Latest / Clydesdale Media Podcast / Justin Cotler | Clydesdale Media Interview - What Happened This Offseason, that Changed Everything???

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Justin Cotler | Clydesdale Media Interview - What Happened This Offseason, that Changed Everything??? · Clydesdale Media Podcast

0:14
What is going on, everybody?
0:16
Welcome to the Clydesdale Media Podcast.
0:39
Yeah,
0:40
I haven't been doing a lot of interviews,
0:41
but if I'm going to come back and do one,
0:44
I'm going to get one of the
0:45
best people in the business
0:46
to jump on with me.
0:47
And that is Justin Kotler.
0:49
What's going on, Justin?
0:50
How you doing, buddy?
0:51
It's good to be back with you, man.
0:53
It's been a while.
0:54
Yeah,
0:56
I really slowed down on the
0:57
interviews after the games this year.
0:59
Just needed to reset myself,
1:02
and I'm sure a lot of people did.
1:04
Yeah.
1:05
But now I feel like I want
1:07
to get back into it and back up.
1:10
So here we go.
1:12
Love it.
1:12
I'd like to subscribe to the
1:15
channel while you're here.
1:17
Got some people in the chat already.
1:19
Awesome to see them.
1:20
So, Justin, man, it's been...
1:23
It's been a long offseason for you.
1:26
Yeah.
1:26
Yeah, it's been a long offseason,
1:29
and it's been a tough offseason,
1:32
to be honest with you.
1:32
It's been a long one,
1:34
a lot of stuff going on.
1:37
Tough for reasons that
1:38
people probably don't even
1:40
know about because –
1:43
know most people probably
1:44
think oh tough because this
1:45
person left or this
1:46
happened or whatever but no
1:48
it hasn't had anything to
1:49
do with the with sports or
1:51
the sport uh athletes
1:52
coming and going that's
1:54
part of sports that's uh
1:55
small potatoes um you know
1:58
we we've been dealing with
2:00
some some family things um
2:02
and uh that's been really
2:04
really challenging um
2:06
You know,
2:06
our daughter was diagnosed with
2:10
what's called IgA nephropathy,
2:12
which is a serious kidney disease.
2:17
And it's been quite an
2:21
eye-opening experience.
2:24
You know,
2:24
especially if anyone knows
2:25
anything about my daughter, Ivy,
2:27
she's an incredible athlete.
2:29
She's a gymnastics prodigy and, you know,
2:32
rock climbing prodigy, etc.,
2:34
So this kind of came out of
2:35
left field for us.
2:37
And it's been kind of the
2:38
new normal of dealing with
2:44
procedures and tests and
2:47
kidney biopsies and
2:48
medication and all those things.
2:51
And this is our new normal now.
2:54
And we're just...
2:56
you know,
2:57
kind of staying positive and hoping.
3:01
And, you know,
3:02
there's a lot of unknowns
3:04
about this disease.
3:05
There's a lot of ways it can go.
3:08
And, you know,
3:09
the biggest thing for us is
3:10
she's doing really, really well.
3:12
And we just want to keep her that way.
3:15
Um, but I, I, you know,
3:17
part of what I want to do
3:18
this year is bring a lot
3:19
more visibility to IgA
3:22
nephropathy because it happens to be a, a,
3:24
a pretty rare kidney disease.
3:26
Um, especially in the United States,
3:28
it's a lot more prevalent, uh, in Asia.
3:31
Uh, but it's something that I, I,
3:33
I want to bring more eyes to and, and, um,
3:36
something that obviously we want to,
3:39
We want to do some things
3:41
with underdogs to raise
3:44
money for research and
3:45
start to do those things
3:47
because the goal would be
3:49
eventually for there to be
3:50
a cure because it is incurable.
3:53
So I am lucky enough that I
3:56
get to stay in touch with
3:57
you and Ash throughout the year.
4:00
And I know that one of the
4:01
hardest parts of this was
4:04
just trying to find out the diagnosis.
4:07
It was so long of just unknown.
4:10
And when it's your kid, man,
4:11
it's so damn stressful.
4:15
Yeah.
4:16
Kind of what that was like
4:18
to even just get to the diagnosis.
4:22
Yeah, for sure.
4:24
So April of last year,
4:29
Um,
4:29
IV came down with what we thought was
4:32
just a pretty bad flu virus.
4:35
Um, what the doctors called an adenovirus.
4:39
Um, and, uh, but you know, high fever,
4:43
you know, vomiting, things like that,
4:45
which not atypical of, you know, she's,
4:48
she was seven at the time,
4:50
not atypical of things that
4:51
kids bring home from school.
4:53
Um,
4:53
and she's been prone to stomach viruses
4:56
over the years.
4:57
Uh, but this one, um, you know,
5:01
a few days after she got sick, uh,
5:05
she started, we
5:12
Initially at the ER,
5:14
they just assumed it was a
5:16
bladder infection that had
5:17
been caused kind of side
5:18
effect of this virus.
5:20
And so we, we,
5:23
she was put on antibiotics and, you know,
5:25
she got better, things went away,
5:27
et cetera.
5:29
But about three weeks later,
5:30
four weeks later,
5:32
she didn't have any symptoms at all.
5:36
And we noticed again that
5:39
she had blood in her urine.
5:41
So obviously this time,
5:43
the pediatrician
5:44
recommended we go see a nephrologist,
5:46
a kidney specialist,
5:49
know it was several months
5:51
of well it could be this it
5:53
could be this maybe it's
5:54
this maybe it's this uh and
5:57
you know one of the
5:58
conditions that they that
5:59
they brought up was ig
6:01
nephropathy um but that but
6:03
the only way to know uh is
6:05
to get a kidney biopsy and
6:06
so the doctor said listen
6:08
we you know we'd rather not
6:09
do that right now uh we
6:11
don't want to put her
6:12
through it you know because
6:13
it is um it there would
6:15
have to be some downtime obviously
6:19
uh but over the next several
6:21
months it happened a few
6:22
more times um and so
6:24
ultimately we um you know
6:27
and again the strangest
6:28
thing no other symptoms you
6:31
know um except maybe she
6:33
would catch a cold and when
6:34
she would catch a cold um
6:36
you know she would she
6:37
would um have blood in her
6:38
urine or what's called hematuria um and
6:43
so we ultimately decided to
6:46
get a kidney biopsy in
6:47
december uh and um the
6:51
diagnosis came iga
6:52
nephropathy and so you know
6:55
when when she was diagnosed
6:57
we you know we really like
6:59
the nephrologist we have
7:01
this specialist here in
7:03
vegas and you know um you
7:06
the decision was made to
7:07
really attack it to to try
7:09
to you know um ideally you
7:12
know get it get it into
7:13
remission um so you know
7:16
it's been kind of high
7:18
doses of of prednisone and
7:21
intravenous steroids um she
7:23
also had a tonsillectomy
7:24
because there is some
7:25
correlation there between
7:27
um, the, the protein, um, you know,
7:31
and how it affects the
7:32
kidneys and how it's, you know,
7:34
kind of produced and held in,
7:36
in the tonsils.
7:37
So we've done that and, and, um, you know,
7:40
she's doing great.
7:41
You know,
7:41
you would have absolutely no idea
7:43
that there was any issues
7:44
other than the fact that
7:45
when she has a urinalysis,
7:47
the protein in her urine is high.
7:49
And the fear for that is
7:50
just over time that that
7:52
can cause kidney damage and obviously,
7:55
you know, problems as you go forward.
7:58
But she's, you know,
7:59
she's back and crushing it in gymnastics.
8:02
And, you know,
8:02
she's back in school now and
8:05
she's doing really well, you know.
8:08
But obviously the goal is that she's,
8:11
you know, that we can –
8:13
you know,
8:13
that we can get this thing into
8:15
remission and that it,
8:16
and then it won't affect
8:17
her and that she can have a, you know,
8:19
live normally.
8:19
And, um, but that's the,
8:21
that's kind of the,
8:23
that's the tough thing.
8:23
That's the unknown thing
8:24
about this disease.
8:25
And it's been, you know, I mean,
8:29
it's been tough, man.
