Author Topic: Blechman fires back to Romano - boom! Statement! (Read 7430 times)

Tapeworm · « **Reply #25 on:** February 25, 2009, 04:28:41 PM »

Who ever has the balls to make the rounds, do some Q&A on the boards, will come out way ahead.

Steve. John. I invite you to start a thread for this purpose. Just don't let the other guy beat you to it!

body88 · « **Reply #26 on:** February 25, 2009, 04:31:07 PM »

Romano is a fucking idiot. No sponsers are going to touch that fool with a 10 foot pole after all this. 3000 members on an internet forums means nothing. Dumbass, lowlife, scumbag - he won't recover.

Benito Mutumbo · « **Reply #27 on:** February 25, 2009, 04:37:42 PM »

lol I forgot about the whole Mexican edition of MD fiasco. Romano could have been terminated just for that.

We really need to see the 6 page email that he sent Blechman. That might be the biggest meltdown ever.

Blechman might still be able to do business at some point with Palumbo. But I think Romano has now become a non entity.

Board_SHERIF · « **Reply #28 on:** February 25, 2009, 04:45:34 PM »

piss off with your MD promoting shite...fuk off and talk about it on another site !

Vince G, CSN MFT · « **Reply #29 on:** February 25, 2009, 05:02:58 PM »

Quote from: body88 on February 25, 2009, 04:31:07 PM

Romano is a fucking idiot. No sponsers are going to touch that fool with a 10 foot pole after all this. 3000 members on an internet forums means nothing. Dumbass, lowlife, scumbag - he won't recover.

Romano actually was hired by MuscleMag. Its a probationary job that will be based on his first article

rkw1969 · « **Reply #30 on:** February 25, 2009, 05:18:51 PM »

how the hell do you know all this shit vince? serious question.

the anabolic mon · « **Reply #31 on:** February 25, 2009, 05:27:08 PM »

Quote from: Vince G, CSN MFT on February 25, 2009, 05:02:58 PM

Romano actually was hired by MuscleMag. Its a probationary job that will be based on his first article

Bro, you are the Jose Canseco of Getbig. People may hate you, but in the end you're right on the money. You deserve the blue stars and then some.

G o a t b o y · « **Reply #32 on:** February 25, 2009, 05:51:21 PM »

Quote from: Boost on February 25, 2009, 11:36:20 AM

LOL

I am actually starting to side with Steve over this issue. Dave and John really did plug the shit outta Dave's supplement line on their radio show and the forums. Of course that is gonna scare away advertisers. Romano is very slippery if you ask me.

Maybe, but Blechman is still a creepy, lispy, light-in-his-loafers 120-lb bottom twink, so Romano wins!

bigdumbbell · « **Reply #33 on:** February 25, 2009, 06:33:21 PM »

Quote from: G o a t b o y on February 25, 2009, 05:51:21 PM

Maybe, but Blechman is still a creepy, lispy, light-in-his-loafers 120-lb bottom twink, so Romano wins!

ok miss thing

Vince G, CSN MFT · « **Reply #34 on:** February 25, 2009, 07:08:09 PM »

Quote from: rkw1969 on February 25, 2009, 05:18:51 PM

how the hell do you know all this shit vince? serious question.

A buddy of mine from MuscleMag told me the other day. Its not a full time gig but more of a tryout

TRIX · « **Reply #35 on:** February 25, 2009, 07:11:23 PM »

Quote from: OneMoreRep on February 25, 2009, 12:15:28 PM

Blechman can just about buy every pro in the circuit if he felt like it and the IFBB wouldn't be able to do shit about it.

Say Blechman were to say that his contracts included medical coverage along with life insurance, Flex magazine would lose all of their "pros" on staff....

"1"

no, no and no. FLEX destroys MD in subscribers... its daylight between them both.... FLEX 700,000 MD not even 100,000

Charfman84 · « **Reply #36 on:** February 25, 2009, 07:32:06 PM »

Classic lovers quarrel.

