7/12/2010: Good day, F.I.S.T. fans. Allow me first to apologize for this interruption. I do, like many of you, appreciate the comforts of everyday routine - the security of the familiar, the tranquility of repetition. I enjoy them as much as any dude. But in the spirit of commemoration, thereby those important events of the past usually associated with someone's death or the end of some awful bloody struggle, or a celebration of a nice holiday...I thought we could mark July 25th, by taking some time out of our daily lives to sit down and have a little chat.

I suspect even now, bureaucrats are shouting into telephones, and boys with snarky comments will soon be on their way to YouTube to post their unwanted comments directly from their mom's basements. Why? Because while the truncheon may be used in lieu of conversation, words will always retain their power. Words offer the means to meaning, and for those who will listen - the enunciation of truth. And the truth is, there is something terribly wrong with F.I.S.T, isn't there?

Cruelty. Injustice. Intolerance. Oppression. These are the ideals F.I.S.T. truly represents. And where once we had the freedom to destroy, to act and speak as we saw fit, we now have in-fighting and petty bickering tearing apart the very foundation of our team. How did this happen? Who is to blame? Well, certainly there are those more responsible than others, (and they will be held accountable,) but again, truth be told, if we’re looking for the guilty, we need only look into a mirror. I don’t know why we did it. I don’t know if there were those who were afraid. Who wouldn't be? Look at what we've faced in our heyday. War, terror, hair loss, stupid foreigners.

Fear got the best of us, and in our panic we turned from a team that was unstoppable...into a team that could easily be overwhelmed. We promised chaos, we promised victory, and all we commanded, fans, was your silent, obedient fear. I seek to end the bickering amongst us.

I wish to put aside the finger-pointing and in-fighting, so we might remind the world of what it has forgotten. More than seven years ago, two great citizens established the name of F.I.S.T. Our hope was to teach the world that "fairness," "justice" and "freedom" are only for those willing to destroy the weak in order to taste it. So my fellow teammates, if the victories, championships and accolades of the past few years seem forgotten to you, then I would suggest you allow the twenty-fifth of July to pass unmarked.

But if you see what I see and feel as I feel, then I ask you to stand beside me a few weeks from tonight, across from the members of Dragon Gate, and together we shall give these stupid foreigners, all of CHIKARA, and the entire world a twenty-fifth of July that shall never, ever be forgotten.

I

READ C.RED'S BLOG FROM 7/9/2010 HERE