Pleasant Hill, MO
I was a daily lurker on RGP in the late 90s and early 2000s. KOZ was a legend there. Probably my favorite poster. It is Pinside's loss that he never became a regular contributor here. RIP.
(Topic ID: 281010)
This is a huge loss for so many. No nonsense guy and a great friend to many of my peers. I did not know him as well as I would have liked but some of my most respected friends in the community were close friends with John. RIP brother.
Quoted from schudel5:RIP Koz. This is very sad news.
I've known John for almost 20 years now when we were both on rgp. Very rough around the edges when he posted online that's for sure. But in real life he was the kindest and most generous person. He would always stop and talk life and pinball whenever our paths crossed. Back in 2005 he saw my daughter (11 years old at the time) playing pinball and tearing it up. He took to her skills and they became friends as well. He took the time to write an article about her in the 2005 issue of Pingame Journal.
RIP Koz. I will end this the same way you always ended your posts on rgp.
Pinlicious (...there is no spoon)
Koz is gone physically but the GC's he left on your machines and many others live on for all of us chase. Unobtanium scores. Horcrux scores. The man with no spoon will smirk from above for years to come. RIP.
Was that his tag line on rgp? Theres no spoon?
John connected a lot of people together in and around Michigan. He had kids around the same time as me so we’ve been disconnected in the past couple years. I knew he had 2 kids, not 3!
It was pretty sad hearing about this yesterday. RIP KOZ.
Quoted from djreddog:Fun fact about Kosmal. The factory high score initials on MMR and AFMR are the same, "KOZ" which was a nod to John.
RIP KOZ, but I think Louis Koziarz would beg to differ about the above...
Wow...lots of sad news today. I also remember him from the RGP days. Much love to his family and friends. 
I first started collecting in 2001 and quickly found RGP. It didn't take long to figure out that two of the most influential posters there were LTG and Pinlicious (Koz). Over time I learned that Koz was a force of nature with an incredible wealth of pinball knowledge. Whether you agreed with him or not he sure was passionate and extremely self-confident.
Over time I learned to really respect Koz's posts on RGP for one thing above all else: he was the best at blasting the trolls on RGP with facts and logic thus making them look like fools. Remember that RGP was an open forum, so people couldn't be banned like here on Pinside. Whenever a troll like Gary Arizona would appear on the scene, Koz would expose their bullshit with surgical precision.
RIP Koz; I never met you, but I feel like I knew you.
Quoted from PinballSTAR:Finally, I'd be remiss if I didn't share my favorite Koz story. We sat next to each other one year at Expo in the Stern seminar. I have no idea why but Koz was just out of it that day - looking a little rough and he fell asleep. Like dead asleep. So Gary Stern starts talking and we are in the 2nd row and he starts snoring. Now Koz was a big guy and he was snoring so loud that Gary was looking over at times and about 2-3 rows of people were losing their shit that Koz was literally disrupting Gary's speech with big honking snores. I kept waking him up primarily because I knew he was a known person in the hobby and I wanted to protect him from any embarrassment he was sleeping and somewhat disrupting the seminar. It was like trying to wake a bear in hibernation... First off he was so big to even make a difference to wake him up I was literally punching him in the arm. He'd grumble loud raise his head then go back to sleep. I think the people around us found me trying to wake him more funny than him snoring. Then all of a sudden after 15 - 20 minutes of this he shakes himself awake in one big burst stands up, his chair get tossed aside and he rumbles out in the middle whoever was speaking. Doesn't say a word to me and just leaves in a disruptive manner. I saw him later or the next day and told him how loud he was, teasing him, etc... and he just didn't give a shit. That was Koz. He was a gentle giant and a giant in the hobby for sure. Your enormous personality will be missed my friend.
Joe
Reminder, get sleep tested for a CPAP. A lot of heart attacks happen to body builders and also tend to happen around Daylight Savings time. It can save your life.
RIP, MPE was always an amazing show.
I am truly shocked, saddened, and full of regret today after hearing about the passing of my good friend John Kosmal (aka Koz, aka Pinlicious). I really don't have many words at the moment, there are just too many things to say. He rallied the local pinball community to bring the Michigan Pinball Expo to fruition, which ran from 2010 through 2016 attracting players from all around the world to play. He and I spend many nights working on the show, driving all over the place to place posters, giving tv and radio interviews, and bringing pinheads together.
For someone who led a quality life, never drank or partied, ate well, worked hard, and stayed healthy, it's an absolute shock to find out he passed away in his sleep. He was gung ho about everything he sank himself into. I never thought we'd see the day where he would settle down and get married, but he found his love in Natalie, and wasted no time in starting a family, leaving the pinball scene behind.
RIP brother, you will be missed. I regret not picking up the phone more to chat without social media dividing us. At least John White aka JDubbbs will have some solid company.
Mick
There is no spoon
Some pics of our time together over the years running the MPE. Getting on the Fox 2 News Detroit morning show was a blast!
