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By Eddie Goldman MONTREAL, July 9 -- I received the news while in upstate New York en route to Montreal for Tuesday's Super Boxing Gala at the Molson Centre. The company on which I had hosted the "No Holds Barred" Internet talk show for 21 months, eYada.com, has closed down, effectively immediately. I was informed by my rugged producer, Al Gattullo, who had become a key supporter of the combat sports in this period. More details will follow as I get them, but for now, all of eYada.com is done. There are literally tens of thousands of people if not more that I want to thank. First off, the crew at eYada, who took a chance on a show focusing on a sport that still was banned on cable in the US at the time, and let me run with it as I liked and include boxing, wrestling, grappling, and all the combat sports in the mix. I want to thank everyone in the combat sports that helped to make the show successful in the area of content, from the countless fighters, wrestlers, promoters, managers, media people, and everyone else that was a guest on the show, that sent me valuable information either publicly or for use without attribution, and that provided facilities and support to webcast the show live on the road from all over the US and also in Japan and Canada. I guess it was appropriate that our last live guest on our last show was the man who just may be mixed martial arts' brightest star, Tito Ortiz. But most of all I want to thank the listeners, the growing legions of supporters who understood the mission of this show and regularly flooded my e-mail with all sorts of comments, essays, and questions. Without you, there would have been no "No Holds Barred." It was not hype when I called you the most intelligent group of fight fans on the Internet. Like always, I call it as I see it. I am reminded of the advice given by the labor activist Joe Hill upon impending execution: "Don't mourn, organize!" The mission of "No Holds Barred" was simply to popularize and support the combat sports and all those involved in them, and to fight for integrity and fairness and against corruption in them. "No Holds Barred" on eYada.com may be finished, but that mission is certainly not. In exactly what manner I shall pursue this mission is today unclear, as I had hoped to do it at eYada. I am, of course, still a contributor to Maxfighting.com, Maxboxing.com, and Grappling magazine, as well as a freelance writer. But the core of my work (and income) was at eYada. Any suggestions are welcome. It is also important to add that the combat sports, and particularly mixed martial arts, have lost a major vehicle to popularize these sports. There is a void to be filled, and I now suddenly have more time on my hands to help create or expand other such vehicles. Any suggestions on this are also welcome. Anyone wishing to contact me should no longer do so at eYada. Here is my contact information (e-mail is the best -- remember, I'm out of work now): E-mail: maxfeddie@aol.com Phone: (212) 946-5364 Mailing Address: Eddie Goldman PO Box 873 Cathedral Station New York, NY 10025 USA So that's it. As I closed my last show last week, as I usually did, I said, "Keep on supporting ALL the combat sports." I hope you still will. from eYada.com: Dear eYada listeners - Due to an unfortunate confluence of factors, eYada will cease broadcasting as of the end of today. As such, we wanted to let you, our loyal listeners, know so that you aren't confused the next time you come to the site. We'd also like to thank you for helping us to become such a success. We're very proud of what we accomplished here at eYada, and we know in our hearts that if we were able to make it through these very difficult economic times, we were going to be huge. But alas, it was not to be - this time. Best of luck to all of you in the future. And again, thank you for listening to eYada, the #1 talk radio network on the internet. -Your friends at eYada P.S. If you would like to get in touch with anyone at eYada, our contact information will be posted on www.eyada.com tomorrow. |
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