unfairly change the outcome of the game. . Fine. Why You'll Never Understand Mezcal Like You Understand Scotch, "Referee Burt Smith Collapses During USC-Gonzaga (VIDEO)", A woman threw a house party with 65 men she matched with on Tinder and Hinge and connected with the man she's been dating for a year. Early in the West Region final between Gonzaga and USC at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Smith hit the floor and stayed down for several minutes. Referee Burt Smith looked like he was struggling seconds before he collapsed in the #USC #Gonzaga game. He was seen earlier in the game stumbling a bit as he regained his balance, just minutes before he would pass out and hit his head on the ground. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". He says a lot has changed over the years. If even Duke fans can call out unfairness against UNC, then the referee calls must have been truly unfair. https://t.co/q0I2x2PYa0, Fran Fraschilla (@franfraschilla) March 21, 2022. It probably won't be. 10 (John Wooden) Most March Madness . 11 seed crashes Final Four Refresh constantly for minute-to-minute updates on all of the NCAA Tournament action live line movement, props, halftime bets and more. . You can use a Wilton #46 tip or you can use a re-sealable plastic bag with the corner cut . Bet on Houston in the Sweet 16 at DraftKings Sportsbook, particularly in the North Carolina vs. Baylor game, Michael Jordan made me go to the wrong college, A look inside Japans obsession with bizarre mascots, Thats Weird: Hey uh it kinda seems like this Olympic swimmer got poisoned by her rivals, The best way to watch Marvel movies is in chronological order, 17776: What football will look like in the future. Congrats Jeff! Everything we send is officiating specific because that's all we do. The 11 nights she spent in the NCAA womens tournament bubble in San Antonio as she advanced to the Sweet 16 was nothing compared to the 68 days she endured in the WNBA version. After Six Refs Sent Home, March Madness. 5 seed Houston was always going to produce a tense atmosphere. It gave us a boost.. Houston made a Final Four run last year. "One official tested positive March 15, and five other officials the person interacted with the day before were identified as exposure risks due to prolonged close contact. Upon arriving Sunday, March 14, at the Le Meridien hotel in downtown Indianapolis, a group of six officials discovered their rooms were not quite ready and headed to Harry & Izzys, a nearby steakhouse, for an impromptu dinner. So, after a year of constant and persisting morbidity, the quick trigger over in the booth skews toward the Let's See This Guy Get Hurt button? Andy Specht (@AndySpecht) March 19, 2022. NCAA Tournament referees have taken their share of heat from fans, as well as the media, this March Madness. Smith remained on the floor for several minutes before standing up and moving to a stretcher. There was no mold. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. You have to prepare for anything in life. The on-site medical personnel had other ideas. Its an obvious officiating error which should never happen. Please try again. More Videos. The broadcast queued up the horrifying video of Smith falling backward, landing squarely on his head, with the commentators helpfully narrating the action. Most of Purdues 46 free throws were legitimate, but there were several touch fouls called on Texas. Doesnt react quick enough and is straight-lined by 2nd Arizona defender. 3 Michigan 79-62 in 2018. Some people watching from home quickly pointed out that, yesshowing the replay the same way you'd show a dude chucking up a buzzer-beater was fucked up. Now that everyone is months removed from perhaps the most unique NCAA Tournaments ever, a few unifying themes remain. 'Scary scenes' as basketball referee collapses midway through March Madness college game . This article is the copyright of Referee Enterprises, Inc., and may not be republished in whole or in part online, in print or in any capacity without expressed written permission from Referee. The article is made available for educational use by individuals. For more NCAA basketball news, analysis and highlights from March Madness, check out more from the FanSided college basketball section to stay on top of the latest action. That's a job for, you know, a doctor. At this particular time, in this year with COVID, it was exactly the right thing to do.. Part of that Baylor comeback was spurred by a powerful full court press defense, but it was also aided by the callsand lack of callsthat seemed to all go against UNC. So glad the referee is okay, but there was no need for TBS to replay his collapse! No team has taken as many free throws as Purdue did (46) while its opponent took as few as Texas did (12) tonight in a D1 game in more than 4 years. 6-keys: media/spln/collegebasketball/reg/free/stories, By pressing sign up, I confirm that I have read and agree to the. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Thanks for contacting us. When the 31-year NCAA veteran from Huntington Beach, Calif., checked into the officials first hotel, the Holiday Inn in San Antonio, he was assigned to the very last room on the ninth floor, farthest away from the stairs. He went to a local hospital and went through a battery of X-rays and scans on his chest. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. He says he runs about six. As USC pushed the ball up the court, there he was, in the very top-left of your screen: referee Bert Smith, collapsed on the sideline. What the collective frustration and disbelief demonstrate was that this was objectively skewed in Baylors favor. They asked Smith if he could sit up, and thats when he noticed the stretcher that had been wheeled onto the court. I brought one of my captains Nate Coleman. Manek was given aflagrant-2 foul and automatic ejection, which changed the course of the game. Had Green been selected to work the Big Ten title game, he would have had no choice but to remain in Indy following that game Sunday afternoon and immediately enter the NCAA bubble. Injuries, sure, are the terms of engagement for anyone who puts a uniform on. Smith was officiating his second Elite Eight, and was replaced by standby official Tony Henderson. All 58 of our officials would boo me in unison, he said with a laugh. Copyright 2023 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. March 30, 2021. Selection Sunday will be held on Sunday, March 12, when . Click on each . This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. Officiating In Perspective with Barry Mano, Longtime referee to be honored as puck drops on Minnesota boys state hockey tournament, Referee gets crushed by rolling thunder KO at Brave FC, finishes match, Next Level Softball Umpiring Free Email Series. Ive already done it.. Thats a rookie mistake. The winners