The Sevan Podcast - #76 - Elijah Muhammad

Episode Date: July 15, 2021

The Sevan Podcast EP 76 - Elijah Muhammad & Brian Friend @ELIJAHEZMUHAMMAD @SEVANMATOSSIAN @BRIANFRIENDCROSSFIT The Sevan Podcast is sponsored by http://www.barbelljobs.com Follow us on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/therealsevanpodcast/ Sevan's Stuff: https://www.instagram.com/sevanmatossian/?hl=en https://app.sugarwod.com/marketplace/3-playing-brothers Support the show Partners: https://cahormones.com/ - CODE "SEVAN" FOR FREE CONSULTATION https://www.paperstcoffee.com/ - THE COFFEE I DRINK! https://asrx.com/collections/the-real... - OUR TSHIRTS ... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Let's go seize the night. That's the powerful backing of American Express. Visit amex.ca slash yamex. Benefits vary by car and other conditions apply. Good morning. Good morning. How are you doing? What time is it where you're at, Easy?

Amazing. It's 9 o'clock. 9 a.m. Oh, that's good. What time did you get up? 4. Holy cow. Is that so you can do stuff without interruption from your kids?

Coach classes and do stuff. So I get up at 4 to coach the 5 a.m. class. And then, yeah, I just sit up. Like today I just sat up and did my online programming and just sat in the gym uninterrupted, knocked some stuff out. What's the name of your online programming? Unorthodox Training. You've been doing that for a while, right? you've been doing that for a while right uh it's been uh i did it for about two years and then i stopped it and just shut it down because i was just like all right i just need a little breather

and then uh just got back to it so it's been up for another year are you glad you got back to it yeah Yeah, I mean, it's decent revenue. I guess the revenue stream is pretty decent. And then I just thought I was going to be I got back to it because I thought I was going to be competing on team to try to go to the games. And so I was just like, well, I've always done my own programming. So I need to kind of get this back live so that I can create the revenue stream and also program for myself as I prepare to compete. And then COVID happened.

So that just was shut down. Oh, is that why you didn't pursue the team thing because of that whole thing? Insanity? Yeah. So we were in Canada about to compete. And then you're lucky you got out of the country listen i got out of there quick man wait you were at that same event that brian's brian's mentioned that a few times on the podcast you were there too elijah

um yeah i was in atlas games yeah at. Yeah, I was there. Holy cow. We were just speaking. Who else have we spoken to who was there? We spoke to Medeiros yesterday. He was there, right? No, he was getting ready for West Coast Classic. Zach Watts would have been there, yeah.

Yeah. I dug through your Instagram all the way back to 2012 yesterday, Elijah. Man, you know everybody. I mean, you have been in the game so long. At one point, I'm like, well, he's got everyone but Frazier. And then I'm like, nope, here's where he was on the grid league with Frazier. Yeah. I mean, it's crazy. I bounce around with everybody.

league with Fraser yeah I mean it's crazy I always tell people it's like it's funny because like I've been around those the greats like I've you know I've I've trained with them worked out with them um got to learn from them so it's been pretty cool like the journey of like on a team with Frazier, training with Froning, on a team with Annie, training with Dan. Just kind of being in that space with them daily and regularly to kind of see like the differences between like a 16th place athlete and a first place athlete. You know, just the difference in how we structure things and, you know, what we kind of go for. It's more though than you train. There's other people you said you trained with, but it's more than you trained with Rich.

You're, you're of his, I don't know, lineage or pedigreed. I mean, that, that's, that is, um, you were there in the beginning with rich. Yeah. I mean, that was your, that was the, the, the family tree that you come from.

Yeah. Yeah, for sure, man. That, uh, that was a huge, Oh,

go ahead. No, say it. What, what year was that that you were, that you started training with him? 11 and 12. The end of 2010 to early 2012.

And the things that you guys were doing then, or were there things that you were doing then that you don't think other people were doing that a lot of people are doing now? I just think it was the volume, like the magnitude and the intensity of what we were doing. I think around that time, people were still, I don't think anyone was weightlifting like us. I don't think anyone was lifting like us. I think we were, we were lifting a lot. Like it was like your traditional, like testosterone, just man sessions, like who can lift the most weight a lot.

But we were also, we were also training a lot. You know what I'm saying? We were just actually working out a lot. But we were also we're also training a lot. You know, we were just actually working out a lot. So I think it was the fact that we were working out a ton. But the intensity was just through the roof every session. It was like seven, eight guys just. I don't want to lose. I don't want to be dead last. And I think that is what produced the athlete,

the athletes to come out of there so fast where it's just like you couldn't beat that intensity. You couldn't get that in any other room. And can you get that somewhere else now? Or is that still the only place?

Nah, it's everywhere now, yeah no it's everywhere now man it's everywhere now um and and to paint the picture for people who don't um know and and fix any of my errors here please easy but basically um easy has an interesting path because I think a lot of people have aspirations to become CrossFit Games athletes. And Easy took a little bit of a different path. He went from obviously collegiate athlete, but then he went to strength and conditioning coach. And from coach, then he became athlete. athlete. And, um, and he had catch up to do because he entered, although he was a super talented athlete, he joined the, um, the fledgling froning empire at a time when it was, when it was in its infancy, but rich was so far ahead of everyone else. So easy. I mean, you had to jump

in and play massive catch up. I was just watching a video last night. When you entered the game, you couldn't, you never had walked on your hands before, let alone done been as strong as these guys. So you, you were, you had a super steep learning curve and a lot of strength to build quickly. Isn't that true? Yeah, man.

