Latest / Clydesdale Media Podcast / Justin Cotler | The Coaches of the 2024 CrossFit Games

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Justin Cotler | The Coaches of the 2024 CrossFit Games · Clydesdale Media Podcast

• 0:11
  Hey, hey, still.
• 0:12
  Let's go.
• 0:14
  I was born a killer.
• 0:15
  I was meant to win.
• 0:16
  I am down and willing,
• 0:17
  so I will find a way.
• 0:19
  It took a minute,
• 0:19
  now it didn't happen right away.
• 0:21
  When it get hot in the kitchen,
• 0:23
  you decide to stay.
• 0:24
  That's how it winners me.
• 0:25
  Stick a fork in
• 0:34
  what's going on everybody
• 0:36
  welcome to the Clydesdale
• 0:37
  media podcast my name is
• 0:39
  Scott Switzer I'm the
• 0:39
  Clydesdale that man beside
• 0:41
  me is none other than
• 0:43
  coaching legend Justin
• 0:45
  Collar what's going on how
• 0:47
  are you bud I'm good so
• 0:50
  it's funny when I do these
• 0:51
  things I uh I I run
• 0:54
  interviews through my head
• 0:56
  Almost like when I was a swimmer,
• 0:58
  I would run through a race
• 1:00
  in my head before I did it.
• 1:01
  So whenever I do an interview,
• 1:02
  I'm running things through my head.
• 1:04
  Last night,
• 1:04
  I'm watching America's Got Talent.
• 1:07
  Okay.
• 1:07
  At the end of the show,
• 1:08
  a little nine-year-old girl came on,
• 1:11
  and she said that her
• 1:13
  influences were Aretha Franklin,
• 1:15
  Whitney Houston, and Tina Turner.
• 1:17
  Wow.
• 1:18
  Nine years old.
• 1:18
  Oh, my gosh.
• 1:19
  Does she know Justin Kotler?
• 1:21
  She's got cool parents, apparently.
• 1:24
  That's awesome.
• 1:25
  If you have not seen this girl perform,
• 1:27
  she was the last performer of the night.
• 1:31
  Really?
• 1:33
  She did Tina Turner almost
• 1:36
  as good as Tina.
• 1:37
  Okay.
• 1:38
  At nine years old.
• 1:39
  We'll have to watch it.
• 1:41
  It was freaky.
• 1:43
  That's awesome.
• 1:45
  What blew me away is,
• 1:47
  unless you have cool parents,
• 1:49
  how does a nine-year-old
• 1:50
  know Tina Turner?
• 1:52
  yeah you'd have to think
• 1:53
  that that's the parental
• 1:55
  influence and that's great
• 1:57
  I mean you know I i think I
• 2:00
  think that I mean for me
• 2:02
  and my kids like it's funny
• 2:03
  they just have a vast
• 2:04
  repertoire of things
• 2:05
  they're listening to in the
• 2:06
  car you know and it's cool
• 2:08
  because my you know both of
• 2:11
  them actually will be like
• 2:12
  hey you know what are some
• 2:13
  of your favorite songs and
• 2:14
  then I'll play them and
• 2:16
  It's pretty cool.
• 2:17
  It's always fun, too,
• 2:18
  when my daughter wants to listen to me,
• 2:21
  which is kind of cool.
• 2:23
  She'll be like, is that really you?
• 2:24
  Like, yeah, it is.
• 2:26
  I love having music
• 2:28
  conversations with you.
• 2:29
  And to me,
• 2:30
  Tina Turner is one of the most
• 2:32
  underrated.
• 2:33
  100%.
• 2:34
  In the 80s, when I was growing up,
• 2:36
  she was the shit.
• 2:37
  Yeah.
• 2:38
  yeah well it's crazy people
• 2:40
  don't you know they most
• 2:41
  people know her especially
• 2:43
  now right like specifically
• 2:45
  from the 80s but obviously
• 2:47
  I can tina from years ago I
• 2:49
  mean she was absolutely
• 2:50
  incredible you know and
• 2:51
  then we all know what
• 2:52
  happened there and in years
• 2:54
  of abuse etc but I mean the
• 2:56
  music was amazing and and
• 2:58
  then she completely changed
• 2:59
  her vibe and you know kind
• 3:01
  of kind of went more pop
• 3:03
  rock and roll and was
• 3:04
  amazing at that too you
• 3:05
  know yeah she was a hell of an artist
• 3:07
  She was still one of my
• 3:09
  favorites to this day and
• 3:10
  sad that she's gone now, but man,
• 3:13
  nobody came in at a stage like that.
• 3:14
  Yeah, no, she was amazing.
• 3:18
  Later in life,
• 3:18
  she was still amazing and
• 3:19
  incredible physique.
• 3:21
  And yeah, it's awesome.
• 3:23
  Yeah, amazing.
• 3:24
  Well,
• 3:26
  we'll let music take us a sidetrack
• 3:28
  here for a little bit and
• 3:30
  get into some CrossFit stuff.
• 3:33
  Cool.
• 3:33
  Coach Sir Moose.
• 3:35
  Justin was so gracious when
• 3:36
  my wife and I introduced
• 3:37
  ourselves to him outside
• 3:39
  our hotel after the 2022
• 3:41
  MAAC semifinal in Knoxville.
• 3:43
  Still have the photo.
• 3:44
  Cool.
• 3:46
  That's how Justin is, man.
• 3:47
  I try.
• 3:48
  He is.
• 3:50
  Yeah.
• 3:51
  I think sometimes you get
• 3:53
  mislabeled as this like
• 3:56
  madman because of the way
• 3:57
  you cheer on the sidelines,
• 3:59
  how emotional you get when
• 4:00
  your athletes are on the floor.
• 4:01
  Yeah.
• 4:02
  but like if people need to
• 4:04
  know you away from that
• 4:07
  three minutes of that event
• 4:08
  or that 10 minutes of that event,
• 4:10
  that is not you at all.
• 4:11
  No, no.
• 4:13
  Yeah.
• 4:13
  I think the, just,
• 4:15
  I think it's fun for the,
• 4:17
  I think it's fun.
• 4:18
  Right.
• 4:19
  But content wise and people catch me,
• 4:21
  you know,
• 4:22
  I'm passionate and I'm intense
• 4:24
  in that moment, obviously.
• 4:25
  And, you know,
• 4:26
  I kind of wear my emotions
• 4:27
  on my sleeve and,
• 4:28
  So I think that's what people see.
• 4:31
  I'm generally not like that.
• 4:33
  You know,
• 4:33
  I'm actually pretty mild mannered
• 4:35
  and mild tempered, like on a daily basis.
• 4:39
  But I do get fired up, obviously,
• 4:41
  about things I'm passionate about.
• 4:43
  And, you know, obviously,
• 4:44
  when I'm cheering for my crew, you know,
• 4:47
  or coaching, et cetera,
• 4:49
  I can get fired up.
• 4:50
  Obviously, there was that.
• 4:52
  I had no idea that anyone was videoing it,
• 4:55
  but from quarterfinals
• 4:57
  where Alex was jumping,
• 4:58
  doing burpee box jump overs
• 5:00
  and they caught me at the
• 5:01
  end of that workout.
• 5:03
  And it's really funny too,
• 5:04
  because we just didn't even
• 5:05
  know what good times were at that time.
• 5:08
  And her time ended up being good,
• 5:09
  but it wasn't like...
• 5:11
  incredible right and and uh
• 5:13
  but but in the in our gym
• 5:15
  it was she was just like
• 5:16
  smashed everyone and I just
• 5:17
  like I just thought it was
• 5:19
  this phenomenal time and
• 5:21
  and also it's just like
• 5:22
  traditionally not a workout
• 5:23
  that I would necessarily
• 5:24
  say would be phenomenal for
• 5:25
  her so like you know she
• 5:27
  crushed it and I and then
• 5:29
  of course like next thing
• 5:30
  you know that that went
• 5:31
  viral and everyone's like
• 5:32
  this guy's crazy it's like
• 5:34
  I'm not normally like but
• 5:36
  yeah you know it's okay
• 5:38
  What I hate about
• 5:40
  quarterfinals is generally
• 5:42
  quarterfinals are programmed very well.
• 5:46
  Because it has to be.
• 5:48
  When you're threading from a
• 5:50
  large 25% now to 40
• 5:51
  athletes per region...
• 5:56
  you you it better be
• 5:58
  balanced it better be
• 5:59
  well-rounded and to get the
• 6:01
  people there I thought they
• 6:03
  it had some of the coolest
• 6:04
  events this year and we
• 6:06
  never get to see it because
• 6:07
  it's online yeah I know and
• 6:10
  it also is frustrating to
• 6:11
  me that that there should
• 6:13
  be no stage of the season
• 6:14
  that athletes don't get
• 6:15
  paid uh and the fact that
• 6:18
  that there's no prize purse
• 6:19
  for quarterfinals
• 6:21
  is ridiculous.
• 6:22
  I mean, it just,
• 6:23
  it doesn't make any sense whatsoever.
• 6:24
  You're,
• 6:26
  you're having them do perhaps the
• 6:28
  most important stage of,
• 6:30
  of the year where you're,
• 6:31
  you're cutting this massive
• 6:32
  field down and,
• 6:35
  and there's no prize purse.
• 6:36
  I mean, that's just, you know, I could go.
• 6:39
  We're going to get into a
• 6:40
  little bit of the season
• 6:41
  structure and some of that
• 6:42
  stuff later in this show.
• 6:44
  Yeah.
• 6:45
  But I,
• 6:47
  I would be irresponsible if I didn't
• 6:49
  bring this up.
• 6:50
  Yeah, of course.
• 6:51
  You are a magnet for stuff
• 6:54
  happening a month out of the games.
• 6:56
  Yeah, it just seems to be that way, huh?
• 6:59
  I know.
• 6:59
  It's crazy.
• 7:01
  Your right-hand man,
• 7:02
  the head of programming, Kiefer,
• 7:05
  and I can never get his last name, Lamy?
• 7:08
  It's Lamy.
• 7:08
  Lamy?
• 7:08
  Lamy.
• 7:08
  Like lamb?
• 7:10
  Yeah, Lamy.
• 7:15
  So Kiefer Lamy took a job
• 7:17
  with Proven and left you a week ago,
• 7:20
  two weeks ago now?
• 7:22
  And then- Yeah, actually, I mean,
• 7:24
  I knew about it.
• 7:26
  I found out about it maybe
• 7:30
  five days after the North America East.
• 7:38
  Yeah, that's when he told me.
• 7:39
  So I've known for a little bit.
• 7:41
  The Proven announcement was
• 7:43
  a few weeks after.
• 7:44
  Okay.
• 7:46
  Yeah.
• 7:46
  But yeah,
• 7:48
  I've known now it's been probably,
• 7:51
  it's been a month, I would say.