Jadethegladiator · « **Reply #37 on:** February 25, 2009, 07:46:51 PM »

For the record, I would stand by John Romano & Dave Palumbo "just like that" if I had to choose between them and Steve. Best of luck to you guys!

I have always thought that MD is the best mag out there. Guess what? As of tomorrow, I am ditching my entire 5 year+ MD collection. If you need the dumpster location, pm me.

body88 · « **Reply #38 on:** February 25, 2009, 07:50:10 PM »

Quote from: Vince G, CSN MFT on February 25, 2009, 05:02:58 PM

Romano actually was hired by MuscleMag. Its a probationary job that will be based on his first article

Thats not what I am talking about. Romano was beating his chest about his website and if I owned a supplement company I wouldn't go near that clown with a ten foot pole. He downgraded his career and his reputation with this whole scenario, plain and simple. When you get fired by your boss, you don't do what this goof did if you expect to have a shred of credibility in your industry.

I'm not referring to Romano being out of work.....I'm referring to the fact that anytime his name is mentioned this will be brought up. If you were an employer, would you trust a guy like that with your secrets and your business plan? The first time you did something he didn't agree with, he unloads a bunch of lies and bullshit about you across the industry that you work in....

Good company's don't hire people like Romano, plain and simple. Maybe this fucked up industry should take a page from real life business. You never hire a guy like Romano, ever. It Always bites you in the ass. It may take 18 years, but eventually the scumbag that always lied within that person comes out.

I have worked with many of the larger supplement companies that are launching sub-brands targeting mainstream media markets....and those companies are run well, not this circus clown bullshit. There is a lot of fluff and bullshit in bb. There are handful of companies that have the coin to provide revenue on a constant basis and those companies would never be associated with Ramano after this, imo. Maybe it's just me, but I think he came off like a total bafoon with this whole thing.

body88 · « **Reply #39 on:** February 25, 2009, 07:54:35 PM »

Quote from: Jadethegladiator on February 25, 2009, 07:46:51 PM

For the record, I would stand by John Romano & Dave Palumbo "just like that" if I had to choose between them and Steve. Best of luck to you guys!

I have always thought that MD is the best mag out there. Guess what? As of tomorrow, I am ditching my entire 5 year+ MD collection. If you need the dumpster location, pm me.

You don't get it. You loved MD for the content it provided, correct. The whole magazine is not about John Romano. How can you fault Steve for making a business decision that was best for his company? Then you take the side of a scorned employee who slandered his boss in public with several rants and accusations? A guy who was so unprofessional that he took shots at a guys family in public?

This industry is a joke, lol. It really is. What does any of this have to do with how good a magazine MD is. Did you read it because you love John Romano. If so I guess your logic makes sense.

McFarland · « **Reply #40 on:** February 25, 2009, 08:10:23 PM »

Quote from: TK on February 25, 2009, 10:52:48 AM

John Romano has had much to say in the past few weeks; he’s attacked my character and slanted my reasons for firing him. It’s unfortunate that although he and Dave have supposedly based their new ventures on truth and honesty, these attacks have been anything but. It is important to me that you, our loyal fans, understand that his dismissal did not take place in a vacuum and that there were valid reasons. What follows are only a few...

It was true, as John said, that I called him Bro— and vice-versa. We had a very close and strong relationship during the 18 years he worked for MD. I think most of you are aware that I gave John the opportunity to work for MD when no one else would, after he was released from prison. He saw firsthand the blood and guts and time it took for me to grow MD to the magazine it is today.

John requested and was given the position and title of Senior Editor. I was extremely generous with his compensation; he was the highest paid employee in the company, and probably the highest paid writer in
the industry. Every year I asked John to contribute a list of topics for his monthly feature. Unfortunately I never did receive any list from him and quite often it was on me to come up with his feature assignment. I took John under my wing in good faith, but he never fulfilled the role of Senior Editor, nor lived up to its obligations.