Also, I mean, I was like one 65, like I was a skinny college kid, you know? Um, so on top of like, I remember the first regional, uh, in 2012, that was the first year I qualified for regionals and I had never done a

pistol. Like I had never just never done it. Rich had never put in programming. We've never done it. And then it came out that it was like a 2K row, 30 hang cleans at 225 into like 50 pistols or something like that. Or it was like row pistols, hang cleans. And I just remember like, what's a pistol? And I just remember Rich like, oh, this. And he just starts doing them. Like he just starts knocking them out. And I'm like, I've never seen anyone do that. I've never done that. We've never programmed that or done that. And it was just those incidences where it was just like, I got to catch on to this in a couple weeks and figure out how to do this in a workout. Yeah, so it was a lot of things that training with them,

I was just like I wasn't a squat snatcher. I couldn't do full squats in 2011 in the Open. I didn't know how to overhead squat. I think it was the year you came down and you actually did a video at that Open workout in 2011 savant and it was i can't remember the girl's name but it was a girl there um she was an armenian chick haley my wife no it was uh you were following oh jessica oh jessica pamanian yeah paman You were following her, and they came into the open workout with us. And I remember that year was a burpee over the bar and overhead squat and ring muscle-up workout.

It was like 60 burpee over bar, 30 overhead squats, 10 ring muscle-ups. And I think it was like an 11-minute cap. And the first time I did that workout, i got seven overhead squats in 11 minutes i did 60 burpees and was able to get seven overhead squats because i just had never overhead squatted before and so it was just things like that training with them where it was just like not only was i already weaker than them but i gotta learn these things like i have to figure these things out pretty much on the fly um so yeah it was a was there a danger of you getting injured in that environment because of

like for lack of a better word ego you're like okay they're doing this I need to do this uh were you did you and you were young right you're we're talking a 20 or 22 year old Elijah Muhammad yeah um I was I want to say i was much more mature and understanding but as far as getting injured i just never think about injuries i feel like when you start thinking about getting hurt you're gonna get hurt so i just i just don't process it it's like you're gonna jump or you're not gonna jump jump. Stop debating it so much, you know, like so I just I think in the training setting that injury just never was processed or was just like I might get hurt. And it was also to the unknown. Like I didn't know.

Yeah, I just didn't know. didn't know like if I do all of this or train this much or try to do this much volume I'm at risk of getting hurt because in college it was like it was you were training all the time you were working out all the time you were playing basketball all the time you were playing pickup constantly um so you just weed out the like I didn't I never went to a pickup game like oh I gotta be careful because I might get hurt for the season. When I went to play pickup, it was like, let's play ball. So I just don't think the process of that was really there. Elijah, how tall are you? Six foot.

Really? Okay. Wow. Man, I always thought you were taller than six foot. You're only six foot? Yeah, six foot. Holy cow. You present tall. And what state are you in right now? Iowa.

And where were you born? Columbus, Ohio. Okay. So you're born in Columbus, Ohio. Do you have siblings? Yeah, I got four sisters and one brother. Holy cow. So you're one of six. Yeah, and the youngest.

Wow. Wow. And how many years is the oldest? How many years older is the oldest? The oldest is 33, so she's 45? No, 33, 15, 47? 45, that's amazing. And so you're born in Columbus, Ohio, and you're raised there. And when did you leave? As soon as I graduated from high school. Was it for college?

Yeah. And that was it? And that's when you went to Cookville? No, I went to Chicago first and played at a junior college for two years at South Suburban, Illinois, South Suburbs and then transferred to Tennessee Tech. And why did you transfer to Tennessee Tech? Just change of pace, man. You know, get out of certain environments, certain areas that I was living in and things like that. So it was just like I went on a visit to Tennessee Tech and, um,

it was just different, man. I had never been around that many white people. It was, it was a lot more chill. It was like a country. So it was like no partying, no trouble, no gangs, no, no, it was just in my mind, it was just like, I can get away from all of this and just really focus on school and, you know, get this job done of graduating from college. Did you get a scholarship there? How did you even find it? I mean, Chicago is like a real city. I mean, I know we all know Cookville because Rich lives there. But tell me a little more details about that.

So you're in Chicago. You're going to City College. Are you living with relatives or do you have your own place? No, I got my own place. I got a full-ride scholarship to play at the junior college in Chicago. Oh, wow. Yeah, so to go back, basically after high school, I wanted to go play Division one ball like any other athlete.

And I had pretty good grades. I graduated with like a three, two, three, four GPA. And so I could get into any Division one. But the Division one that I wanted to go to or that I was getting recruited to, he was an assistant coach at Creighton. And he got the head coaching job at the junior college. And so I just followed him because he was a familiar face and someone that had been recruiting me for a while. So that's how I got to the junior college. And I got there and we just did really well as a team. We broke all the records in the school, went to the state two years in a row, and we just had a lot of recognition. So a lot of schools were recruiting us and coming on board to

kind of find athletes. And out of all the schools that I had recruiting me, Tennessee Tech was just the one that I felt like was just quiet. It was just a different, it was just drastically different from any other school. Most of the other schools were in cities, bigger cities, predominantly black cities. And it was just like, I need something different. And my AAU coach was the one that kind of pushed me to go to Tennessee Tech due to a friend of hers and another coach that had been recruiting me for a couple years. What was that acronym you used, AEU?

What's that stand for? AAU, basketball, AAU basketball, travel team. Oh, okay, okay. So you were good in high school. Were you the best player on your team? Absolutely, in high school, yeah. And did your siblings play basketball? How did you get into basketball?