• 7:52
  Yeah.
• 7:54
  So when you get news like that,
• 7:57
  and I've seen you at semifinals,
• 7:58
  so correct me if anything
• 8:00
  like this has changed.
• 8:01
  Yeah, sure.
• 8:02
  You tag team those things, right?
• 8:05
  You have athletes, like hypothetically,
• 8:07
  not even hypothetically,
• 8:08
  you have Ricky and you have Alex.
• 8:10
  You're going to go to the games.
• 8:11
  Yeah.
• 8:12
  Ricky may be on the floor as
• 8:13
  Alex needs warmed up or vice versa,
• 8:16
  right?
• 8:17
  And so it almost takes two
• 8:18
  coaches to do that.
• 8:20
  Yeah, in the last couple of years,
• 8:22
  we've had more than two coaches,
• 8:23
  you know.
• 8:25
  And I think things have evolved.
• 8:27
  I think, you know,
• 8:28
  when things obviously when
• 8:29
  we first started and I was coaching,
• 8:32
  you know,
• 8:32
  pretty much all the games
• 8:33
  athletes and then Kiefer
• 8:36
  would assist and help where he needed to.
• 8:39
  And then obviously as he's
• 8:40
  evolved as a coach and
• 8:41
  taking more
• 8:42
  responsibilities and started
• 8:43
  coaching games athletes, you know,
• 8:46
  you know, there was less of the, of,
• 8:49
  I would say of kind of the
• 8:51
  collaboration at events
• 8:52
  because we were responsible
• 8:54
  for our own athletes.
• 8:55
  Um, you know, and, and obviously, you know,
• 8:58
  when that happens,
• 8:59
  then we're looking to say
• 9:01
  like Brendan or Casey or
• 9:03
  someone else to help with
• 9:04
  those other things or in Ricky's case,
• 9:06
  Benny, right.
• 9:07
  Cause, and, and,
• 9:08
  and Benny is an underdogs coach as well.
• 9:10
  Uh,
• 9:11
  So more recently,
• 9:13
  like at the games last year,
• 9:15
  Kiefer had Bailey.
• 9:18
  And then at Rogue,
• 9:20
  I had Alex and Ricky and he had Bailey.
• 9:22
  And then obviously at semifinals this year,
• 9:24
  he had Kyra and he had the team.
• 9:30
  There was one of the teams
• 9:31
  that he was coaching.
• 9:32
  And then he also had Kendall,
• 9:34
  who was a teen ager that
• 9:37
  had made the semis.
• 9:39
  And then I had Alex and then
• 9:41
  the other team.
• 9:42
  So we kind of split responsibilities.
• 9:45
  But I would say that more recently,
• 9:47
  just because of the amount of athletes,
• 9:50
  the number of athletes that we have,
• 9:52
  we were more responsible
• 9:55
  specifically for those athletes.
• 9:57
  In the past, absolutely,
• 9:59
  there was a ton of collaboration.
• 10:01
  But as he kind of started
• 10:03
  coaching more and more elite athletes,
• 10:08
  there was less of that
• 10:09
  collaboration during competition.
• 10:11
  And it was more kind of exclusive.
• 10:13
  We were exclusive to our athletes.
• 10:16
  So when something like this happens,
• 10:18
  how quickly do you have to
• 10:19
  act and find his replacement?
• 10:22
  And was Casey the immediate choice?
• 10:27
  Yeah, Casey was the immediate choice.
• 10:29
  I mean, that was without question,
• 10:31
  you know, that Casey, first of all,
• 10:34
  I mean, aside from, you know,
• 10:35
  everybody knows him is, I mean,
• 10:37
  he's one of the best
• 10:38
  CrossFit athletes in the world, you know,
• 10:40
  obviously is a three time games champion.
• 10:42
  And, you know,
• 10:43
  he's won a ton of other competitions,
• 10:45
  massive competitions, big competitions.
• 10:48
  But just a phenomenal coach,
• 10:51
  great human being.
• 10:52
  He's one of the coaches
• 10:54
  who's been with us the longest.
• 10:55
  Like when I started to bring
• 10:59
  on remote coaches,
• 11:01
  he was one of the first
• 11:02
  guys that I interviewed and
• 11:04
  just so impressed with him
• 11:05
  and his vast knowledge of
• 11:08
  programming and sport in general.
• 11:11
  And then obviously his
• 11:12
  competitive experience
• 11:16
  in the sport, you know, is, is, is pretty,
• 11:19
  you know, unrivaled and, and then, uh,
• 11:22
  you know, he's just a,
• 11:23
  he's just a good dude.
• 11:24
  Um, so it was kind of a no brainer.
• 11:26
  Uh, it was a,
• 11:27
  it was a natural progression.
• 11:28
  Um,
• 11:29
  And, uh, you know,
• 11:30
  he's been helping out with, with, uh,
• 11:33
  you know, some of the,
• 11:34
  I would say some of the programming, um,
• 11:36
  you know,
• 11:37
  that we've been doing and also
• 11:38
  kind of came up with some
• 11:40
  like testing blocks and things like that.
• 11:42
  So, you know, he,
• 11:43
  he's great at what he does.
• 11:44
  And, and honestly, like,
• 11:46
  I think that part of it
• 11:48
  will be a very seamless transition.
• 11:49
  Um,
• 11:52
  So yeah, when I was told,
• 11:55
  that was pretty much the
• 11:57
  next call that I made right
• 11:59
  away was just to make sure,
• 12:00
  because we want to make
• 12:01
  sure that we're serving our
• 12:04
  community the way that they
• 12:06
  deserve to be.
• 12:06
  And I think it's been a
• 12:08
  seamless transition.
• 12:09
  I don't think unless there was,
• 12:12
  aside from the announcement,
• 12:13
  I don't think anyone would know.
• 12:16
  And the truth is, this is for us now.
• 12:18
  It's a great time to reset
• 12:21
  and just create even more
• 12:23
  continuity in the online
• 12:25
  programming and just
• 12:28
  tighten the ship a little bit, I think.
• 12:29
  It's always when these
• 12:31
  things tend to happen,
• 12:32
  that's what you do.
• 12:34
  You kind of look within and
• 12:37
  just make sure that you're
• 12:39
  doing the best that you can.
• 12:41
  for your people and then
• 12:42
  obviously for your
• 12:43
  community uh because we you
• 12:45
  know we have a wide-ranging
• 12:46
  community of of athletes
• 12:48
  and um you know coaches all
• 12:51
  over the world so you know
• 12:52
  it's it's important that uh
• 12:54
  that we make sure everybody
• 12:56
  is is uh thriving yeah
• 12:58
  casey's I mean one of the
• 13:00
  best dudes I've ever met in
• 13:02
  my life like yeah he's just
• 13:05
  Yeah.
• 13:05
  Yeah.
• 13:06
  I don't aces, I guess is the best record.
• 13:07
  Yeah.
• 13:08
  It's just as solid as, as you know,
• 13:10
  what you see is what you get.
• 13:11
  He's just an awesome dude.
• 13:13
  So.
• 13:15
  It's great to have consistency,
• 13:17
  but it's also great to get
• 13:18
  fresh eyes on something.
• 13:20
  And so how has that helped
• 13:25
  the program having Casey
• 13:27
  come in and kind of get
• 13:28
  some fresh eyes on things?
• 13:30
  And the follow-up to that is,
• 13:31
  is he staying in Illinois
• 13:33
  or is he going to dabble in
• 13:34
  Vegas a little bit?
• 13:35
  Yeah.
• 13:36
  So I think what it does
• 13:38
  really is it's just –
• 13:41
  it's been good for us as a group, you know,
• 13:44
  because it's essentially been like, okay,
• 13:46
  you know, myself, Casey, Colette, Brandon,
• 13:49
  like, you know, the crew, you know, just,
• 13:50
  you know,
• 13:53
  really communicating a ton and being like,
• 13:56
  okay,
• 13:56
  this is what we want to make sure
• 13:58
  happens.
• 13:59
  And this is what we want to
• 14:00
  make sure we're providing.
• 14:04
  So I think in general,
• 14:05
  it's just really good.
• 14:07
  Like I said,
• 14:07
  it's almost like it kind of
• 14:09
  lights a little fire under
• 14:10
  your ass just to make sure
• 14:11
  that things are running
• 14:13
  properly and that you're
• 14:15
  providing what you need to
• 14:17
  the best product possible.
• 14:19
  Um, and as far as, you know,
• 14:21
  we haven't really touched on that.
• 14:23
  I mean,
• 14:23
  obviously a lot's been going on and
• 14:24
  the games is coming up, et cetera.
• 14:26
  Um, so, you know,
• 14:28
  Casey generally gets out
• 14:29
  here a couple of times a year, uh,
• 14:31
  you know, in the past, but, uh, you know,
• 14:33
  that might change and we might,
• 14:35
  but he's got a family too, you know,
• 14:36
  so that's, that's a little bit different.
• 14:38
  It's always a little bit
• 14:39
  different when you add kids in the mix,
• 14:40
  you know?
• 14:42
  So he's got a family and
• 14:43
  ultimately like whatever is
• 14:45
  best for him is ultimately
• 14:47
  what I want to do.
• 14:47
  But it's interesting.
• 14:49
  It really –
• 14:54
  you know,
• 14:54
  I feel like I have had the
• 14:57
  experience now over the
• 14:59
  last several years since we
• 15:01
  started underdogs, you know,
• 15:02
  where we went from small
• 15:04
  camp to big camp back to
• 15:05
  now kind of smaller camp.
• 15:07
  And so I've been able to kind of, you know,
• 15:10
  experience everything.
• 15:12
  And, and I have a pretty good idea of,
• 15:14
  of exactly what I want.
• 15:16
  Um, you know, and, and obviously, um,
• 15:20
  You know,
• 15:21
  this situation was a surprise and,
• 15:26
  you know, I mean, but it is what it is.
• 15:28
  And now you've got to, you know,
• 15:30
  you got to move forward.
• 15:31
  You got to put your big boy
• 15:32
  pants on and make sure that
• 15:34
  everybody is getting what they need.
• 15:36
  And obviously,
• 15:37
  like our goal is to continue to grow,
• 15:40
  right?
• 15:42
  the brand and continue to,
• 15:45
  but I'd say for our in-house crew, um,
• 15:48
  you know, I, I,
• 15:49
  I think we'll probably
• 15:50
  tighten things up and, and, you know,
• 15:52
  it'll be a,
• 15:53
  a bit more exclusive in-house.
• 15:55
  Um, just, you know, I just, I've, I've,
• 15:59
  I've had it both ways in-house, you know,
• 16:02
  and, and I, I really like, um,
• 16:05
  a little bit smaller in-house camp.
