Steinbrenner stable after collapse
Last Updated: Saturday, December 27, 2003 | 6:03 PM ET
CBC Sports
An emergency official said the 73-year-old Steinbrenner was alert by the time medics arrived on the scene in Sarasota.
"Right now, he's fine," Paul Dezzi of the Sarasota County Fire Department said. "He fainted."
Steinbrenner was rushed to Sarasota Memorial Hospital. He was given oxygen, an electrocardiogram and intravenous fluids in the ambulance, Dezzi said.
Yankees' owner George Steinbrenner collapsed on Saturday at a memorial service for football great Otto Graham. (CP Photo)
"I just talked to someone who was with him in the hospital, and Mr. Steinbrenner seemed OK."
Doug Fernandes, a columnist with the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, said he was about 20 feet away when Steinbrenner fell during a slide show. The presentation, prepared by Graham's grandchildren and shown at a reception, featured pictures of Steinbrenner and Graham together.
"He went to reach for a chair but he missed, and he went face-first into the carpet," Fernandes said. "People were stunned. They started loosening his tie and his collar. He was out for a few seconds. By the time they wheeled him out, his colour had returned."
Steinbrenner was close friends with Graham, a former Cleveland Browns quarterback who passed away on Dec. 17 at the age of 82.
Steinbrenner, who has owned the Yankees since 1973, lives in Tampa, about 100 kilometres north of Sarasota.
He grew up in Cleveland, and later became longtime friends with Graham, the Browns' star quarterback from 1946-55. The two were golfing partners, attended banquets together and helped each other with charity events.
In 1959, boosted by Steinbrenner's recommendation, Graham became athletic director and football coach at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy.
with files from Associated Press
