George Pawelski Visits Grand Rapids, Mi

[zensteve]

It was a pleasure meeting up with George Pawelski and his girlfriend Karen. They are from Milwaukee
George wanted to visit and put some flowers on Harold Worst's grave. I left him alone with Harold so they could talk. Harold left George with a lasting impression with his grace and talent. Harold was the one that gave George his nickname " The Polish Prince".

Then we went over to the Carom Club and played some 3c. He still has a nice fluid stroke.
It was fun knocking them around.

I took him to the Anazeh Sands West Pool Room. He was quite impressed with the room. But not necessarily the condition of the carom table.Then went to Anazeh Sands East and talked about pool and caroms at the bar about back in the 60s/70s/80s/90s.. It was fun talking about all the stories.

We picked up Karen at the motel and went to dinner. He talked about the struggle and the pain in dealing with stage 4 incurable cancer. He was very candid about his prospects.

We shook hands and hugged and hoped to see each other sometime at a 3c tournament somewhere. I wish him the best.

 

[zensteve]

I betcha Jay can tell you some stories about George Pawelski. Might you Jay?

 

[freddy the beard]

I betcha Jay can tell you some stories about George Pawelski. Might you Jay?

George was a great, great all around player. He got his nickname from Harold Worst after he had run 94 and out on Wimpy. The only game he couldnt play a lick was one pocket. Never liked it, never played it. When Tom Spencer was playing his best pool, George went into Tommy's home room, Maries Golden Cue, gave him the wild eight ball and robbed him.

George has been very sick for awhile and is handling it like a champion.

Beard

 

[edatplaypool]

It's been years since I've seen George, sorry to hear he isn't doing well. I always thought he was a class act in the Wisconsin Pool Scene. Had one of the biggest strokes in the game in his day.

 

[jay helfert]

George was a low key guy that was part of some of the best teams to ever play in the BCA championships. He partnered up with John Abruzzo, Tom Spencer, Mike Bandy, Larry Schwartz, Bill Incardona and others to totally dominate the Team division year after year. Probably the best teams ever assembled for that event.

George played alongside many fine players in the Milwaukee area for years - Jeff Carter, George Brunt and Willie Munson among them. Not many road men had a chance if they walked into this lion's den! I would say the George P. was the best player of the bunch although for serious money George B. was BRUTAL, torturing just about any top player who got in his way. Jeff Carter became the most successful tourney player of the lot, with George P. content to stay close to home, laying in the weeds waiting for his next unsuspecting victim. He never got the notoriety of the others, he just got the cash! :thumbup2:

P.S. One last thing. Harold Worst left a lasting impression on a whole generation of pool players. He was Shane, long before there was a Shane. He was an equal opportunity killer, winning tournaments and your cash if you dared to challenge him. And like Efren if he saw a new game he just had to be the best at it. He would take on any game and any challenge, and without any fanfare become the best at it. I never saw anyone quite like Harold Worst. A gentleman player and gambler, a true man's man!

 

[freddy the beard]

George was a low key guy that was part of some of the best teams to ever play in the BCA championships. He partnered up with John Abruzzo, Tom Spencer, Mike Bandy, Larry Schwartz, Bill Incardona and others to totally dominate the Team division year after year. Probably the best teams ever assembled for that event.

George played alongside many fine players in the Milwaukee area for years - Jeff Carter, George Brunt and Willie Munson among them. Not many road men had a chance if they walked into this lion's den! I would say the George P. was the best player of the bunch although for serious money George B. was BRUTAL, torturing just about any top player who got in his way. Jeff Carter became the most successful tourney player of the lot, with George P. content to stay close to home, laying in the weeds waiting for his next unsuspecting victim. He never got the notoriety of the others, he just got the cash! :thumbup2:


P.S. One last thing. Harold Worst left a lasting impression on a whole generation of pool players. He was Shane, long before there was a Shane. He was an equal opportunity killer, winning tournaments and your cash if you dared to challenge him. And like Efren if he saw a new game he just had to be the best at it. He would take on any game and any challenge, and without any fanfare become the best at it. I never saw anyone quite like Harold Worst. A gentleman player and gambler, a true man's man!

In 1981, George, John Abruzzo, Artie Bodendorfer and myself won the National 8 ball team championship up in Milwaukee. George, Tommy Spencer, Abruzzo, and myself also finished 3rd in that same tournament. If we would have won our semi-finals match we would have been basically playing ourselves in the finals.

Beard