Mike was 13 years old and in the 8th grade when he appeared on Starcade with his Dad David, an Elementary School Phys Ed Teacher. They traveled from Cloquet, Minnesota to San francisco for the taping of their Starcade show. A long way to come - but it was worth the trip - they returned to Minnesota with lots of prizes - including a Stargate video arcade game!

In December 2006 and again in February 2007, Mark checked in to say, "I was both surprised and thrilled to find the Starcade website earlier this week. My father David and I were lucky enough to appear on the show back in 1984. We competed against Mark and Mario Domino and thanks to my dad’s performance in Major Havoc, we beat the Dominos. I then played Joust and beat the minimum score to win Stargate. I also won a computer chess game, a whole bunch of K-Tel Records and the RB5X Robot. However, we were later given an oak desk and shelf system in place of the robot (much to the thrill of my mother)."

"After graduating from Cloquet High School in 1988, I spent two years playing hockey for Madison (WI) in the United States Hockey League (USHL). I was recruited by a number of college hockey programs and ended up attending Dartmouth College. I graduated from Dartmouth in 1994 and went on to spend the next nine years working as a newspaper writer and later editor and also as a radio broadcaster in northern Minnesota. For much of that time I was also a youth and later high school hockey, baseball and softball coach. For the last three years I have worked for the United States Postal Service and also as an assistant softball coach for the University of Wisconsin – Superior. My dad spent 35 years as a teacher for the Cloquet School District, before retiring in 1999. He spent 10 years as a youth baseball and hockey coach and about 10 years as a high school ski and track coach in Cloquet. He is enjoying retirement and spends as much time as he can on the ski slopes."

"Even though it took place almost 25 years ago, I can still recall many of the events surrounding my Starcade experience. I remember writing in and asking for a tryout and then receiving a red tryout invitation in the mail (I think I still have this somewhere). I remember trying out and then getting a call that my dad and I were selected to take part in the show. The Domino family beat us in Elevator Action and Crystal Castles, but my dad’s big win in Major Havoc gave me a chance to play for Stargate. I beat the minimum score with several seconds left and remember Geoff Edwards telling me I had won and then it seemed most of the audience ended up on the set as the show closed. I was on an emotional high for weeks and can still remember when the semi pulled up to deliver Stargate a month later. We also won the RB5X robot, but received an oak desk and shelf unit that my parents still have in their living room. I’m not sure what happened to the chess game I won, or to the stack of K-Tel records. I do still have the Starcade poster, and might even have the Starcade shirt stored in a box somewhere."

Wow! Thanks for the update, Mark. You've given all of us 'an emotional high'!