I've had the pleasure of knowing Dick Jonckowski since 2002 when I produced (and sometimes 'co-hosted' with him) "THE COACHES ROUNDTABLE" on Saturday morning when I worked at KCHK radio in New Prague (Minnesota) from 2002 until 2004. Dick, along with his son Jeff, talked with local area high school sports coaches about their teams during this very popular show.
I've found some 'lost' programs of "THE COACHES ROUNDTABLE" that I've edited and am now making them available for the FIRST TIME EVEREXCLUSIVELY on this Website dedicated to "THE POLISH EAGLE". Currently, you're listening to a 'COACH's ROUNDTABLE SHOW' that aired live on KCHK on April 29, 2003. To begin listening to the show, please click on the audio control shown above.
Additionally, I interviewed Dick on August 27, 2010 and was given a tour of his sports laden memorabilia that fills his house, his basement and his garage. I also took a bunch of pictures and they, too; will be available on this Website as well as my interview with him.
Sooooo; like I said, please check back here frequently as this Website about "THE POLISH EAGLE" continues to be constructed. During that time, the 'background audio' will probably be changing frequently so you'll want to check back for that reason, too. THANKS !!
HERE ARE SOME OF THE PICTURES THAT WERE TAKEN DURING MY
AUGUST 27, 2010
INTERVIEW WITH
DICK JONCKOWSKI
Emcee - Comedian - Speaker
Book
"The Polish Eagle"
For Your Next Public Or Private Event
(952) 261-3013
Please Click On The Pictures Below
To See A Larger Image
In April of 2002, I Was Hired Part-Time To Host An Old Time Music Radio Show On Sunday Nights From 6PM Until Midnight Broadcast On KCHK-AM 1350 From New Prague (Minnesota) and KRDS-FM 95.5 From Montgomery (Minnesota). It Wasn't Long Before My Responsibilities Were Increased To Host A Regularly Broadcast Old Time Music Show Monday Through Friday From 9AM Until 2:00PM, As Well As Do The 'Studio Engineering' For Remote Broadcasts Of Various Sports And Other 'Live' Events Originating Away From The Radio Station.
Soon Thereafter, I Was Promoted To Full-Time And, In Addition To My Daily, Regularly Scheduled Old Time Music Show, I Produced, and Hosted, A Very Popular Two Hour Show Called 'COACHES ROUNDTABLE' That Featured The Father & Son 'Team' Of Dick And Jeff Jonckowski. Those Shows Aired Every Saturday Morning From 9AM-11AM And Featured Information About Local High School Sports With Interviews With Various Coaches.
By Clicking On The Audio Controls Below, You'll Hear ACTUAL 'COACHES ROUNDTABLE' SHOWS That Were Broadcast LIVE On KCHK, KRDS And KYMN Radio In Northfield (Minnesota). These Shows Were A BLAST To Produce And Co-Host And We Pretty Much Had No 'Boundaries' As You'll Hear From Listening To This Very 'CLASSIC, VINTAGE' Programs. Got A Comment? Please Send Them To [email protected].
LISTEN TO "THE DELTA SHOW" HEARD FOUR TIMES A WEEK ON
THE WORLD'S POLKA NETWORK
New Shows Every Wednesday Evening at 7PM and are repeated
on Thursday Mornings at 8AM,
Saturday Mornings at 2AM,
Saturday Evenings at 11PM
& Monday Mornings at 3AM.
I'm Checking All Of My Archived Collection Of Recordings That I Made While Working At The Radio Station In New Prague. I'm Sure That I Must Have A Lot More Recordings Of Shows That I Recorded With Dick & Jeff, Kelley Archer, And Others That I Made While Working At The Radio Station in New Prague.
When I Locate Them, I'll Add Them To This Website, So
This Website and/or any of its contents, may NOT be printed, photographed,
reproduced, copied, recorded, altered, modified or adapted, in any
manner, without the prior written consent of the Webmaster.
"VOICE OF THE MINNESOTA GOPHERS"
Minneapolis Star-Tribune - December 30, 2009
Some people wear their heart on their sleeve. Dick Jonckowski wears his on his shelves. And his walls. And even his ceiling.