Same kind of scenario. It was a loyalty thing. I was actually known, going into high school, I was known for football. And one of my coaches was supposed to get an assistant job at a high school and I was going to go play for him at that high school and he didn't get the job. And so I said, I'm not playing football anymore. And, um, I started playing basketball and, um, yeah, you start playing basketball. It's kind of always good at it, but started taking it seriously when I got to high school. Was Chicago tough? Where you live, was it a rough town? Yeah, Chicago was rough. Chicago was drastically. I'm from Columbus, Ohio, and we have a pretty big

population. Columbus was rough, but Chicago was rough because I didn't know anyone. Like I wasn't known. Like it was that kind of rough where it's just like, no one can save me or nothing. No one knows me. If I get into something, it's just, I'm on my own.

Yeah. I mean, I, I've been to Chicago a handful of times. Um, and my, um, my parents met in Evanston, Illinois. I think that's just right outside of Chicago. That's north.

He spent time on the south when he was in school. And I'm trying to think, what's the school in Evanston? It's a big school. Northwestern, yeah. It's in the Big Ten. Okay. I think my What's the school in Evanston? It's a big school. Northwestern, yeah. It's in the Big Ten. Okay. I think my mom went to school there. My dad did seminary school in high school in Lebanon.

That was the only high school there was. So he had to go to seminary school. And then somehow, I think through some church program, then he got moved to Evanston, Illinois at the age of 18 years old. He was the oldest of nine years old he was he was the oldest of nine and then my parents met and then they eloped and came to california but i the only stories i know about chicago are my dad said it was rough he said like he he would say tell me crazy stories about how rough it was and then when and he came from a rough place too, right? But now Chicago's in the news every day only known for one thing, right?

It's not the home of the tallest building in the world like it was when I was a kid. Now it's just like all you hear about is shootings, shootings, shootings, shootings. I mean, I know the news glorifies that shit. But, I mean, even when I lived, I used to live in Berkeley, which is right in between oakland and richmond and they would be talking about shootings every day but i never saw it like when you live there it's kind of like just i never saw any of that stuff so i never know what to believe from the news but but but obviously it's happening to someone right yeah yeah for sure yeah yeah i never uh i try to stay away from as much of that as possible. But I mean, the areas we were in, we were outside in the south suburbs, which was, I guess, just as rough as the city due to, you know, a lot of gang relations moving out that way out of the city. So we we try to stay out the way as much as possible.

But I mean, you saw a lot of of it and was around a lot of it. When you're going to school, is it easy to stay away from that stuff because you're staying busy? It seems like sports has always been an avenue. If you keep your kid busy, especially a young man between the age of, I don't know, 14 and 30. I mean, that's the goal, right? Keep young men busy so that, what's the phrase? The devil gives idle hands work or something like that? You're close. I mean, were you?

Tell me, Brian. Unfuck me. What did I say? What did the devil say? Or what is the statement say or what what what is what is the statement i think i'm only going to be close to it's like the idle idle time is the devil's toolbox or something like that was it easy to stay away when you're in college like were you disciplined and have good habits

and you were like was it easy to stay away uh I'm not going to get into too much detail. It was around you. It was there. It was there, man. It was like you can't get away from it, but you don't want to engage in it too much. But it's just kind of like, don't act like it's not there. Did you ever

miss a practice? No, never. Never missed a practice. Never missed a practice, never missed a game. You got a cold, you go to practice. You don't feel good, you go to practice. No matter what. Did you drink in college? No, didn't drink at all.

I started drinking after. After I pledged in my fraternity my senior year, I drank a little bit. I had probably like a three-month window where I would go to a couple parties and drink sometimes. But other than that, nah, I stayed away from drinking.

In your senior year, you did in Cookville? Yeah, I did in Cookville. And were you raised with religion in the household, with God in the household? Yeah. My father was a minister in the church and a minister in the household? Yeah. My father was a minister in the church and a minister in the Nation of Islam. And my mother was very invested in the church. She worked in church pretty much all my life. It's so interesting.

So your dad was a minister in the Nation of Islam. It's so, I don't know what's wrong with my brain, but when I was 16 years old, I moved into a neighborhood. It's kind of, it's kind of interesting. We kind of did the same thing. I moved into a neighborhood where my dad and my step-mom and I were the only white people. It was all black people and just us. And very quickly I just started consuming every single book I could find,

like from Martin Luther King to Nelson Mandela. I'm a 16-year-old kid, Bobby Seale, Huey Newton, Angela Davis, the Malcolm X, Alex Haley's Malcolm X had a massive transformative effect on my life. I got the Malcolm X shirt. I've told this story a bunch of times, but I only had, I can't remember if I had one or two or three shirts, but basically they were always in the wash because it was the only shirt I wanted to wear. And of course I know who Elijah Muhammad was, but until, I don't know, a couple months ago, I never made the connection. I was like, oh shit, I met – he's named after the leader of the Nation of Islam. It's so funny when I met you.

And another thing is I know a lot of people call you Easy, but for some reason I always just call you Elijah. So your parents did name you after the leader of the Nation of Islam. He was the second leader, right, after the founder? Yeah. So the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, that's who they named me after, that's who they named me after, who was known as the prophet,

the messiah, the messenger of Allah. Have you met him? No, he's not alive. When he was alive? No, no, no. Oh, because he died in 75 and you were born after that? Yeah. Are you allowed to be named after him? I guess you are.

