Sam was 12 years old when his Starcade! show was taped in March 1983. He appeared on one of the first Starcade! shows ... the second in the series of 23 shows taped with Mark Richards as the host. His show was aired as #23 in that series. Sam won the overall competition and played for the Grand Prize ... a Wacko video arcade game but he failed to make the 3,580 points on Explorer that he needed to win Wacko.

Sam listed his hobbies as 'eating, baseball, and stamp collecting' ... and he signed up for Starcade! because 'I love video games.' 

In 2002 when he checked in, Sam said, "I wasn't so good (on the show) and the only thing I remember is looking like a big dork and playing against a girl named Bonnie." According to Sam since his Starcade! experience, "I've traveled to every continent except Australia and Africa. I became a men's apparel buyer for American Eagle Outfitters and was an Account Executive for a company out of Hong Kong." Four years ago Sam enrolled in college and is now (2002) in his last year pursuing a PhD in Sociology. His latest sports accomplishment is snowboarding.

To Sam's accomplishments, we say (as Sam did when he checked in) "Wow! Cool."