124678704241571 (resized).jpg2011-02-06_17-43-19_606 (resized).jpg2011-02-24_15-55-28_416 (resized).jpg2011-03-20_17-04-15_924 (resized).jpg2011-04-17_15-18-01_460 (resized).jpg2011-04-17_15-18-11_212 (resized).jpg2012-04-14_17-39-17_693 (resized).jpg2012-04-14_17-41-26_161 (resized).jpg70800012_2251537351823470_5419112627097829376_o (resized).jpgIMG00804-20100711-1526 (resized).jpgSome of the 2011 Michigan Pinball Expo hanging out (resized).jpgQuoted from Buffooned:Reminder, get sleep tested for a CPAP. A lot of heart attacks happen to body builders and also tend to happen around Daylight Savings time. It can save your life.
https://www.heart.org/en/news/2018/10/26/can-daylight-saving-time-hurt-the-heart-prepare-now-for-spring
RIP, MPE was always an amazing show.
I can not echo this enough my cpap machine has changed my life and I'm sure saved it too. I was that guy that would fall asleep in a meeting, at a movie or anytime I got a chance to sit.I would have to stop every 30 minutes driving to do exercises to wake up, I fell asleep driving multiple times and went in a ditch once missing a telephone pole by inches. I often would stop after work and sleep in a parking lot for an hour or 2 because the 35 minute drive was to much and I knew I would dose off if I tried. I would sleep 12 hours a day and wake up and fall asleep 30 minutes later on the couch with a cup of coffee,it was like I never slept and I would wake up soaked in sweat every morning and my wife said I would fight wars in my sleep screaming and punching. I went for a sleep study and they said I stop breathing 138 times an hour so basically I never slept causing serious strain on my heart. As soon as I got my cpap I was a new person,no more wars,no more sweating,no more falling asleep. I started sleeping for 6-7 hours a night and wake up like I was on meth, it has totally changed my life and I beg you if you even think you have even mild sleep apnea get a sleep study done because sleep apnea will shorten your life .
Condolences to John's friends and family I did not know the man but his show was what got me back into pinball and I thank him for that.
Sad news. John was a great guy. He would call me once in a blue moon and even though we didn’t know each other well I always felt like I was talking to a friend.
May this be a reminder and a gift from John and Terry for those of us who remain here to live another day after the loss of two members of this community in such a short time. May it remind us to try and live every day to the fullest, like it could be our last and to never leave anything unsaid with those that we love.
Rest In Peace KOZ
No shit.... I bought some rare arcade stuff from him and seemed like a good dude to me. I still have his number in my phone.
RIP man.
Quoted from frobozz:RIP KOZ, but I think Louis Koziarz would beg to differ about the above...
I’ve always heard it to be John. Never heard about Louis. Please enlighten me.
Quoted from djreddog:I’ve always heard it to be John. Never heard about Louis. Please enlighten me.
https://www.ipdb.org/search.pl?searchtype=advanced&ppl=Louis%20Koziarz
AFAIK, all the remakes are running the same code, with the same default initials, as the original Williams/Bally games. Louis' HSTD initials (KOZ) were in many Williams/Bally games of the era, whether he worked on the game or not (as were LFS, XAQ, RRR, etc.)
Quoted from djreddog:I’ve always heard it to be John. Never heard about Louis. Please enlighten me.
Yeah KOZ in Williams games is definitely Louis Koziarz. He was a software engineer for Williams. The default initial tables carried over to the remakes, as previously stated.
RIP to Pinlicious KOZ tho, I remember he was quite the character on RGP back in the day.
Wow, can't believe it....anyone who knew Koz, well, you can see by the pics the guy was a beast and took care of himself. I knew him from RGP, then the Detroit Pinball League, and dragged games to the Michigan Pinball Expo, volunteered doing tech work, etc. He could be inflammatory at times, but damn...you don't wish this on your worst enemy. Way too young, and a boon to the hobby.
Rest in peace, John, and heartfelt condolences to your family.
Quoted from vdojaq:Man of that age and clean life doesn't just die in his sleep. Something will be found .
That’s what Ive been thinking about too. Clean life, works out, ect. Makes you wonder how you made it so far yourself?
The cpap posts are interesting and its motivated me to do a sleep study now.
I didn't know Koz but am saddened to hear this news. As with Terry, far too young. My sincere condolences to his family.
Few may of heard this, John was an autoshow spokesperson in his younger days. He did not speak much of his time on that circuit, but told a story or two.
Roll the calendar forward some time, and I met John at Marvin's, around 2003.
John, the gang, and I closed Marvin's, then headed to local bar-eater, and proceeded to close it too. We talked all about pinball, and John was passionate. The hours flew by as we went on and on all about pinball.
Those that had opporturnity to watch him play were astounded. He controlled the multi ball action with amazing skills.
And he would roll the replays on the machines on location.
