Life of Fitz | A Cancer Warrior's Conversations about Life

This edition of the Life of Fitz podcast features host Tim Fitzgerald calling his dear friend Claire Coggins, a former Kansas State women's basketball player and assistant coach. Claire was the focal point of the Kansas State women’s team in the mid-2000s, twice earning second-team All-Big 12 recognition before playing the 2007 season with the WNBA’s Chicago Sky and then one season professionally in Greece before deciding to retire from the game. She went on to coach, spending time on both Deb Patterson’s staff before becoming a full-time assistant coach for current K-State coach Jeff Mittie. She decided to get out of coaching after meeting the love of her life, former Texas head coach Karen Aston. The two now have a three-year-old daughter, Marilyn.

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Tim Fitzgerald is a sports journalist who writes, does TV, radio and is a long-time podcaster. He has served as publisher of GoPowercat.com, a website that focuses on Kansas State sports, for more than 20 years. Fitz also has stage 4 prostate cancer, so his doctors have advised him to stay home and lay low. Welcome to his life and the Life of Fitz podcast.

This edition of the Life of Fitz podcast features host Tim Fitzgerald calling his dear friend Claire Coggins, a former Kansas State women's basketball player and assistant coach. Claire was the focal point of the Kansas State women’s team in the mid-2000s, twice earning second-team All-Big 12 recognition before playing the 2007 season with the WNBA’s Chicago Sky and then one season professionally in Greece before deciding to retire from the game. She went on to coach, spending time on both Deb Patterson’s staff before becoming a full-time assistant coach for current K-State coach Jeff Mittie. She decided to get out of coaching after meeting the love of her life, former Texas head coach Karen Aston. The two now have a three-year-old daughter, Marilyn.

***

Tim Fitzgerald is a sports journalist who writes, does TV, radio and is a long-time podcaster. He has served as publisher of GoPowercat.com, a website that focuses on Kansas State sports, for more than 20 years. Fitz also has stage 4 prostate cancer, so his doctors have advised him to stay home and lay low. Welcome to his life and the Life of Fitz podcast.

This edition of the Life of Fitz podcast features host Tim Fitzgerald calling his good friend Wyatt Thompson across town in Manhattan. Thompson is entering his 19th school year as Kansas State’s Voice of the Wildcats, the title carried by a long line of sports play-by-play announcers. Being called the Voice of the Wildcats comes with incredibly high expectations from a fan base who has enjoyed some of the best talents in the radio business. Thompson came to K-State from Colorado State, following athletic director Tim Weiser from CSU once he threw the door open to a negotiation for the athletic department’s radio rights, and K-State fans have grown to love his style. It’s his voice associated with the highlights from Kansas State’s historic 2003 Big 12 football championship victory over Oklahoma, numerous big bowl wins and a couple of trips to the Elite Eight of the NCAA basketball tournament. For every current Kansas State student, it was Thompson’s voice they heard if they listened to a K-State sporting event on the radio during their childhood.

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Tim Fitzgerald is a sports journalist who writes, does TV, radio and is a long-time podcaster. He has served as publisher of GoPowercat.com, a website that focuses on Kansas State sports, for more than 20 years. Fitz also has stage 4 prostate cancer, so his doctors have advised him to stay home and lay low. Welcome to his life and the Life of Fitz podcast.

This edition of the Life of Fitz podcast features host Tim Fitzgerald calling his good friend Wyatt Thompson across town in Manhattan. Thompson is entering his 19th school year as Kansas State’s Voice of the Wildcats, the title carried by a long line of sports play-by-play announcers. Being called the Voice of the Wildcats comes with incredibly high expectations from a fan base who has enjoyed some of the best talents in the radio business. Thompson came to K-State from Colorado State, following athletic director Tim Weiser from CSU once he threw the door open to a negotiation for the athletic department’s radio rights, and K-State fans have grown to love his style. It’s his voice associated with the highlights from Kansas State’s historic 2003 Big 12 football championship victory over Oklahoma, numerous big bowl wins and a couple of trips to the Elite Eight of the NCAA basketball tournament. For every current Kansas State student, it was Thompson’s voice they heard if they listened to a K-State sporting event on the radio during their childhood.

***

Tim Fitzgerald is a sports journalist who writes, does TV, radio and is a long-time podcaster. He has served as publisher of GoPowercat.com, a website that focuses on Kansas State sports, for more than 20 years. Fitz also has stage 4 prostate cancer, so his doctors have advised him to stay home and lay low. Welcome to his life and the Life of Fitz podcast.

This edition of the Life of Fitz podcast features host Tim Fitzgerald calling his former student and Kansas State baseball player BJ Kissel, who now is an in-house reporter for the Kansas City Chiefs of the NFL. The former K-State athlete was one of about 15 students in a sports writing class offered in the spring of 2006 by K-State's AQ Miller School of Journalism, which was taught by Fitz. After leaving K-State and moving to KC, Kissel worked on the edges of the industry for years, writing a blog as more of a hobby but he was honing his craft. Then six years ago, the Kansas City Chiefs created a job for an in-house reporter and Kissel landed the job. He was in the right place at the right time and had prepared himself the right way to earn a unique spot in the journalism industry.