I guess Mexicans call people, they name their kids Jesus. Yeah. For some reason, always, that seems like that's putting a ton of stress on the kid. My parents actually got permission from Minister Louis Farrakhan to name me Elijah Muhammad. Holy shit. That is awesome. I just found that out a couple years ago, I think, or like a year ago. This next question is going to be a really weird question, but bear with me here.

Do you know what child Elijah Muhammad was in his family? What number child he was? No, I don't. I would be very, very curious. I would be very curious to see if he had. Brian, this is second guest in a row who's bossing you around. Second guest in a row.'s bossing you around. Second guest in a row.

First Medeiros, now Elijah Muhammad. I ask that because there's a gentleman named – you've obviously heard of Krishna. And there's a gentleman named Krishna Murthy who was born in India. And he was the last child – and he eventually came to the United States. And he was the last child born in his family. And I want to, I can't remember what number child he was six, seven or eight, but Krishna was also the sixth, seventh or eighth child. And so they named him Krishna Murthy. And anyway, he ended up coming to the United States and people believed he was the living incarnation, you know, another, another, another prophet. Yeah.

Seven out of 13. Oh, you ain't, you ain't got shit on him, yeah. Seven out of 13. Oh. Seven out of 13. You ain't got shit on him, Elijah. Nope. 13. Holy shit. Wow. Oh, man.

I would have had 13 kids. I wonder why you're – He had eight kids himself. When your parents were – when they had their first child, were they involved with the Nation of Islam? I'm wondering why they waited until their sixth or seventh child. You're number six, right? The last of six? They were in the church.

I wonder why they – My father was in the church first. And then from the stories that I know, he wanted to study world history. And in order to study world history, he had to engulf himself in actual history and learn more of cultures. And so he went to like I want to say it was like Jerusalem. He went to Israel to study. And when he got back, he got in touch with the Nation of Islam started to study more of their beliefs and their cultures and as he started to learn more about it he

basically just you know tied in and identified with exactly what they were preaching and speaking to him so that's why he went into the Nation of Islam but at first him he was just a pastor in the church. He owned his own church. He wanted to finish his schooling and his degrees in world history. He just took on that journey and that path to learn more about exactly what was going on in different cultures and countries and stuff like that. It's interesting. My dad was a history major in college also and also went to seminary school that's that's i don't know if you know this seven but i double majored in history and theology and i just i studied i studied them because they went so well together

do you own are you going to become a minister not in that sense, no. Oh. Oh, yeah. Elijah, are you going to become a minister? I wasn't even going to ask you. Would you do that? Take that route? Yeah, I've thought about it in some shape, forms.

There's a – on your Instagram, there's a very consistent message. I forget what the slogan is, but basically, what is the slogan you have? Keep the vibes positive or keep the energy positive or what was that energy? Always positive energy. And you know what? Every time I stopped to see that, it made me feel better. Yeah. I'm like, man, this is a good practice. It's one of those things that you read, and it's always a good thing to read. So you – and how did your parents meet? Did they meet in the church? They met, yes, in the church. My mother, her father was a pastor. And it's funny, man.

It's a funny story, man. I don't even know. I just found this out too. My, my mother's first husband's mother introduced my mom to my father, the mother-in-law. So yeah, my, my mother's husband's mom, the mother in law, basically was like, my son's a piece of crap. You don't need to deal with him anymore. I'm going to introduce you to this guy. And so she was living with she was living with her ex-husband's mother and he introduced her to my father. Wow. Yeah, because she was just like, my son's not going to change and you don't

need him anymore. And, and she introduced him to my father and they hit it off. She's a good lady. Yeah. Yeah. Um, are, are you, are your parents still alive? Uh, yes, both of them are. My mom's in LA. Awesome. Oh, okay. And where's your dad? Uh, DC. Wow. Oh man. That's a lot of traveling. Do you get to see them much? Uh, no, I actually, um, I'll get to see my dad coming up here in September for the first time in a long time. Yeah. You, you have, you have four kids. Yep. And what are their ages? Four,

five, seven, and 12. Oh, holy cow. I was thinking about this this morning in the shower. Sorry. But I was thinking that there's something probably that we have in

common um when there's some people who you meet and they're like how many they have one kid or they have two kids and they're they let you know that they're really happy with their one kid or their two kids and they're just cool with that and then i don't want to say that I'm jealous or envious, but when I – but I'm – I'm not even sure if proud is the word. But I'm proud that I have three kids. And when I see someone who has four kids, I'm a little bit – I wish I could think of a better word, jealous or envious. And same thing with when I have five – see someone with five kids or six kids or seven kids. Same thing with when I see someone with five kids or six kids or seven kids. And I would guess you're the same way.

That if it were like in a perfect world, you would have 20 kids that you just seem cut from the same cloth as me like that. Like basically you want that experience. Yeah, 100%. If my wife was up to continue to reproduce and have more kids, we would have more kids. Yeah. 100%. Yeah. And thank God they put brakes on us, right? My wife tells me, she says, you better not fuck around.

I'll give you triplets. And I'm like, I'll take them. Three girls to match these three boys. I'm ready. I'm ready. Yeah, right. And it's interesting because why do you think you want so many kids? Why do you think you like kids so much?

What do you think you like about it? I don't know, man. It's like the hybrid. It's like the hybrid between not having a father and having a mother that was very nurturing. And then I always tell people, I always jokingly say, I think I'm cool as shit. I just think I'm cool. So to have another little me would be cool.

And if we can just continue to populate the world with just dope ass me's, I think, you know, we're looking at a better place soon. And yeah, so that's just it, man. It's just like the process of the process of the child as they start to develop and learn and different things, it's just so intriguing or it's just like they learn so differently. They pick up things so differently. They react so differently.

