Remembering “Fitzy”

Posted Mar 12, 2010 by Nick Murray

Updated Mar 12, 2010 at 03:16 AM

Everyone who knew him has a story to tell about Tom Fitzgerald.

“You ever heard the expression ‘open up a can of whoop-*ss?’ ” FC Dallas assistant coach and friend of Fitzgerald John Ellinger said. “Well Tom got a can, made a (Columbus) Crew sticker, bought a bunch of gum drops, and then put it out for the guys so that after their meal, they had to take some candy from the can of whoop-*ss.

“You know you’re effective when you’re going out to warm-up and I’ve got to guard the can of whoop-*ss and Brad Friedel says to me ‘save me two red ones.’ … You’ve heard about the can of whoop-*ss, to open up a can, but to actually have a can, then you open up and give it to them, that was a pretty good coaching story that I remember, I’ll never forget that one.”

No-one who met him would ever forget Fitzgerald. From his coaching start at Jesuit, through winning a National Championship at the University of Tampa to coaching the Columbus Crew in MLS before a brief stint at UCLA before his return to Tampa, and untimely death in a motorcycle accident, Fitzgerald left an imprint wherever he went.

On Friday, the Soccer Festival that bears his name will be held for the sixth time, with FC Dallas facing the FC Tampa Bay Rowdies at 7:30 p.m. and the Philadelphia Union on Sunday at 7 p.m. All proceeds from the weekend’s two games will go to the Tom Fitzgerald Scholarship Fund set up by UT after his passing in 2004.

FC Dallas head coach Schellas Hyndman said the opportunity to come to Tampa and honor the memory of Fitzgerald was one he and Ellinger were glad to participate in.

“I classify soccer coaches in two catagories; good guy and not such a good guy,” Hyndman said. “Fitzy was one of those good guys. There wasn’t anyone out there that wouldn’t say he wasn’t one of those good guys. He loved the game of soccer, he was passionate about improving people, and I think he was a great ambassador for our sport. When he had his tragic accident, the soccer world stood still in awe of a good man.”