[Gobias Ind.]

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First let me say I work with Antonio and he is a good friend so obviously I am biased.

Second, I now run MagicAntonio for Antonio and that rocks and rings stuff is leaving. As a mark of who Antonio really is that was a marketing agency telling him what was best for him at the time. Obviously they were big time off. Antonio never complained, never said anything, even though he was being massacred by everyone. Including friends. When that site started Antonio was relatively new on the scene and while I can't speak for him directly what I have seen is that he gives companies he works for a lot of leeway. My guess is he gave them even more back then.

I moderate the comments on Antonio's blog. He doesn't want me to do that. Ultimately it is my call and I moderate them (I just want to keep a certain vibe on my site, a lot of it is people begging him for money).

I don't like the camel thing either. When I see Antonio I see an American. There is no question he is either consciously or subconsciously trying to get camera attention when he does it. That is my opinion. But without those moments I think Antonio feels the same pressure that a lot of guys on the show do, you want to do enough to keep getting invited back. Mori has said that guys like Phil and Antonio are shoeins for the show because of the energy they bring to the game.

Antonio is a smart guy. Most people would have freaked out when the rocks and rings thing happened. Antonio didn't, he just shut his mouth and sucked up all the criticism. It isn't just forums, when you are a guy like Antonio you hear it everywhere.

Ultimately I doubt my post will make a difference to anyone, people think what they think. But it sucks when your friends don't have your back when people are saying stuff about you and in terms of Antonio he is one of the nicest guys you will ever meet. The incidents with Antonio are few and far between but when he does have one he learns from it.

His blog today is about the AA hand but it is in the hands of an editor at the moment.

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Were you the one responsible for taking down more phrases in the "How They Talk" Section? I know most people will congratulate you, but I won't. Rot in hell for taking down, "budget boy".