His position basically deteriorated to that of a contributing writer. He frequently submitted articles at or after deadline, and his work required more editing than that of our other writers.

John was supposed to have ‘face’ time in the MD office one week out of every month as well as frequent phone communication. This completely ceased to occur, which made my job that much more laborious and difficult over the years. I was very flexible with his time and schedule, to accommodate the many issues he had in his personal life.

But let me be very clear— I was the one who directed and put the magazine together for 18 years, while acting as Editor-in-Chief for two additional magazines.

I always gave John everything he wanted. I even licensed the rights to the Mexican/Spanish edition of MD. He let that fail while I, in fact, turned away more lucrative offers, in order to give him that opportunity.

John and Dave were building a business on the backs of MD magazine and the website, and using both to promote and market their fledgling business. How do you think they launched their website and radio show so quickly, if not for the fact that they were working on them prior to the firing? If it weren’t for MD, their supplement company would probably not even be in existence today. They were asked to not promote or spam about their supplements on the company’s dime, but they continued to do so. They milked it every which way to their benefit.

Why were they not honest enough to divulge their plans to me? Now we know why… they were undermining our company in order to promote their own supplement line and future businesses. John had attacked and criticized MD employees unjustly. Including the Adman, who performed very well and had record sales year to date. He begged me to allow him to take control of the MD website forums himself, and said to me “Don’t worry Bro, I’ll watch your back,” when in fact he was the one with the agenda! He tried to shift the focus of the website toward his own interests and Dave’s supplement line, of which John is a paid employee, alienating potential new sponsors and advertisers.

Regarding No Bull Radio, hosted by Dave and John, over the last two years the show was not profitable and had a very small audience. It started out as one hour and then Dave and John insisted that it be two hours. We accommodated them even without any paid advertising. If the show had been truly in demand, over the past two year period, the advertisers should have been flocking to sponsor the show. That is why we discontinued No Bull Radio and developed the Team MD show with industry icons, Flex and Shawn, believing it has a much greater likelihood of success in our industry.

I would like to add that we just came off our all-time high for advertising in Muscular Development and the website this past year— solely through the efforts of our great sales team exclusive of John and Dave. Advertisers and sponsorships have increased on the website since John and Dave were fired. Views to our site have gone through the roof since they have been gone— we now have tons more content, breaking news daily, great science-based articles and training videos.

Most importantly, I would just like to say how disappointed I am with John as a person. He has vehemently and unjustly attacked not only me and my staff but also my family in a six-page private e-mail he sent prior to his firing. (This he doesn’t mention.) I do believe he has convinced himself that his reasoning and logic are correct. What I do not agree with is the way he has presented his case in such a public forum. He’s hurt— I get it. It’s cathartic for him— I get it. But he made his bed, so what did he expect?

This is business. Instead of ranting and raving and throwing people under the bus and acting out in such a childish way, why not take all that energy and passion and direct it in a more positive direction? Enough with the tantrums! There is so much better content out there— go find it! Talk about things that are important and will help people in the sport. Do what you do best and I will continue to do what I do best.

In the past I have been instrumental in building Twinlab, a $333- million supplement business; a once-public company with a market cap of $1 billion; before moving on in 2001. I will continue on the path of building a successful publishing and multimedia company.

I do wish you much success, John. I’m glad to have helped you get to where you are today— the rest is up to you. I hope you will always remember what you said, John, “If it wasn’t for Blechman, I’d be living under a bridge right now.”

You're welcome, John!

Steve

Hi ~~Hank~~ New Hank Wood.

Benny B · « **Reply #41 on:** February 25, 2009, 08:14:34 PM »

Quote from: Jadethegladiator on February 25, 2009, 07:46:51 PM

For the record, I would stand by John Romano & Dave Palumbo "just like that" if I had to choose between them and Steve. Best of luck to you guys!

