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

Mike Clark, former Kansas State baseball coach, retired from his duties in the K-State athletics department at the end of June. Clark coached K-State baseball from 1986 until 2003, winning 432 games for a program that was barely funded. For 16 of Clark’s 17 seasons, K-State baseball only had a field. Tointon Stadium was built prior to his final season, but for those first 16, there was no stadium, no locker rooms, so plumbing and barely a budget. After retiring, Coach Clark found himself learning the fundraising and banking ropes before being asked to come back to K-State athletics to help with the department’s fundraising efforts following the retirement of legendary K-State athlete and administrator Ernie Barrett. Then at the end of June at the age of 70, Clark retired to spend time with his family and grandchildren. After a brief scare with colon cancer, which was thankfully caught early, Clark realized there was more to life than work, even though he loved all of his jobs in Kansas State athletics, the last of which was serving as K-State athletics’ Senior Director of Development.

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Tim Fitzgerald is a sports journalist who writes, does TV, radio, daily YouTube videos, and is a long-time podcaster. He has served as publisher of GoPowercat.com, a website that focuses on Kansas State sports, for 25 years. Fitz also has metastatic stage four prostate cancer, so during the initial stages of the pandemic, his doctors advised him to stay home and lay low. Now, after a brief period of remission, Fitz is back in the fight for his life, but this podcast lives on. Welcome to his life and the Life of Fitz podcast.

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Make sure you subscribe to Life of Fitz at your favorite podcast provider, including Apple, Spotify or Amazon.

Follow @LifeofFitz

Mike Clark, former Kansas State baseball coach, retired from his duties in the K-State athletics department at the end of June. Clark coached K-State baseball from 1986 until 2003, winning 432 games for a program that was barely funded. For 16 of Clark’s 17 seasons, K-State baseball only had a field. Tointon Stadium was built prior to his final season, but for those first 16, there was no stadium, no locker rooms, so plumbing and barely a budget. After retiring, Coach Clark found himself learning the fundraising and banking ropes before being asked to come back to K-State athletics to help with the department’s fundraising efforts following the retirement of legendary K-State athlete and administrator Ernie Barrett. Then at the end of June at the age of 70, Clark retired to spend time with his family and grandchildren. After a brief scare with colon cancer, which was thankfully caught early, Clark realized there was more to life than work, even though he loved all of his jobs in Kansas State athletics, the last of which was serving as K-State athletics’ Senior Director of Development.

***

Tim Fitzgerald is a sports journalist who writes, does TV, radio, daily YouTube videos, and is a long-time podcaster. He has served as publisher of GoPowercat.com, a website that focuses on Kansas State sports, for 25 years. Fitz also has metastatic stage four prostate cancer, so during the initial stages of the pandemic, his doctors advised him to stay home and lay low. Now, after a brief period of remission, Fitz is back in the fight for his life, but this podcast lives on. Welcome to his life and the Life of Fitz podcast.

Sign up for GoPowercat VIP access and get your first month for just $1!

Want the latest Kansas State headlines sent to your inbox? Click to sign up for GoPowercat's daily newsletter! 

Make sure you subscribe to Life of Fitz at your favorite podcast provider, including Apple, Spotify or Amazon.

Follow @LifeofFitz

Fitz needed to book a guest on short notice so he pulled the card out of his back pocket he's been saving and called his sister, Amy. Amy Fitzgerald is a Kansas State graduate with both her undergrad and master's in industrial engineering. She eventually decided that she wanted to get into medicine, and instead of heading to medical school at age 29, she went to physician assistant school at Wichita State. After many years of working as a PA in area emergency rooms, she returned to school to earn her doctorate and joined the faculty of Kansas State's new PA school, where she serves as academic director and a clinical assistant professor. The mother of two, she also is active in the Bernese Mountain Dog community and spends time traveling the world, both for pleasure and as a traveling medical professional. Amy, who is three years older than Tim, now lives in Manhattan, Kansas, after many years of living in and raising her children in Lindsborg, Kansas.

***

Tim Fitzgerald is a sports journalist who writes, does TV, radio, daily YouTube videos, and is a long-time podcaster. He has served as publisher of GoPowercat.com, a website that focuses on Kansas State sports, for 25 years. Fitz also has metastatic stage four prostate cancer, so during the initial stages of the pandemic, his doctors advised him to stay home and lay low. Now, after a brief period of remission, Fitz is back in the fight for his life, but this podcast lives on. Welcome to his life and the Life of Fitz podcast.

Sign up for GoPowercat VIP access and get your first month for just $1!