• 16:07
  Um,
• 16:08
  I just think it's more manageable and,
• 16:10
  and I think the athletes
• 16:11
  respond a little bit better.
• 16:12
  I just think it can get a
• 16:13
  little bit crazy if you've
• 16:14
  got a ton of athletes and, you know,
• 16:16
  so that,
• 16:17
  and neither one is right or wrong per se.
• 16:20
  I just think that, you know,
• 16:23
  kind of knowing where we
• 16:24
  are now and being able to
• 16:26
  really kind of keep it tight and,
• 16:28
  and then have people come
• 16:29
  and visit and things like that,
• 16:30
  which are great.
• 16:32
  But, but I, you know,
• 16:33
  I would say right now I'm
• 16:34
  leaning more towards that.
• 16:37
  So this is my last question
• 16:38
  about this situation.
• 16:39
  Cause again, I, I don't,
• 16:41
  if there wasn't a big announcement,
• 16:42
  I don't think anybody would even know.
• 16:44
  Yeah.
• 16:44
  Right.
• 16:45
  And, and just like you said, but yeah,
• 16:47
  what I want to say, ask is, you know,
• 16:50
  a couple of years ago when
• 16:51
  we were out there,
• 16:53
  there was a thought that
• 16:54
  you were going to own your
• 16:55
  own affiliate and kind of
• 16:57
  open your own camp.
• 16:58
  And then you kind of went
• 16:59
  away from that model.
• 17:01
  Yep.
• 17:01
  You're, you're hanging out at camp Rhino.
• 17:04
  Well,
• 17:06
  From what I've heard, Kiefer isn't moving.
• 17:08
  So is there anything that's
• 17:11
  going to be put in place or
• 17:12
  a change of scenery or
• 17:14
  anything like that to kind of avoid that?
• 17:18
  Yeah, so there already has been.
• 17:20
  Camp Rhino has two locations.
• 17:22
  Camp Rhino has a south
• 17:23
  location and a north location.
• 17:26
  we were already spending
• 17:28
  time kind of split because
• 17:29
  alex lives two minutes from
• 17:31
  the north location and 40
• 17:32
  minutes from the south
• 17:33
  location um and the south
• 17:35
  location tends to be the
• 17:36
  it's the bigger one and
• 17:37
  it's where you know most of
• 17:38
  the people are training um
• 17:41
  so we have you know
• 17:43
  basically decided like
• 17:44
  ricky alex and you know a
• 17:46
  few of the you know a few
• 17:47
  others um that we're going
• 17:51
  to train pretty much exclusively up north
• 17:55
  I just think it's smoother that way.
• 18:02
  And I think that ultimately
• 18:06
  just a little bit less tension,
• 18:07
  a little less weirdness.
• 18:10
  Listen, I wish Kiefer the best.
• 18:13
  but he, you know,
• 18:14
  he went to one of our
• 18:15
  biggest competitors and I
• 18:16
  don't necessarily want to
• 18:17
  be in the same gym as, as,
• 18:19
  as someone who's, you know, maybe feeding,
• 18:22
  uh, results and times and things to,
• 18:24
  to other people.
• 18:25
  And, you know, that, then that's,
• 18:26
  and I'm sure he feels the same way.
• 18:28
  So, you know, the way,
• 18:29
  the way that I feel about
• 18:31
  it is ultimately like, you know, it, it,
• 18:34
  it seems like, uh,
• 18:36
  It seems like a better situation that way.
• 18:40
  We're not stepping on any
• 18:41
  toes and there's no tension at all.
• 18:44
  And so ultimately, you know,
• 18:46
  this is is and the gym is phenomenal.
• 18:49
  Like north location is great.
• 18:52
  Alex is, you know,
• 18:53
  happy because it's a couple
• 18:54
  of minutes from her house.
• 18:55
  Obviously, Ricky is staying with her.
• 18:57
  So it's incredibly convenient.
• 18:59
  And what's good for me is
• 19:00
  I'm actually like right between the two.
• 19:02
  So I'm about 20 minutes from from north,
• 19:04
  20 minutes from south.
• 19:05
  So it doesn't really matter.
• 19:07
  And we owned a lot of the
• 19:08
  equipment that was in South,
• 19:10
  a lot of the pig and the
• 19:14
  handstand ramps and some
• 19:15
  machines and things like that.
• 19:16
  So it just brought some of
• 19:17
  those things over, things that we need.
• 19:20
  And then we'll see.
• 19:21
  We'll see how it shakes out
• 19:22
  after the games.
• 19:22
  Obviously,
• 19:23
  I'd love to have access to both gyms.
• 19:25
  I'm not sure exactly what
• 19:28
  their plan is over there,
• 19:30
  but I have a great
• 19:30
  relationship with the owners there.
• 19:32
  You know, they're massively team Alex,
• 19:34
  which is awesome because
• 19:35
  she's the coach for them.
• 19:36
  And, you know,
• 19:37
  so so they're obviously big
• 19:39
  time in her corner and and
• 19:41
  they're just great people.
• 19:42
  And I think they appreciate
• 19:44
  us being there.
• 19:44
  We appreciate them.
• 19:45
  And it's been a very
• 19:47
  symbiotic relationship.
• 19:49
  And I think it will continue to be so.
• 19:51
  Um, so yeah, I mean,
• 19:53
  that's kind of the way that it's been, um,
• 19:55
  over the last, uh, week or so that,
• 19:58
  you know, since we,
• 19:59
  since we started to kind of
• 20:00
  migrate some stuff over, um, and, uh,
• 20:03
  and yeah, so that's what we'll do.
• 20:05
  We'll, we'll,
• 20:05
  we'll train there for the games and.
• 20:08
  You know, because ultimately, I mean,
• 20:10
  the way that I look at it is, you know,
• 20:11
  underdogs is Las Vegas.
• 20:14
  You know,
• 20:14
  that's just the way that I see it.
• 20:16
  And so ultimately, like, you know,
• 20:18
  do whatever you want over there.
• 20:19
  That's totally cool.
• 20:20
  But yeah,
• 20:21
  I don't necessarily have to be a
• 20:22
  part of it.
• 20:23
  So that's the way I look at it.
• 20:25
  There you go.
• 20:26
  Yeah.
• 20:27
  Well, cool.
• 20:28
  Well, I want to move on to your athletes.
• 20:30
  We got the games coming up a pretty.
• 20:34
  Actually, I got I got so many comments.
• 20:37
  Junior Reed, we are team Alex.
• 20:39
  Me too.
• 20:42
  Sarah Cooper,
• 20:43
  please don't let Ricky do
• 20:44
  anything in the next month
• 20:45
  where he can hurt himself
• 20:46
  so he can show up for the games healthy.
• 20:49
  Sarah, yeah.
• 20:50
  Most of the biking is being
• 20:51
  done on a bike or an echo bike.
• 20:55
  We'll have to do a couple of
• 20:56
  road bike pieces, he and Alex,
• 20:58
  but it'll be on flat ground
• 21:00
  on the road and it'll be
• 21:01
  around their house.
• 21:03
  Um,
• 21:04
  I don't necessarily think we're going
• 21:05
  to see that at the games.
• 21:06
  I just don't know that
• 21:07
  they're going to be able to do that with,
• 21:09
  you know, the, the heat and, uh, um,
• 21:12
  you know, terrain.
• 21:12
  I mean, it would be great if they did,
• 21:14
  obviously it, it,
• 21:15
  Ricky usually wins those events,
• 21:17
  but I just don't, you know,
• 21:19
  he's so good on a bike already.
• 21:21
  He doesn't have to spend a
• 21:21
  lot of time on a bike.
• 21:23
  So we'll probably do one or
• 21:24
  two of those pieces.
• 21:25
  What do you take from Dave
• 21:27
  interviews where he keeps
• 21:28
  asking people if they,
• 21:29
  if they like cycling in the games?
• 21:33
  You know, Dave,
• 21:34
  he likes to throw people off.
• 21:36
  I don't take what he says.
• 21:38
  You know, I think Dave is very,
• 21:40
  he plays a lot of mental warfare.
• 21:42
  You know, he throws you off.
• 21:44
  He does this, does that.
• 21:45
  I mean, you listen to it.
• 21:46
  And if it's there, great.
• 21:48
  But I, you know, you know, let's be honest,
• 21:55
  you know, unless they really,
• 21:57
  and I just don't see it happening.
• 22:00
  I think you're going to see
• 22:01
  a significantly less amount
• 22:03
  of outdoor workouts.
• 22:04
  You have to.
• 22:05
  I mean,
• 22:06
  just for the safety of the athletes,
• 22:09
  the heat index down there is wild.
• 22:12
  Like you look at it and, you know, I mean,
• 22:14
  you're talking about, you know,
• 22:15
  it's well over 100 degrees, you know,
• 22:18
  and the humidity is outrageous.
• 22:21
  I do agree with you.
• 22:21
  Yeah.
• 22:22
  Every time I think that,
• 22:23
  I think they made them run
• 22:26
  in 117 degrees in Vegas at
• 22:28
  the West coast classic.
• 22:29
  Yeah, that's true.
• 22:31
  One workout here, one workout there.
• 22:33
  And I don't think it had, I mean,
• 22:36
  some people wilted in the heat.
• 22:37
  I will say that,
• 22:38
  but the people who were strong did well.
• 22:42
  Yes.
• 22:42
  And historically, you know, listen,
• 22:45
  historically,
• 22:46
  it's probably about a 50-50
• 22:47
  split indoor-outdoor or
• 22:48
  maybe even a little bit more outdoor,
• 22:50
  but there's no way that's
• 22:52
  going to happen.
• 22:53
  But even if it's 20%, you know, I mean,
• 22:55
  that makes a difference.
• 22:56
  I mean, if you've got, you know,
• 22:58
  if you've got 12 to 15
• 23:00
  events and we're doing two
• 23:01
  or three of them outdoors,
• 23:03
  that makes a big difference, you know?
• 23:04
  So you have to do some heat prepping.
• 23:08
  And boy, oh boy,
• 23:09
  I don't know if you've looked at the
• 23:11
  at the temperatures in Vegas right now,
• 23:13
  but man, it is freaking brutal here.
• 23:16
  Like it's like walking
• 23:17
  outside into an oven.
• 23:18
  I don't remember it ever being this hot.
• 23:20
  Maybe I'm just getting older.
• 23:22
  It's brutal outside right now.
• 23:24
  So Ricky got off a plane.
• 23:25
  Cause you know, in Australia it's winter.
• 23:27
  He got off a plane on Monday and he,
• 23:29
  the first thing he said to me, he's like,
• 23:30
  bro, this is, this is so hot.
• 23:33
  I'm like, yeah, get ready, baby.
• 23:35
  Yeah.
• 23:36
  Yeah.
