Death of official at 1980 NCAA outdoor track

[Dr Dave]

My school: ACC B-Ball Champs; U Maryland is putting together a 100 year hisotry
I thought that during the 1980 NCAA at U Texas in Austin that a field official was accidently killed by a shot put
does anyone remeber the detail? I do remember a decathelete I think for Arizona falling into the box during the pole vault and injuring himself but still running the 1500
can any older person give me some details
thanks

[gh]

Re: Death of official at 1980 NCAA outdoor track

I could give you details, but you have to promise to stop calling me "older person" because without looking it up I can even remember the name of the official.

[harv]

Re: Death of official at 1980 NCAA outdoor track

There was an official injured during warmups at the '80 Austin meet, but I am quite certain that he recovered.

[gh]

Re: Death of official at 1980 NCAA outdoor track

It was my recollection that he died too, but according to the story I wrote in the magazine at the time, if he did, it must have been some time after

<<An unfortunate accident dominated the event more than Mike Carter's comethrough 66-11 1/4 win.

<<As the putters were warming up for Friday evening's final, an official was busy watching the 800 semis instead of the competitors. Texas A&M's Tim Scott, favored for a high place, though no fault of his own hit the official, James Smith, in the forehead.

<<Smith's sinuses were crushed and he lost several teeth, as well as suffering a minor skull fracture. He was removed to a hospital where he was making normal recovery at last report [this would have been written a couple of weeks after the meet].

<<Scott was thunderstruck by the incident and himself needed help in leaving the field, so stricken was he with grief. Unable to sleep or eat much during the 24-hour delay in the event, he lost 7lb and wasn't much of a factor here o rin the discus.>>

In those days, Memorial Stadium had a synthetic infield and the shot was contested outside the oval over near the 1500 start, with a nice little grassy slope (oops, almost said "grassy knoll"!) on which you could sit and watch the proceedings close up.

Scott ended up on the Pacific Coast Club, as I recall, which juust a couple of years earlier had another club member who had killed an official with a shot.

[trackstar]

Re: Death of official at 1980 NCAA outdoor track

> (oops, almost said "grassy knoll"!)

Nope, that would be the city three hours to the north. We kill people from the Tower in Austin.

[Kurt Francis]

Re: Death of official at 1980 NCAA outdoor track

The official was killed by a SHOT, NOT a SHOT PUT!!!

Kurt

[hijumpsteve]

Re: Death of official at 1980 NCAA outdoor track

no disrespect to the deceased, but he was killed by a shot put if you consider "put" a verb rather than a noun.

[hijumpsteve]

Re: Death of official at 1980 NCAA outdoor track

and "put" IS a verb, not a noun.

Yes in his terminology of "killed by a shot put" he probably used the phrase "shot put" thinking of it as a two-word noun, but it's still correct because it was a "put " (verb) of the shot that caused the accident.

[gh]

Re: Death of official at 1980 NCAA outdoor track

To use more common verbs, you might find it written that somebody was killed by an "errant baseball throw" although it's certainly much smoother to say "thrown baseball." But if you said a "put shot" people would certainly look at you funny.

[Kurt Francis]

Re: Death of official at 1980 NCAA outdoor track

It is true that in the world in general, the use of proper terminology and grammar in general is widely abused. In my line of work (design engineering), not being clear in one's choice of words or figures can result in people dying. For example, if I said a steel pipe was carrying 3.0E3 psig worth of steam, most people would look at me funny. However, if I told them that every square inch of the pipe was undergoing 3,000 pounds of force due to steam pressure was trying to bust it's way out, you'd have a slightly different reaction. The correct choice of words and format DO matter! I know it's not a great analogy with track and field, but it's meant to demonstrate the need for clear, concise terminology that communicates what has happened.

Kurt

[marknhj]

Re: Death of official at 1980 NCAA outdoor track

Isn't the use of "accidently" rather redundant?

[Kurt Francis]

Re: Death of official at 1980 NCAA outdoor track

Mark, my pet peave these days is the use of the non-existant word "co-conspirator". The media constantly uses this made-up word. Either you are a conspirator or not. "Co-conspirator" is redundant in it's meaning.

Kurt

[stickler]

Re: Death of official at 1980 NCAA outdoor track

>"Co-conspirator" is redundant in it's meaning.<


Not as reduntant (or incorrect) as the apostrophe that you added to "its."

[EtalainenR]

Re: Death of official at 1980 NCAA outdoor track

Perhaps persons who are engaged in the same conspiracy are co-conspirators, while a person simply identifed as consipring without being identified with other particular persons is a conspirator. The term may still be redundant, grammatically, but it's useful in the law for associating persons in the same conspiracy--in the legal context "conspirators" might be too vague.

[hijumpsteve]

Re: Death of official at 1980 NCAA outdoor track

and Kurt, to pick on you even more, how about "peave" and "existant". Tsk, tsk.