| THE STINK AT THE LINK | |||||||
| by BUDDY AMATO | |||||||
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The stink at Long Branch's The Link newspaper is that a rumor was recently circulated by the owner's husband, Walter O'Neill, that I was a racist. Walter is a reporter at The Link. And, he based his information on an employee at The Link, a Mr. Todd Stathum. Mr. Stathum, in my opinion, has a credibility problem, since he is a convicted felon. I will break this down to make my point: 1. IN THE BEGINNING: Walter O'Neill found out that I was going to receive an N.A.A.C.P. award by the president of the N.A.A.C.P., Lorenzo Dangler before the end of last year. 2. AT SECOND BAPTIST: Walter O'Neill was present at a speech that I gave in Long Branch, at Second Baptist Church, which was hosted by Mr. Dangler and the Rev. Aaron Gibson, regarding issues in Keansburg. O'Neill greeted me and acted like he was my best friend. Present was Mr. Jim Purcell, publisher of The Courier. 3. "ONCE UPON A TIME" STARTS: Sometime after this meeting, O'Neill, in a poor attempt to sway Mr. Dangler from giving me the award, told him that I am a racist. He showed up, unannounced, to Mr. Dangler's house, with Stathum. Surprise, Stathum and O'Neill are both employed by The Link, which O'Neill's wife owns. 4. PASSING THE BUCK: In an attempt to blame the employee, I think O'Neill put Stathum up to tell a fairy tale about me being a racist. According to the fairy tale, back in 1991, before Stathum was incarcerated, I used racial slurs to a young black contestant while I was running a ring at a tournament held by Master Tim Ratty. This is completely false. And, by the way, I have never even met Mr. Ratty. 5. ENTER THE NAACP: While telling this pathetic lie, even Mr. Dangler said that "he could not even look me in the eye when he told me this story." Needless to say, both O'Neill and Stathum were sent on their away. I received the N.A.A.C.P. award. Both O'Neill and Stathum will be nominated at a future date for Worst Acting, and Most Unbelievable Lies by the Academy of Big Fibbers. 6. WHAT THE HECK! After hearing that these accusations were made against my character, I was sick. I would never do such a thing, or allow anyone to make a racial statement or slur to a child. I thought about the situation and proceeded to call Master Tim Ratty, as well as every karate master that I knew about this fairy tale. Mr. Ratty confirmed the story was a lie, because I have never been at one of his tournaments. You see, I am a Japanese style martial artist, while Mr. Ratty is a Taekwondo martial artist. I would not have been in attendance because these were in-house Taekwondo events, and only Taekwondo schools were invited. 7. ABOUT THE LINK: Before all of this, I respected Mrs. Patty O'Neill. She was and is an excellent martial artist. However, the first thing any fifth-rate publisher would have done before allowing her rumor-mongering husband go around spreading lies on her newspaper's behalf would be to simply call the event organizer involved. I even went out of my way to call Patty to explain what her husband and Stathum were up to, and avoid any unnecessary future problems. She decided to blow off the issue. O'Neill and Stathum went one step further, though, by giving a phone interview with Mr. Purcell. In the interview, both O'Neill and Stathum told the same exact fairy tale. Remember, Mr. Ratty had already said this was a lie. I guess somebody cloned a Buddy Amato karate alien! 8. ON THE RECORD: After all was said and done, both O'Neill and Stathum were still insisting, as of two weeks ago that their fairy tale was true. O'Neill went so far as to say that he stood behind everything that Stathum was saying. Stathum has the nerve to say anything against me, or anyone else in light of his previous history with the criminal justice system. Of course they did not know that I had already talked to Mr. Ratty about this issue. Mr. Ratty was totally surprised that such a tale was even being spread around. 9. ARE YOU KIDDING? I have personally talked to everyone who ran an event, and they all know that something like this could not happen without the entire martial arts community knowing about it. 10. ABOUT ME: I have been teaching martial arts for over 31 years. I am respected by every grand master today. In addition, I am honored by my placement in over 20 karate halls of fame in the U.S. and around the world. I am regularly requested to be a center judge by all of the major tournament directors due to the way I handle myself, and because of my reputation as a community leader. 11. MECHANICS OF THE RING: At a martial arts tournament, there are hundreds of people in attendance. Each ring has five black belts in it and parents are everywhere trying to see their children. Most of those parents are videotaping the entire event. If this happened, someone would have come forward with a tape of this ³incident.² Before someone decides to spread wild stories about someone else, they should really check their facts. If anyone would like to verify anything I am saying, I encourage them call respected grand masters like Shihan Isaac Henry in Long Branch. For those who don't know him, this Great Grand Master is black. He is a credit to his art and this country, unlike the trash who would spread lies. I seriously doubt that he would associate himself with me, or have given me awards, if he thought that I was a racist. I think I have made my point. The comical thing about this entire issue is that only Stathum heard the exchange. Had this truly happened, everyone in the gym would have been attracted to the ring. Back in the day, when all of this nonsense supposedly happened, Mr. O'Neill was busy giving me accolades at his events, and even held a banquet, where I was guest of honor. Other respected martial arts instructors who can give you an informed perspective on this issue include: Master Mickey Major (Tsunami Dojo, Pt. Pleasant) one of O'Neill's top black belts in the 90s; Master David Lentz (Professional Karate, Red Bank); Grand Master Isaac Henry (BKG, Long Branch); Master Art Biens (Black Cat Kempo, Howell); Grand Master Gary Alexander (Edison area); Master Tim Ratty (Shrewsbury area); Grand Master J.H. Kim (Sea Girt area); Master Klien (Matawan area); Master Dunn Martins (Matawan); Grand Master Allen Goldberg (Martial Arts Magazine, New York); Grand Master Larry Iassac (North Carolina); Grand Master Vince Marchette (Kearny, NJ); Grand Master Ralph Passero (Bayonne, NJ); Master Anthony Iancelli (Shrewsbury area); Master La Comte (Matawan area); Sensei Lisa Brown (Professional Karate, Red Bank); Master Al Smith (Red Dragon Karate, PA); Master Rick Herbster (Sun Karate, Jackson); to name a few.
Copyright Buddy Amato Amato's Goju-ryu Karate, Nunchaku, Bo-staff, Aikido, Sword, Kendo, Sais, Kick-boxing, Tai-Chi and more 589 Palmer Ave, Keansburg and is the author of Buddys Animal Kingdom, NJ 07734 (732) 671-9555 |
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