And I don't know. I just like, like I told my wife, like, you know, a crying baby has never bothered me. Like it's, it's never, I've never gotten like enraged, like, Oh, this baby stopped crying. It's just kind of like, how can I, how can I serve you?

Like, how can I help you? Like, what do you need from me? And I will continue to figure it out. I will continue to try to figure it out. Um, and I just, I've just always been intrigued by the patience of the patients that I have just with a child in general, like with my children. So I don't know. There's so many things that make me just would continue to have children. There's this, there's a deeper story than this, but I'll give you the shallow version. It's not the car alarm going off outside your bedroom window at 3 in the morning that's bothering you. It's the story you're telling yourself about it. That's cool. that's a the we one of the big problems in our societies is that people really they're they

conflate their thoughts with the outside world a lot like they think that their thoughts are reality they think that the horn actually is bad or that the crying baby actually is bad and they they haven't taken the personal responsibility or accountability to tell themselves hey it's the story you tell yourself and man you're you've told yourself a different story about the crying baby and it's it's so awesome like yeah and then and then you nailed the and then you you nailed the exact same reason why i like kids except i don't know how cool i think i am although i really enjoy being alone but um i love watching them grow it's crazy i love watching plants grow I love watching kids it's yeah it's you're right you said it's intriguing it's fucking fascinating and the they grow every single day and they grow right

in front of you like like plants you have to go to sleep and wake up and look at them the next day to be like oh the flower opened but kids it's like holy shit I just saw it's like time-lapse photography you're like watching them grow right in front of you it's mind-boggling if i can be uh very very upfront honest like out of all the stuff you post on social media that i'm just like oh here he goes again that i am kind of intrigued about watching and stuff like that i just genuinely enjoy what you do with your kids and how deeply and passionately you speak about parenting. Thank you. It's just like, regardless of what else comes into play or what else is around, it's like that one thing is attracting.

So it's just like, no, I'm not looking at Savant's page because he made this post and people are arguing with him about this. But it's like this one thing is super cool. And I'm a dad, too. And I can identify with that. And I really, really genuinely enjoy seeing your kids and how you just raise them. Honestly, just whatever that looks like. It's just pretty cool to me. And yeah, I just.

Yeah, it's cool. I try to keep, I try to separate my shit. So I try to keep my feed, the stuff that's permanent, the more kid-centric stuff, and then all the stuff that's just the social drama, I try to keep in the story. But now you don't have to see any of it, Elijah, because I'm shadow banned as fuck. So you don't have to see any of it. So for kids, do you travel a lot still? No, after COVID, it slowed down drastically.

It's picking back up now. But just due to the policies on travel and all the restrictions, I've just been kind of chilling. So I've been traveling a little bit, but not as much as before COVID. So you're loving the COVID response kind of in the same way I am. It's like just a free it's got it's like a free vacation to hang out with your kids yeah yeah i mean like i i just i just kick it man i don't i don't do much i don't if literally if i'm not getting paid i'm just like i'm not moving like there's there's no reason to go anywhere. There's no reason to travel.

That's exactly how I am. That's exactly. It's crazy. Do you know Travis Bajent? I do not. He was a commentator back in the day for the CrossFit Games. Big old guy. Yeah, arm wrestler.

He was the professional arm wrestler. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. So he has four kids, and he had kids young younger than me he had him like when you had him and whenever i would travel with him all he wanted to do was get back home and be with his kids and it was so weird because i didn't understand that at all but now i'm like oh i totally get it like if if i'm not getting paid if i'm not doing something to bring something like bread back to the family i'm like oh i totally get it like if if i'm not getting paid if i'm not doing something to bring something like bread back to the family i'm not leaving there's no way yeah that's how i've always been man it's just you know my kids are usually like they're only they're not with

me right now because they're in um they're in camp uh but like normally my kids are with me from when they wake up to when they go to sleep, unless they're in school. But they're not yet there with me all day, so it just becomes a routine where it's just like I get to interact with them, hang out with them, work out with them, you know, just randomly go play in the creek with them. So when I'm traveling and I'm gone, it's just like if this isn't actually benefiting the family while I'm gone, there's no need for me to be gone. Yep, I feel you. So you go to Cookville.

You go there to play basketball. You're there. And how does it go there? Do you start when you go there? No, my junior year I didn't start. I was a sixth man. I probably started like maybe 10, 12 games out of the season. But I wasn't the number one starting point guard until my senior year.

And then so then you play your senior year. And then what was the goal after that? Was it to go to the NBA? I wanted to play pro ball. So crazy story, man. I wanted to play pro ball. And I was dead set on like I'm going to play pro ball. So crazy story, man. I wanted to play pro ball and I was, I was dead set on like, I'm gonna play professional basketball. Um, and when I started getting some of the contracts that

people make overseas and how much they make in my mind, I was like, I can make this doing some bullshit. Like I can make this doing nothing. So do I really want to play basketball? And so, um, after weighing that, I was like, I really do want to play basketball. It's the only thing I love. But it didn't make sense to take my family overseas with me with the amount of money that I would be making. And so I had had my daughter my senior year. And it was like, OK, leave my child and my wife here. Go overseas and play ball so that we can make money.

But at the same time, it was like, I can't imagine waking up and not being with my kids. I can't imagine weeks on end not seeing my kids. So I was just like, okay, this basketball thing isn't going to work. On the flip side, I got a contract to go overseas and play basketball. We're sitting down talking about this contract. And my coach says, in the conversation, he says, there'll be a translator there for you.

