Our Dearest Tom,

Today, instead of good news, we unfortunately learned you passed away to infinity.

The first time we met was at the gate of International Arrivals in Ankara Esenboga Airport in autumn 2006. You were so naïve and smiling to us in the middle of the night after a long and tiring travel. We could immediately sense your kindness and politeness. This never changed throughout our relation. The next day we started working on the abstract selection for the World Science and Football Congress and you were so precise, experienced and dedicated to your work. Work was so important to you and we were all inspired by your enthusiasm. The same night at dinner you had Turkish coffee that wouldn’t let you go to sleep. We joked on that as the coffee had kept you working throughout the night. You loved the food even though you had eaten a little.

The next time we met was at the 6^th World Science and Football Congress in Antalya. The congress went smoothly and at the closing we passed the ball to Nagoya, Japan. When Surhat played the Beatles song “Let it be” at the closing, we all stood up and sang it together. There you were full of emotions, sitting in your chair, joining the song and smiling with pleasure. You knew you were successful, which made us all so happy. Now we call it “team work”.

Short after, we learned you were under treatment. On one side you were productive in writing and correcting the book and on the other side you were fighting with the side effects of chemotherapy. Each e-mail we received from you was like a fresh leaf at our window in the morning. In your last e-mail you wrote that you were getting better, walking around with a stick but you were not yet ready to travel. We were expecting you to get better and join us at the ECSS 2010 Antalya Congress. Instead we learn that “our best friend” in sport science will be missing in our next event: This is really very hard to accept.

We believe in life after death. Holy books do not mention sports in heaven; however, if there is any, we are sure you will be dealing with the science of it.

We will always keep you in our minds and close to our hearts.

Respectfully yours,

Feza Korkusuz MD

in the name of staff, graduates and students of

the Middle East Technical University

Department of Physical Education and Sports

Ankara, Turkey