8:30
You know, you just try to, you know,
8:33
the way I look at it and
8:34
the way we've kind of looked at it is,
8:35
you know, you can,
8:36
you can spend all your time
8:39
worrying and and you know
8:41
kind of letting it get you
8:42
down and you know um but
8:45
the truth of the matter is
8:46
is that it's not helping
8:47
anything at all you know
8:49
because ultimately you know
8:51
all we could do is is is um
8:53
is be positive and she
8:54
doesn't think about it you
8:56
know what I mean like it's
8:57
not affecting her
8:58
day-to-day life you know
8:59
right now and um you know
9:01
she's she's uh so so
9:03
ultimately for us it's
9:05
It's just trying to, you know,
9:07
do the best that we can for her.
9:09
And yeah, I wish that
9:14
you know, the, the, like I said,
9:15
I think I wish the top,
9:16
the toughest thing is just
9:18
prognosis wise.
9:19
You don't know, you know,
9:20
some kids do really well and some don't.
9:22
And, and so ultimately you, you know,
9:24
you just hope that she's one,
9:26
one of the kids that does really well.
9:28
And I think obviously being
9:30
as fit as she is and being more conscious,
9:34
obviously of, of diet and those things.
9:36
But sometimes it's out of your control and,
9:39
you know, it's kind of,
9:39
it's kind of a hard way
9:41
for someone who I think my
9:42
wife and I are both a
9:43
little bit of control freaks.
9:45
It's hard, you know, to deal with that.
9:48
And it's, again,
9:49
I think it's put into perspective.
9:53
A lot of things that have
9:54
gone on in the off season,
9:57
I feel like for me,
9:58
I kind of had to take a
10:00
step back from that and
10:01
really focus on my family
10:04
and my daughter and the
10:06
other things that you
10:08
generally would think were
10:09
a really big deal have become really,
10:11
really small.
10:13
Yeah.
10:14
and so um you know but I am
10:17
excited for the season and
10:19
and I am excited to um you
10:21
know I kind of look at
10:22
those things now as um you
10:25
know I I'm lucky in what I
10:26
get to do with with
10:28
coaching and obviously um
10:29
helping people get fit and um you know so
10:34
But without question,
10:35
I think it's kind of
10:37
changed a little bit about, you know,
10:40
how I'm looking at things and how,
10:43
you know,
10:44
important certain things seemed
10:46
and now maybe don't seem
10:47
quite as important.
10:50
Yeah, I got to meet Ivy in Vegas back,
10:55
gosh, twenty one.
10:56
Yeah.
10:57
And the first thing she
10:58
wanted to show me is her
11:00
gymnastics in the backyard.
11:01
Yeah.
11:03
And she was just so full of energy.
11:06
And what's been cool to hear
11:07
is like this has done
11:09
nothing to take any of that
11:10
away from her.
11:11
Yeah.
11:11
Yeah.
11:13
that she is still living a
11:14
very normal childhood and
11:18
probably extra normal,
11:20
like doing high end
11:22
gymnastics and all that
11:24
stuff and still able to do all that.
11:27
So is there like a
11:28
monitoring thing that you
11:29
guys have to do as parents
11:30
to make sure to keep things
11:32
in check or is she just
11:34
like free to go do whatever she wants?
11:37
She has no physical
11:38
limitations at this point.
11:39
She, you know,
11:41
she's one of the youngest
11:42
level five gymnasts in the
11:44
state of Nevada.
11:45
She she trains sixteen hours a week,
11:48
you know, doing gymnastics.
11:51
She loves every second of it,
11:52
which is awesome.
11:54
um one thing that we do we
11:55
we see the nephrologist
11:56
every month um and they do
11:58
urinalysis every month to
11:59
kind of check where the
12:00
where the protein is
12:01
proteinuria um you know and
12:05
the goal now that we've
12:07
been on um you know like I
12:09
said you know we started
12:10
this kind of aggressive
12:11
treatment at the end of
12:12
december uh hasn't even
12:14
been two months um so we're
12:16
very hopeful that the
12:18
numbers uh start to trend
12:20
in the right direction and
12:22
um you know but
12:24
from other research that
12:25
I've done with the,
12:26
with the steps that we've taken,
12:28
it seems like right around the five,
12:29
six month mark, um, is,
12:32
is kind of a sweet spot to
12:33
tell you whether these
12:34
things worked or not.
12:36
Um, and, uh, and so, you know,
12:39
right now it's just, it's patients and,
12:41
and obviously, um, you know,
12:43
clinically she's doing amazing.
12:45
Like you look at her and, you know,
12:47
the good news is we, we,
12:48
we caught it relatively early.
12:50
You know, she doesn't have any,
12:51
any kidney damage, which is huge.
12:53
You know, her kidneys are functioning.
12:54
Um, the kidney function is normal.
12:57
It's just the high protein.
12:58
So, um,
13:01
Yeah, so at this point, you know,
13:02
luckily she's able to do
13:04
the things that she wants to do and,
13:07
you know, go to school and, you know,
13:10
sports and those types of things,
13:11
which she loves.
13:13
And we just, you know,
13:15
try to make sure that we support her.
13:17
And if we have tough times, because,
13:21
you know, I'm not going to lie to you,
13:22
it is, you know, sometimes just hits you,
13:24
you know.
13:25
But you just make sure she
13:27
doesn't see that, you know what I mean?
13:28
And you make sure you don't
13:29
discuss anything.
13:30
you know certain things
13:32
around her and those types
13:33
of things um but yeah man I
13:36
mean obviously listen it's
13:37
it's it's not an ideal
13:38
situation um but you know
13:40
they're they could always
13:41
be worse and and you know
13:43
we're just staying as
13:45
positive and hopeful as we
13:46
can you know and I think uh
13:49
You know,
13:50
it's obviously been a big
13:51
learning experience.
13:52
I had no idea about this disease prior to.
13:54
And so, you know,
13:56
you learn about about it and, you know,
13:59
you read a lot of things
14:01
about other parents and
14:02
other families that have
14:04
dealt with it and deal with it.
14:05
And, you know, to be honest with you,
14:08
you read.
14:09
You read positive and negative things,
14:12
right?
14:12
Like you read situations
14:14
where kids have gone into
14:15
remission and it never
14:17
affects them again.
14:18
And then you read where, you know,
14:21
unfortunately it does and
14:22
it gets really bad.
14:24
So, you know, you just,
14:27
you want to make yourself aware,
14:29
obviously,
14:29
of all the possibilities and
14:31
then you just remain as
14:33
hopeful and positive as possible.
14:36
So Corey Leonard says life
14:37
happens to everyone.
14:38
Just to most people just
14:39
don't acknowledge that
14:40
people like coaches also
14:41
have regular lives praying for you all.
14:44
Thank you.
14:45
Appreciate it.
14:48
And ACR says the unknown
14:49
with kids is the worst.
14:51
yeah it's terrible it really
14:55
is yeah I mean it it it's
14:58
one of those things where
14:59
you think about it and
15:00
you're just like god you
15:01
know just if you get you
15:02
just give it to yourself
15:04
and take it away in a
15:06
second it wouldn't even be
15:07
a thought you know um but
15:10
you know she's she's tough
15:12
and she's strong and and
15:13
you know I I certainly
15:15
don't not asking for pity
15:16
from anyone because there's
15:17
a lot of that people have
15:18
to deal with every day and
15:19
it's this is just something
15:20
we have to deal with now
15:22
you know um and we will
15:24
we'll attack it head on and
15:26
you know I think um but I
15:28
but again I'm I'm a I I do
15:31
believe there's you know
15:32
that there's power and in
15:34
in numbers and there's and
15:35
there's power and knowledge
15:36
and and um you know I uh
15:41
I do think that it's
15:43
something that's important
15:44
for me to kind of create
15:46
some visibility for,
15:47
because I don't think that
15:49
there's a lot of people in
15:50
this community that, that know about it.
15:52
Cause I didn't.
15:54
And you know,
15:55
if anybody else is dealing
15:56
with this or have kids that
15:58
are dealing with this, obviously,
16:00
you know, I'm not incredibly visible,
16:04
you know, but in,
16:04
in the sport of CrossFit,
16:05
I have a little bit of visibility.