And I was like, translator? And he was like, yeah. Everyone won't speak English. And instantly I was like, okay, fuck that. If no one speaks English, I'm not going to a place where they can't understand me. I'm not doing that.

That's a sign of disaster. I'm going to get murdered. I just was like, I got to figure something out. I went and got a little job at this cleaning place. Chip Pugh brought me on staff as a strength coach. And I said, okay, this is it. I can be a strength coach. This is a career job.

I had looked up all of the high school, collegiate, and professional levels of strength coaches, how much they get paid. And I told my wife, I said, you know what? I'll be a professional strength coach. Give me five years. Give me five years, and I'll find a way to become a professional strength coach. So I just took over strength conditioning and so so you met your wife your junior year I met my wife my freshman year in college when I was in Chicago oh wow and so you stayed together when you went to Cookville yeah yeah I asked her funny story

she's gonna laugh when she hears I asked her I was. She's going to laugh when she hears. I asked her, I was like, Hey, I'm going to college. I mean, leaving schools. So, um, whatever school you want to go to, you can pick. Cause I can play basketball anywhere. Uh, I just want you to be comfortable if you're going to come with me. And, um, I was like, I really liked this Tennessee tech school. I think I'm gonna go here. And, uh, I told her straight up, like, if you don't come with me, this relationship will not work. If you are not beside me, this is not going to go here. And I told her straight up, like, if you don't come with me, this relationship will not work. If you are not beside me, this is not going to work. So if you want to be with me, you probably need to come to Tennessee.

She told me no with a straight face. Like, go, no. I was like, no, like, like, no, the hell she did. Just tell me no. Send me to Tennessee by my damn self. I was like, no. And then a few months later, she moved down there.

And then you're, and so was she in one of your classes in City College and you just sat next to her and like, yo, I'm Elijah, let's go out. No, I met her at the club. We were at a club. Oh, okay. It was a group of girls.

The old fashioned way. Oh yeah, it was a group of girls. They used to always be at a club. Oh, okay. It was a group of girls. The old-fashioned way. Oh, yeah. It was a group of girls. They used to always be at the club. And I used to tell my friends, like, I'm going to get one of these girls. One of them. I don't know which one, but they're all sexy as hell. They all know how to dance.

I'm going to get one of them. And we could never get any of them. And then one random night, one of my friends approached her and asked her for her phone number, got her phone number. And she told him, like, hey, you know, I know I gave you my number, but I'm interested in your friend. You know, I know y'all. They knew who we were because we always tried to talk to these girls. Like, every weekend we saw them, we were trying to talk to them, hit on them, and get them to come back to the house and kick it with us and party. Like, you know what I'm saying? And and they just shut us down all the time so they they knew us who we

were but they didn't really know who we were because we were from out of town and so um and the more they shut you down the more you liked them you're like these must be good girls so now then they um he got her phone number and he was like uh she said she wants you to call her and i was like bullshit and so called her you to call her. And I was like, bullshit. And so I called her. She ended up living around the corner from me. And it was just like, boom. It was within two months she was living with me.

Yeah, it was like, it was quick. It just moved fast. Do her parents like you? At first they didn't. It just so happened. I didn't meet her parents for like six months. Now, mind you, I live in Columbus, Ohio. I'm from Columbus, Ohio. She had been to Columbus, met my mother, met my sisters, met my family. I live around the corner from her father, her mother. I have never met these people. woman is now this woman is now living with me

she's living with me moved in and I still hadn't met her parents she would not introduce me to her parents and um I thought it was so weird and then um her father her stepfather found out that my name was Elijah Muhammad and her mother um was in the nation of Islam and he was and once he found out my name was Elijah Muhammad intrigued him so much for him to try to meet me and I just thought it was BS I'm like oh you don't want to meet me before but now you find out who I am and now you want to meet me so after about five six months I end up meeting her family and our parents and stuff like that up meeting her family and all her parents and stuff like that.

Yeah, that's cool. And now everything's great. You love your in-laws? Yeah. Oh, yeah. My in-laws are dope, man. That's why we moved to Iowa, to be closer to my mother-in-law. Oh, really?

Yeah. That was eventually my question. And so the grandparents are in your kids life yes my wife's parents are in my kids life my mother is in LA and so we don't get to see her much because I usually travel to LA by myself

and spend time with my mom probably twice three times a year I'll travel to see my mom and the kids don't get to see her as much, but she just retired. So we're hoping to hoping to change that and get the kids around her a little bit more. But I don't, I don't have a relationship with my father. So no, I don't know if they'll ever meet my father. Just unless he comes here, we, we, we just started talking this year. So this year I opened up the door to just get my whole family together. so we get on weekly calls or monthly calls.

Me and all my siblings and my mother and father just to talk and kind of get to know each other. And hopefully my father will get to meet his grandkids before he passed or anything like that happens. You initiated that? You're like, that's your idea to get the family together on a call? Yeah. As I was getting older, I was just like, who the fuck am I? I don't even know anyone from my father's side. I don't know anything about them.

And I was just like, man, it just, it sucks when you hear these stories of people talking about their grandparents and, you know, this, this, and that. And then people just dropping their kids off at, you know, grandma's house and taking the week off. And it's just like, yeah, that's never happened with me. You know, since my kids have been born, they've, uh, they've had me and they've been with me, you know, so it just got to a point where I was like, all right, I need to I need to just open that door and just make sure it stays open. And so, yeah, I just called my mom and told her, like, hey, I talked to my dad and talked to my brother. And can we just figure something out where we can talk once a month and just see each other once a month? Um,

because we're all getting older and, you know, I would hate for something to happen. And my kids never know that I had a brother or never know that, um, they never met their grandfather. One person is going to hear this at least and be inspired by that and do that. I guarantee it.