Jonckowski loves teams, athletes and sports in general. So much so that he's made sports both his calling and his decorating theme.
"Most people collect Twins or Vikings, but I have so many favorites in every sport, I collect it all," he said.
During his 40-plus years as a sports broadcaster, he's rubbed elbows with a lot of players, coaches and athletic directors, amassing an array of memorabilia so massive that he sometimes hosts tours in his Shakopee home.
What does his wife, Arlene, think about the wall-to-wall coverage? "She's a big fan, too," Jonckowski said. "She likes sports. Not as much as I do, but who does?"
Sports and collecting have been intertwining passions ever since Jonckowski was a child. He still has his first piece of memorabilia: a program from a minor league baseball game, the first he ever attended, when he was 3. "My mother kept everything," he said.
In 1950, when he was 7, Philadelphia was having a banner year, so he started collecting Phillies items. "I liked the players and their uniforms -- the red and white pinstripes," he said. Then, after Detroit won the Stanley Cup in '55, he started collecting Red Wings memorabilia. "I love their logo, the red wheel with wings," he said.
As a student at New Prague High School (where he met Arlene, who was a cheerleader), Jonckowski was always more interested in sports than in his studies. "My teacher said, 'I hope you get a job in sports because you don't care about anything else,'" he recalled.
He dreamed of playing major league baseball, and he got as far as the minors in South Carolina in 1962. But he was released, and so he returned to New Prague, where he worked at a bank and hitchhiked to the old Met Stadium to work as a field usher at Twins and Vikings games. He drove the bullpen car, caught field goals and incomplete passes that went out of bounds, and discovered he had a knack for making crowds laugh at his antics. "I had a ball," he said.
At the urging of friends, he started taking classes in broadcasting at Brown Institute. "My friends said, 'You love sports so much. Why not be a sports broadcaster?'" he recalled.
He started his broadcasting career as a disc jockey in Ladysmith, Wisconsin. In 1966, he became sports director at KSMM-AM in Shakopee. He's also carved out a career as an announcer, emcee and guest speaker at events ranging from state tournament games to charity banquets. "A lot of the teams I've worked for are now defunct," he said. "Someone once said, 'If you want your team to leave town, hire Dick Jonckowski.'"
One of the more unusual events he worked was a "Gong Show" at the Shakopee women's prison in the late '70's. "It was amazing the talent you found in that prison," he recalled. "I was a little nervous. There were all these guys with machine guns. I was wondering how to warm them up, so I started out with, 'It's great to have a captive audience.'"
Jonckowski is best known as the public address announcer for University of Minnesota men's basketball and baseball games. (He also announced Gophers football games for a decade.) "Paul Giel (the U's former athletic director) gave me my first chance," he said. "It was '86 and Clem Haskins was the basketball coach. Paul said, 'If you and Clem hit it off, it's your job.'"
They did, and Jonckowski has been announcing Gophers basketball games ever since, now with coach Tubby Smith. Jonckowski's motto is "Laugh and live longer," and he's known for his one-liners. (Sample jokes: "My wife just ran away with my best friend. ... I sure miss him." "I'm dating a homeless woman." "How's it going?" "Great! I can drop her off anywhere !!")
"I love to see people laugh," he said. "People send me jokes all the time, and I make up a few."
Jonckowski got his nickname, "the Polish Eagle," when he was selling cars, between basketball announcing jobs in the summer of 1968. "Every salesman had a nickname on their business card, and they told me I needed one," he said. "They said, 'You're Polish and you love sports. What are your favorite teams?' I said I liked the Philadelphia Eagles, so they said, 'We're going to call you the Polish Eagle.' It's stuck ever since. Now I'm always introduced as the Polish Eagle."
Over the years, he's had his share of on-air bloopers, such as the time he inadvertently revealed his team loyalty while announcing a high school basketball game. "It was 2000, and Shakopee High School was playing Red Wing," he recalled. "A Shakopee player was bringing the ball up, and I said, 'Take a timeout, Joe!' I forgot my mike was on. I thought the people from Red Wing were going to kill me."