• 23:38
  I saw a yellow this morning
• 23:39
  on Savan and he said the
• 23:40
  heat to acclimate to the heat.
• 23:42
  He puts his biker in the sauna.
• 23:45
  that and that's what I'm
• 23:46
  doing to just try to get
• 23:47
  acclimated to the heat and
• 23:49
  do some workouts yeah so I
• 23:52
  thought that was really
• 23:53
  then you don't have the sun
• 23:53
  on you that's a little
• 23:54
  different because the sun
• 23:56
  beating down on you is is
• 23:58
  is a different animal it
• 23:59
  can be hot but if the sun's
• 24:00
  not beating on you it's not
• 24:01
  quite and then you you add
• 24:02
  that in and it's it's a
• 24:04
  it's a different animal
• 24:05
  completely and the sun here
• 24:06
  is just brutal so yeah so I
• 24:11
  want to talk about ricky and alex yeah
• 24:14
  you know,
• 24:16
  you have two athletes that have
• 24:19
  the potential to both podium.
• 24:22
  Yeah.
• 24:23
  Some might even say potential to win.
• 24:25
  Maybe not this year.
• 24:26
  Maybe Ricky, definitely this year.
• 24:29
  I think,
• 24:30
  I think this is the deepest men's field.
• 24:31
  We've, I put that poll question out today,
• 24:33
  the deepest men's field we've ever seen.
• 24:35
  Agreed.
• 24:36
  Anybody from like one to eight could win.
• 24:38
  I agree.
• 24:40
  Um,
• 24:41
  And then you have Alex who, you know,
• 24:43
  if T is not there,
• 24:44
  she has a shot as anybody.
• 24:47
  Yeah.
• 24:47
  I agree with that.
• 24:48
  So how excited are you to
• 24:49
  take these two studs to the
• 24:53
  games in a couple of weeks?
• 24:55
  Yeah, it's, it's an incredible,
• 24:57
  I'm just lucky.
• 24:59
  I feel like, you know,
• 25:01
  I feel like very blessed and,
• 25:04
  and you know,
• 25:05
  aside from them just being great athletes,
• 25:07
  they're just,
• 25:08
  they're just such cool people.
• 25:10
  And, and,
• 25:12
  My relationship with them is so special,
• 25:14
  and I feel like as I mature
• 25:18
  and evolve as a coach,
• 25:20
  you cherish those
• 25:24
  relationships that you have
• 25:26
  with your athletes,
• 25:27
  especially the ones that
• 25:29
  really just become family.
• 25:32
  Um, you know, and, and both of them,
• 25:34
  Alex and Ricky, you know, um,
• 25:36
  that's the way our relationship is,
• 25:38
  you know, and it's, it's easy and,
• 25:40
  and it's, uh, you know, I,
• 25:42
  I just think it's very special.
• 25:44
  So I think that means even more when you,
• 25:46
  when you look at it that way, um,
• 25:48
  cause you just,
• 25:49
  you like to see good things
• 25:50
  happen to good people.
• 25:52
  Um, and, and so,
• 25:54
  and I consider both of them
• 25:55
  just incredibly good people.
• 25:58
  But yeah, it's exciting, man.
• 26:00
  It's exciting and it's also,
• 26:02
  I would say it's a bit
• 26:03
  stressful because you have expectations.
• 26:08
  You wanna be able to help
• 26:10
  them achieve their goals
• 26:13
  and live up to those expectations.
• 26:15
  And so obviously,
• 26:17
  there's a bit of pressure,
• 26:18
  but pressure is a privilege, right?
• 26:20
  I mean, it really is.
• 26:23
  If there are expectations and pressure,
• 26:24
  that means you're doing something right.
• 26:27
  So ultimately for the two of them,
• 26:28
  we're just,
• 26:30
  we're just trying to prep them
• 26:31
  the best we can.
• 26:31
  I think more than ever, you know,
• 26:35
  I'm extremely conscious of,
• 26:37
  of everything that they're doing,
• 26:39
  like every single day,
• 26:41
  what we're doing programming wise,
• 26:43
  volume wise, recovery wise.
• 26:46
  You know,
• 26:46
  it's just so important leading up
• 26:48
  to the games to go into the
• 26:49
  games as close to 100%, you know,
• 26:53
  physically and mentally
• 26:54
  prepared as possible.
• 26:56
  If you go in and you've got
• 26:57
  a little shoulder thing
• 26:58
  going on or you've got a
• 26:59
  little back thing or, you know...
• 27:01
  Those things tend to be
• 27:03
  exacerbated so much the
• 27:04
  games because of the volume
• 27:06
  because of the, you know,
• 27:07
  the lack of sleep schedule, you know,
• 27:10
  sometimes Dave will wake
• 27:11
  them up at three in the
• 27:11
  morning and you don't know what they're,
• 27:13
  you know, it's just,
• 27:14
  it's just things that you
• 27:15
  have to be prepped for.
• 27:16
  So,
• 27:17
  You've got to be ready
• 27:19
  physically and mentally,
• 27:20
  and you've got to be as
• 27:21
  healthy as humanly possible.
• 27:23
  So everybody talks about games training,
• 27:25
  games training.
• 27:26
  I think it's very easy to go
• 27:29
  overboard with games training.
• 27:30
  You have to ride the line.
• 27:31
  You have to prepare for volume,
• 27:33
  but you've got to do it
• 27:34
  intelligently because you
• 27:35
  can't just do volume for volume's sake.
• 27:37
  There has to be intention in
• 27:38
  every single thing that you're doing.
• 27:42
  And that's why it's a
• 27:44
  nerve-wracking time for me
• 27:46
  because I go over it over
• 27:49
  and over and over.
• 27:50
  And I'm tweaking and
• 27:52
  constantly just making sure
• 27:53
  that I'm completely happy
• 27:55
  with everything that
• 27:56
  they're getting and
• 27:57
  everything that they're doing.
• 27:59
  But yeah, I mean,
• 28:01
  I couldn't be happier with
• 28:03
  who I'm going to be there with.
• 28:06
  And I think we both have a
• 28:08
  little extra time.
• 28:09
  motivation after the last couple of weeks,
• 28:12
  to be honest, which is great.
• 28:13
  I mean, I'll take it.
• 28:15
  Any,
• 28:15
  any little thing that you can kind of
• 28:18
  put a little chip right up here.
• 28:19
  I, I always say going into competition,
• 28:21
  ain't nothing wrong with that.
• 28:22
  So, you know,
• 28:24
  Yeah,
• 28:26
  I lived on chips when I was an athlete.
• 28:29
  But you bring up an
• 28:32
  interesting point for me
• 28:33
  because back in the Froning, Kalipa days,
• 28:39
  it was volume for volume's sake.
• 28:41
  Work out all day, get ready.
• 28:43
  And how has coaching changed
• 28:47
  in the last five years
• 28:49
  to mitigate the injuries at the games,
• 28:52
  to mitigate going in with a bum shoulder?
• 28:54
  Yeah,
• 28:57
  I think you could get away with that
• 28:59
  for a little while.
• 29:00
  And I think back in the day,
• 29:06
  And maybe, you know,
• 29:07
  I feel like there's
• 29:08
  probably still a few
• 29:08
  athletes out there that train that way,
• 29:11
  you know, and just do, you know,
• 29:12
  kind of classic CrossFit all the time.
• 29:16
  But I think you see now, you know,
• 29:19
  especially with kind of like the more,
• 29:21
  I would say,
• 29:22
  and it's crazy to think it's
• 29:23
  only 10 years ago.
• 29:24
  I mean, you know,
• 29:25
  like say the modern day CrossFit athlete,
• 29:28
  like what we've seen
• 29:29
  probably in the last six years.
• 29:30
  Yeah.
• 29:34
  maybe,
• 29:34
  maybe a little longer than six years, but,
• 29:36
  but really I would say that, I mean,
• 29:38
  you know, there's,
• 29:39
  there's so you're seeing
• 29:43
  very different style of programming.
• 29:45
  You know, you're seeing a lot of, um,
• 29:48
  a lot of work that's, that's done,
• 29:51
  you know,
• 29:52
  specifically in specific
• 29:54
  modalities you know, that's not,
• 29:56
  I would say traditional CrossFit you know,
• 30:00
  without getting into the minutia of it,
• 30:02
  you know, and, but, but, but ultimately,
• 30:04
  I mean, I,
• 30:05
  I think that you have to do
• 30:08
  that now in order to stay healthy.
• 30:11
  I think you've got to do
• 30:13
  that in order to be strong.
• 30:14
  I think you're seeing a ton of,
• 30:17
  time spent with recovery,
• 30:20
  recovery modalities, you know,
• 30:21
  obviously physiotherapists, but also,
• 30:23
  you know, Alex, you know,
• 30:26
  goes to this incredible
• 30:28
  recovery facility called
• 30:29
  Project Wellbeing here in
• 30:31
  Vegas and with for red
• 30:33
  light and oxygen and, you know,
• 30:38
  cold plunge and sauna and
• 30:41
  just different modalities they have there,
• 30:43
  different machines that they have there,
• 30:45
  different things for like
• 30:46
  functional bodybuilding,
• 30:47
  different things that we do there,
• 30:49
  like to test body mechanics
• 30:51
  to make sure we're working
• 30:52
  on imbalances and things.
• 30:54
  So I think you're seeing the
• 30:56
  sport progress.
• 30:57
  I think you're seeing the sport progress.
• 30:59
  I think you're seeing people
• 31:00
  who are a bit more scientific or,
• 31:03
  you know,
• 31:04
  kind of looking at it.
• 31:05
  And then that's not to say
• 31:06
  you take away like the feel
• 31:07
  of it and the soul of it.
• 31:09
  We're not going like straight analytics,
• 31:10
  like baseball.
• 31:11
  Right.
• 31:11
  But, but ultimately it's, you know, you've,
• 31:14
  you've got to grow and you've got to,
• 31:16
  you know, I think people are, are,
• 31:18
  are just getting better at it.
• 31:20
  And,
• 31:20
  and so you're seeing what the athletes
• 31:23
  are able to do, you know,
• 31:26
  and it's just defies logic, you know,
• 31:29
  between, between,
• 31:31
  aerobic capacity and their
• 31:33
  strength numbers and their
• 31:34
  ability to to do you know
• 31:36
  high skill body weight
• 31:38
  movements I wouldn't say
• 31:39
  high skill gymnastics
• 31:40
  because that's still that's
• 31:42
  still not necessarily the
• 31:43
  case you know we think of
• 31:45
  muscle up as high skill and
• 31:46
  that's not even a scored
• 31:48
  movement you know and on
• 31:49
  the rings for the for boys
• 31:50
  that's how you get into
• 31:51
  them but but ultimately like
• 31:54
  It's, yeah, I mean,
• 31:56
  the evolution of the
• 31:57
  sport's just been crazy, you know,
• 31:59
  to see the numbers.