Sorry. I got to ask more questions about this. So did any of your siblings or your parents be like, are you fucking crazy? I'm not doing that. Um, nah, nobody,

nobody really said, no, they're not doing that. I call my brother. So I call my oldest sister because my sister is the oldest of all. Real quick. One, one thing before you continue, sorry, because I get along with everyone in my family. So I call my oldest sister because my sister is the oldest of all the siblings. Real quick, one thing before you continue. Sorry. Because I get along with everyone in my family and if they asked me to do that,

I'd be like, I would have all sorts of like, not for any good reasons, but like I dig my feet in the sand. You know what I mean? Like there would just be something about it I would have an instantaneous reaction to. But it's, okay. So sorry. Go ahead. Give me one second. I'll be right back. Hold on one second.

Do you think he has to pee? His kids aren't home, so I know he's not going to save someone from hanging off the side of the roof. Where do you think I went when I got up? Oh, I didn't even see you got up. Oh, thank you. I didn't even see you got up. You know thank you. I didn't even see you got off.

You know, one other time, it started downpouring here, and the windows were all open. So first of all, they can come in. Second of all, it was loud, so I was like, I got to go close these windows. You didn't even notice. Thank you. That's the second time. I think there was one other time you told me that you got off or something, and I'm like, what? I didn't even notice. Do you notice every time I get off? I guess you was one other time you told me that you got off or something, and I'm like, what? I didn't even notice.

Do you notice every time I get off? I guess you wouldn't notice if you didn't notice. So you don't know. Yeah, of course I notice because you're driving the show, generally speaking. But that thing that he did with his family is, honestly, it's getting me thinking a little bit because my family is pretty well dispersed also and doesn't talk too much. I like the story of him getting his family together

because it makes me feel uncomfortable. You know what I mean? As soon as he said that, I picture it happening to me, and I start squirming in my seat and shit. I'm like, all right, let's figure this thing out. Yeah, so are you having a party at your house? It's a little early for a party. No, I'm at the gym.

Oh, okay. All right, so you're having a party at your house? It's a little early for a party. No, I'm at the gym. Oh, okay. All right. So you're having a party at the gym. Yeah. So, yeah, I contacted my sister and I just started asking her all the questions that I needed to know. Like the backstories, my childhood, what happened, why are my parents not together? Why don't I talk to my brother? Where's dad at?

All this stuff. And my sister was just basically breaking down the whole family history to me because she's the oldest sibling. So she's seen the most and been through the most. And once I got information from her, I then contacted my other sister and then contacted my brother and then contacted my other sisters and talked to my mother and talked to my father. So I just started talking to everybody one-on-one and just opened the door. And then I um, I just needed to know information cause I was just like, I don't know y'all. Like I don't, I haven't talked to y'all. Like I haven't seen y'all. And, um, the base of it, everything was like, how do I get in touch and communicate

with my father? Like, how do I like clear the air to let them know, like, hey, like what's happens happen. Like, I don't care. Like, I just want to know what happened. I want to know the truth. And I mean, we can move on. Like, we could start from here. Like, you know, like, I just I'm cool with it. So it was just getting that information.

And once everybody started chatting and talking and um everything came up it was just like yo why don't we just link up like why aren't we talking like what's like why do i have a brother and we we know nothing about each other and we don't talk like why do i have a father and you don't even hit me up to say hey how you doing or comment on a facebook post or like whatever it was just weird like you I'm saying? So it was just like, I need to figure out some things about myself. Um, and the only way I'm going to do that is to know where I come from and my past of why I behave or act a certain way or respond to certain things in certain manners. And it all came through figuring those things out. And so now we just hop on the phone,

on the call once a month to just catch up with everybody and make sure everybody's okay and figure out how we're all gonna link up so that we can see each other. You can take the 100,000 foot view of this with like just no judgment and just be like, holy shit,

what a cool thing you're doing to stimulate your life. Not good, not bad. Like think of what you're doing to yourself, the input you're putting in. You know what I mean? Like it's so freaking awesome what you're doing as long as you don't like get caught in the drama. And it sounds like you're above it all because like you can't be like you can't find out like hey my dad left me because he was beating me and then judge him you have to be like okay or or maybe even thank him you have to have like these fresh eyes like if you want to continue to nurture the stimulus right like you have to be ready to do what you did you can't be like introducing people into your life just so you can fucking yell at them for something bad they did to you when you're 12 right i mean that's not the goal, right? I mean, it's some big boy shit you're doing.

It's like, it's awesome. And are you getting stimulated as I'll get out from it? Are you getting tons of like neural connections and like? Yeah, good and bad, you know? Like, you know, stimulating in good and bad ways where it's just kind of like it's tough to hear certain things it's tough to um it's hard to find that understanding when certain things come up um but it's also nurturing and it feels good because it's not as bad as your mind made it to be. You know what I'm saying? Like, you know, your mind can really, really fuck with you, man, like on certain things. And, you know, when you find out the truth, it's just kind of like, oh, it wasn't that bad.