16:07
And if I can,
16:08
help in any way that you
16:09
know this is something that
16:10
I feel is my responsibility
16:12
to do and um so you know
16:14
we're we're gonna try to um
16:17
bring as much uh as much
16:18
visibility to as possible
16:19
and you know probably do
16:21
some fundraisers and things
16:22
like that this year and um
16:24
you know just just try to
16:26
try to help as many people
16:27
and kids as we can you know
16:29
who are just kind of suffering from this
16:32
So, and we'll help out in any way as well.
16:35
You know, we're always here for you guys.
16:36
Appreciate it.
16:38
Shifting gears a little bit.
16:40
And you talked about the
16:41
perspective that you now
16:42
have with this happening to Ivy.
16:46
Now the other stuff that
16:48
happens and everybody
16:49
thinks is a big deal.
16:50
Yeah.
16:50
Isn't such a big deal,
16:52
but we are in the CrossFit space.
16:54
Yeah.
16:55
There are people that want to know.
16:56
Sure.
16:56
It was announced recently
16:58
that Ricky has moved to Proven.
17:00
Yeah.
17:00
Yeah.
17:01
I was very vocal when that happened.
17:04
Um, I'll, I'll leave that as it is.
17:08
I was not happy about the move.
17:10
Um, it upset me dearly.
17:13
Um, I am loyal to a fault.
17:15
So that is just insane to me
17:18
that that happened,
17:19
but I want you to give your perspective.
17:23
Um, and,
17:24
and I'll keep my two cents out of
17:25
it because it is my two cents.
17:28
Yeah, sure.
17:30
Um,
17:32
Yeah, you know, I think...
17:35
You look at sports, right?
17:37
I mean,
17:37
you look at athletes that change
17:40
teams or go from one team to another.
17:43
And I think this is part of sports.
17:47
I think in our community,
17:50
it seems like it's always
17:52
more of a big deal, I think,
17:54
that it hits home a little
17:55
more or that it's more personal.
17:59
The truth of the matter is,
18:03
and I won't get into all the specifics,
18:05
but you know, you look at it,
18:08
you look at what Ricky and I accomplished,
18:12
you know, um,
18:13
and I would say that it's more than most,
18:18
you know, um,
18:21
When Ricky came back, obviously, you know,
18:24
I think he was someone
18:27
somewhat of a pariah, you know,
18:29
if we're being honest.
18:31
And I think I'm most proud
18:34
of being able to help him
18:36
rehabilitate his reputation, you know,
18:41
more than anything,
18:42
more than all the performance, you know,
18:45
performances.
18:47
achievements, you know?
18:49
I mean, I remember the twenty two games.
18:52
There was worry whether he
18:53
would be accepted back or not.
18:55
Yeah, for sure.
18:56
I mean, from the beginning, you know,
18:59
and I think what we were
19:01
able to accomplish, you know,
19:04
podium at the games, obviously,
19:06
I think in twenty twenty
19:07
three would have won.
19:08
I think he was the best in
19:09
the world at that time, you know,
19:11
but winning Wadapalooza twice,
19:13
winning semifinals, three top fives,
19:17
you know, three podiums in Dubai,
19:19
two top fives at road.
19:21
I mean,
19:21
it's quite a quite an accomplishment,
19:23
you know,
19:23
the things that we were able to
19:24
do together.
19:26
I think we developed an
19:27
incredibly close relationship.
19:34
I think it was a hard
19:34
conversation for him to have.
19:38
I was very honest with him.
19:39
I thought he was making a mistake.
19:43
But a lot of the reasons for
19:46
him were the ability to be
19:48
able to train with Tia,
19:49
the fact that she's staying
19:50
in Australia this year,
19:53
the distance I think after
19:55
a while got to him.
19:57
Um, but sometimes you just need to change,
19:59
you know, and sometimes maybe I think,
20:00
you know,
20:01
as you go towards the end of your career,
20:03
you know, he's in his thirties now.
20:05
Um,
20:05
you feel like maybe a change will give
20:07
you an extra year, an extra two,
20:09
who knows?
20:10
And whether it'll work or not,
20:11
we don't know, you know?
20:13
Um, I mean, I would say,
20:16
and it's interesting because I think, um,
20:20
know I stand on on my record
20:23
no matter how volatile it's
20:25
been over the years but I
20:26
would I would venture to
20:27
say that the majority of
20:29
the athletes that have come
20:30
and gone um when they were
20:32
with me they've done their
20:33
best and I'll I'll have no
20:35
problem saying that because
20:36
it's true you just look at
20:38
the numbers no matter who
20:39
it is you look at uh that's
20:41
been the case and uh you
20:43
know um I I don't think
20:45
that that you know
20:48
But again,
20:49
I think sometimes things happen
20:51
and I'm always grateful for
20:54
the time that I've been
20:56
able to have with the
20:58
athletes that have been here.
21:00
And I feel like
21:03
I've been very proud of the
21:05
work that whoever it is
21:07
that we've done and the achievements.
21:09
And I like to think that
21:11
they left here a lot better
21:13
than when they came.
21:16
And I feel very confident
21:17
that that's the case with Ricky.
21:20
And I was disappointed,
21:22
but I think that we've
21:25
established a good enough
21:27
relationship for me to say that
21:29
you know,
21:30
I think we'll be lifelong friends
21:32
and there's obviously going
21:33
to be an adjustment period.
21:36
You know, he's, you know, I, I,
21:39
I would be lying if I said, you know,
21:41
that, that when I see him,
21:43
it's not a little bit different,
21:44
obviously.
21:46
And, you know,
21:47
I think there's now a little
21:48
bit of history, you know,
21:50
between proven and us, you know,
21:52
with a couple of things
21:52
that they've done in the last year, which,
21:54
you know, I,
21:55
not a big fan of, but that's fine.
21:57
It is what it is.
21:58
I think, you know, rivalries are fine.
22:00
Um, and you know, we're a lot smaller.
22:03
We always have been a lot smaller.
22:05
Um, but you know, there's,
22:07
that's part of the reason
22:08
why we're underdogs, right?
22:10
Like at this point,
22:11
we're just going to keep, you know,
22:12
fighting and clawing.
22:13
And, um, you know, I still think, uh,
22:17
you know,
22:18
I still think we have a lot to
22:19
offer and we have some
22:20
really good athletes that I
22:21
think will have really good
22:22
seasons and we'll go from there.
22:25
I think what upset me the
22:27
most is that taking Ricky
22:30
on back when you did was
22:32
not done lightly.
22:35
No, for sure.
22:36
At that point you still had Bethany.
22:38
You still had Danielle.
22:40
You still had Carrie.
22:41
You made sure that all of
22:43
them were good with this move.
22:45
Yeah.
22:45
Like it was,
22:48
you took a lot of steps to
22:49
make sure that Ricky was
22:50
comfortable coming into your camp.
22:53
And I think people forget
22:56
where Ricky was at that point in,
22:58
in the community's eyes.
23:01
Yeah.
23:03
Now he's beloved, right?
23:05
Yeah.
23:05
Yeah.
23:06
Which is great.
23:07
You know, which means I did my job,
23:11
you know,
23:12
and which means he worked his ass off too,
23:14
you know, and the two of us,
23:15
I think together, you know,
23:17
established something really special.
23:18
And yeah,
23:21
you know,
23:21
I think we'll see what happens
23:24
moving forward, you know,
23:26
whether or not he's able to
23:27
get what he's looking for
23:29
in the new situation that he's in.
23:31
And, you know, but like I said, I,
23:35
you know,
23:36
think one thing we also need
23:38
to remember is like yes um
23:42
I think obviously um
23:44
loyalty is a is an
23:46
incredible trait to have
23:48
but I I don't look at this
23:49
necessarily as being
23:50
disloyal I think sometimes
23:52
athletes are you know are
23:54
just their window is very
23:56
small and if they think
23:57
they can get an advantage somewhere else
24:00
then I can't begrudge
24:03
someone from taking that or trying it.
24:09
In this circumstance,
24:11
I think us being thousands
24:13
of miles away and him
24:17
getting a call from the
24:19
greatest that's ever done it to say like,
24:21
hey, come and train with me.