• 32:00
  I mean,
• 32:00
  I think about when I competed in
• 32:01
  2012 and if you snatched
• 32:04
  over 200 pounds as a man at that time,
• 32:06
  like that was really impressive.
• 32:09
  Obviously,
• 32:09
  we now know what the numbers are.
• 32:10
  And, you know,
• 32:12
  it's just wild to see the evolution.
• 32:14
  And I'm interested to see
• 32:16
  where it's going to go from here.
• 32:17
  You know, it just continues every year.
• 32:19
  I mean, it's just incredible to see.
• 32:22
  So, yeah,
• 32:24
  I think everyone is just getting better.
• 32:26
  And I think that that's, you know,
• 32:28
  athletes, coaches, et cetera.
• 32:30
  And I think if you're not,
• 32:31
  you're kind of getting left behind.
• 32:33
  So I'm going to clean up a
• 32:34
  couple of these comments.
• 32:35
  Speaking of high snatch numbers,
• 32:37
  John Young, about to feed that dog,
• 32:39
  and that was in response to
• 32:40
  the chip on your shoulder, I think.
• 32:43
  Yeah, John's a good dude.
• 32:46
  I like John.
• 32:47
  And then Wad Zombie, Justin,
• 32:51
  who was the better vocalist,
• 32:52
  Freddie Mercury or Marvin Gaye?
• 32:54
  Oh, come on, man.
• 32:56
  That's not fair.
• 32:58
  I mean...
• 32:59
  that's like the Mount
• 33:01
  Rushmore of vocalists and
• 33:03
  one's an R and B vocalist
• 33:04
  and one's a rock vocalist.
• 33:06
  I would put them in the top
• 33:07
  three on both sides.
• 33:09
  I know that's,
• 33:10
  I'm riding a fence here and
• 33:11
  I know he probably wanted an answer,
• 33:13
  but I, I, I would, I would see for,
• 33:16
  for me personally on, on the rock side,
• 33:22
  you know, Freddie Mercury,
• 33:24
  Robert Plant and, and,
• 33:29
  Chris Cornell are probably
• 33:30
  my three favorites.
• 33:32
  And then on the R&B side,
• 33:34
  it's Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye,
• 33:35
  and Donny Hathaway.
• 33:36
  Those would be my three favorites.
• 33:37
  So I'm kind of looking at
• 33:39
  the holy trinity of both sides.
• 33:43
  That's what I love about you.
• 33:44
  You just throw out a question, man,
• 33:45
  and you expand on it to a point.
• 33:48
  I just love it.
• 33:51
  So we just had semifinals.
• 33:56
  How much data do you garner from semis?
• 33:59
  Or is it at this point with
• 34:00
  the two athletes you have,
• 34:03
  and you have others too,
• 34:04
  but I'm focusing on Alex and, and Ricky.
• 34:06
  Yeah.
• 34:07
  With those two athletes,
• 34:08
  is it just another step or
• 34:11
  is there data there that you can like, uh,
• 34:14
  garner from, from their performance?
• 34:16
  It was absolutely data.
• 34:17
  Yeah.
• 34:17
  We, we, we go through every single event,
• 34:20
  every, honestly,
• 34:20
  every single movement in
• 34:22
  every event with a fine tooth comb.
• 34:24
  Uh, we talk about,
• 34:26
  were we able to execute the strategies,
• 34:28
  you know, that we had in place?
• 34:29
  If not, what broke down?
• 34:31
  Um,
• 34:33
  And you're able to pull from, I think,
• 34:36
  from every event, you know,
• 34:38
  whether it's positive or negative.
• 34:40
  And when I say negative,
• 34:42
  I would only – I would say
• 34:44
  even negative is positive
• 34:46
  because ultimately you're
• 34:47
  learning and you're just becoming better.
• 34:49
  So you're able to put that
• 34:51
  into programming and tweak some things.
• 34:54
  You know, I think obviously –
• 34:58
  I think both performed well
• 35:01
  for the most part.
• 35:02
  I think obviously the goal
• 35:03
  was for both to win and I
• 35:06
  think Ricky won.
• 35:08
  So obviously we feel,
• 35:10
  moderately satisfied with that.
• 35:12
  I know there was one or two
• 35:13
  events there that he, you know,
• 35:15
  hopes to clean up.
• 35:17
  And Alex, I think was, you know,
• 35:20
  honestly was pissed off.
• 35:21
  I don't think Alex was pleased at all.
• 35:23
  And I was kind of pissed off too.
• 35:24
  I think both of us left there just,
• 35:26
  you know,
• 35:27
  like second place just kind of
• 35:28
  feels like kissing your sister.
• 35:29
  You know what I mean?
• 35:30
  It's like not, you know, it's nice,
• 35:32
  I guess.
• 35:33
  Do you think that feels
• 35:34
  getting deeper or is it just...
• 35:37
  Because it seemed to me like
• 35:39
  it was Alex is the home run hitter.
• 35:42
  Yeah.
• 35:43
  And Abby was the consistent hitter.
• 35:46
  Yeah,
• 35:47
  I think that just the consistency
• 35:50
  that we thought we would
• 35:51
  have on a couple of those
• 35:52
  events just wasn't there.
• 35:53
  And, you know,
• 35:54
  I think she was way too
• 35:56
  timid on the first event.
• 35:57
  And if you watched it,
• 35:58
  she was in like 18th place
• 35:59
  in her heat after the first
• 36:01
  round and then had to
• 36:02
  battle all the way up and I
• 36:03
  think finished eighth in
• 36:04
  her heat and 11th overall,
• 36:05
  but was totally fine after
• 36:07
  the event and realized like
• 36:09
  the strategy was to go out fast and
• 36:11
  and run with the leaders and
• 36:13
  then hang on to a spot and
• 36:14
  she got boxed in got
• 36:16
  someone you know was kind
• 36:17
  of blocking her on the
• 36:18
  stairs and instead of
• 36:19
  karate chopping someone's
• 36:21
  arms and getting by him I
• 36:22
  mean listen it's
• 36:22
  competition you got to do
• 36:23
  that Alex is nice but
• 36:25
  sometimes she's too nice
• 36:26
  and she'll admit it you
• 36:27
  know she she got boxed in
• 36:28
  on the stairs and didn't
• 36:29
  fight to get through them
• 36:31
  and got stuck and you know
• 36:32
  so that 11th place finish
• 36:34
  you know was was definitely
• 36:35
  something that should have
• 36:36
  been somewhere closer to
• 36:37
  sixth or seventh I would say and then
• 36:40
  On the snatch workout, you know,
• 36:43
  it wasn't going to be a
• 36:43
  great event for her.
• 36:45
  And when I say a great event,
• 36:46
  obviously you're talking about, you know,
• 36:49
  sub five minutes, sub six minutes, right?
• 36:52
  But she went a minute faster
• 36:53
  in practice and she got no repped.
• 36:56
  She didn't miss.
• 36:57
  She got no repped by the
• 36:59
  judge on the ninth rep of
• 37:01
  the first 10 snatches for
• 37:03
  not standing up all the way.
• 37:05
  And it totally rattled her
• 37:07
  and it changed the whole vibe.
• 37:08
  She became incredibly cautious.
• 37:10
  She started taking
• 37:11
  considerably more rest before it.
• 37:15
  And then you saw what happened.
• 37:16
  I mean, you come in 23rd and there you go.
• 37:19
  So ultimately,
• 37:22
  we know that snatching is not her best,
• 37:26
  but at the same time, I mean,
• 37:27
  you're talking about...
• 37:30
  I still think people don't, you know,
• 37:32
  they kind of have this
• 37:33
  image that she can't snatch
• 37:34
  and that's just really not the case.
• 37:36
  I mean, you know,
• 37:36
  she snatches close to 200 pounds.
• 37:39
  She's considerably more
• 37:40
  consistent and we just
• 37:41
  haven't shown it in competition.
• 37:42
  And until you show it in competition,
• 37:45
  no one gives a shit about
• 37:46
  you talking about it.
• 37:47
  So that was the whole thing
• 37:49
  drawing from that was like, listen,
• 37:50
  you got to still attack.
• 37:52
  Even when something like that happens,
• 37:54
  you can't let a judge
• 37:55
  affect you in that way.
• 37:58
  And, you know, and I think, you know,
• 38:01
  something like that, that was 23rd,
• 38:03
  that probably should have been, you know,
• 38:04
  12th or 13th.
• 38:05
  And then she wins, you know,
• 38:06
  the competition.
• 38:07
  So I think that that's something,
• 38:10
  like I said, that we can draw from.
• 38:11
  And obviously Abby did a phenomenal job,
• 38:14
  you know, but I'll be honest.
• 38:16
  I just,
• 38:17
  when Alex shows up at a competition,
• 38:19
  you know, our expectation is to win.
• 38:21
  That's it, you know?
• 38:23
  So, you know, and I think...
• 38:26
  I think everyone obviously
• 38:28
  understands how good Tia is.
• 38:29
  When you talk about the games,
• 38:31
  we know that she's the favorite, you know,
• 38:34
  but there's no question that, you know,
• 38:37
  we feel like, you know,
• 38:39
  she's getting to that place
• 38:40
  where it doesn't matter
• 38:42
  what's programmed.
• 38:43
  And that's where you're working towards.
• 38:46
  And we're getting closer,
• 38:47
  we're getting closer,
• 38:48
  we're getting closer.
• 38:48
  We're not quite there yet,
• 38:50
  but I think within the next year or two,
• 38:52
  you know,
• 38:52
  that's going to be the situation.
• 38:54
  It just doesn't matter.
• 38:55
  You know,
• 38:55
  you become what I like to call
• 38:56
  bulletproof and that's the goal.
• 38:59
  And I, and I love that term,
• 39:00
  but the question I have for
• 39:02
  you is with Alex,
• 39:03
  because her confidence
• 39:05
  isn't there on the snatch
• 39:06
  or like if she messed up a
• 39:09
  legless rope climb,
• 39:10
  like she knows that's her,
• 39:12
  her jam and she's not going
• 39:13
  to get rattled.
• 39:14
  Yep.
• 39:15
  Right.
• 39:15
  Is it just because that
• 39:17
  snatches or weakness that
• 39:19
  she lets it rattle her?
• 39:20
  Yes.
• 39:21
  And then my followup to that is,
• 39:23
  are you glad she was pissed off?
• 39:26
  Yeah.
• 39:26
  Hell yeah.
• 39:27
  I would have been worried if
• 39:28
  we had left there and she
• 39:29
  would have been like, Oh,
• 39:30
  I punched my ticket today.
• 39:32
  We weren't there to punch
• 39:33
  our ticket to the games.
• 39:34
  I mean, like, you know, we were,
• 39:37
  we were there to win.
