Good afternoon boys and girls,
I've been very busy the past few days but I finally have a minute to jot down a few thoughts. There has been plenty of time for me to mull these things over. I believe they are ready for presentation and for everyone who might be interested) to consider.
First, a reality check. Having had time to consider this; I suspect that the total number of people in the WHOLE world who care at all about The "Confente Issue" is really quite small. Certainly it is clear only a few on this list actually care or are effected by the events that happened over 20 years ago. There may be some who have a morbid curiousity now that Jim and I have bickered like children over it. Assumeing that every Confente owner cares and a few others here and there find it interesting; still I can't imagine much more than 500 people who give a rats ass what happened. As a matter of fact, the majority of people who were directly involved can't understand why this certain small number of people are making such a fuss over the whole deal. It is for this certain few that we are undertaking the proposed project.
There are some who probably feel that much of what happened in the past is comming out as differences of opinion or a clash of egos between Jim and myself. In fact, that is not at all the case. While I had some time to think I realized that there is nothing at all for Jim and I to disagree upon. The project in which I am participating, of helping to sort out and produce a "Masi Family Tree", is in fact completely unrelated to Jim's personal project. If I understand correctly, Jim is writing a work of fiction, for which I appaude his efforts. I certainly understand ones urge to express and exercise ones talents. I'm certainly looking forward to reading Jims work; like I've said before, I think Jim writes very well. I always find what he writes interesting. And Jim is most deffiniately correct when he says that writing a work of fiction by committe is foolish. Jims personal work is independent of the other project at hand that is being carried out by committee.
The Masi Family Tree on the other hand is quite the opposite. The more people who were involved who participate, the more information and details can be compiled. Having already done some preliminary research on this topic since it opened a few months ago, I am absolutely certain that all of the people and facts that we need to make sense of the whole story from start to finish, are at our fingertips. Since this work is dependant on facts and cross referencing of information, we will be bound by duty to be as clear and scientific as possible. Since it is possible to speak directly to most of the 40 people that are on my list of persons who have worked or have been closely involved with Masi from the very first idea (enter Roland Sahm and Ted Kirkbride) to the end of our cutoff date of 1985. The end of the saga will introduce such persons as Dave Tesch, Dave Moulton, and Joe Stark. These latecommers don't figure into the Mario Story, but this is the Masi Story and they fit in just before the cutoff.
Soon I will plot the starting date of Masi in the US on a time line and begin filling in key dates and information on the time line based on my personal experiences and everything I have first hand information on. That will include what I did during the Wizard years for example. By looking at the time line one will also simultaniously be able to see who was working at Masi or what events were happening there at the same time and who was involved in those events. I believe once the line is complete it will be quick and easy for anyone to look at the chart and understand what happened when, with whom, and why at Masi, Medici, Wizard, Confente, and Baylis at any given time. This has already helped me to put the events in a cronological perpspctive that is much clearer now that when this topic all started. After all of the research is in and all of the interviews completed, I can assure everyone we will have a mountain of information.
So far I have this accomplished:
Made a list of every person I could think of that was involved with Masi in any way. That list has 40 names on it. I then assigned from one to five stars to each name in accordence with how important their part was/is in the story overall. A total of 6 persons have five stars. Three (I think) have passed away, three are still living and among us. Eight people have four stars, three of which have passed away. There are eight who rate three stars, all of whom are available to us for our purposes. Those with two stars or less will not as a rule be of tremendous use but could easily help to confirm major details or add smaller details to help round out the story. Believe it or not, I personally rate two stars in this system because my position generally didn't effect much and I didn't have direct imput or contact with the owners or mngt. at Masi or Medici since I seem to be the independent type. Had I gone with Mike and Gian in the beginnings of Medici like Bill Recht had hoped I would, I would have been in the middle of it all. As it turns out, the story will show that if I hadn't gone AWOL it would have been me painting the Confente bikes instead of Jim. How wonderful! The Masi story will contain some very unusual irony.
We have a remarkable opportunity here to piece together this obscure piece of cycling history for the few who care to know, on account of a few things. Three five star witnesses are living, one of whom I have conducted early interviews with in an effort to fill in some of the major questions I personally had about certain events. He has proved to be extremely helpful and complete in this answers which are all supported by the actual events as we know them to have happened. I believe his imput is by far the most valuable. His position was the most intimate of anyone with several other key players, both living and dead. He knows things that no other player could possibly know about the others, etc. and his involvement with the Masi Family Tree is almost (except for one 4 star person) longer than anyones. This person needs to be treated with respect and we musn't abuse his time or information. I will try to keep the topics specific and relevent. It will take some time and effort, eventually though we will have the complete story and time line available to anyone who is interested enough to give it a look.
As questions come up I will mate them up with the available persons who can answer them and we'll put the whole thing together like a puzzle. It may take a while but it will be worth it.
I must commend the Hororable Judge Feldman for taking on the case of The Masi Family Tree and being willing to sort through the information once it starts to filter through. I know once it is complete those of us who find some of this interesting will have something we can be proud of. I have already talked with five on the list of 40 and I have learned much. There is still a lot more where that came from. Seven listees have passed away, including Mario of course, so no commonents are forthcomming from any of them. There are 11 whom I deem important that I have not contacted or spoken to, but am making an effort to do so. Two of them are 5 star witnesses.
All of this may seem unfounded to some, but a little patience and I will demonstrate the value of this information in accomplishing the goal of understanding the Masi Family Tree in the United States. For those who were expecting or hoping for a spat here I'm sorry to report there will be none. There's nothing to fight about. We're just going to be sorting out and arrangeing facts. I'm just like Richie, I see much of what happens on this list as entertainment. Sure beats watching television (althought I'm not going to miss the Tour for you guys) and sometimes you even learn something. Meet some similarily twisted people from all over the world also. Real fun. Who knows, maybe even some of this will add some richness to Jims book.
Brian Baylis
Masiologist
La Mesa, CA