COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Columbus Crew will take on Real Salt Lake Thursday (Feb. 15) at 7 p.m. in the third annual Tom Fitzgerald Memorial Match at the University of South Florida in Tampa. The game will be broadcast live on-line at TheCrew.com, with Dwight Burgess, Dante Washington and Katie Witham calling all the action.
Fitzgerald, the second head coach in Crew history (1996-2001), was killed in a motorcycle accident in December 2004. All proceeds of the match will go to the Tom Fitzgerald Memorial Scholarship Fund, established in his honor at the University of Tampa, where he was coaching at the time of his death. UT is hosting the match, but its Pepin Stadium is undergoing renovations so it is being played across town at USF this year.
Donations can be sent to: Tom Fitzgerald Memorial Scholarship Fund, University of Tampa, 401 W. Kennedy Blvd. Box I, Tampa, FL 33606. For further information, please contact University of Tampa head men's soccer coach Adrian Bush at 813-253-6240 ext. 3407 or 3184.
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The Crew will leave Bradenton, Fla., for Phoenix on Saturday. While in Arizona, the Black & Gold will play a pair of exhibition matches at Grand Canyon University - Sunday, Feb. 18, against FC Dallas and Wednesday, Feb. 21, against Mexican Primera A (second division) club Indios de Juarez. Kickoff for both games is 9 p.m. ET. The Crew will then return to Columbus from Feb. 22 to March 8, with trips to Dallas, southern California and North Carolina to follow. It opens the 2007 MLS season at home on Saturday, April 7, against Claudio Reyna and the New York Red Bulls.
COLUMBUS CREW vs. Real Salt Lake
Tom Fitzgerald Memorial Match
Thursday, Feb. 15 - 7 p.m. (ET) at University of South Florida
Webcast: TheCrew.com (English)
INAUGURAL LAMAR HUNT PIONEER CUP TO BE TELEVISED LIVE NATIONALLY ON FOX SOCCER CHANNEL
Fox Soccer Channel has become a presenting sponsor of the inaugural Lamar Hunt Pioneer Cup and acquired the exclusive telecast rights to the March 11 charity game. It will broadcast the match live from Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, Texas, at 6:00 p.m. ET., as will Spanish sister network Fox Sports en Español, the largest Spanish-language all-sports cable network in the U.S., along with Fox Sports Latin America and Fox Sports Middle East/Africa. The Lamar Hunt Pioneer Cup will pit the Crew and FC Dallas - the two MLS teams owned by Hunt Sports Group - against one another in a preseason exhibition.
The Lamar Hunt Pioneer Cup was created in honor of Crew Founder Lamar Hunt, who passed away in December 2006 after a battle with cancer. The Pioneer Cup will serve as a fund-raiser for the teams' charitable foundations, with all net proceeds from the first edition of the Pioneer Cup being presented to Dallas SCORES. The Cup will be played in Columbus next year to benefit an organization, or organizations, of the Crew Soccer Foundation's choosing. Contributions may be made through a variety of means, including by naming your price for tickets to the Pioneer Cup, as well as in exchange for sponsorship and marketing opportunities. Individuals or organizations that can not attend may also contribute on-line at fcdallas.net or by calling the FC Dallas office at 888-323-4625.
UPCOMING CREW PRESEASON SCHEDULE
February
14: 10 a.m. - Training; 3:45 p.m. - Training
15: 10 a.m. - Training
15: 7 p.m. - Tom Fitzgerald Memorial Match vs. Real Salt Lake at University of South Florida
16: 10 a.m. Training; Scrimmage vs. Kansas City Wizards
17: Depart for Phoenix
18: 9 p.m. (ET) - Exhibition vs. FC Dallas at Grand Canyon University, Phoenix
19: Noon (ET) - Training
20: Noon (ET) - Training
21: 9 p.m. (ET) - Exhibition vs. Indios de Juarez (Mexico) at Grand Canyon University, Phoenix
22: Return to Columbus
March
9: Depart for Dallas
