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

Coach Jerome Tang promised to elevate the Kansas State basketball program when he was hired and he certainly kept that promise in his first season. Picked for last in the Big 12 Conference, Tang's Wildcats' competed for the conference title and then ended the season with a run to the NCAA Tournament's Elite Eight, losing to Florida Atlantic one step short of the Final Four. It was remarkable for Tang, who was selected as the 2023 Werner Ladder Naismith Men's College Coach of the Year after guiding the Wildcats to a 26-win season and its 13th trip to the Elite Eight in his inaugural season. Picked 10th in the preseason Big 12 poll and armed with just two returning players, Tang guided the Wildcats to a 26-10 overall record. Now he's putting together his second roster. He has two open scholarships and is still seeking to fill those openings.

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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.

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

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

Follow @LifeofFitz

Coach Jerome Tang promised to elevate the Kansas State basketball program when he was hired and he certainly kept that promise in his first season. Picked for last in the Big 12 Conference, Tang's Wildcats' competed for the conference title and then ended the season with a run to the NCAA Tournament's Elite Eight, losing to Florida Atlantic one step short of the Final Four. It was remarkable for Tang, who was selected as the 2023 Werner Ladder Naismith Men's College Coach of the Year after guiding the Wildcats to a 26-win season and its 13th trip to the Elite Eight in his inaugural season. Picked 10th in the preseason Big 12 poll and armed with just two returning players, Tang guided the Wildcats to a 26-10 overall record. Now he's putting together his second roster. He has two open scholarships and is still seeking to fill those openings.

***

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

Coach Bill Snyder doesn't really need much of an introduction. After all, he was the engineer of the greatest turnaround in college football history and is now part of the College Football Hall of Fame. Coach Sndyer arrived in Manhattan in 1988 after serving as the offensive coordinator under another legend, Hayden Fry, at Iowa. His long career, separated by a failed three-year retirement in the middle, started in 1989 and by the 1998 season, Snyder had his Wildcats in contention for a national title. That was also the year that Powercat Illustrated, the predecessor to GoPowercat.com, was launched. Coach Snyder retired after the 2018 season and remains a remarkable man at 83 years of age. 

***

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

Coach Bill Snyder doesn't really need much of an introduction. After all, he was the engineer of the greatest turnaround in college football history and is now part of the College Football Hall of Fame. Coach Sndyer arrived in Manhattan in 1988 after serving as the offensive coordinator under another legend, Hayden Fry, at Iowa. His long career, separated by a failed three-year retirement in the middle, started in 1989 and by the 1998 season, Snyder had his Wildcats in contention for a national title. That was also the year that Powercat Illustrated, the predecessor to GoPowercat.com, was launched. Coach Snyder retired after the 2018 season and remains a remarkable man at 83 years of age. 

***

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

Chris Klieman arrived at Kansas State in December of 2018 after winning four national titles in his five seasons at FCS-level North Dakota State. The athletics director who hired him at NDSU was Gene Taylor, who in the spring of 2017 became the new AD at K-State. Taylor went through the search process and kept coming back to Klieman, not just as a coach who would win football games in the Big 12, but one who could deftly take the reins from the legendary Bill Snyder, fit into the K-State culture and might, just might settle in at Kansas State for a very long time. Well, Klieman is four seasons into his time in Manhattan, his Wildcats won the 2022 Big 12 championship, and he just signed an eight-year new contract offered by Taylor that Klieman says will keep him in Manhattan for the rest of his coaching career. On top of all of that, Klieman is one of the more likable coaches you will ever meet, and he seems to understand how to navigate these changing times in college football.

***

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

Chris Klieman arrived at Kansas State in December of 2018 after winning four national titles in his five seasons at FCS-level North Dakota State. The athletics director who hired him at NDSU was Gene Taylor, who in the spring of 2017 became the new AD at K-State. Taylor went through the search process and kept coming back to Klieman, not just as a coach who would win football games in the Big 12, but one who could deftly take the reins from the legendary Bill Snyder, fit into the K-State culture and might, just might settle in at Kansas State for a very long time. Well, Klieman is four seasons into his time in Manhattan, his Wildcats won the 2022 Big 12 championship, and he just signed an eight-year new contract offered by Taylor that Klieman says will keep him in Manhattan for the rest of his coaching career. On top of all of that, Klieman is one of the more likable coaches you will ever meet, and he seems to understand how to navigate these changing times in college football.

