Friendly Encounters

This is a series dedicated to my friends meeting celebrities.

When we last featured Rob Mackowiak, it was in a post with Steve of White Sox Cards.  They went to Oak Lawn Community High School together.  Today, I am featuring Mackowiak with two friends of mine, both named Scott.
Pork is my brother-in-law and Swede is his long-time friend (and my not-quite as long time friend).  I met Swede through Pork.  Both Scotts share a passion for beating me (and they have done it often...too often actually).  Pork has won more than his fair share of bets with me, while Swede has dominated me in the highly respected Boone Fantasy League.  Both trends have slightly turned in my favor of late, but I'll say that quietly so as not to incur the famous and highly effective Swede Curse (I'm still reeling from the effects of one particular curse placed upon me in Houston a few years back).
This last winter, Pork and Swede joined a bunch of their friends in Mexico for a wedding.  Also at the wedding was Mackowiak, a friend of the bride's family.  By all accounts, Mackowiak was just a regular nice guy.   The Scotts got a chance to talk baseball and have a good time with Mackowiak, but we all know their main goal was to land right here in Friendly Encounters.

 Scott Parker, Rob Mackowiak and Scott Olofsson in Mexico-Winter 2010.

Pre-Fame...Pre-White Sox Cards

I have a recurring series called Pre-Fame...Pre-Johngy, which is about me, before I became Johngy, meeting people before they became famous. Today, I am starting a spinoff, featuring others in the Pre-Johngy slot. First up is Steve, from White Sox Cards.
Before there was a White Sox Cards...and before Rob Mackowiak played for the beloved White Sox (and the Pirates, Padres and Nationals)...
Steve and Rob were classmates at Oak Lawn Community High School in Oak Lawn (IL). Not only were they classmates for three years, but they took gym class together.
I learned this fact while reading an April Fool's piece on White Sox Cards. The post was brilliantly done. Had it not been April 1, I would have believed it completely. Mackowiak is exactly the type of player who the Cubs would sign in hopes that he would regain his form of several seasons ago.
I asked Steve about his encounters with Mackowiak. Steve stated, "The thing I will always remember about Rob in school is that we took a gym class together and we would talk White Sox baseball during down time. It makes me laugh to think we used to talk about Ozzie Guillen as a player and that years later, Rob was being managed by him."
Awesome! Thanks to Steve for sharing this and for being the first person in the Pre-Fame...Pre- ?? spinoff series.

1993 Oak Lawn Community High School yearbook photos of Steve and Rob Mackowiak.