The meet ups would continue, each and ever new game that was released, and setup at the Butterfly arcade attached to the golf dome. John would get there earlier, spend hours mastering the latest games, and then share so much of what he had learned. This was long before he would be taken in the fold, to help work a bit on the Spiderman.
Flash forward to MPE, and John became the master show organizer. He spent countless hours guiding, hauling games, and directing volunteers. It wasn't work for us involved, as we loved what we were doing, and John knew how to make the show go right.
RIP John, you glorious bastard. It was an honor to have known you.
At the bottom of this post lies one hell of a man – Big John.
HPIM6168 (resized).JPGMan, where to start about losing one of the greats, KOZ RIP. A great promoter of Pinball, his posts at RGP were so good.
I first met him as part of a pinball league in the Chicago area and then at Pinbrawl at Expo. A really great person. Such a great loss.
Couple random thoughts I had...
So we had some players in Ann Arbor and we were arcade rats & worked there and it was pinball pinball pinball etc; This was early 90s and before all social media as we know it today of course.
We knew of Koz the old fashion way, high scores on machines 
I would be sitting at home and get a call from someone at work yelling "fucking that Koz guy must have been here, he put up a score on AFM!!!" Then I'd run out the door and we'd spend a bunch of time trying to knock the score of the board. I don't think I ever even saw the guy till the 20 years later...which is nice because I'm sure I told everyone I'd kick his ass if I saw him 
(Hulk vs Loki)
My favorite pinball quote ever...I think it was silver-spinner's Snowball Open 2012 (?) it was deep into it and Koz was playing a game and got so fucking pissed and yelled "LEDS ARE RUINING THE WORLD OF COMPETITIVE PINBALL!!!" 
Fucking loved it.
Luckily I have never been of facebooks or RGP so I never had to deal with any political stuff. Never had a political talk with him and never had a bad interaction with him in over a decade. Bought my Wh20 from him, talked aboot a ton of shit; sad sad day indeed.
I had one of the first spp I got from jack Jjp,and koz wanted to come over to play the game and do a rule sheet for it,man he beat the hell of of that game for hours ,I just watched in augh,another line of his when looking at games was.”Blown out”referring to a game not up to his standards.that was rgp days.sorry to hear about his passing.I hope I can pass in my sleep , he was way to young but not a bad way to go.I will contribute to his family’s go fund me page
Man,I remember starting out on RGP, seeing some of his posts and thinking "Damn,these pinball guys take this stuff pretty seriously!!"
Rest in peace, KOZ.
I've never met the man, but on one of the years where MPE didn't overlap w/ PATZ I took a drive to that side of the state to check it out with our then 6 year old son. Having just entered a local tournament while tagging along with me and coming up empty, he spent the entire car ride asking if there were going to be tournaments at this, and did I think he would win a trophy?
I spent the better part of 2 hours explaining to him that, while he's great at pinball, especially for his age - the tournaments at this have some of the best players in the world and take the better part of an entire day (or two) to compete in. He wasn't having it, and was insisting on entering. Not being a big tournament guy, I just wanted to check out some games and was half dreading the thought of having to deal with managing places in a queue, dealing with the disappointment on the way home, etc.
Imagine my surprise when we got there, found out there was a free kid's tournament (with trophies! ha), and it would be wrapped up in the better part of 1/2 hour. He entered, did the thing that I told him would be near impossible the entire ride there, and we were able to spend the rest of the day bonding over pinball. That bond exists to this day, and I'm grateful for the experience KOZ and other shows have provided. It's always cool to see someone helping the younger generations get into pinball - especially when reading this thread, it seems like he didn't have any kids of his own at the time.
Quoted from djreddog:Checked out the page, didn’t see anything related to MMR or AFMR. Evidently I’m missing something.
Are you a newbie?
Quoted from jchristian11:Are you a newbie?
This where I read about it a few years back, so it appears LTG is a newbie as well.
KOZ (resized).JPG
Quoted from djreddog:This where I read about it a few years back, so it appears LTG is a newbie as well.
[quoted image]
Everybody is entitled to one oversight....
When I was younger and went to my first pinball show, Pinball at the Zoo in Michigan, it was KOZ who saw potential in my playing skills, encouraged me to pursue competitive pinball, and overall got me and my dad into the hobby.
Super nice guy. Can't believe this happened... My condolences to his family and friends. RIP Pinlicious.
Many years ago my brother and I met KOZ at Pinball Expo in Chicago. We were sharing thoughts on how to get new people to attend shows. He told us he would cut the grass at the McDonald's close to where the show was, just so they would advertise his show on their sign. We were both amazed with that dedication.
RIP KOZ
I got started on RGP, ages ago. Koz's tagline, Pinlicious -- there is no spoon, always made me smile.
We had become FB friends. I enjoyed seeing pics of the hard work he did on landscaping that always looked so wonderful. He was good at what he did.
Folks, treasure the people around you. We are reminded how fragile life is and how so many things that we get worked up about, really don't matter in the grand scheme of things.
RIP Koz, Pinlicious -- there is no spoon.
--
Chris Hibler
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