24:22
I mean,
24:23
that's not the easiest thing to pass up.
24:25
You know what I mean?
24:27
whether or not I think it's
24:28
gonna work that's a
24:30
different story and and and
24:31
that just remains to be
24:32
seen but you know like I
24:34
said um I think I think a
24:39
lot of what's happened over
24:41
the last several months you
24:43
know this to me was just
24:44
like okay you know if this
24:47
is what you want to do and
24:48
um you know we had a great
24:50
run um and and honestly like
24:55
I can't, to me, it's nothing,
24:57
I can't get worked up about it.
24:59
Like,
24:59
it's nothing major for me to get
25:00
worked up about.
25:01
Because, again,
25:04
I think that the
25:08
accomplishments that we had and, you know,
25:10
they really do speak for themselves.
25:12
Like, it wasn't a performance issue.
25:15
It's not like you see some athletes who,
25:16
you know,
25:17
all of a sudden something
25:18
happens and they're like, holy shit,
25:19
like this person fell off a
25:20
cliff or they came in third
25:22
place or they did this or they did that.
25:25
No, I mean, you know,
25:26
that's not what happened.
25:27
I mean, he won Waterpalooza last year and,
25:31
you know,
25:31
won semifinals and then finished
25:33
seventh at a very weird
25:34
games where he falls off a
25:37
box and sprains his ankle
25:39
while he's in third place.
25:40
You know, I mean...
25:43
And then we go and he
25:44
finishes fourth at Rogue.
25:46
So it wasn't a performance issue.
25:52
And I think that's the thing
25:54
that I know in my heart.
25:56
So it is what it is beyond that.
26:00
My one statement to this is
26:01
I think you made an excellent point.
26:03
People's careers with you
26:05
and then immediately after
26:07
you are very different in one direction.
26:11
People's careers before
26:12
proven and with proven are
26:15
very different as well.
26:16
And I will leave it at that.
26:17
Yeah.
26:18
My last question to you is we talked, gosh,
26:22
last year about Kiefer leaving.
26:25
Yeah.
26:27
And that that wasn't done
26:29
very professionally.
26:31
Because you weren't told until last minute,
26:35
but you wished him well.
26:36
And I'm not trying to put
26:38
drama where there's not.
26:38
No, I understand.
26:39
Yeah, I know.
26:42
Because you said Ricky and
26:43
you will be friends going forward,
26:45
was this one handled differently?
26:48
I think, listen, there were rumors.
26:52
You know what I mean?
26:54
I think I had an idea that
26:56
it was happening prior to you.
26:58
I wasn't blindsided per se.
27:02
And yes,
27:03
he did call me before it went official.
27:07
So I don't have a problem
27:09
with how it was handled.
27:11
I have less of a problem
27:12
with the way Ricky handled
27:14
it than maybe some of the
27:15
others handled it.
27:16
But again, it is what it is.
27:18
I don't always agree with
27:19
the way people deal with things.
27:21
You have to remember, man,
27:23
like in this business and
27:24
in any business or in life, you know,
27:27
the way that you would
27:27
handle things or the way
27:28
that you would do things is
27:30
not the way other people
27:30
are going to do it.
27:31
And if you expect them to do
27:33
that or you get worked up
27:34
about the way that they handle things,
27:37
you're going to constantly
27:38
be disappointed and angry.
27:40
So at the end of the day,
27:41
just deal with it, you know,
27:43
and that's all right.
27:44
You know, I know what type of person I am.
27:48
And I know the values and
27:50
morals that I have.
27:51
And throughout all of these situations,
27:54
I feel very,
27:55
very good about how I've handled it.
27:59
I feel like I've always
27:59
taken the high road.
28:02
I feel like I could be a lot
28:04
more aggressive and
28:05
belligerent and talk a lot
28:07
more shit and say a lot
28:08
more things about people.
28:10
But what good is it going to do?
28:12
You know what I mean?
28:13
And it's not the way that I
28:14
want to be known.
28:16
It's not the way that I want
28:17
to be remembered.
28:18
And it's not the way I want to, you know,
28:20
kind of be a model for my
28:22
kids and the people that
28:24
that care about me.
28:25
So, you know, ultimately, yeah.
28:30
you keep moving.
28:31
That's the way it is.
28:32
Shit happens and you keep moving forward.
28:36
And you still have a lot of
28:38
people who look to you for
28:41
guidance and look to you
28:45
for a lot of things.
28:47
And
28:48
And it's my job to continue to, you know,
28:52
kind of be that leader, you know,
28:55
at least in the space that we're in here.
28:59
You know, and I try to do the best I can.
29:03
So ACR asks,
29:05
what are the steps Justin
29:06
would use if he was courting an athlete?
29:08
And I'm going to add on to this.
29:11
Is it more that you go court
29:12
an athlete or do athletes come to you?
29:15
Yeah, I won't court an athlete,
29:16
especially if they're with somebody else.
29:17
I mean, that's the number one rule for me.
29:20
Not a chance, you know.
29:22
I think that that's just,
29:24
it's a respect thing, you know,
29:27
at this level.
29:28
And I don't think that's the
29:31
case for everybody else,
29:32
but that's the way it is for me.
29:34
If there's an athlete who I
29:36
know doesn't have a coach
29:39
and I'm interested in, absolutely.
29:43
I think the first step is
29:44
communication and just building rapport.
29:48
But in general,
29:49
I've been lucky enough in
29:50
my career that I've had
29:53
athletes that reach out to me.
29:56
and uh you know again one of
29:58
the first questions is are
30:00
you working with someone
30:01
and do they know that
30:02
you're reaching out to me
30:03
because I want everything
30:05
to be above board and and I
30:06
don't ever want a situation
30:09
to come where somebody
30:10
feels like I stole an
30:11
athlete um you know that
30:14
that to me is uh because I
30:16
feel like that's happened
30:18
and I know what it feels
30:19
like uh and uh I I would
30:22
never want someone to speak
30:23
about me that way
30:24
um so uh I think that uh
30:28
there's a lot of room and
30:30
space in in in our business
30:33
um where you don't have to
30:34
do that you know what I
30:35
mean like there's a lot of
30:36
really good athletes and I
30:38
think when you establish
30:39
yourself as a as a coach
30:40
who um you know has been
30:42
able to to bring success or
30:44
help those athletes you
30:46
know reach their goals um
30:48
and help them maximize
30:49
their potential um you know
30:51
those opportunity those
30:52
opportunities are going to come
30:54
so uh you don't have to um
30:57
you don't have to go out of
30:58
your way to uh to hurt
30:59
somebody else to do that in
31:02
a couple minutes we're
31:02
going to talk about maybe
31:04
some new additions to your
31:05
your stable or your dog and
31:08
some of the people some of
31:09
the mainstays but I have
31:12
one kind of million dollar
31:13
proposition for you and
31:15
then I have the wacky
31:17
season that is about to come yeah
31:20
Okay.
31:20
So what I love about you is,
31:23
is you're free to speak
31:24
about your thoughts as to
31:26
how we can change things.
31:28
Yeah.
31:29
Make this sport bigger.
31:30
Yeah.
31:31
So I had this million dollar idea.
31:33
It's probably only a thousand dollar idea,
31:36
but don't sell yourself short, Scott.
31:39
So earlier this week I was
31:41
watching a new show called WWE LFG.
31:46
Okay.
31:47
What it is,
31:47
is they have this world
31:49
wrestling Federation or
31:51
entertainment performance
31:53
center in Florida where
31:55
they teach and train
31:58
athletes to become pro wrestlers.
32:00
Sure.
32:01
They've made it a reality show.
32:04
Yeah.
32:05
So, sixteen wrestlers, eight men,
32:07
eight women.
32:09
Four legend captains, The Undertaker,
32:11
Booker T, Ricky James, and Bubba Dudley.
32:15
Okay.
32:16
They divide them up,
32:17
and they're going to coach
32:18
them and compete,
32:20
and the winner of the men
32:22
and the winner of the women
32:24
get a WWE contract.
32:26
Yep.
32:30
Take...