Want the latest Kansas State headlines sent to your inbox? Click to sign up for GoPowercat's daily newsletter! 

Make sure you subscribe to Life of Fitz at your favorite podcast provider, including Apple, Spotify or Amazon.

Follow @LifeofFitz

Fitz needed to book a guest on short notice so he pulled the card out of his back pocket he's been saving and called his sister, Amy. Amy Fitzgerald is a Kansas State graduate with both her undergrad and master's in industrial engineering. She eventually decided that she wanted to get into medicine, and instead of heading to medical school at age 29, she went to physician assistant school at Wichita State. After many years of working as a PA in area emergency rooms, she returned to school to earn her doctorate and joined the faculty of Kansas State's new PA school, where she serves as academic director and a clinical assistant professor. The mother of two, she also is active in the Bernese Mountain Dog community and spends time traveling the world, both for pleasure and as a traveling medical professional. Amy, who is three years older than Tim, now lives in Manhattan, Kansas, after many years of living in and raising her children in Lindsborg, Kansas.

***

Tim Fitzgerald is a sports journalist who writes, does TV, radio, daily YouTube videos, and is a long-time podcaster. He has served as publisher of GoPowercat.com, a website that focuses on Kansas State sports, for 25 years. Fitz also has metastatic stage four prostate cancer, so during the initial stages of the pandemic, his doctors advised him to stay home and lay low. Now, after a brief period of remission, Fitz is back in the fight for his life, but this podcast lives on. Welcome to his life and the Life of Fitz podcast.

Sign up for GoPowercat VIP access and get your first month for just $1!

Want the latest Kansas State headlines sent to your inbox? Click to sign up for GoPowercat's daily newsletter! 

Make sure you subscribe to Life of Fitz at your favorite podcast provider, including Apple, Spotify or Amazon.

Follow @LifeofFitz

Award-winning anchor and reporter Jeff Vaughn serves as an evening news anchor KCBS and KCAL in Los Angeles since November 2015. Vaughn joined KCAL/KCBS news team after serving as an anchor at WXYZ-TV, the ABC affiliate in Detroit, since January 2013. A four-time Emmy winner, he won a California Emmy for anchoring Wildfire Relief in 2017, a Michigan Emmy in 2013 for anchoring breaking news, a Texas Emmy in 2012 for anchoring continuing coverage and a Michigan Emmy in 2006 for Best Large-Market Anchor. A Kansas native, Vaughn spent his childhood in Kansas and Colorado and later graduated from Kansas State University in 1989 in political science. He started his career in broadcasting with KNSS Radio in Wichita, Kansas, before making his transition to television news. Vaughn’s broadcasting career includes anchoring and reporting experience with WDIV-TV (NBC) in Detroit, KENS-TV (CBS) in San Antonio, Texas; KSHB-TV (NBC) in Kansas City, Missouri; KCBD-TV (NBC) in Lubbock, Texas. Vaughn loves spending his time outdoors and includes mountain biking, hiking and cycling as his biggest hobbies. A foodie, Jeff loves to eat his way through the Los Angeles culinary scene, trying new dishes whenever he gets a chance. His community involvement includes supporting charity events for those living with multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer's. Jeff finds his greatest joy in spending time with his wife and their son.

***

Tim Fitzgerald is a sports journalist who writes, does TV, radio, daily YouTube videos, and is a long-time podcaster. He has served as publisher of GoPowercat.com, a website that focuses on Kansas State sports, for 25 years. Fitz also has metastatic stage four prostate cancer, so during the initial stages of the pandemic, his doctors advised him to stay home and lay low. Now, after a brief period of remission, Fitz is back in the fight for his life, but this podcast lives on. Welcome to his life and the Life of Fitz podcast.

Sign up for GoPowercat VIP access and get your first month for just $1!

Want the latest Kansas State headlines sent to your inbox? Click to sign up for GoPowercat's daily newsletter! 

Make sure you subscribe to Life of Fitz at your favorite podcast provider, including Apple, Spotify or Amazon.