• 39:38
  You're there to make a statement.
• 39:39
  She made a statement at two events,
• 39:41
  you know, she made it,
• 39:42
  she set a world record and she finished,
• 39:44
  you know, and then the, the other one,
• 39:46
  she came in second in the world, you know,
• 39:47
  she, she, those, those two workouts, um,
• 39:51
  We're looking to make a
• 39:52
  statement in everything.
• 39:55
  And ultimately, you know,
• 39:56
  when you don't do that, you know,
• 39:59
  I think you leave there
• 40:01
  feeling unsatisfied and
• 40:02
  that's what you want.
• 40:04
  Let's be honest.
• 40:05
  Like if an athlete is satisfied,
• 40:07
  that is the,
• 40:08
  that is the most dangerous
• 40:09
  thing to an athlete.
• 40:11
  like feeling fulfilled or
• 40:13
  feeling satisfied or you do
• 40:16
  not want that.
• 40:17
  You look at the best
• 40:18
  athletes in the world and
• 40:19
  when they win a competition
• 40:20
  or they win a championship,
• 40:22
  what are they doing?
• 40:23
  They're talking about the next one.
• 40:25
  They're talking about repeating.
• 40:27
  They're talking about
• 40:28
  winning three in a row, four in a row.
• 40:31
  And that's where you want to get to.
• 40:32
  And that's the blessing and
• 40:33
  the curse of being a great
• 40:34
  athlete because you're
• 40:35
  rarely ever satisfied,
• 40:37
  but the best in the world
• 40:38
  are rarely ever satisfied.
• 40:40
  And that's key.
• 40:41
  If you want to be the best in the world,
• 40:42
  you better not be satisfied
• 40:44
  or else you can get your
• 40:44
  ass handed to you by people who aren't.
• 40:47
  I'm Meredith Vogel Thomas.
• 40:49
  That's why I sneak up on
• 40:49
  friends in the gym to know
• 40:50
  rep them during wads,
• 40:52
  just building up their mental game.
• 40:55
  I like that.
• 40:57
  Uh, so John has a great question,
• 40:59
  John Young about Ricky.
• 41:00
  And that is,
• 41:01
  does Ricky have trouble
• 41:02
  holding onto a squat
• 41:03
  strength stamina after
• 41:04
  getting running back fast and vice versa?
• 41:07
  One squad event at rogue.
• 41:09
  I was crazy impressed,
• 41:10
  but he wasn't as fast semis opposite.
• 41:13
  Yeah, that's a great question, John.
• 41:15
  I think in Ricky's case,
• 41:21
  it is a very slippery slope.
• 41:23
  I can tell you that at Rogue,
• 41:26
  after Rogue was over,
• 41:27
  first thing he said to me was, man,
• 41:29
  my squats felt good, but damn,
• 41:31
  I just felt heavy.
• 41:32
  I felt my legs felt heavy.
• 41:34
  I felt like I couldn't move.
• 41:35
  I felt like I couldn't run.
• 41:37
  So the rest of the season
• 41:38
  was really trying to
• 41:40
  balance between the two.
• 41:41
  And I think ultimately for
• 41:44
  Ricky at the games –
• 41:47
  it's more important that he
• 41:48
  feel fast and he's going to be strong.
• 41:51
  But what's more important
• 41:52
  for him at the games is
• 41:54
  more like squat volume,
• 41:57
  feeling really good about
• 41:59
  moving a barbell,
• 42:00
  but moving it multiple times for reps.
• 42:04
  And listen, he's pretty strong right now.
• 42:06
  Just, you know,
• 42:07
  he's pretty easily last
• 42:08
  week before he left to come here,
• 42:09
  you know, clean and jerked, you know,
• 42:11
  355 without any issue, you know,
• 42:14
  snatching around 290, 285, 290.
• 42:17
  That's plenty strong for the
• 42:19
  CrossFit Games.
• 42:21
  And then, you know,
• 42:22
  his running numbers right
• 42:24
  now are just terrifying.
• 42:26
  So, you know, that's more important to me.
• 42:30
  But we'll see.
• 42:31
  We'll see because, you know,
• 42:33
  we'll see what Dave has planned.
• 42:34
  We'll see if the change of
• 42:36
  moving into Dickey's arena...
• 42:38
  changes things, you know,
• 42:39
  you're hoping that you're
• 42:40
  still getting three or four
• 42:41
  running events, like, like, you know,
• 42:43
  in the past or cycling or, you know,
• 42:45
  some weird things in there, man,
• 42:47
  I just love to see the, the normal,
• 42:50
  you know, kind of odd object, strange,
• 42:53
  funky movements.
• 42:54
  You got to fit,
• 42:55
  you got to figure out on the fly,
• 42:56
  just feel like those things to me are,
• 42:59
  Such a huge part of the
• 43:00
  cache of the games and what
• 43:02
  makes someone the fittest.
• 43:04
  You got to be able to figure
• 43:05
  some shit out on the fly.
• 43:06
  I just hope that not every
• 43:08
  event is classic CrossFit.
• 43:11
  I think we had that for the open.
• 43:13
  We did that in quarters.
• 43:16
  I'd love to see it progress and evolve.
• 43:19
  And I'm hoping they're going
• 43:20
  to have some really fun,
• 43:21
  funky stuff planned for us.
• 43:24
  Obviously some traditional,
• 43:25
  but then I'd love to see
• 43:26
  some cool new stuff.
• 43:29
  So with Ricky,
• 43:30
  when we were out on Orange Park,
• 43:33
  everything is spread out.
• 43:35
  So transitions and actual
• 43:37
  running ability play a factor.
• 43:39
  Does moving inside hurt him?
• 43:41
  I don't know.
• 43:44
  It's hard to say.
• 43:46
  I mean, you look at semifinals,
• 43:47
  he did pretty well.
• 43:49
  You know what I mean?
• 43:50
  I think it's going to depend on events.
• 43:52
  He's got a lot of home runs.
• 43:54
  So obviously if, you know,
• 43:55
  if those are in the workouts, you know,
• 43:57
  if you're indoors,
• 43:58
  but you're getting a pegboard or,
• 44:00
  you know, legless rope climb,
• 44:01
  or you're getting a, you know,
• 44:03
  handstand obstacles, things like that,
• 44:04
  that he's, you know, really,
• 44:05
  really good at, obviously, you know,
• 44:08
  ring muscle ups and this and that.
• 44:11
  But yeah, I don't know.
• 44:14
  I'm curious to see, you know,
• 44:15
  I'd like to think we're at
• 44:16
  the point now that, you
• 44:19
  He's just good enough that
• 44:21
  he's going to be there.
• 44:23
  I think one of the things
• 44:26
  that we probably – it just
• 44:28
  depends on the programming
• 44:29
  a little bit at the beginning.
• 44:31
  Back in 22 –
• 44:34
  Obviously, that bike workout was first,
• 44:36
  so he got off to a hot start.
• 44:39
  I'm curious to see what the
• 44:41
  first event will be.
• 44:42
  It's always, you know,
• 44:43
  usually something a little bit funky.
• 44:46
  But, you know, we'll see.
• 44:48
  And, you know,
• 44:50
  I think the thing for Ricky...
• 44:52
  He'll even readily admit this.
• 44:54
  Ricky is a really good front runner,
• 44:57
  and he feels really good
• 44:59
  when he's in front.
• 45:01
  He's got a lot of energy.
• 45:05
  We don't know what the
• 45:05
  program is going to be.
• 45:06
  I think you're going to see
• 45:07
  a lot of leaderboard
• 45:08
  fluctuation on the men's side,
• 45:10
  and I think you've got to
• 45:11
  be mentally tough.
• 45:12
  One of the things that makes
• 45:13
  me feel like he can be and
• 45:16
  will be is if you saw his
• 45:17
  comeback at Rogue this past year.
• 45:20
  year where he was what was
• 45:22
  he in like 30th after day
• 45:24
  one or something and
• 45:24
  finished second right like
• 45:26
  in the final day I think he
• 45:27
  he had you know two wins
• 45:29
  and a third or something like that
• 45:32
  So, so it's in there, you know,
• 45:33
  so we can draw off of that,
• 45:35
  that experience and say, Hey, you know,
• 45:38
  even if you're, you're,
• 45:39
  you're not in the lead
• 45:41
  after day one or day two,
• 45:42
  like we're there,
• 45:43
  we're in striking distance and, and,
• 45:45
  you know, you can do it.
• 45:47
  So, you know, those are, that's,
• 45:48
  that's important.
• 45:50
  But yeah, I don't know.
• 45:51
  I think we're all,
• 45:52
  I think we're all really curious as to,
• 45:54
  as to what, you know, Dickies is gonna,
• 45:56
  is gonna bring.
• 45:58
  So I'm going to ask you one
• 45:59
  last games question,
• 46:00
  and I'm going to hit you
• 46:00
  with some quick hitters.
• 46:02
  What I appreciate about you
• 46:03
  is you never give me the stock answer.
• 46:05
  So what has to happen at the
• 46:07
  games for Alex and Ricky
• 46:09
  for you not to leave pissed off?
• 46:14
  I think this is kind of a stock answer,
• 46:19
  but it's true.
• 46:21
  No,
• 46:22
  I think ultimately you can only control
• 46:26
  what you can do.
• 46:27
  And so ultimately,
• 46:29
  if we go there and we feel
• 46:31
  like we're not giving points away,
• 46:36
  but here's the thing.
• 46:37
  I feel like if they go and
• 46:39
  they execute and they don't
• 46:40
  give points away,
• 46:40
  they're both going to be
• 46:41
  really happy about where they finish.
• 46:43
  I mean, ultimately like that,
• 46:44
  that to me is because
• 46:46
  they're both really fucking good.
• 46:47
  So, you know,
• 46:49
  you could say that about
• 46:50
  somebody else and that
• 46:51
  person could finish 18th.
• 46:52
  Like that's not going to
• 46:53
  happen with Ricky and Alex.
• 46:54
  You know what I mean?
• 46:55
  Like if they go there and
• 46:56
  they have a good weekend and they,
• 46:58
  and they, you know,
• 46:59
  don't make mental mistakes
• 47:00
  and they don't give points
• 47:01
  away and they run through
• 47:03
  the finish line and not let, you know,
• 47:04
  and they,
• 47:05
  they don't screw up a transition.
• 47:06
  They don't forget to move a pylon.
• 47:08
  Like they do the things that
• 47:10
  you need to do to execute.
• 47:13
  They're both going to do really well,
• 47:15
  you know.
• 47:16
  But listen, I mean,
• 47:17
  I don't think there's any
• 47:18
  question that we're going
• 47:20
  there to improve upon what
• 47:23
  we've done in the past.