32:32
Fifteen athletes that want
32:34
to be trained by an elite coach.
32:36
Yeah.
32:37
Put them through a week of training,
32:39
doing an elimination process,
32:42
and at the end of the week,
32:45
one athlete or one man and
32:47
one woman get trained by an
32:49
elite coach for the
32:50
upcoming CrossFit game season.
32:54
Yeah.
32:54
That's your pitch to Netflix?
32:56
That's my pitch, yeah.
32:57
Gotcha.
32:57
Yeah.
32:59
That's not a bad idea, man.
33:00
I mean, I, you know,
33:01
I've been talking about forever that we,
33:03
we need something, uh,
33:06
to create more visibility and, and, uh,
33:11
you know, bring more eyes on the sport.
33:13
Um, we have, you know,
33:16
super humans doing super human things,
33:20
things that these athletes
33:21
can do is remarkable.
33:24
Uh,
33:25
And we're in a world and
33:27
we're in a culture of drive
33:30
to survive and full swing
33:33
and break point and all
33:36
these other things.
33:38
Whatever the Port-au-France
33:40
reality show is,
33:41
whatever the rugby one was, UFC had one.
33:48
And I felt like...
33:50
Back in the days of the
33:51
Miles to Madison and whatnot,
33:54
we were kind of scratching the surface.
33:57
And I think that there's an
33:59
opportunity that's being
34:00
completely lost here to be
34:03
able to highlight the athletes,
34:08
the sport.
34:10
And I think all of that
34:11
would be good for the whole ecosystem.
34:13
The community would bring
34:14
more eyes onto the sport.
34:16
It would bring more eyes onto CrossFit.
34:19
It would put more butts in affiliates.
34:21
It would do all those things.
34:24
And things right now just
34:25
seem so divisive.
34:26
It's wild to me.
34:28
I haven't spoken out a lot about it.
34:31
I haven't talked a lot about it, obviously,
34:33
because we've really been
34:35
in our own world, I would say,
34:37
and focused a lot on our
34:39
family and on what's been
34:40
going on with Ivy.
34:43
Yeah, it's hard to watch.
34:44
It's hard to see.
34:45
I mean,
34:47
I was an affiliate owner for ten years,
34:49
and then COVID happened,
34:50
and we sold our gym in New York,
34:53
and obviously we came to
34:54
Vegas and started Underdogs.
35:01
I know what it's like from both sides,
35:03
you know, to kind of, you know,
35:05
my favorite class to coach
35:07
when I owned an affiliate
35:08
was foundations.
35:10
It was nothing that I liked
35:11
more than getting it on the
35:13
ground floor of changing
35:14
somebody's life through
35:15
fitness and through CrossFit.
35:17
But I also love the sport
35:19
and I love the idea that
35:21
this sport can grow and
35:24
create opportunities for
35:26
athletes and coaches.
35:29
And that in turn will put
35:30
more butts into affiliates
35:34
and continue to grow this
35:36
thing because we all know
35:38
that the effect that it can
35:39
have on someone's health.
35:43
so it's just frustrating to
35:45
me that I kind of feel like
35:46
right now that these sides
35:48
are kind of pinned against
35:49
each other and I I don't
35:50
really understand it um you
35:53
know I but but I do believe
35:55
that um you know we've
35:58
missed the boat with
36:00
creating some type of reality show.
36:04
And a lot of people don't
36:05
love the whole idea of a
36:07
reality show with the drama
36:08
and everything else.
36:09
But that's the world we live in right now.
36:12
That's what sells.
36:14
And so ultimately,
36:15
if it's going to create more visibility,
36:19
if it's going to enhance
36:20
the popularity of the sport,
36:23
of the methodology, all those things,
36:25
I think that they can work symbiotically.
36:27
They don't have to work adversarially.
36:30
And it's very frustrating to me.
36:31
And, you know, listen, I,
36:33
we're coming on up to a season, you know,
36:37
that we now see kind of the
36:38
CrossFit gains pinned
36:40
against the World Fitness Project.
36:42
And I,
36:43
I don't know why it has to be that way.
36:45
I think you can, I think again,
36:47
you can have these things
36:49
work in symbiosis, you know,
36:53
when the world fitness project is,
36:55
you know,
36:55
you have these athletes that are
36:57
doing these things and you
36:58
have this elite field and
37:01
people watch it.
37:02
And, you know,
37:03
you could have CrossFit
37:05
could have their
37:05
commercials in the middle of this,
37:07
hopefully what will be a television show,
37:09
right?
37:09
Because it sounds like the
37:11
events are going to be two
37:12
to three hours long.
37:13
It's perfect for, you know,
37:15
the perfect length of, of a,
37:18
quote unquote TV show or if you stream it,
37:20
whatever you want to call that.
37:23
And in the midst of that,
37:25
people are going to ask questions like,
37:26
what is this?
37:27
Where do I go do this?
37:28
Well, we go do this in a CrossFit.
37:29
You learn how to do this in a CrossFit.
37:32
Why is it not working together?
37:34
I don't know.
37:35
It's frustrating as hell to
37:37
me because I think we're
37:40
missing a huge opportunity
37:42
to expand the reach.
37:44
And the reach of the sport,
37:47
expanding the reach of the
37:48
sport can expand the reach
37:50
that we have on the ground
37:53
floor and affiliates, which...
37:56
But I don't know.
37:57
I guess there's people that
37:59
are a lot smarter than me
38:00
that for some reason
38:01
haven't figured this all out.
38:03
I don't get it.
38:06
What I liked about the idea
38:08
I proposed is they're all up and comers.
38:10
Nobody really probably knows
38:11
their name unless they're a nerd like me.
38:14
yeah and it's a way to get
38:16
exposure for those athletes
38:18
because we have dropped all
38:20
yeah on on eleven through
38:22
forty oh a hundred percent
38:24
right everybody knows top
38:26
ten eleven through forty
38:28
we're struggling yeah and
38:29
you're not never going to
38:30
grow the sport unless
38:31
people have a vested
38:33
interest in those other
38:34
athletes as well yeah yeah
38:37
and and I agree with you
38:39
and I think a lot of that
38:40
just has to do with the
38:40
fact that you know there's
38:43
The competitions, generally speaking,
38:46
when they're broadcast,
38:47
don't focus on those athletes at all.
38:50
You could go through an
38:51
entire event and the
38:53
camera's focused on the
38:56
person who's in first or second.
38:57
I see that all the time.
39:00
People complain, oh,
39:01
why didn't you show this
39:01
person or this person?
39:02
I mean, it's not the easiest thing to do.
39:04
I understand that.
39:06
Although I will say the
39:08
premium package from Rogue
39:10
where I could move the
39:11
camera wherever I wanted.
39:12
That's pretty cool.
39:13
It was pretty freaking awesome.
39:14
Yeah, that is.
39:16
That's very cool.
39:18
So now we're going into a
39:19
season with three silos, right?
39:22
You have the CrossFit Games season.
39:24
You have WFP.
39:25
And you have this Reps Ahead
39:27
thing that's trying to make
39:29
its name out there.
39:31
Yeah.
39:32
Right?
39:32
Yeah.
39:32
All kind of doing their own
39:33
thing in their own way.
39:35
Yeah.
39:36
CrossFit Games still
39:38
couldn't tell you how the season works.
39:39
Yeah.
39:41
Right?
39:42
There's in-person this,
39:44
there's affiliate that,
39:46
there's you can qualify here,
39:49
whatever you do at first,
39:50
that's what matters,
39:50
and then nothing else.
39:53
Yeah.
39:53
Very hard to explain to my friend.
39:56
Yeah, for sure.
39:58
WFP, I could tell you their season.
40:02
but this is the first year
40:04
we don't know what kind of
40:04
traction they're really going to have.
40:06
No, we don't.
40:08
Not all.
40:08
Yeah.
40:08
Right.
40:09
And then reps ahead is kind
40:10
of the little snack.
40:12
It's really easy to get my
40:13
friend to watch.
40:14
Yeah.
40:15
For five minutes and kind of
40:17
explain to them.
40:19
And then it's just trying to
40:20
get them to understand this
40:21
can be bigger.
40:25
For sure.
