Fiz's Drive
Watch the retirement
ceremony!
Part #1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PF4_cib-Gk0
Part #2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyPWnBIM6c0
Kristin Fizulich speaks about her husband, Mark, during his retirement ceremony. |
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On November 15, 2008, Saint The retirement ceremony took
place |
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Adults, from left: Del Randall '04, Ben Smith '04, Tom Crowley (head coach of the Purple Knights from 1990- 97), Dave Mandleur '95, Shawn Earl '94, Todd Roberts '01, Jason Curry '95, Mark Pater '01, Monroe Blakes '92, M'93, Jay Wandtke '97, Geoff Card '97, Mark Mulvey '97, Brian Pannuzzo '99, Brent Kendall '96, and Brian Monahan '08. Kids, left to right, Kaleigh Doris, Owen Fizulich, Luke Fizulich, Connor Doris (nieces and nephews of Mark). |
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Thanks to everyone that made the inaugural "Fiz's Drive" a tremendous success. The event was held on Tuesday, October 21 from 12:30-5:30 p.m. at Saint Michael's Ross Sports Center. Fiz's Drive netted 137 pints of blood on campus, and another 15 donated virtually at other locations across the country. The 137 pints collected on campus makes Fiz's Drive the most successful on-campus drive in 10 years! The Saint Michael's men's basketball student-athletes and coaches volunteered at the event. Also, Saint Michael's will sponsor a bone marrow drive in Mark's honor on Saturday, November 15, as the Saint Michael's men's basketball team opens its season by hosting the DoubleTree Doc Jacobs Classic at the Ross Sports Center. The afternoon of basketball begins with at 2 p.m. with a women's basketball game between Queens (N.Y.) and Franklin Pierce, followed by the opening game of the Doc Jacobs Classic at 4 p.m. between Middlebury and Bloomsburg, and finally the 6 p.m. contest between Saint Michael's and in-state rival Norwich. At halftime of Saturday's Saint Michael's-Norwich game, Mark's #50 jersey will be retired. His uniform marks just the seventh number in program history (and eight player) hung to the rafters of the Ross Sports Center!
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He came to Saint Michael's in the Fall of 1993, one of four members of perhaps the finest men's basketball recruiting class in Purple Knight history. Mark Fizulich was a terror on the basketball court, a fierce competitor who played the game relentlessly at both ends of the floor. Beloved by Saint Michael's students and fans, he was the player who almost always drew the ire of opposing crowds - and that's just the way he liked it. "Fiz" thrived in the heat and scrutiny of the spotlight, and he knew that if he attracted that attention from the opponent and the fans, he was making life easier for his teammates throughout the course of the game. |
| But as tenacious and competitive as he was on the basketball
court, he was quite the opposite in his life away from the
game. Fiz was a friend to all in the Saint Michael's
community - the guy with the huge smile and the larger-than-life
personality was simply irresistible. He did well in the
classroom, too, and graduated in 1997 with a double major in
Business Administration and Economics.
After graduation, Fiz found that he was a quick success on Wall Street, too, rising rapidly to the position of Vice President for Credit Derivatives for the then-financial giant Bear Stearns. He soon met the love of his life, Kristin, and the couple became engaged to be married. |
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In late 2005, Mark learned that the headaches and general
malaise he had been enduring were symptoms of Acute Myeloid
Leukemia (AML). As he did so many times in his beloved sport
of basketball, he took on this new opponent with tireless effort
and fearless energy.
After an aggressive chemotherapy program that lasted into April of 2006, his leukemia went into remission. He rapidly regained strength, and was back to work by early summer. He came back to Saint Michael's in September that year to celebrate his induction into the Athletic Hall of Fame, and a week later he and Kristin were married. Sadly, he learned shortly after coming home from his honeymoon that his leukemia had returned. His fight intensified - and over the next 18 months he endured high levels of chemotherapy, two bone marrow transplants, and extended treatment at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle. |
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Despite all of his amazing spirit and energy, the love, prayers and care of his family and large circle of friends, and the efforts of a five-star medical team, Mark lost his battle with cancer on March 9, 2008. He was just 32 years of age. Throughout his illness, he exhaustively researched the disease and treatment options, and worked relentlessly to educate others on the importance of blood and platelet donation, as well as joining the bone marrow donor bank. Here's an entry from his online journal, written on March 30, 2007, that captures the message he often shared with others: |
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"As many of you know, part of this fight for me has been to get better and healthy, but also to raise awareness about Leukemia and other blood cancers. Many of you have stepped up and donated to charities and research foundations I have told you about and I appreciate it. After being out here at the "Hutch," and meeting brilliant doctors/researchers, I am confident that there will be many advances in cancer treatment. A great way to help blood cancer patients is to give blood if you can. Kristin gave blood today - and it took a little while to get signed up since it was her first time - but the actual procedure took only 15 minutes. I can't tell you how many blood transfusions I received during the last two years, but without them I would never have been able to get the therapy I needed. So, go give blood, and know you are helping people who can't make the blood for themselves. There have been over 300 people signed up for this website alone and over 12,000 hits. If half would go give blood we will have helped a lot of people." |
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Saint Michael's will keep the legacy of this very special man alive with an annual blood drive in his memory. Entitled Fiz's Drive, the inaugural event was held on Tuesday, October 21, at the Ross Sports Center - a place where Mark spent a lot of time during his undergraduate years on campus. It was open from 12:30-5:30 pm, and was a tremendous success - 137 pints of blood were donated at the event, and another 15 donated virtually at other locations across the country! If you weren't able to be at Saint Michael's on the 21st to participate in Fiz's Drive, please consider participating virtually by making a donation at your local Red Cross or at an affiliated blood drive in your area. If you participate, please let us know! E-mail Chris Kenny at ckenny@smcvt.edu and let him know who you are and where and when you donated. We will be sure to count all virtual donations in the final Fiz's Drive tally! |
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| There are over 2,500 members of the immediate Saint Michael's
community, and thousands more alumni, family members, and friends
of the College. As Fiz said, if half of us would give blood,
we will have helped a lot of people.
The Saint Michael's community expresses its deepest condolences to Mark's family and friends. For more information on Mark, please visit the links below: http://www.smcathletics.com/sports/mbkb/2008-09/news/20081009_fiz (Press release announcing "Fiz's Drive") http://www.smcathletics.com/halloffame/fizulich_mark (Mark's
Hall of Fame induction biography) http://www.smcathletics.com/fizmulvey (Quote from teammate and Hall of Fame Mark Mulvey '97 about Mark Fizulich) |
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