Veteran Sportscaster Dies

Smith, 52, was fighting a long battle with kidney failure. He had reportedly found a matching donor and was undergoing a number of tests before the official transplant. His daughter admitted to the Journal yesterday, however, that Smith actually died as a result of heart complications.

He was expecting to be discharged from hospital on Sunday and head back to work as head of the sports department at The Bahamas Broadcasting Corporation (BCB) where he began his career as an intern during the early 80's shortly after graduating from Langston University in 1981.

After waiting for almost five years before he made his on-air debut, Smith moved through the ranks serving as sports editor, deputy director of news with responsibility for sports and sports director.  He has served in the latter position for the past four years.

Smith made appearances at a number of international sporting events and anchored for the Caribbean Media Corporation.  He is also a member of the Phi Beta Sigma Greek fraternity and St. Joseph's Catholic Church.

On Sunday afternoon Smith's wife Blossie was resting comfortably surrounded by friends and family at her home off Carmichael Road. She too had to be taken to the hospital and held for several hours of observation after learning about her husband’s sudden passing.

His daughter Karissa, 22, spoke on behalf of the family and said "earlier in the day it was rough once we first got the news especially for my mother. But I’m trying to be strong for her and with the support of family and friends we are taking it in stride."

"But what made it so hard to accept was that it wasn’t his kidney’s. He has been battling with the kidney for seven years but it was his heart that took him away, and that is why it was such a blow for us," said Karissa who has an older brother Dupree, 24 and a younger brother Avent that is 17 years old.

She said Smith often filled his down time at home by cleaning and folding clothes and helping to mentor the young relatives in the family that may have needed guidance and advice some times.

Sportscaster and Smith’s co-worker Chris Saunders said his last conversation with Smith was on Christmas night when his boss urged him to "do well" just hours before he was set to commentate the annual Boxing Day Junkanoo parade.

"On Saturday we got the call that he was in hospital but Phil had been in and out of the hospital a lot of times," Saunders recalled.

"We thought that he would be in and out because we knew that he had kidney problems, he had found a donor that matched, and they were just going through some final tests so when I got the news this morning (Sunday) everything was in a daze and this is not how it's suppose to happen," he said.

Saunders referred to Smith as a "mentor and father" who had also urged him to become a broadcaster.

"He had a knack for identifying talent and he also had a sincere and genuine concern for everyone that he came into contact with," Saunders recalled.  "From the first day that I got here [at the BCB] Phil gave me an opportunity to broaden my horizons as a journalist, not only in sports but also in news.  He never reined us in or cut us down. While we had some very heated arguments about sports or news, at the end of the day Phil new what was right and if I wanted to convince him or change his mind, I had to come with a very good argument."

Another coworker, sportscaster Julian Gibson expressed that Phil was not only his co-worker and boss but his best friend and father. "We developed a father/son relationship and we had a friendship. He will certainly be missed," he said.

ZNS reporter Syann Thompson, who referred to Smith as a "walking encyclopedia," said the veteran sportscaster always remained upbeat and positive despite his illness.

"Even though we all knew that he was waiting on a kidney, he never acted as if he was sick," she recalled. "He would go to the hospital for treatment and as soon as he was discharged he would come to work. This is such a big loss for us at ZNS but he is not suffering anymore."

Sports minister Desmond Bannister told ZNS news Sunday that he had always admired and respected Smith and news of his death really "shook him up."

"He touched so many lives, and when all your co-workers could get up on a Sunday morning and sit there at Doctor's Hospital] to pay their respects, it's an amazing thing.

"He's a guy who has touched lives everywhere and I am just sorry to see us lose such a good guy," Mr. Bannister said. "Having a Phil Smith around for so long has been very special and I think we should honor the legacy that he has left for sports. We now have a void and we have to find some young people who will now step up and fill that void." 

Former ZNS cameraman Ashley Taylor also told ZNS news that Smith had greatly impacted his life.

"He was always positive and he never accepted no as an answer," Taylor recalled. "He was knowledgeable about his craft and he took his work seriously and those personal traits rubbed off on me during my time at the Broadcasting Corporation of the Bahamas. I used Phil as an example to progress at the Corporation and I offer my condolences to his family, friends and working colleagues. The country has just lost a Bahamian sporting icon."

Olympic bronze medalist Frank Rutherford said Smith was his best friend and he was truly saddened by his demise. "Phil and I are like brothers and when you get a call early in the morning you know what that call could mean and it's something that I did not want to wake up to this morning," Rutherford told ZNS. "Phil and I are tied together in terms of my whole career as an Olympic athlete and I can always remember when I won an Olympic medal he was one of the first persons who got the news and I could remember him just breaking down and crying when he knew that his best friend had won."

Upon learning on Smith death Sunday afternoon, freelance sports writer Serone Kennedy paid a visit to Smith while at the hospital on Saturday.

He said, "I can’t believe that he died when he was in such good spirits yesterday talking about all the plans he had for sports once he bounced back. Wow," said Kennedy. Kennedy was one of the last to conduct an interview with the local sports heroe.

Smith is survived by his wife Blossie (also a ZNS employee) and their three children: Dupree, 24, Karissa, 22 and Avent, 17.