CrossFit Athletic Group

The more I talk to the people I coach, and the parents of the kids I coach, the more I believe before desired changes are made, something needs to be subtracted first. That something could be a lot of things: people, jobs, activities, habits, beliefs, thoughts. The simplest way I've found - both with myself and helping others - to start this process is by finding the unnecessary things first and then working from there. This is why I've been on the "social media" focus recently.

Again, just to reiterate on last post, I don't think the term "social media" really encompasses everything that's needed because not everything on Instagram or Facebook needs to be subtracted from our routine and not everything from the Wallstreet Journal or ESPN needs to be kept in the routine. Still working on the term to use - maybe "mindless media" - but either way I want to talk briefly about how difficult it is to distinguish important media from unimportant.

Since I pick on you all enough in person, I'll use me as an example again, this time in a more serious manner than the MGoBlog excursion last time.

Podcasts.

Whoa buddy, I got some experience with podcasts.

The thing about podcasts is it's the most efficient source of information I know of that can come diirectly from a source without having the privilege of talking to that person directly. I wish I could talk to Lupe Fiasco directly, but thankfully he has been on some invertiews. And hearing him say things in full context of the rest of the things he says is usually much more useful than having a writer interview him and decide which things to print. Usually the process goes like this:

Lupe's brain gold --> HipHopDX writer --> fans

Now with podcasts the process goes:

Lupe's brain gold --> HipHopDX writer --> fans

In 2017ish I tried to begin the process of cutting down on my time spent in the deep interwebs of CrossFit's archives and replacing it with, you know, actual live coaching. Then soon after I found out Ben Bergon was doing a podcast every week talking about the process of turning New England CrossFit into one of the most respected affiliates in the world. I felt like Barney from the Simpsons.

I didn't know Ben, I didn't have a direct line to him, and yet here he was having breakfast with me every Monday after the 8:30 am session talking about keeping the dumbbell labels face up and the deeper side of coaching. I'm a college dropout and copied off Spencer (glasses kid) or Mike (Asian kid) during high school math, so you know profit margin and yearly projections and any other kind of metric keeping is out of bounds for me, but I sure as hell know how to obsess my way into being good. And Ben's episodes helped build my confidence that I could build a great affiliate by just being me.

Good podcast.

I kept up with it it through our Summer of 100, rarely missing an episode. Then, I don't know. I kinda just remember myself tuning out from time to time during the recording. My brain would wander to Dakota and Lira and Dylan Hofmann and Decker and the rest of the rabid high school crew at the time, wondering of Dillon Sharp and Chase Kuiper were ever going to get their fitness right. But I kept watching because it was just what I did on Monday mornings. At no point did I realize that the things that needed tending to were going on right in front of me at the gym or at home, not on the computer screen.

Bad podcast.

So from then on I stopped with podcasts completely... until Dave Castro got fired from CrossFit in 2022 and Sevan had some juice on it. Ooh the juice. I had already been interjecting some comments on my scaling notes on the state of CrossFit at the time and since Sevan is someone whom I trust (again, not in person, but from afar) I became more confident to be more assertive, through the scaling notes, about my displeasure at what CrossFit HQ was doing. This led to two people from CrossFit HQ calling me on back-to-back weeks: a 13+ year main site employee was the first to call, and then the head of affiliates was the second.

Good podcast.

Then one night I looked at the time when I finished listening to those episodes and writing my thoughts and it was like 2 am. Mrs. Gloria was trusting me to improve her quality of life in like 5 hours...

Bad podcast.

Coach Glassman resurfaced a few months ago on Sevan's podcast and... it's tricky, but I think I got a system. Not live. Absolutely not live. I don't care to hear anyone talking but Coach. So I kinda fast-forward through the stuff I don't want and resume when Coach is feeling it. Still probably not a great use of time.

...........

Despite my aforementioned attitude towards school, I love learning. As a kid I watched every basketball history VHS my dad got from his Sports Illustrated subscription, thumbed through his old copies of Street & Smith, and taped Sports Century episodes with Connie Hawkins and Len Bias. I wanted to know everything! I still do. I just love the shit. I watched the History of the ACC Basketball Tournament instead of the Lions playoff game.

When I got into CrossFit for real in 2006, it was the same: I wanted to know everything! I still do. I just love the shit. The original generation of CrossFit coaches are the most unique collection of individuals I've ever come across... from afar.

But in person...

I've come to realize I have an even more unique collection of individuals right in front of me. I can talk to Mr. Mark and Mrs. Hana IN PERSON about their teaching practices. I can go visit Coach T and Mrs. Teri too. I can talk to Coach Casey and Mr. Malak and Mr. Krstich IN PERSON about coaching their sons. I can talk to Mr. Van and Mr. Kuiper about the challenges of parenting. I can talk to Mrs. Van and Mrs. Carey and Mrs. Hill about... you know... mom stuff like laundry and making lunches. AND, AND you know, the challenges of being moms! IN PERSON (assuming they don't attack me with spatulas and wet blue jeans).

I get to coach alongside three NBA coaches every weekend. IN PERSON.

I get to coach alongside kids around my peers IN PERSON (Dillon, Aaron, Sap, Cecilia, Shannon, etc.) who are aligned with what I believe a coach needs to be responsible for,

I get to talk to Owen, Bubs, Bethany, Zander, and Shake IN PERSON who all have gifts beyond what their current job situation is allowing them to do.

And chubby 2019 Chase Kuiper is currently 6'7 and dominating high school basketball in his last year before college. I have a feeling there is more to be learned IN PERSON from the people around me than podcasts on a screen.

I'm more of a music guy anyway.

My podcast