Friendly Encounters

This is another in a series of meetings of my friends and celebs.

This is a unique edition of 'Friendly Encounters'. Usually, I feature friends who have met celebrities. Today, I am still featuring friends, but this time they are 'meeting' the childhood home of Michael Jackson.
Dave Plonczynski and I became friends while attending Mt. Carmel High School in Chicago (IL). We had a lot of fun bowling, playing videos at Wright's Barnyard and Friar Tuck's and just hanging out. Mooner was also one of the guys I recruited for the Losers basketball team.
A lot of time has passed since then. Recently, Plonczynski and I reconnected. I was pleasantly surprised to hear of his 4 children. (I guess I realized just how long it had been.)
Plonczynski recently took his children on a vacation which included a quick stop at the childhood home of the recently-deceased Michael Jackson. When I heard about the trip and that he had a picture, I asked him to share it here. Like or dislike MJ, a big piece of musical history was born in that small house.
Thanks to Dave for sharing this picture.

Dave Plonczynski and his children outside Michael Jackson's childhood home in Gary, IN-July 2009.

Another Loser

Dave Plonczynski was one of the most spirited members of my intra-mural basketball team, the Losers. Mooner always brought a great sense of humor to the games and with a 1-6 record, we needed humor.
Plonczynski and I became friends in our Junior year at Mount Carmel. We spent many weekends at Friar Tuck's and Wright's Barnyard, two great video arcades in the Calumet City-Lansing (IL) area. Bowling was another great time-spender, although Plonczynski was a bit of a ringer, as he was on MC's bowling team.
Plonczynski was a natural choice for the Losers. He wanted to win and tried to win, but he didn't take losing too hard. That was the spirit of the Losers! Whether slotted at guard or forward, Plonczynski gave it his all. Plonczynski scored 8 points in 5 games.
I have recently reconnected with Plonczynski. He is a father of 4, doing well, living in the western suburbs and is anxious for a Losers reunion.

John Fleszewski (top left) attempts to pass to Dave Plonczynski (white stripes) in Mt. Carmel gym in Chicago, IL-Spring 1983.

A Bunch of Losers

The NBA basketball season starts today. Who knows what kind of season my Chicago Bulls will have? They have been very inconsistent over the last few years.
One team who was consistent was the Losers. They...we were consistently bad. The Losers were my intramural basketball team during my senior year at Mt. Carmel. I was the starting off-guard (accent on off), although I am not really sure we had positions, except for Tom 'Hammer' Skalski. He was definitely our big man in the middle (and our enforcer, a role he gladly filled).
Other Losers included Dave 'Mooner' Plonczynski, Greg 'Ness' Nessinger, Keith Urbon, Mike Szotek, John Fleszewski, Jim 'Fish' Fisher, Todd Kruk and Ed Mann. We had a great time and even won 1 game. Each Loser will have his time to shine here, but for today, Tom Skalski gets his turn.

Dave Plonczynski, an opponent (in blue) and Tom Skalski in Mt. Carmel gym in Chicago, IL-Spring 1983.