Follow @LifeofFitz

Award-winning anchor and reporter Jeff Vaughn serves as an evening news anchor KCBS and KCAL in Los Angeles since November 2015. Vaughn joined KCAL/KCBS news team after serving as an anchor at WXYZ-TV, the ABC affiliate in Detroit, since January 2013. A four-time Emmy winner, he won a California Emmy for anchoring Wildfire Relief in 2017, a Michigan Emmy in 2013 for anchoring breaking news, a Texas Emmy in 2012 for anchoring continuing coverage and a Michigan Emmy in 2006 for Best Large-Market Anchor. A Kansas native, Vaughn spent his childhood in Kansas and Colorado and later graduated from Kansas State University in 1989 in political science. He started his career in broadcasting with KNSS Radio in Wichita, Kansas, before making his transition to television news. Vaughn’s broadcasting career includes anchoring and reporting experience with WDIV-TV (NBC) in Detroit, KENS-TV (CBS) in San Antonio, Texas; KSHB-TV (NBC) in Kansas City, Missouri; KCBD-TV (NBC) in Lubbock, Texas. Vaughn loves spending his time outdoors and includes mountain biking, hiking and cycling as his biggest hobbies. A foodie, Jeff loves to eat his way through the Los Angeles culinary scene, trying new dishes whenever he gets a chance. His community involvement includes supporting charity events for those living with multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer's. Jeff finds his greatest joy in spending time with his wife and their son.

***

Tim Fitzgerald is a sports journalist who writes, does TV, radio, daily YouTube videos, and is a long-time podcaster. He has served as publisher of GoPowercat.com, a website that focuses on Kansas State sports, for 25 years. Fitz also has metastatic stage four prostate cancer, so during the initial stages of the pandemic, his doctors advised him to stay home and lay low. Now, after a brief period of remission, Fitz is back in the fight for his life, but this podcast lives on. Welcome to his life and the Life of Fitz podcast.

Sign up for GoPowercat VIP access and get your first month for just $1!

Want the latest Kansas State headlines sent to your inbox? Click to sign up for GoPowercat's daily newsletter! 

Make sure you subscribe to Life of Fitz at your favorite podcast provider, including Apple, Spotify or Amazon.

Follow @LifeofFitz

Josh Eilert grew up in Osborne, Kansas, and then played basketball at Cloud County Community College and Kansas State. When Bob Huggins came to K-State in 2006, Eilert was ready to head into his second year as a graduate assistant coach for the program. Huggins kept Eilert on, and when he left K-State after one season to head home to West Virginia, his alma mater, Eilert went him. After 16 seasons at Huggins’ side. Serving under numerous titles, when Huggs retired suddenly this summer after a DUI arrest in Pittsburgh, Eilert was tasked with keeping the roster together. And on June 24, 2023, Eilert was named the interim head men’s basketball coach at West Virginia University by Vice President and Director of Athletics Wren Baker. During his time at WVU, Eilert has handled a wide variety of duties, including directing WVU’s wing and post players, on- and off-campus recruiting, on-court scouting, opponent scouting, film preparation, scheduling, coordinating the day-to-day internal operations of the basketball program, travel arrangements, camps, film exchange, fundraising, and other special projects. This past season, Eilert moved into a coaching role as an assistant coach and served as an interim assistant coach during the 2016-17 season. Eilert and his wife, Brandi, have two sons, Brendan and Tristan, and a daughter, Emri. All of his children were born in West Virginia.

***

Tim Fitzgerald is a sports journalist who writes, does TV, radio, daily YouTube videos, and is a long-time podcaster. He has served as publisher of GoPowercat.com, a website that focuses on Kansas State sports, for 25 years. Fitz also has metastatic stage four prostate cancer, so during the initial stages of the pandemic, his doctors advised him to stay home and lay low. Now, after a brief period of remission, Fitz is back in the fight for his life, but this podcast lives on. Welcome to his life and the Life of Fitz podcast.

Sign up for GoPowercat VIP access and get your first month for just $1!

Want the latest Kansas State headlines sent to your inbox? Click to sign up for GoPowercat's daily newsletter! 

Make sure you subscribe to Life of Fitz at your favorite podcast provider, including Apple, Spotify or Amazon.

Follow @LifeofFitz

Josh Eilert grew up in Osborne, Kansas, and then played basketball at Cloud County Community College and Kansas State. When Bob Huggins came to K-State in 2006, Eilert was ready to head into his second year as a graduate assistant coach for the program. Huggins kept Eilert on, and when he left K-State after one season to head home to West Virginia, his alma mater, Eilert went him. After 16 seasons at Huggins’ side. Serving under numerous titles, when Huggs retired suddenly this summer after a DUI arrest in Pittsburgh, Eilert was tasked with keeping the roster together. And on June 24, 2023, Eilert was named the interim head men’s basketball coach at West Virginia University by Vice President and Director of Athletics Wren Baker. During his time at WVU, Eilert has handled a wide variety of duties, including directing WVU’s wing and post players, on- and off-campus recruiting, on-court scouting, opponent scouting, film preparation, scheduling, coordinating the day-to-day internal operations of the basketball program, travel arrangements, camps, film exchange, fundraising, and other special projects. This past season, Eilert moved into a coaching role as an assistant coach and served as an interim assistant coach during the 2016-17 season. Eilert and his wife, Brandi, have two sons, Brendan and Tristan, and a daughter, Emri. All of his children were born in West Virginia.