• 47:24
  And in the past,
• 47:25
  Ricky's finished third at
• 47:27
  the games and Alex has finished fifth.
• 47:28
  And I think both of them
• 47:30
  want to smash that.
• 47:31
  I don't think both of them
• 47:32
  want to go and not feel
• 47:34
  like they're progressing.
• 47:36
  So, I mean, you know,
• 47:37
  I think you can take both
• 47:38
  of those answers and then I think you can,
• 47:41
  you know, kind of extrapolate from that.
• 47:43
  You know,
• 47:44
  we're looking to do some serious
• 47:45
  fucking damage.
• 47:46
  I mean, I'll put it that way for sure.
• 47:48
  So,
• 47:49
  John Young translated that to Ricky
• 47:51
  winning Alex podium.
• 47:52
  Yeah, I mean, I think obviously…
• 47:57
  that both of them in their minds,
• 48:00
  that in their minds that
• 48:02
  that's what they think is
• 48:04
  possible and is also like
• 48:07
  that's the goal.
• 48:09
  and just because john has to
• 48:10
  poke the bear his
• 48:11
  prediction is ricky winning
• 48:13
  alex fourth yeah and I i I
• 48:15
  saw his predictions and I
• 48:16
  felt like he was very fair
• 48:17
  in in what he said and I'll
• 48:19
  be honest with you you know
• 48:20
  I i think that certainly
• 48:22
  ricky is in the mix to win
• 48:23
  um but I i there's no way
• 48:27
  that we are taking any of
• 48:28
  the other dudes lightly I mean
• 48:31
  I think what Jeff and what
• 48:34
  Roman did last year
• 48:35
  obviously was incredibly impressive.
• 48:37
  I think we know that Pat and
• 48:39
  Brent are most likely going to be there.
• 48:43
  Then I think you see some of
• 48:45
  these other guys.
• 48:47
  Obviously,
• 48:48
  Dallin's coming and Hopper looks primed.
• 48:51
  you know I mean never can
• 48:53
  count out lazar and
• 48:54
  specific events and I mean
• 48:55
  there are the the men's
• 48:57
  field is special it's
• 48:59
  special it's deep um that's
• 49:01
  not to say the women's
• 49:02
  isn't I just mean the the
• 49:04
  parody there is incredible
• 49:06
  um and uh when we do the
• 49:09
  spin poll like it is so
• 49:11
  hard on the men's side yeah
• 49:13
  it is so hard yeah I i it
• 49:16
  is and I think on the women's side listen
• 49:21
  I think you would be an asshole, you know,
• 49:24
  if you didn't admit that, you know,
• 49:26
  Tia's the big favorite.
• 49:28
  I mean, that's obvious.
• 49:30
  But you also understand that in sports,
• 49:33
  anything can happen.
• 49:34
  And it usually does.
• 49:37
  You know,
• 49:37
  so you've got to go there with
• 49:39
  the anticipation that like, hey, listen,
• 49:41
  like she's going to do what she does,
• 49:43
  but I've got to make sure I
• 49:44
  put my best foot forward.
• 49:45
  I can't just assume that
• 49:46
  she's going to do this or
• 49:48
  that or assume she's going to win.
• 49:49
  You can't just give it to her.
• 49:51
  You know what I mean?
• 49:53
  So, I mean, that's,
• 49:54
  and I love the fact that, you know,
• 49:57
  I look at,
• 49:58
  obviously I'm a data guy and
• 50:00
  you look at the global leaderboard and,
• 50:02
  you know,
• 50:02
  obviously there's some workouts
• 50:04
  there that,
• 50:05
  I look out for Alex and I'm like, okay,
• 50:08
  we know that one we need to
• 50:09
  improve and especially on the snatch one.
• 50:13
  But after that was over,
• 50:15
  the first thing I did was I
• 50:16
  pulled up 2016,
• 50:19
  which was the last time
• 50:21
  they did that at a semifinal.
• 50:24
  And I looked up Tia.
• 50:25
  Tia did that workout,
• 50:26
  I think in like 8.29.
• 50:28
  So she did it in about 20
• 50:30
  seconds slower than Alex.
• 50:32
  And she finished second at
• 50:33
  the games that year.
• 50:34
  So just because you didn't
• 50:36
  smash that snatch event,
• 50:37
  it don't mean shit at the games.
• 50:41
  You know, you look at,
• 50:42
  and so it was important to
• 50:44
  show Alex that.
• 50:45
  Tia was also 22 years old,
• 50:46
  which is exactly what Alex is this year.
• 50:48
  She's 22.
• 50:50
  And then I also said,
• 50:50
  and look at the progression.
• 50:51
  This year, Tia finished it in 5.01.
• 50:53
  She's 30 years old.
• 50:54
  It's very different.
• 50:56
  So she went from 8.30 to
• 50:58
  5.01 in three and a half years.
• 51:01
  In eight years, three and a half minutes,
• 51:03
  I said,
• 51:04
  so don't let that shit get you
• 51:07
  down because we're getting
• 51:08
  better and better and
• 51:09
  better all the time.
• 51:10
  And this is the woman who
• 51:11
  was the best in the world,
• 51:13
  who at 22 was 20 seconds slower than you.
• 51:16
  So don't be upset about that.
• 51:19
  There's a lot you can draw from that.
• 51:22
  Totally agree.
• 51:24
  And I love the way you put that.
• 51:26
  So is Bron going to the Masters games?
• 51:29
  Yes.
• 51:30
  So he's going.
• 51:31
  You going to be there?
• 51:33
  Um, I hope so.
• 51:34
  I have three,
• 51:35
  I have three that are competing.
• 51:37
  So I have Braun, I have, uh,
• 51:40
  Shannon Schliefer in, uh, she,
• 51:42
  she's in the 50 to 54.
• 51:45
  She was seventh and, uh, in, in, um,
• 51:48
  semis and then an angel, uh,
• 51:50
  Cardenas who's in 45 to 49.
• 51:52
  So I coached three masters, um,
• 51:56
  And, uh, I would love to go.
• 51:57
  It just, uh, you know,
• 51:59
  it just depends on wife and
• 52:00
  kids and timing, et cetera.
• 52:02
  So it's, it's not easy to leave the family,
• 52:04
  man.
• 52:05
  It's harder and harder, you know?
• 52:07
  Um,
• 52:08
  so I got to really pick and choose my
• 52:10
  spots.
• 52:12
  Um, but, uh, but, but I,
• 52:14
  I'm holding out hope I may be able to, to,
• 52:17
  to make it there.
• 52:18
  Cool.
• 52:19
  Um, cuts released yesterday.
• 52:21
  The schedule.
• 52:22
  You good with cuts?
• 52:24
  Uh,
• 52:28
  I don't hate cuts.
• 52:31
  I kind of wish that it was
• 52:32
  40-40 the first two days
• 52:34
  and then 30-30 the second two days.
• 52:37
  I would like for it to stay
• 52:39
  at 30 because I still think
• 52:41
  that you've got athletes
• 52:43
  that are as low as the high
• 52:46
  20s that can affect the leaderboard,
• 52:48
  that are specialists in specific events,
• 52:51
  that can affect the
• 52:51
  leaderboard those last two
• 52:53
  days where the point values are crazy.
• 52:57
  You know,
• 52:57
  there's massive fluctuations
• 53:00
  because of the point values.
• 53:01
  And I still think that there
• 53:02
  are athletes that go down
• 53:04
  that deep that can make a difference.
• 53:07
  But I'm not like over the
• 53:10
  top upset or happy either way.
• 53:14
  Yeah,
• 53:14
  I believe if you had the right 40
• 53:16
  athletes at the games,
• 53:17
  you wouldn't need cuts
• 53:18
  because then the 40 field
• 53:21
  would be good enough to have an impact.
• 53:24
  Yeah, I agree with you, but I, you know,
• 53:27
  I think you could also say
• 53:28
  that about a lot of sports, right?
• 53:29
  Look at like,
• 53:30
  like track and field and swimming.
• 53:33
  And if you had, uh, uh,
• 53:35
  all the sprinters from the
• 53:36
  United States against, you know, the, the,
• 53:40
  there's probably a one or
• 53:42
  two or three guys from
• 53:43
  various other countries and
• 53:44
  then the entire U S team that in,
• 53:47
  but they're only taking three guys,
• 53:48
  you know, and same thing as swimming,
• 53:50
  you know?
• 53:50
  So, um,
• 53:51
  But that's the same thing
• 53:53
  over and over through the cuts.
• 53:55
  What's that?
• 53:56
  You do the same event over
• 53:57
  and over again through the cuts, right?
• 53:59
  Yes.
• 53:59
  Yes, you do.
• 54:00
  I agree.
• 54:02
  This changes, right?
• 54:03
  Yes.
• 54:04
  It has impact when we get to
• 54:07
  what is programmed when and
• 54:09
  where during the games.
• 54:10
  It does.
• 54:11
  But you also have,
• 54:13
  I also do understand and
• 54:15
  recognize the importance of
• 54:17
  globalization and visibility and,
• 54:20
  outside of this golf is
• 54:23
  globalized and not an
• 54:24
  olympic fashion right well
• 54:28
  in the olympics I mean
• 54:29
  tennis is in the olympics
• 54:31
  and golf is in the olympics
• 54:32
  so you're seeing people
• 54:33
  from various places but yes
• 54:34
  I do understand what you
• 54:35
  mean they're on the tour of
• 54:36
  the sport right yeah you
• 54:38
  have a tour in other
• 54:39
  countries we're at grand
• 54:40
  slams the best athletes get
• 54:42
  to play I do understand that
• 54:44
  yes,
• 54:45
  I get more sense for globalization to
• 54:47
  inspire people in those
• 54:49
  countries than to let
• 54:50
  someone go to the games and get hammered.
• 54:52
  It does.
• 54:53
  But I also think that when
• 54:54
  you see somebody who looks
• 54:56
  like you and who talks the
• 54:58
  way you do in that language that,
• 55:01
  and they're able to represent you,
• 55:02
  that that's, that's special for,
• 55:04
  for a lot of people,
• 55:05
  but I don't disagree with you.
• 55:07
  I, I do think obviously, um,
• 55:12
  we see that there's some
• 55:13
  vast differences in ability
• 55:15
  between the regions and I
• 55:19
  think that what would be
• 55:22
  I think what would be better
• 55:23
  would be to really take a
• 55:24
  hard look at the worldwide
• 55:26
  rankings and then, you know,
• 55:28
  to figure out a way to
• 55:30
  divvy up those spots to
• 55:31
  where you'd still get representation,
• 55:33
  but just maybe not as much
• 55:34
  representation.
• 55:35
  Right.
• 55:36
  I think like if you get one spot, great.
• 55:38
  You don't necessarily deserve three or,
• 55:40
  you know, you get two spots,
• 55:42
  but you don't necessarily deserve four.