The most exciting game he ever announced was the Gophers' triple-overtime win over Iowa in 1994, he said. "At the end of the game, I was hyperventilating."
Jonckowski has an encyclopedic memory for scores and stats, which also comes in handy for staying on top of his voluminous collection. Even though he owns thousands of artifacts, he claims to know where every bobblehead, bat and pennant is located. "I could find pretty much anything here," he said. He's maxed out his space, but still "sneaks in" new finds on occasion. "If a thing for one of my favorite players came out, I'd probably get it," he admitted.
And if the house were on fire and he could save only one item, what would it be? "It's hard to pick one thing," he pondered. "I guess I'd grab [former Governor] Arne Carlson's commendation on my 50th birthday. Or this bust that was given to me by my family."
The bust is his likeness, rendered in gold. His wife and and their two adult children, Jeff and Jennifer, presented it to him not long after he was inducted into his fifth "Hall of Fame." (Those include Shakopee High School Athletics, New Prague High School Distinguished Alumni, Minnesota High School Basketball and Football and Mancini's Restaurant's Sports Hall of Fame).
When his family gave him the bust, "They said, 'Now you're in the family hall of fame,'" he said with a laugh. But to Jonckowski, his career has been its own reward. "I've been really lucky to be able to do something I really like almost every day of my life."
DELTA DICK
Website Design
DELTA DICK
Website Design
DELTA DICK
Website Design
DELTA DICK
Website Design
DELTA DICK
Website Design
To Hear The Entire 'ROAST & TOAST' Of Gopher's Legend Dick Jonckowski Held On May 5, 2017 At JAX Cafe In Minneapolis And Hosted By
WCCO TV's Mike Max, Please Click On The Audio Link Below.
Join us for an unforgettable night of great food, drinks and laughs as one of our great characters & funny men, 'THE POLISH EAGLE', unveils his hilarious comedy routine !
Saturday, May 13 @ 6:00PM - O'Gara's Shanty
$45.00/Person in advance; $50.00/Person at the door
Includes O'Gara's Pasta Buffet, 2 drink tickets and hilarious entertainment !
This is a fundraiser sponsored by the Mendota Heights 12AA baseball team.
All proceeds help young baseball players realize their dreams.
DELTA DICK
Website Design
Aired November 9, 2002
Aired March 29, 2003
In April of 2002, I Was Hired Part-Time To Host An Old Time Music Radio Show On Sunday Nights From 6PM Until Midnight Broadcast On KCHK-AM 1350 From New Prague (Minnesota) and KRDS-FM 95.5 From Montgomery (Minnesota). It Wasn't Long Before My Responsibilities Were Increased To Host A Regularly Broadcast Old Time Music Show Monday Through Friday From 9AM Until 2:00PM, As Well As Do The 'Studio Engineering' For Remote Broadcasts Of Various Sports And Other 'Live' Events Originating Away From The Radio Station.
Soon Thereafter, I Was Promoted To Full-Time And, In Addition To My Daily, Regularly Scheduled Old Time Music Show, I Produced, and Hosted, A Very Popular Two Hour Show Called 'COACHES ROUNDTABLE' That Featured The Father & Son 'Team' Of Dick And Jeff Jonckowski. Those Shows Aired Every Saturday Morning From 9AM-11AM And Featured Information About Local High School Sports With Interviews With Various Coaches.
By Clicking On The Audio Controls Below, You'll Hear ACTUAL 'COACHES ROUNDTABLE' SHOWS That Were Broadcast LIVE On KCHK, KRDS And KYMN Radio In Northfield (Minnesota). These Shows Were A BLAST To Produce And Co-Host And We Pretty Much Had No 'Boundaries' As You'll Hear From Listening To This Very 'CLASSIC, VINTAGE' Programs. Got A Comment? Please Send Them To [email protected].
Aired November 9, 2002
Aired March 29, 2003
DICK JONCKOWSKI
Emcee - Comedian - Speaker
Call Now To Book For Your Next Public Or Private Event
(952) 261-3013
The First 'Reunion' Was So Much Fun To Do, Three Weeks Later We Decided To Get