***

Tim Fitzgerald is a sports journalist who writes, does TV, radio, daily YouTube videos, and is a long-time podcaster. He has served as publisher of GoPowercat.com, a website that focuses on Kansas State sports, for 25 years. Fitz also has metastatic stage four prostate cancer, so during the initial stages of the pandemic, his doctors advised him to stay home and lay low. Now, after a brief period of remission, Fitz is back in the fight for his life, but this podcast lives on. Welcome to his life and the Life of Fitz podcast.

Sign up for GoPowercat VIP access and get your first month for just $1!

Want the latest Kansas State headlines sent to your inbox? Click to sign up for GoPowercat's daily newsletter! 

Make sure you subscribe to Life of Fitz at your favorite podcast provider, including Apple, Spotify or Amazon.

Follow @LifeofFitz

Pat Bosco, a native of Syracuse, N.Y., came to Kansas State as a student, became student body president a few years later, and after graduation began to work for K-State. He served the university until his retirement in 2019, working under five university Presidents in a career that culminated in the titles of Vice President for Student Life and Dean of Students. In 2004, the Student Governing Association named the plaza outside the K-State Student Union in his honor. It was the only time in the school’s history that a person still employed at K-State received such recognition. His dedication to Kansas State students and to his university played a vital role in K-State’s resurgence under former President Jon Wefald. Under Bosco's leadership, K-State became the No. 1 choice for Kansas high school seniors and remains so today. He is a recognized national leader in student life, enrollment management, and student affairs, with his expertise, knowledge, and perspectives sought by state and national organizations. He’s now a grandfather, youth coach, and poker player, and he will forever be a K-State icon.

***

Tim Fitzgerald is a sports journalist who writes, does TV, radio, daily YouTube videos, and is a long-time podcaster. He has served as publisher of GoPowercat.com, a website that focuses on Kansas State sports, for 25 years. Fitz also has metastatic stage four prostate cancer, so during the initial stages of the pandemic, his doctors advised him to stay home and lay low. Now, after a brief period of remission, Fitz is back in the fight for his life, but this podcast lives on. Welcome to his life and the Life of Fitz podcast.

Sign up for GoPowercat VIP access and get your first month for just $1!

Want the latest Kansas State headlines sent to your inbox? Click to sign up for GoPowercat's daily newsletter! 

Make sure you subscribe to Life of Fitz at your favorite podcast provider, including Apple, Spotify or Amazon.

Follow @LifeofFitz

Pat Bosco, a native of Syracuse, N.Y., came to Kansas State as a student, became student body president a few years later, and after graduation began to work for K-State. He served the university until his retirement in 2019, working under five university Presidents in a career that culminated in the titles of Vice President for Student Life and Dean of Students. In 2004, the Student Governing Association named the plaza outside the K-State Student Union in his honor. It was the only time in the school’s history that a person still employed at K-State received such recognition. His dedication to Kansas State students and to his university played a vital role in K-State’s resurgence under former President Jon Wefald. Under Bosco's leadership, K-State became the No. 1 choice for Kansas high school seniors and remains so today. He is a recognized national leader in student life, enrollment management, and student affairs, with his expertise, knowledge, and perspectives sought by state and national organizations. He’s now a grandfather, youth coach, and poker player, and he will forever be a K-State icon.

***

Tim Fitzgerald is a sports journalist who writes, does TV, radio, daily YouTube videos, and is a long-time podcaster. He has served as publisher of GoPowercat.com, a website that focuses on Kansas State sports, for 25 years. Fitz also has metastatic stage four prostate cancer, so during the initial stages of the pandemic, his doctors advised him to stay home and lay low. Now, after a brief period of remission, Fitz is back in the fight for his life, but this podcast lives on. Welcome to his life and the Life of Fitz podcast.

Sign up for GoPowercat VIP access and get your first month for just $1!

Want the latest Kansas State headlines sent to your inbox? Click to sign up for GoPowercat's daily newsletter! 

Make sure you subscribe to Life of Fitz at your favorite podcast provider, including Apple, Spotify or Amazon.

Follow @LifeofFitz