40:26
So as a coach,
40:29
I know Alex has signed with WFP.
40:31
Yeah.
40:32
I know Alex has done reps ahead.
40:34
Yeah.
40:35
And I'm assuming she's doing
40:37
the CrossFit game season.
40:38
Yeah.
40:39
So now as a coach,
40:43
how do you keep her prepared?
40:46
Yeah.
40:46
All of it.
40:47
Fuck.
40:49
yeah no seriously we put
40:51
these things on on paper
40:53
like we we mapped out the
40:55
schedule and it's it it's
40:56
daunting it's it's a
40:58
daunting task um I think
41:01
both of us when we kind of
41:03
looked at the schedule the
41:06
travel um you know a lot of
41:10
the several back-to-back
41:11
weekends things like that um you know
41:16
it's going to be challenging.
41:17
It's going to be challenging,
41:20
very different than what
41:22
we've dealt with in the past,
41:24
especially with Alex,
41:25
because she's not a very
41:26
experienced competition
41:27
experienced athlete, right?
41:29
Like she's still very young.
41:30
She's just twenty three years old.
41:33
She hasn't had a ton of major experience.
41:35
She hasn't done a ton of
41:36
offseason events because
41:38
we've been building and
41:39
building and building.
41:42
So you look at this season
41:43
and you look at how many
41:46
events there are and it's going to be,
41:51
I think,
41:52
the most challenging year I've
41:53
had as far as programming
41:57
for her to make sure that
42:00
she's prepared but also recovered.
42:07
Um, so that we just don't destroy her.
42:10
Right.
42:10
I mean, that's, that's the key.
42:11
And I think there are a lot
42:12
of athletes that are going
42:13
to be dealing with the same thing.
42:14
I mean, obviously, um, so, you know,
42:18
I goal to be good at everything,
42:21
or are you going to have to
42:22
prioritize your peaks?
42:26
Well, sure.
42:28
Listen,
42:29
I would love to say that the goal
42:31
is you want to be good everywhere, right?
42:35
You don't want to show up in
42:36
an event and not do well.
42:38
I think...
42:41
one you don't want to deal
42:42
with that internally but
42:43
also you don't want to deal
42:45
with with the media you
42:47
know what happened to this
42:48
person like oh my god they
42:50
came in blah blah blah I
42:51
mean we saw that a lot of
42:52
palooza there were a lot of
42:53
really good athletes that
42:54
struggled and now you know
42:56
I mean they stink but
42:58
that's not the case
42:59
obviously you know what I mean um
43:02
So I think it's impossible
43:05
to peak everywhere.
43:07
I think obviously that you
43:10
have to prioritize and
43:12
there are specific weekends
43:14
that you just hope that
43:15
maybe you're just good
43:16
enough that it doesn't
43:17
matter what the programming is.
43:20
I would say that there's
43:21
very few people like that in our sport,
43:24
you know.
43:26
and there haven't been many
43:28
that can just show up and do well.
43:31
But yeah,
43:32
we're gonna have to take a look
43:34
at specific events and say, okay,
43:39
this is one we know we're
43:41
kind of training through.
43:44
Hopefully we do well,
43:45
but at the end of the day,
43:49
obviously I think you still
43:50
look at the CrossFit Games,
43:54
you know, rogue, you know,
43:57
it's kind of the, the,
43:58
the North star events in a, in a sense,
44:02
you know, in WFP,
44:03
obviously we don't really know yet.
44:05
I'm just curious, you know,
44:06
we don't know much about
44:08
format programming, et cetera.
44:11
But my assumption is,
44:12
is that obviously that the
44:13
final in Copenhagen, you know, will,
44:16
will be, you know, be a big one as well.
44:20
So, you know, you're, you're looking at,
44:23
You're looking at least at those three,
44:25
and then you have a bunch of others.
44:27
I mean,
44:27
she's planning on competing at –
44:31
obviously, we have online semis,
44:34
then WFP.
44:35
Then she's probably going to do NorCal,
44:38
and then another WFP,
44:42
and then the CrossFit Games,
44:44
and then Rogue, and then –
44:48
Copenhagen at the final.
44:52
That's a lot of in-person events.
44:55
How do you rest your body
44:58
with no off-season now?
45:01
I still think you're going to have to.
45:04
I think the beginning of the year,
45:07
that's kind of what you're
45:08
going to be looking at.
45:10
December and January,
45:11
you're going to have to
45:13
you're going to have to
45:15
prioritize that stuff.
45:17
I think the fact that
45:17
they've moved Waterpalooza is great.
45:20
You know, they've moved it to March now.
45:22
So you're looking at that
45:23
beginning of the year as, you know,
45:28
taking the time that you need mentally,
45:31
physically, spiritually, all those things,
45:35
or you're just going to be burnt out,
45:37
you know.
45:38
And you feel like Alex can
45:39
get top one percent.
45:42
In her sleep?
45:43
I would think so.
45:44
I would hope so.
45:46
You know, just being transparent,
45:48
she's been dealing with a
45:49
shoulder injury that
45:50
happened two days before
45:51
Rogue during a little kind of a nothing,
45:56
you know, tapering.
45:57
You know, we were tapering and we had...
46:02
doing some easy EMOM and
46:05
tweaked her shoulder and it
46:07
hasn't been good for months.
46:09
She competed through Rogue with that.
46:12
Still came in fourth.
46:15
I will say this is the first
46:17
week yesterday actually.
46:20
She has not been able to
46:21
snatch in three months.
46:25
If there's a heavy snatch
46:26
coming up week one, may not be great, but
46:30
you know, is what it is.
46:31
Um, do this part of this part of sports,
46:33
right?
46:33
You deal with injuries and you deal with,
46:36
and you work on the things
46:37
that you can work on and
46:38
getting better at the
46:38
things you can get better at.
46:40
And that's just,
46:41
it's just part of the deal.
46:44
So I've been saying over the last month,
46:46
like,
46:46
why can't we let both seasons run
46:48
their race?
46:50
You see how it goes.
46:51
Like everybody's kind of
46:53
being critical that one is
46:55
doing one thing.
46:56
One is doing another.
46:57
And yeah, you know,
47:00
And I look at it this way.
47:03
I'm a longtime sports fan.
47:04
I've seen other leagues pop
47:06
up against major leagues.
47:10
They had great innovative
47:11
ideas that were then
47:13
adopted by the main league
47:15
if it didn't succeed.
47:16
And if it does succeed,
47:18
we're all the better for it, right?
47:20
Yeah.
47:21
I hope it succeeds.
47:23
I mean,
47:24
I say that because I just feel like...
47:28
um I think I think
47:30
opportunities and and
47:33
visibility for this sport
47:36
is not a bad thing you know
47:38
what I mean like I I just
47:39
feel like the more
47:41
opportunities we we have
47:42
the better I just wish that
47:44
that you know that the
47:46
powers that be could work
47:47
together in a sense um I just think that
47:51
if we did that, you know, I've always,
47:53
I've been, I've said from the beginning,
47:55
I'm a proponent of trying
47:57
to create a season that's
47:59
more like the ATP tour and the PGA tour,
48:03
et cetera.
48:05
But why, why,
48:06
why can't CrossFit be involved in that?
48:08
You know what I mean?
48:08
Like why can't the games be
48:09
involved in that?
48:10
And I would love to see it where, you know,
48:13
you,
48:13
you had three or four grand slam events.
48:15
So you, the games are one, you know,
48:17
rogue is one and you know, maybe one,
48:19
you know, one or two others.
48:21
And then you have the things
48:24
that go on throughout the season.
48:25
That to me is the ideal.
48:27
And I think it's a way for, again,
48:30
I think it's a way for the
48:31
sport to flourish.
48:32
It's a way for the athletes to flourish,
48:35
the coaches to flourish.
48:36
And then for the methodology,
48:37
because everyone who's
48:39
watching who falls in love
48:40
with the athletes or the
48:44
movements and just the
48:46
incredible feats of
48:50
you know, athletic prowess that you see,
48:54
um, they want to know how to do that,
48:56
you know?
48:56
Uh, and, and so they,
48:58
they go into their local
48:59
affiliate and they,
49:00
and they learn how to do these things.
