An Open Letter to Marty Goldstein

Dear Marty,

Seeing as you banned me from posting on the Moondog Manson forum, I'm forced to address you right here on my blog. You are a bloody disgrace and a coward for the way you have conducted yourself in the matter of the Kerry Brown Tribute & BENEFIT Show.

Never before have I seen such a spineless and ridiculously unaccountable Screw up, as I've seen in the form of you. You ban me from the Moondog Manson forum, and then attempt to continue a debate so that I can't respond and you can have the last word. In reality what you do is attempt to dodge the blame, shift accountability, and avoid the criticisms that you deserve. This could get lengthy as I call attention to your actions. What will your response be? The standard "Mike pay your bill to The Marlborough Hotel." That matter is completely separate to the Kerry Brown Tribute & Benefit show.

You have now stated that I couldn't possibly know what the Net total of the fundraising "Community effort" (as you refer to it) was. On Saturday night November 28th I participated in a very long discussion with Tony Condello. It was witnessed by nearly the entire CWE crew, who believed Tony and I were fighting. Kenny Rogers, Kelly Russell and Kelly's buddy Todd were all sitting at the table, and "the fight" many of the boys witnessed was me taking Condello to task on this event. In the discussion I urged Tony to release a number to the public that was raised and paid to the Brown family. Tony told me that they don't have a final number as of yet, that you, Marty Goldstein were waiting on some ticket revenue from 3 or 4 wrestlers (EZ Ryder's name was mentioned, which I for some reason doubt, I consider EZ to be an extremely honest guy who wouldn't delay squaring up with a fundraising effort). He said at that point, there would still be an invoice to be paid, and then he hoped they could complete the effort with a cheque to Kerry's mother. I pushed to hear a number, and he said he didn't believe he needed to share a number as a private matter. I told him that any effort to not disclose a number to wrestlers who volunteered their services, sponsors who donated products, services or money, fans who bought tickets to support, and concerned individuals in the wrestling community would be downright Scummy. A description you sport rather well Mr. Goldstein.

At that time, under extreme pressure from my line of questioning, and in the presences of the three aforementioned witnesses, and with gentle coaxing from those witnesses, Tony said "If I had to give you my best guess from the numbers I know, I'd say we drew about $1000-$1500 NET". I asked him to clarify that NET suggested that there was bills to be paid from that number, and he said, "Ya sure, there was rent and some invoices to be paid." So we know that Kerry's mother should receive a cheque that will likely not exceed $1500.

Marty, you're effort to dodge and deflect the issue here reflects poorly on only yourself. Condello was more than willing to sit there and be grilled by me. Yet all you will say is "Please call Tony, he handled that." Marty you self serving son of a bitch, you wanted all the glory in all of your boastful press releases, when you talked about all the sponsors that were coming to the table to support this cause. Why wouldn't you do the opposite, and rather than falsely report how well the effort was going, encourage those like myself to step up, by saying something to the effect "We're really working hard, but we've got a long way to go, and need more participation from the wrestling community." No Marty you would have gladly mis-represented this as an unmitigated success if it had not been for people like Ernie Todd, Wayne Stanton, Shane Madison, and myself who are now loudly and clearly saying, wait a minute, we want answers. Your only answer? To cowardly shift all the heat to Tony Condello. If there had been glory, you'd gladly be proclaiming on Slam Wrestling, on your rinky dink College Radio Program, and on Moondog Manson's forum how something was accomplished that had never been done before. I call bullshit. And you are the biggest disher of bullshit I've ever had the misfortune of meeting.

Marty, the most appalling fact of this matter is how in self serving and in patronizing fashion, you chose to cut the legs off of an organized effort by Danny Warren, promoter of CWE. Danny wrestled Kerry in Kerry's last match, and looked up to Kerry as a legend and mentor. Citing politics like a scummy son of a bitch stooge, Marty you said that Danny's free venue (reported to be Maples Community Centre) would not be adequate because it could only hold 300 fans (Marty you fuckhead failure, you didn't draw 300 fans at the Marlborough). In that group e-mail, you thanked Danny for the thought, but suggested the $3000 (simple math of 300 capacity times $10 tickets) would not be nearly adequate to offset the cost of the funeral, which you speculated could cost $10,000 (you did say you were uncertain of the costs of funerals because of your difference of religion and different procedures in different faiths). What Marty didn't realize was Danny had already secured some corporate support in the form of donations/sponsorships that would have guaranteed a number generated was much larger than $3000. But you didn't know, and you didn't ask. You got the title "Event Producer" by kissing Condello's ass and by playing politics, and ensured the success of that event would be nothing short of an uphill battle. Why Marty was it an uphill battle? Because the minute you and your scummy reputation attached yourself to the event, many industry leaders took a step back and a "wait and see" approach. That's the type of leadership and credibility you brought to this effort. Sorry sometimes the truth hurts.

Here's what is most troubling to me.. Yesterday marks the one month anniversary since the event. And we know there was some money generated, as I've reported $1500 net. Irregardless of the actual number, why hasn't a cheque been given to Kerry's family? Not a single cent has been donated to the actual cause? Marty, don't tell me to ask Tony, because throughout this process, prior to the show you badly wanted to be the typical glory hound you have always been known to be, and present yourself as the spearhead of this initiative. I'm asking you Marty, where is the money?

You owe this "Community Effort" transparency. You owe a released statement of what was generated, and at this point you need to release a Financial Statement, so people who contributed financially (IE Bobby Jay, TJ Bratt and Ernie Todd) can audit these numbers and rest assured there was no funny business and false representations. You owe it to the Manitoba Wrestling community to apologize, this is now two "Benefit shows" you've bungled, for arguably the two most respected veterans in Winnipeg Wrestling (the other being Chi Chi Cruz 1994). You and Condello owe Kerry's family a cheque, and more than that, you owe them an apology. And you owe us all some accountability and honesty.

When you can do that, you'll have the right to ask me about the "unpaid bill at The Malborough Hotel", I'll be happy to tell you the story at length when you prove yourself worthy to ask the question.

Marty if you want to debate with me, don't do it on a forum that you have banned me from. Don't do it in online comments that are dodgy, cowardly and mostly scummy. Join me on the Wayne and Shane radio show this Tuesday and debate me, but come equipped with answers. Stop being a coward, and dishonest and start being transparent and accountable.