will advance to the championship game on Monday. Anderson has already officiated three other March Madness games this season. Not an easy battle! Based on tournament protocols and contract tracing with local public health authorities, these officials may not participate in the tournament. That should've been the end of the story. From a mall parking lot altercation to a fight with a teenager during a pickup game, these are the allegations Ja Morant is facing. TBS replayed official Bert Smith collapsing. NCAA Basketball Tournament. I want to know why you fell.. The content on this site is for entertainment and educational purposes only. West Henrietta's Jeffrey Anderson is set to officiate tonight's national championship game. Reaching a new personal milestone on college basketballs biggest stage allowed Green, an 11-year D-I veteran, to put a positive spin on an otherwise challenging situation. I went by Penny and I felt like a little kid, like I was caught. It puts in perspective the value of each day, because we all go through our lives were all guilty of it and we just live, right? It was not immediately clear what his condition was after the game. March Madness Referee collapses on court at Gonzaga-USC March Madness game. 1 seed Gonzaga. Anderson wasone of 11 people chosen to officiate this year's Final Four, which is being playedat theCaesars Superdome in New Orleans. Report on someone's health later on in the game. UNC refs were so bad that even Duke fans have sympathy DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA - MARCH 05: Associate head coach Jon Scheyer of the Duke Blue Devils looks on behind head coach Mike Krzyzewski. Upon the completion of each round of tournament play that number would shrink, until eventually a crew of 10 officials got the call to report to whatever city was hosting the Final Four, the pinnacle of each respective tournament. UNC Barstool (@UNCBarstool) March 19, 2022, https://twitter.com/jms2442/status/1505265875854708736. Collins has heard plenty of colorful descriptions of his work during his time as an oncourt college basketball official and more recently in his role as the NCAAs national coordinator of mens basketball officiating. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. Nearly 40 years since Monday Night Football used its "Reverse Angle Camera" to make sure we saw Joe Theismann's leg snap in half, the brains up in the production booths still don't know when to cut the video when someone's in agonizing pain. But a positive test for one of the officials that wipes out some of the most highly-regarded referees for the sports's biggest annual event is a challenging pill for the NCAA to swallow as the week is just beginning. That was probably the scariest part of this whole ordeal. Obligatory Final Four Jeff Anderson tweet. Another phone call. So I had multiple feelings. Two of the officials will not be replaced.". Smiths vitals were normal and his brain was clear. Once I got there and realized just the magnitude of what we were getting into, it changes the whole scope.. Almost as long as the in-color sportscast has existed, obsessive replays of ribs and ankles and arms breaking have been a part of them. Mar 24, 2022 at 9:36 pm ET 4 min read USATSI The 2022 NCAA Tournament restarts Thursday night with four Sweet 16 games. The whole way home I felt fine. INDIANAPOLIS - Bert Smith hasn't seen the moment that made him famous. Dillon Essma (@Essma_Dillon) March 30, 2021. An Elite Eight game in Indianapolis was marred by a scary incident when veteran college basketball referee Bert Smith, who was officiating at the match, collapsed on the floor during the first half. To know I had an influence on those guys not working, and it was not their fault, mentally, thats been the toughest part of this whole thing, Ayers said. Rodriguez vs. Morales at March Madness on Tapology. There's an old weather proverb about March coming in like a lion and out like a lamb. Commercials played, lots of them, before we found out Smith seemed to be okay. For more information, please read our Legal Disclaimer. 1 Standby official Tony Henderson replaced Smith in the game. Referees have a very difficult job keeping up with kids half, to one-third, their age with 10 times more athletic ability. Four replacement officials have been previously approved and meet the pre-tournament testing protocols. All picks and predictions are suggestions only. Melendez was not showboating he was making sure he didnt get hurt after sprinting and soaring for a dunk in a close game. A couple beats later, without any warning, the team at TBS decided to show what really happened. The first order of business was sharing the information with those who needed to know. USC Trojans Mens Basketball NCAA Tournament History, The official closest to the play should not advance in the tournament. While the Ayers and Smith incidents both received the lions share of headlines regarding officiating during this years tournaments, plenty of additional personal storylines developed over the three weeks of March Madness competition, with each of the 118 officials who ultimately worked a tourney game emerging with a tale to tell. As seen in the video shared on Twitter by reporter Anthony Bellino, Smith abruptly collapsed early in the first half of the game in front of the Gonzaga bench at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. Smith was alert and stable as he was placed on a stretcher and transported off the court at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. A ref made the worst technical foul call ever during Illinois vs. Houston, Jaden Ivey pulled a Chris Webber, and it cost Pistons the game vs. Bulls. Doyel: NCAA Tournament fall didn't kill referee Bert Smith. Anderson, 54, graduated from Franklin High School in 1985. The 2021 NCAA men's tournament continues with the Final Four this weekend. Please disable. I just had all the emotions. This was a horrendous call by the officials by any measure. 10:27 am ET. ET. Now, as the NCAA examines various disparities across men's and women's sports, pressure is rising to also pay referees equally during the regular season. Its a change from last years pandemic-limited tournament held in Indianapolis and surrounding areas inside the state of Indiana, often in front of reduced-fan crowds. Please check the opt-in box to acknowledge that you would like to subscribe. Slowly but surely, he regained his physical health and now feels 100 percent. CJ Fogler AKA Perc70 #BlackLivesMatter (@cjzero) March 20, 2022 Mike Reed, Brian O'Connell, Courtney Green were the refs in the game. Odds & lines subject to change. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously. It does not store any personal data. They should be held accountable for such a terrible call. UNC playing both Baylor and refs. 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