49:02
Uh, and obviously on a, on a smaller scale,
49:04
because you know, there it's, it's,
49:07
it's not necessarily like, Hey, I want to,
49:09
you know,
49:09
I'm going to make the CrossFit games,
49:11
but it's,
49:11
know I mean listen you get
49:12
people who watch basketball
49:14
they go to their local ymca
49:15
and they play ball you know
49:16
what I mean like they play
49:18
they play to stay fit you
49:19
know people around the
49:21
world they go out to play
49:22
soccer like all those
49:23
things you know it's just
49:25
or football however you
49:26
want to call it right I
49:27
mean like I I don't see why
49:30
that can't be the case uh
49:33
and I feel like the opportunity is there
49:36
uh and you know we just we
49:39
just have never we've never
49:40
had it we've never done it
49:41
you know and I think the
49:42
opportunity now is there
49:43
more than ever because you
49:45
you have a league that's
49:46
coming in that seems to
49:47
have uh the financial
49:49
backing to be able to run
49:50
these events um you know so
49:55
There should be an open
49:55
dialogue there and an open
49:56
conversation as to how we
49:58
can integrate these things
49:59
and scratch each other's
50:01
back and blow this thing the fuck up.
50:03
It frustrates me that the
50:05
sides have been pinned
50:07
against each other.
50:07
And I have not been a part
50:10
of any of the internal discussions.
50:12
I know nothing about how one
50:15
side HQ feels about the other HQ.
50:19
I don't know.
50:20
Have they discussed anything at all?
50:24
Probably not.
50:26
That's just the history of
50:27
what I know about what's
50:29
happened in the past with
50:30
other things that have popped up.
50:33
But I certainly think
50:34
there's an opportunity
50:35
there and I would love to
50:38
see things work together.
50:42
so ricky's left but you have
50:45
added somebody new and
50:46
actually a couple new
50:48
people uh one to me one of
50:51
the most interesting female
50:52
athletes out there um I I
50:55
got to interview her uh
50:57
right before rogue maybe
50:59
two years ago just a
51:01
fascinating individual yeah
51:02
um and uh that is mano anganese yeah yeah
51:10
I feel really fortunate to
51:12
be working with her because the truth is,
51:15
I feel like she's one of
51:16
the most unknown and
51:17
underrated female athletes in our sport.
51:20
I mean, she's a freaking monster.
51:23
If you go back and look at her record,
51:27
her history...
51:30
you know her qualifier
51:32
experience the things she's
51:33
done you know obviously
51:34
competing at rogue and
51:35
doing extremely well and
51:37
and we know rogue is not an
51:38
easy competition to do well
51:39
at and it's a stacked field
51:41
you know she's she's also
51:43
signed with the wfp so I'm
51:44
excited to have um you know
51:46
be able to coach her and
51:48
and alex on the road in the
51:50
wfp is very exciting uh and
51:53
and the truth of the matter
51:54
is is you know um probably
51:56
would have never happened
51:57
had it not been for for snorri
51:59
um you know who who kind of
52:01
introduced us and um and I
52:04
think I think she is
52:05
someone who um really
52:09
values her autonomy um you
52:12
know I think she's an
52:14
extremely independent
52:15
person uh you know I don't
52:17
think that she at all
52:19
craves the limelight um or
52:22
you know social media
52:24
visibility or anything like
52:25
that you know um
52:28
I think that she just likes
52:29
to do the work and I think
52:32
she likes to compete.
52:36
I've been incredibly
52:37
impressed with the work
52:40
that we've done so far.
52:42
It's been a short period of time,
52:44
but she's really good and
52:48
even better than I thought she was.
52:50
And I'm excited, you know,
52:53
to work with her this
52:54
season and see how it goes.
52:55
And, you know, we've been talking.
52:58
I think she's going to come
53:00
to Vegas for online semis
53:02
because right after online semis,
53:04
the week after,
53:05
we have the first WFP event.
53:08
So I think she'll come to
53:09
the States for online semis.
53:11
She's also doing Mayhem,
53:12
but I think she'll get to
53:13
Vegas to come and be able
53:16
to do online semis with Alex,
53:18
and then we'll travel to
53:19
the WFP together.
53:20
So I'm excited.
53:24
It's really cool, man.
53:25
It's just cool when these
53:27
unexpected things happen,
53:29
and I'm not sure it was
53:30
necessarily on my radar,
53:32
and then all of a sudden it was,
53:34
and I'm incredibly grateful.
53:36
What does it do to kind of
53:37
shake up your juices to
53:41
have someone like a lot
53:43
different than Alex on the surface,
53:45
right?
53:46
Yeah.
53:47
Yeah, very different.
53:49
You know, obviously older,
53:50
more experienced, you know,
53:54
but somebody who I...
53:57
from the very short time
53:58
that we've gotten to know
53:59
each other someone who's
54:00
also like equally as
54:02
genuine which is awesome
54:04
you know I feel like at
54:05
this point in my career you
54:07
know I'm just not about the
54:08
you know what I mean I'm just not
54:12
So ultimately,
54:14
I'm very interested in
54:17
continuing to help people
54:19
reach their maximum potential,
54:20
but I'm interested in
54:23
helping people who are
54:24
genuine and not about the
54:26
drama and really just want
54:28
to work hard and who are good people.
54:31
And so she seems to be all those things.
54:36
And Snorri has spoken,
54:40
has held her in such high
54:41
esteem for an extended
54:43
period of time because he
54:44
has told me about her for a while.
54:46
But this is like the first
54:47
opportunity that we've had
54:49
to be able to work together.
54:50
And we had a really
54:53
really cool kind of very you
54:55
know um interesting
54:56
heart-to-heart sit down
54:58
after rogue ended uh and
55:01
and continued that
55:02
communication over the next
55:03
few months and and have now
55:05
made it official and and
55:06
you know um I I think uh I
55:09
think I can help her but
55:11
obviously you know she's
55:12
already really good so
55:13
right now it's just it's
55:15
fine tuning and I I think
55:16
uh what she's really looking for is um
55:21
is my ability to be able to
55:22
bring the best out of her on game day.
55:24
I think that's what she
55:25
feels like she's been
55:26
missing is in-person competitions,
55:29
just not having that voice
55:32
that she necessarily trusts
55:34
completely or feels like
55:36
can bring the best out of her.
55:37
And I feel like that's a big
55:38
strength of mine.
55:40
There's a lot of good
55:41
programmers out there,
55:42
but I don't think there's a
55:42
lot of great in-game
55:44
coaches or in-person coaches.
55:47
And I feel like that's kind
55:48
of where my strength lies.
55:50
And so I think it'll be a
55:52
good athlete-coach relationship.
55:54
I really do.
55:56
Because of lack of time,
55:57
I'm going to skip over Sarah and Braun.
56:00
But when you say genuine individuals,
56:03
they fit that bill too, right?
56:05
Yeah, for sure.
56:07
Got to meet Braun at Masters
56:08
CrossFit Games last year.
56:11
That dude just cracks me up.
56:12
Yeah.
56:14
What a good and genuine dude he is.
56:17
Yeah, he's awesome.
56:18
And then, obviously, Sarah.
56:19
I mean...
56:23
I don't know, what can I say about her?
56:24
I mean, she's as good as it gets.
56:27
And very excited.
56:28
I feel like this is really
56:29
the first opportunity since
56:31
I've coached her that we've
56:32
had that I can see some
56:34
light at the end of the tunnel.
56:36
And I think she has a real
56:38
opportunity this year to be
56:40
able to do some things she
56:41
hasn't been able to do the
56:42
last few years.
56:43
I don't know what that means,
56:44
but I think it means that
56:46
she'll be able to compete
56:48
and really put herself in a
56:51
better position to be successful,
56:53
but also to kind of bring
56:54
the joy back that she has
56:56
not felt because she's had
56:57
to deal with so much shit.
57:00
So yeah,
57:01
those and one person I want to shout out.
57:04
I think that's who we're
57:05
going to bring up next.
57:06
Real quick.
57:07
The young girl,
57:09
my young girl in New Zealand.
57:13
Tahilia, Tahilia.