***

Tim Fitzgerald is a sports journalist who writes, does TV, radio and is a long-time podcaster. He has served as publisher of GoPowercat.com, a website that focuses on Kansas State sports, for more than 20 years. Fitz also has stage 4 prostate cancer, so his doctors have advised him to stay home and lay low. Welcome to his life and the Life of Fitz podcast.

This edition of the Life of Fitz podcast features host Tim Fitzgerald calling his former student and Kansas State baseball player BJ Kissel, who now is an in-house reporter for the Kansas City Chiefs of the NFL. The former K-State athlete was one of about 15 students in a sports writing class offered in the spring of 2006 by K-State's AQ Miller School of Journalism, which was taught by Fitz. After leaving K-State and moving to KC, Kissel worked on the edges of the industry for years, writing a blog as more of a hobby but he was honing his craft. Then six years ago, the Kansas City Chiefs created a job for an in-house reporter and Kissel landed the job. He was in the right place at the right time and had prepared himself the right way to earn a unique spot in the journalism industry.

***

Tim Fitzgerald is a sports journalist who writes, does TV, radio and is a long-time podcaster. He has served as publisher of GoPowercat.com, a website that focuses on Kansas State sports, for more than 20 years. Fitz also has stage 4 prostate cancer, so his doctors have advised him to stay home and lay low. Welcome to his life and the Life of Fitz podcast.

This edition of the Life of Fitz podcast features host Tim Fitzgerald calling former Kansas State football player and coach Joe Bob Clements who now coaches the defensive line at Oklahoma State in Stillwater, Oklahoma. Clements was one of the players who was the heart and soul of the 1998 Kansas State Wildcats, who went unbeaten in the regular season. After completing his playing days, Clements launched right into coaching, paying his dues as an unpaid assistant coach for four years and then sliding onto the full-time staff in 2003 as part of the school’s Big 12 title team. Clements departed after Coach Bill Snyder retired following the 1995 season, but returned to Manhattan in 2009 to join Snyder’s new staff, and he then shocked the K-State world by jumping to Oklahoma State prior to the 2013 season, where he remains.

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Tim Fitzgerald is a sports journalist who writes, does TV, radio and is a long-time podcaster. He has served as publisher of GoPowercat.com, a website that focuses on Kansas State sports, for more than 20 years. Fitz also has stage 4 prostate cancer, so his doctors have advised him to stay home and lay low. Welcome to his life and the Life of Fitz podcast.

This edition of the Life of Fitz podcast features host Tim Fitzgerald calling former Kansas State football player and coach Joe Bob Clements who now coaches the defensive line at Oklahoma State in Stillwater, Oklahoma. Clements was one of the players who was the heart and soul of the 1998 Kansas State Wildcats, who went unbeaten in the regular season. After completing his playing days, Clements launched right into coaching, paying his dues as an unpaid assistant coach for four years and then sliding onto the full-time staff in 2003 as part of the school’s Big 12 title team. Clements departed after Coach Bill Snyder retired following the 1995 season, but returned to Manhattan in 2009 to join Snyder’s new staff, and he then shocked the K-State world by jumping to Oklahoma State prior to the 2013 season, where he remains.

***

Tim Fitzgerald is a sports journalist who writes, does TV, radio and is a long-time podcaster. He has served as publisher of GoPowercat.com, a website that focuses on Kansas State sports, for more than 20 years. Fitz also has stage 4 prostate cancer, so his doctors have advised him to stay home and lay low. Welcome to his life and the Life of Fitz podcast.

This edition of the Life of Fitz podcast features host Tim Fitzgerald calling former Kansas State basketball player Clent Stewart in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. Stewart came to Kansas State to play for Jim Wooldridge and ended his career with seasons under Bob Huggins and Frank Martin. That was like taking a college masterclass in basketball coaching and now Stewart is a high school coach in Oklahoma, but that’s just his side gig. When Stewart left K-State to work for Phillips 66 in Bartlesville and he’s been climbing the ranks with the company ever since.

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Tim Fitzgerald is a sports journalist who writes, does TV, radio and is a long-time podcaster. He has served as publisher of GoPowercat.com, a website that focuses on Kansas State sports, for more than 20 years. Fitz also has stage 4 prostate cancer, so his doctors have advised him to stay home and lay low. Welcome to his life and the Life of Fitz podcast.

This edition of the Life of Fitz podcast features host Tim Fitzgerald calling former Kansas State basketball player Clent Stewart in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. Stewart came to Kansas State to play for Jim Wooldridge and ended his career with seasons under Bob Huggins and Frank Martin. That was like taking a college masterclass in basketball coaching and now Stewart is a high school coach in Oklahoma, but that’s just his side gig. When Stewart left K-State to work for Phillips 66 in Bartlesville and he’s been climbing the ranks with the company ever since.

***

Tim Fitzgerald is a sports journalist who writes, does TV, radio and is a long-time podcaster. He has served as publisher of GoPowercat.com, a website that focuses on Kansas State sports, for more than 20 years. Fitz also has stage 4 prostate cancer, so his doctors have advised him to stay home and lay low. Welcome to his life and the Life of Fitz podcast.