• 55:44
  You know,
• 55:44
  I think obviously those are
• 55:46
  things that are that are, you know,
• 55:48
  we need to discuss and figure out.
• 55:51
  The world-wide rankings are a joke.
• 55:53
  And Carolyn Prevost has put
• 55:55
  this out on our show that
• 55:58
  what happens is you have
• 55:59
  like a Shung Young Choi who
• 56:01
  gets hurt and doesn't
• 56:01
  participate one year.
• 56:03
  Yeah.
• 56:03
  Somebody else earns games points.
• 56:05
  Yeah.
• 56:06
  This year we have – and this
• 56:08
  was brought up earlier in the comments –
• 56:10
  Three people pop for drugs in Asia.
• 56:12
  Now fifth place gets to go
• 56:15
  to the games and earn games points.
• 56:17
  That gives them such an
• 56:18
  advantage in the worldwide
• 56:20
  rankings that now we're
• 56:21
  starting to skew in a very bad direction.
• 56:25
  I agree.
• 56:26
  I just think that they
• 56:26
  really need to kind of...
• 56:29
  Start from scratch.
• 56:33
  In the last five minutes we have,
• 56:35
  what do you think is the
• 56:36
  optimal season structure to
• 56:41
  go from scratch, start over,
• 56:43
  and make this thing right?
• 56:44
  Yeah, I mean,
• 56:44
  I've talked about it for a
• 56:45
  long time that I think we
• 56:47
  need a real season structure.
• 56:50
  that mirrors something
• 56:51
  similar to the PGA Tour or F1 or ATP,
• 56:57
  et cetera.
• 57:00
  I know it's probably an unpopular
• 57:05
  you know, decision or an unpopular opinion,
• 57:09
  but I really do believe
• 57:11
  that the future of the
• 57:12
  sport does not lie in the
• 57:13
  hands of CrossFit.
• 57:15
  I think ultimately it's
• 57:17
  gonna need to be a
• 57:19
  different entity that takes it over.
• 57:23
  And obviously,
• 57:23
  we'll always champion the methodology,
• 57:25
  but I think that the sport
• 57:28
  needs to be led by a group
• 57:31
  that treats the sport as
• 57:35
  the primary focus and not
• 57:38
  as a way to draw people into affiliates.
• 57:43
  And I think that there needs
• 57:44
  to be a point system,
• 57:47
  a way to qualify through events,
• 57:51
  tiered events around the world.
• 57:53
  And I think that the
• 57:54
  CrossFit Games should be
• 57:55
  one of many Grand Slam events.
• 57:58
  I think you should have four
• 57:59
  in a season where you're talking about,
• 58:02
  you know, similar to golf and tennis,
• 58:06
  where you've got, you know,
• 58:08
  whether it could be the
• 58:10
  ones that we have now, right?
• 58:11
  Waterpalooza, Rogue, the games, et cetera.
• 58:14
  But those are your Grand Slams,
• 58:17
  and that's what you're
• 58:17
  looking towards to be, you know –
• 58:21
  the pinnacle of our sport.
• 58:24
  I think it would give the
• 58:27
  athletes an incredible
• 58:28
  opportunity to be professional athletes,
• 58:31
  to make money.
• 58:32
  I think it would give an
• 58:33
  incredible opportunity for
• 58:34
  sponsors and sponsorship at
• 58:36
  these big events,
• 58:37
  as opposed to just this one
• 58:39
  at the end of a season
• 58:40
  that's kind of fractured
• 58:41
  because then you've got an
• 58:42
  off season with a lot of other big events,
• 58:44
  which creates a lack of an
• 58:46
  off season for athletes,
• 58:48
  which obviously long-term
• 58:49
  is going to affect their health.
• 58:51
  So I think ultimately it's, it's a,
• 58:54
  a season that's, that's, you know,
• 58:57
  run by an organization that, that,
• 59:00
  that puts the, that puts the sport first.
• 59:02
  And that's just my opinion.
• 59:03
  And, you know,
• 59:04
  people can call me stupid or
• 59:06
  whatever they want, but that's fine.
• 59:08
  Cause ultimately I, I just think I,
• 59:11
  I really,
• 59:11
  I want to see this thing break
• 59:14
  out from just being a
• 59:15
  little niche thing that, you know,
• 59:17
  only we follow.
• 59:19
  You know, I, I,
• 59:21
  I started watching another
• 59:24
  reality show last night on
• 59:26
  Netflix called Sprint,
• 59:27
  and it's about the best
• 59:29
  sprinters in the world, right?
• 59:30
  Noah Lyles, Kerry Richardson, et cetera.
• 59:35
  And then there's the Tour de France,
• 59:36
  and then there's Drive to Survive,
• 59:38
  and then there's Full Swing.
• 59:40
  This sport and these
• 59:42
  athletes just lends itself
• 59:44
  so much to that style of sports
• 59:47
  of visibility and show
• 59:49
  they're superheroes that
• 59:51
  super humans doing
• 59:52
  superhuman things and and
• 59:54
  and we're the only ones who
• 59:55
  know about it you know uh
• 59:57
  and and the lack of
• 59:58
  visibility the lack of of
• 1:00:01
  you know media and content
• 1:00:02
  like there are people that
• 1:00:03
  are obviously trying and I
• 1:00:05
  feel like they're they're
• 1:00:06
  getting met with resistance
• 1:00:07
  at every corner uh with
• 1:00:09
  what we saw at semi-finals
• 1:00:10
  I just don't understand it
• 1:00:11
  I understand the plan I
• 1:00:13
  don't know what we're doing
• 1:00:14
  Um, and it's frustrating to me, you know?
• 1:00:19
  Um, it's so funny.
• 1:00:20
  Cause when a lot of people
• 1:00:22
  don't know the PGA is an
• 1:00:23
  organization who leases out
• 1:00:26
  their name to have this pro golf tour.
• 1:00:29
  Right.
• 1:00:30
  And then somebody else runs the PGA tour.
• 1:00:33
  They're just,
• 1:00:34
  they just bought the name off
• 1:00:36
  of the PGA organization.
• 1:00:38
  And then they have a PGA
• 1:00:39
  championship and the
• 1:00:40
  masters and the U S open
• 1:00:42
  and the British open.
• 1:00:43
  Um,
• 1:00:45
  I think that is a perfect
• 1:00:46
  way to have a season.
• 1:00:48
  And I think it's a perfect
• 1:00:49
  way to highlight the
• 1:00:50
  athletes much more and to
• 1:00:54
  allow them to make a living.
• 1:00:58
  Currently,
• 1:00:59
  we have one organization trying
• 1:01:00
  to run this whole thing and
• 1:01:02
  do something else on the side,
• 1:01:04
  which is actually their primary business.
• 1:01:06
  And they just keep tripping
• 1:01:09
  over their own toes.
• 1:01:12
  They have a focus.
• 1:01:13
  And I understand that.
• 1:01:14
  And I respect it.
• 1:01:15
  And if you listen to Don Fall,
• 1:01:16
  he doesn't mince his words.
• 1:01:18
  He'll tell you.
• 1:01:18
  Our goal is to...
• 1:01:21
  get more butts into affiliates,
• 1:01:24
  get more people doing CrossFit.
• 1:01:26
  We want to have more affiliates,
• 1:01:28
  more athletes doing
• 1:01:29
  CrossFit because we feel
• 1:01:31
  like that's the way to
• 1:01:34
  living a healthy life.
• 1:01:35
  And I agree with that.
• 1:01:36
  I think that that's fantastic.
• 1:01:38
  I owned an affiliate for 10
• 1:01:39
  years and our motto was
• 1:01:41
  change your fitness, change your life.
• 1:01:42
  I totally understand that.
• 1:01:44
  And I agree with that.
• 1:01:45
  But he also, in the same conversation,
• 1:01:49
  will talk about how they're just, oh,
• 1:01:51
  we still spend way too much
• 1:01:52
  money on sport.
• 1:01:53
  We're pulling more and more
• 1:01:54
  money out of sport.
• 1:01:55
  We're cutting this.
• 1:01:56
  We're cutting that.
• 1:01:58
  Okay.
• 1:01:58
  Well, if you're going to do that,
• 1:02:00
  then why not try and look
• 1:02:02
  at giving it to someone or
• 1:02:04
  having someone come in and
• 1:02:06
  and, and, and purchase it or, or, you know,
• 1:02:09
  I'm not sure exactly lease it, et cetera.
• 1:02:12
  Yeah.
• 1:02:12
  But,
• 1:02:13
  but how about giving it to someone who
• 1:02:15
  wants to see it flourish and who, and who,
• 1:02:17
  and whose primary focus is sport?
• 1:02:20
  Because obviously, you know, it's not, and,
• 1:02:23
  and that's fine.
• 1:02:24
  But if that's the case,
• 1:02:26
  you know,
• 1:02:26
  I just feel like you got all
• 1:02:27
  these athletes who devoted
• 1:02:29
  their lives to this sport and,
• 1:02:31
  and I'm kind of scared
• 1:02:33
  about where it's going to go.
• 1:02:34
  You know, I mean, I'm scared, honestly,
• 1:02:37
  it's a little bit scary to,
• 1:02:38
  to just see kind of,
• 1:02:40
  I think a little bit of the regression,
• 1:02:42
  you know,
• 1:02:43
  that we've seen over the last few years.
• 1:02:45
  And, and you know, I mean,
• 1:02:48
  I've obviously put my heart
• 1:02:50
  and soul into it and I'd
• 1:02:51
  love to see it flourish.
• 1:02:53
  Me too.
• 1:02:53
  Without a sport, I don't have this.
• 1:02:56
  Me either, bud.
• 1:02:59
  Tristan Patrick,
• 1:03:00
  100% need a structure like
• 1:03:01
  that and preach it.
• 1:03:05
  Um, well, Justin,
• 1:03:06
  as always the hour freaking
• 1:03:08
  flies by every time.
• 1:03:10
  Yeah.
• 1:03:11
  Um,
• 1:03:11
  and then we end up like cramming as
• 1:03:13
  much as we can in the last five minutes,
• 1:03:15
  but thank you so much for
• 1:03:16
  your time as always.
• 1:03:17
  It's a blast having you on
• 1:03:19
  and everybody in the chat.
• 1:03:20
  Thank you for jumping in.
• 1:03:21
  Sorry.
• 1:03:22
  I couldn't get to all the questions.
• 1:03:23
  They were flying in faster
• 1:03:24
  than I could even read them.
• 1:03:25
  Cool.
• 1:03:25
  I appreciate that.
• 1:03:26
  With that.
• 1:03:27
  I will see everybody next
• 1:03:29
  time on the Clydesdale media podcast.
• 1:03:31
  Bye guys.
• 1:03:32
  Bye guys.