Larry Fitzgerald Jr. to host Carol Fitzgerald gala weekend By Larry Fitzgerald 

 

By: Larry Fitzgerald
Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder
Originally posted 3/05/2007

as published in the MN Spokesman-Recorder April 5, 2007

Larry Fitzgerald Jr., star receiver of the Arizona Cardinals and the youngest player in NFL history to grab 100 passes and lead the league in receptions, will return home this week to celebrate the life of his mother, the late Carol Fitzgerald, who died of cancer on April 10, 2003. Fitzgerald will host a fundraising gala-silent auction dinner ceremony this coming weekend for the benefit of the Carol Fitzgerald Memorial Fund.

Special guests will include four-time Pro Bowl Vikings center Matt Birk, two-time Pro Bowl tackle of the Super Bowl Chicago Bears Tommie Harris, and a guest performance by recording artist Jerelyn Steele.

Larry will sign autographs and share food and music with family and friends celebrating Carol¹s life work in this community with the Third Annual Carol Fitzgerald Memorial Fund Community Celebration, where organizations recognized in the areas of HIV, breast cancer, and urban education will again be honored for their continued services to this community that were so important to Carol Fitzgerald.

Vikings on welfare

It¹s hard to believe that a franchise valued at more than $600 million is struggling to keep up, but it¹s true.

I had a long conversation last week at the Arizona Biltmore with Vikings owner/chairman Zigi Wilf about a number of things during the NFL owners meetings. Wilf expressed that he and his brothers were disappointed that late last week Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty said that it probably would have been a better idea to have built a dual-purpose Gophers/Vikings stadium together.

As you may know, the Twins are approved for and eventually are going to get a new downtown open-air stadium pending a land purchase, and the U of M Gophers are getting a new open-air stadium on campus.

The governor and legislature have all signed off on securing those venues with state money, while the Vikings appear to be stuck in the Metrodome with a lease that expires in 2011. The Vikings are 32nd in the NFL in revenues ‹ that¹s dead last. The league owners last week voted 30-2 to subsidize and support the lower revenue franchises with additional funds that would come out of a shared $110 million owners revenue pool.

The plan requires that top-grossing revenue teams distribute up to $8 million annually retroactive to 2006 to the less wealthy teams provided they meet certain qualifiers. The plan will continue until 2009.

One of the qualifiers is that teams playing in new stadiums built within the last five years do not qualify. The Vikings qualify because they play in the revenue-strapped Metrodome, which was built back in 1982.

The lease agreement with the Metrodome and the Vikings expires in 2011, and Wilf and the Vikings are waiting to get support for their latest stadium plan that¹s been pushed back because of the Twins land purchase issues. The plan appears to earmark remodeling or rebuilding or revamping the Metrodome site like the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears, both division rivals, did successfully.

However, with the clock ticking on the Metrodome lease, Los Angeles, California, could be an option for Wilf.

The Carol Fitzgerald Memorial Fund Community Celebration is set for Friday, April 6, 6:30 to 9 pm, at Matty B¹s Restaurant, 501 Washington Ave. South, in Minneapolis, and Saturday, 1-4 pm, at the Martin Luther King Center, 4100 South Nicollet in Minneapolis. Call 612-823-8574 for tickets and more information.

Larry Fitzgerald can be heard weekday mornings on KMOJ Radio, 89.9 FM, at 8:20 am, and Monday evenings 6-7 pm. He welcomes reader responses to lfitzgerald@spokesman-recorder.com, or visit www.Larry-Fitzgerald.com.