I have always thought that MD is the best mag out there. Guess what? As of tomorrow, I am ditching my entire 5 year+ MD collection. If you need the dumpster location, pm me.

silly

body88 · « **Reply #42 on:** February 25, 2009, 08:16:44 PM »

Quote from: Benny Blanco on February 25, 2009, 08:14:34 PM

silly

Agreed, awful logic. If you read magazines because your buddy writes for them, you never liked the magazine anyway. Unless it is a magazine where 100 percent of the content comes from one person.

Spicy Shushi · « **Reply #43 on:** February 25, 2009, 08:32:00 PM »

Quote from: Vince G, CSN MFT on February 25, 2009, 07:08:09 PM

A buddy of mine from MuscleMag told me the other day. Its not a full time gig but more of a tryout

bullshit you fat tittied twit... if you heard this the other day you would have came on here and posted a thread about it... you read it today on rxmuscle where romano posted it...

gordiano · « **Reply #44 on:** February 25, 2009, 08:39:09 PM »

Once again...let me say this......

It amazes me how quickly people will turn on each other. Here are 2 guys who were not only associates, but supposedly, "friends". I Can't blame Steve for making his decision. It is a business, and if Romano was not fulfilling his duties...he had to go.

Say what you want...but this bickering back and forth (as entertaining as it may be), makes neither side look good. I'm sure they both have dirt on each other. I'm sure both are currently lying, to make themselves look/sound better. Sadly, neither one has much credibility after such behavior.

Vince G, CSN MFT · « **Reply #45 on:** February 25, 2009, 08:40:03 PM »

Quote from: Spicy Shushi on February 25, 2009, 08:32:00 PM

bullshit you fat tittied twit... if you heard this the other day you would have came on here and posted a thread about it... you read it today on rxmuscle where romano posted it...

When you're not an anonymous troll on the internet and you actually go out to the bodybuilding shows and meet company reps and etc, you actually get to learn about stuff earlier than most people.

For the record, I knew about this about 3 days after he was fired because I heard that MuscleMag was interested which usually means he's going to be hired. As much as I don't like him, he is a really good writer

When Palumbo and Ramano were fired guess how I found out??.....Palumbo send me an email and told me.....

See the benefits of actually meeting people instead of hiding behind a computer?

Vince G, CSN MFT · « **Reply #46 on:** February 25, 2009, 08:43:01 PM »

Quote from: gordiano on February 25, 2009, 08:39:09 PM

Once again...let me say this......

It amazes me how quickly people will turn on each other. Here are 2 guys who were not only associates, but supposedly, "friends". I Can't blame Steve for making his decision. It is a business, and if Romano was not fulfilling his duties...he had to go.

Say what you want...but this bickering back and forth (as entertaining as it may be), makes neither side look good. I'm sure they both have dirt on each other. I'm sure both are currently lying, to make themselves look/sound better. Sadly, neither one has much credibility after such behavior.

There's actually a lot more going on with the whole situation than you think and some of it is pretty ugly.

gordiano · « **Reply #47 on:** February 25, 2009, 08:44:36 PM »

Quote from: Vince G, CSN MFT on February 25, 2009, 08:43:01 PM

There's actually a lot more going on with the whole situation than you think and some of it is pretty ugly.

Well then, care to enlighten us?

Rami · « **Reply #48 on:** February 25, 2009, 08:50:18 PM »

Quote from: Ron on February 25, 2009, 01:26:40 PM

Anyone can have stuff on people if you are with them for 18 years, but you are right, this needs to stop.

Romano has moved on, now writing some things for MuscleMag, and Blechman can do what he wants, as he is the owner and boss, and it is his business.

I hope this is the last statement and stories we hear on this.

Hope this is only the beginning

Vince G, CSN MFT · « **Reply #49 on:** February 25, 2009, 09:09:13 PM »

Quote from: gordiano on February 25, 2009, 08:44:36 PM

Well then, care to enlighten us?

Sorry, made a promise not to disclose it but it will be out soon