***

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

This edition of the Life of Fitz podcast features host Tim Fitzgerald calling Kansas State's Director of Athletics, Gene Taylor. Taylor was named the Director of Athletics at K-State in April 2017. During his tenure K-State has seen the football program qualify for three bowls, the men’s basketball team win a Big 12 Championship, earn an Elite 8 appearance and advance to two NCAA tournaments and the women’s track and field team win back-to-back Big 12 Outdoor championships. Additionally, Taylor and staff have fundraised and begun to implement a department-wide facility master plan that will benefit all Wildcat teams including the newly completed baseball and soccer projects in addition to Building Champions, a $105 million initiative focused on the South End Zone of Bill Snyder Family Stadium, a new volleyball arena, an Olympic Training Center and a football indoor practice facility. As Athletics Director at North Dakota State, Taylor immediately spearheaded a comprehensive evaluation of the Bison athletic department in 2001, all while successfully guiding the athletics program through the unpredictable waters of reclassification to NCAA Division I from Division II and securing conference affiliations for all 16 sports. In 2014, Taylor accepted the role of deputy athletics director at Iowa where he has been responsible for the administrative oversight of the department’s day-to-day operations. Taylor is a 1980 business management graduate of Arizona State, and he received his master’s degree in sports administration in 1985 from St. Thomas University in Florida. Taylor and his wife, Cathy, have one daughter, Casey, and a son, Jared.

***

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 nearly 25 years. Fitz also has stage four prostate cancer, so during the initial stages of the pandemic, his doctors have advised him to stay home and lay low. Now, Fitz is healthy and in remission, but his 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

This edition of the Life of Fitz podcast features host Tim Fitzgerald calling Kansas State's Director of Athletics, Gene Taylor. Taylor was named the Director of Athletics at K-State in April 2017. During his tenure K-State has seen the football program qualify for three bowls, the men’s basketball team win a Big 12 Championship, earn an Elite 8 appearance and advance to two NCAA tournaments and the women’s track and field team win back-to-back Big 12 Outdoor championships. Additionally, Taylor and staff have fundraised and begun to implement a department-wide facility master plan that will benefit all Wildcat teams including the newly completed baseball and soccer projects in addition to Building Champions, a $105 million initiative focused on the South End Zone of Bill Snyder Family Stadium, a new volleyball arena, an Olympic Training Center and a football indoor practice facility. As Athletics Director at North Dakota State, Taylor immediately spearheaded a comprehensive evaluation of the Bison athletic department in 2001, all while successfully guiding the athletics program through the unpredictable waters of reclassification to NCAA Division I from Division II and securing conference affiliations for all 16 sports. In 2014, Taylor accepted the role of deputy athletics director at Iowa where he has been responsible for the administrative oversight of the department’s day-to-day operations. Taylor is a 1980 business management graduate of Arizona State, and he received his master’s degree in sports administration in 1985 from St. Thomas University in Florida. Taylor and his wife, Cathy, have one daughter, Casey, and a son, Jared.

***

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 nearly 25 years. Fitz also has stage four prostate cancer, so during the initial stages of the pandemic, his doctors have advised him to stay home and lay low. Now, Fitz is healthy and in remission, but his 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

This edition of the Life of Fitz podcast features host Tim Fitzgerald calling former Kansas State punter Nick Walsh, who wrapped up his playing career in 2017. Four years ago, Walsh left his family home in Lyndon, Kansas, and headed to Nashville, Tennessee, to pursue a career in songwriting. Since then, Walsh has built an impressive catalog of songs that he performed and has written with some of the most accomplished songwriters in country music. Walsh's newest song, "Kinda Like Kansas," can be found on all streaming platforms. He also recently co-wrote "Blood" with Texas country artist Jon Stork. The song broke onto the Texas country charts. 

***

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 nearly 25 years. Fitz also has stage four prostate cancer, so during the initial stages of the pandemic, his doctors have advised him to stay home and lay low. Now, Fitz is healthy and in remission, but his 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

This edition of the Life of Fitz podcast features host Tim Fitzgerald calling former Kansas State punter Nick Walsh, who wrapped up his playing career in 2017. Four years ago, Walsh left his family home in Lyndon, Kansas, and headed to Nashville, Tennessee, to pursue a career in songwriting. Since then, Walsh has built an impressive catalog of songs that he performed and has written with some of the most accomplished songwriters in country music. Walsh's newest song, "Kinda Like Kansas," can be found on all streaming platforms. He also recently co-wrote "Blood" with Texas country artist Jon Stork. The song broke onto the Texas country charts. 

***

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 nearly 25 years. Fitz also has stage four prostate cancer, so during the initial stages of the pandemic, his doctors have advised him to stay home and lay low. Now, Fitz is healthy and in remission, but his 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