57:15
Yeah.
57:15
Talia, Talia was Saki.
57:17
Yeah.
57:18
Um, you know, I, I think I'm as,
57:22
as excited about her as I
57:24
am about anybody.
57:25
Um, you know, I think the,
57:29
but the question goes, yeah, yeah.
57:32
Yeah.
57:32
So you have,
57:32
you have Mano Anganese around
57:34
the sport and you're
57:36
polishing the diamond.
57:37
Yeah.
57:38
Yeah.
57:39
Now you've got this young
57:40
girl out of New Zealand who,
57:42
from what I hear,
57:43
has all of the natural ability.
57:46
Yeah.
57:47
But she needs molded from the beginning.
57:49
Yeah.
57:50
Yeah.
57:50
And we've been working
57:51
together for a little while now.
57:53
We started together when she was
57:55
Um, obviously remotely and, and, you know,
57:58
the,
57:58
the amazing thing to think that I
58:00
think is so freaking cool is, you know,
58:02
she, she sent me, uh,
58:05
I would say a handwritten letter,
58:07
but you know, it really was,
58:08
it was an email, but it was handwritten.
58:10
Like she wrote it very obviously.
58:12
Um,
58:13
um about how much she loves
58:14
the sport and how she loves
58:18
underdogs and how she wants
58:19
me to coach her and what I
58:21
coach her and you know it's
58:22
just really one of the most
58:24
endearing things that you
58:26
know that's happened to me
58:28
as a coach over the last
58:29
several years and um
58:31
you know, spoke with her family,
58:32
who is just amazing and
58:34
salt of the earth and so
58:36
supportive of her.
58:38
And we started working together.
58:40
And you know,
58:41
I told her from the beginning,
58:42
this is about the long game for her, like,
58:44
I'm not going to, you
58:46
know,
58:46
we don't want to put pressure and we
58:48
don't want her to get burnt out.
58:49
And, and, you know, the, the,
58:51
obviously she has internal
58:52
goals and expectations, but for me,
58:55
it's all about right now, like just,
58:57
just building,
58:58
building her over time and
59:01
making sure that she's
59:01
continuing to have fun.
59:03
Right.
59:03
Like, you know,
59:04
she still takes class
59:05
sometimes she's still, you know,
59:08
she'll text me like, Hey,
59:09
I want to do a two person
59:10
competition this week.
59:11
absolutely have fun.
59:12
You know, like, I mean, there's,
59:14
there's things there that, you know,
59:16
for me that I, I just, uh, that are, uh,
59:20
you want to make sure that
59:21
you continue to instill.
59:22
And the thing is,
59:25
I think the thing that is
59:26
most important is just
59:27
continuing for her to have
59:28
the love of CrossFit and the sport.
59:31
And I think she does.
59:33
And she's improved leaps and bounds.
59:37
She works so hard.
59:38
And this is something that
59:39
she really wants to do.
59:40
And I'm very excited.
59:42
This is her first opportunity to be
59:45
in the games and you know
59:46
she didn't she was too
59:47
young so this is her first
59:49
opportunity she'll be in
59:50
the and division and I
59:52
think she'll do really well
59:53
and it wouldn't surprise me
59:54
at all if she makes the
59:55
games and that will be
59:56
really exciting for me um
59:58
you know uh as an og man
1:00:01
it's it's exciting to still
1:00:02
see you know people coming
1:00:04
in who who are you know
1:00:06
exciting and new and and
1:00:07
gifted you know so you know
1:00:10
it's really cool if she
1:00:11
makes the game says the age
1:00:12
groups are right here in columbus ohio
1:00:14
I know that'll be really
1:00:17
cool I'm excited I get to
1:00:19
sleep in my own bed
1:00:22
Yeah,
1:00:22
I'm happy that they're there together
1:00:24
this year.
1:00:25
Yeah.
1:00:26
Last year I did a story on a
1:00:28
mother and daughter who
1:00:29
both made the games and one
1:00:31
had to go to Birmingham,
1:00:33
one went to Michigan,
1:00:35
and they were FaceTiming
1:00:37
events just so they could
1:00:39
watch each other.
1:00:40
That just shouldn't happen.
1:00:43
No, it's brutal.
1:00:45
Yeah.
1:00:46
Yeah.
1:00:47
So yeah, it should be an exciting year,
1:00:49
man.
1:00:50
I mean, I'm not have, you know,
1:00:50
I have obviously, you know,
1:00:52
other athletes that I'm
1:00:53
really excited about and, and, uh,
1:00:55
and then underdogs in general, you know,
1:00:57
we have incredible coaches
1:00:58
and athletes that are,
1:00:59
that are doing their jobs
1:01:00
and just trying to make people better.
1:01:02
And, you know, we're, we're,
1:01:03
I would say we're not as
1:01:04
much in the limelight, you know, as,
1:01:06
as some others.
1:01:07
And that's okay.
1:01:08
You know, like I said, we're, we're,
1:01:10
we're still clawing and, and, uh, and,
1:01:13
and, you know,
1:01:15
We've got as much grit as
1:01:18
anybody as a crew.
1:01:20
So we're just gonna keep
1:01:22
doing the things that we
1:01:23
can do and keep trying to
1:01:24
help as many people and
1:01:25
maximize the potential as
1:01:27
many athletes and people as we can.
1:01:32
And hopefully,
1:01:33
Hopefully this season will be a success.
1:01:38
I'm hoping both sides do well.
1:01:40
Obviously, I'd love to see the games.
1:01:45
Last year was tough,
1:01:47
and I think I'd love to see, obviously,
1:01:53
a less volatile season.
1:01:56
And then I'd love to see the
1:01:58
success of the WFP continue to grow,
1:02:00
and hopefully these things can all –
1:02:04
I think, like I said,
1:02:05
bring more popularity,
1:02:06
visibility to the sport,
1:02:09
both CrossFit and just to
1:02:13
athletes and coaches in general.
1:02:14
So I'm hopeful.
1:02:17
Yeah.
1:02:18
And sometimes you learn the
1:02:19
older you get in life is, you know,
1:02:22
it's not all about the
1:02:23
notoriety and the fame and the money.
1:02:25
It's just about being around
1:02:26
the right people and doing what you love.
1:02:31
And I think you've had a
1:02:33
tough year to kind of like
1:02:34
hammer that home.
1:02:36
yeah for sure I I think it's
1:02:38
been it's been a
1:02:39
challenging last several
1:02:40
months but again I I feel
1:02:41
like it's all things that
1:02:43
you know again um it's it's
1:02:46
all things that you know
1:02:48
you have to you have to
1:02:50
look at and you have to
1:02:51
understand that like life
1:02:52
is hard and I I heard a
1:02:54
speech once about like
1:02:57
it's it's about getting
1:02:58
really good at the heart
1:03:00
right and and so like if
1:03:02
you can't handle the hard
1:03:04
then life's going to be
1:03:05
tough and and so for us
1:03:07
it's it's been a it's been
1:03:08
a lesson the last several
1:03:10
months about getting good
1:03:11
at the hard uh and um and
1:03:14
so now I'm I'm hoping that
1:03:16
you know all of those lessons will just
1:03:18
continue to help us get better and grow.
1:03:21
And, you know,
1:03:23
I think we have a lot to look forward to.
1:03:25
So, you know, I'm hopeful, like I said.
1:03:28
Well, as always, Justin,
1:03:29
I'm so happy when you're on the show.
1:03:31
All my love to you and Ash and Jax and Ivy,
1:03:36
that you guys have a better
1:03:37
year coming up and
1:03:39
hopefully some really good
1:03:40
answers coming up in the next few months.
1:03:43
Thanks, man.
1:03:43
It's always a pleasure to be with you.
1:03:45
And thank you to everybody in the chat.
1:03:46
I'm sorry I didn't get to
1:03:47
all your questions.
1:03:49
They were coming in pretty
1:03:49
fast and furious,
1:03:50
and we were having a good conversation.
1:03:53
But I thank you all for being here.
1:03:55
Love you guys to death as well.
1:03:57
And we'll see everybody next
1:03:58
time on Clydesdale Media Podcast.
1:04:01
Bye, guys.