Like it was or it wasn't because of me or wasn't this or, you know, whatever, you know, your mind has created the story that you didn't know. So it plays both ways. But all in all, it's good. It's good just to know and good just to have that open door in that relationship. An example I like to use for what one of the like growing up is like is when you're when you're 10 years old, when you're a 10 year old boy, if you found out that your dad cheated on your mom, you'd hate your dad then as a 25 year old man you might be like okay i get it that dude and it's like it's a it's it's a tough thing to funnel and then as maybe like a

40 year old man now with three kids it's not that you go back to saying hey that was fucked up what my dad is but you flip the script again in even a more mature way like yeah he shouldn't have done it but i have compassion for it because now you like like now your your kids are your number one priority and the goal is to keep your home stable right like at all costs yeah and uh and you and you got and you got to have strong healthy happy mama for it so it's it's fascinating how the same story can go from hating your dad to thinking it's okay. To then going back to like, Hey, not, not that my dad did that, at least not that I know of, but I just use that kind of as an example of like what a maturing man. And then in your final phase, you're like, Hey, it wasn't the right thing to do, but I have some understanding of it. It's, um, and who knows what it'll be when I'm 65. You know

what I mean? Maybe I'll go back and be like i'm 65 you know what i mean maybe i'll go back and be like damn you should have nailed everyone in the room you only live worth it but i don't know so so you have so you have your first kid really young are you scared to death no i was super ready man super ready i knew i was gonna have kids young like was, that was a given the way I was fucking. I mean, like, I don't know about anyone else, but I enjoyed sex. Like I enjoyed having sex with my wife and my woman and stuff like that. So I knew it was just a matter of time before we have a kid. Now on the flip side, she didn't want kids.

Wow. Yeah, so that was the shocker when we had a kid. I was like, oh, cool. Like, yeah, this is going to be awesome. This is going to be a new experience. It's going to be fun. And she was just kind of like, she has a really good mom, so she knows what it's like to have a really good parent or mother. So it wasn't that she was scared of being a bad mom.

She was just scared because my wife was all about her. She was into she's the she was the youngest girl of the family, too. And so she was technically the baby for a long time. And she was all about her. Like, you know what I'm saying? What do I want to do? And where do I want to go in life? And so she was like, if I have a kid, this is going to just offset everything about me.

And so her not wanting a kid was more just selfish just because, like, I just wanted it to be about me. And I knew I wanted a kid super early. I used to tell my girlfriend in high school, if you got pregnant, we straight. You got me. See, that's where we went. Oh, you're a parent's nightmare, Elijah. I am.

I am. And how long? So you've been with your wife for 12 years. You guys have been a couple for 12 years. Yeah, 13 years together. 2007, we met. We started dating in 2007. So 13, 14 years we've been dating.

We've been married for 10. been dating we've been married for 10 do you think where do you rank your relationship with your wife in terms of your achievements like i like when i think of my wife i'm like it's my greatest achievement in life this relationship like if it went away like i don't even think i would ever try to have another one like it if something happened god forbid to me or my wife it would be like I was retiring from the Super Bowl. Like every day, I'm like, holy shit, this is the crowning achievement. Do you see a relationship like that? Like in terms of how close you are, what you've done together,

what you've created, the obstacles you overcome. You know what I mean? Yeah, I would look at it as I think we've overcome every obstacle. I don't think there's nothing that can break us but us, if that makes sense. Yeah. It's been fourth and long a lot of times in your relationship, right? For sure. But you guys drove it into the end zone and you're like, holy shit, another fourth down completion.

zone and you're like holy shit another fourth down completion yeah so when it comes to marriage it's just like it's that it's that never-ending like journey it's like crossfit it's just like i can get better i i can get better like i can this is another obstacle like i can get better at this or you know she wants this from me okay i can work on this so it's just super cool um in the aspect of thinking like there's always something to get better at or to to work on and i think that's what always intrigued me with crossfit where it was just like there's always something like um yeah so like as far as in terms of me and her, it's just always been like, I know the one person that will never, ever leave me hanging. And like, I'm a hundred percent sure on that. Like no matter what it looks like or what's happening, I know that woman will never

leave me hanging. She will always find a way to support and help or to, to drive me in the right direction. Even if it may seem like she's not driving, like even if it may seems like she's not on board with some things like in the longterm, she's always there to support. So it's marriage has been – go ahead. If I may give a little commentary on that for people who are listening. People who are listening might be thinking, oh, what a great wife he has. But what I hear is what a great mindset EZ has because he is – I believe the same thing about my wife also. But it's my mindset.

It doesn't – like I've set her up – I have to have that mindset. Like to – sorry to use such a cheesy term, but she's my ride or die in my head no matter what. So whether – so there's two ways to think of this. Some people will be like – think that she really is that person. But you also have to remember that's easy mindset. It has nothing to do with her. He holds her in his mind like that. And that's the way I hold my wife too.

Yeah, it's my. Yeah, I always tell people like explaining marriage is hard because it's like. It's hard to like explain, like when people when people say like oh i want to be married it's just like who all right like okay like you know like get ready like you know like it's just get ready for it's just the same way when it's like oh i want to have kids it's like when you're dealing with another human that close and that intimate, it's just hard to actually explain it. Like, it's hard to actually give you what I guess you're looking for in the context of like you're talking about. I'm bonding with another human on a level that I will never bond with someone else. I'm bonding with another human on a level that I will never bond with someone else.

Like, I love this human more than I will ever love something else. You know what I'm saying? It's just like, how do you really explain that? I try to, but I don't know if I can really explain that for you. One of the interesting things is I feel – did something happen with the audio? Can you hear us, EZ? Uh-oh. We lost EZ. He's muted, so that's why that background noise stopped.

He can still hear us, though. That was a nice organic hum. I'd gotten used to it. Oh, God, I wonder how that's going to be in the final publication of this. Maybe his headphones went out. His kids took his headphones back. I know, right? Listen, they got mine.

How do those even fit your big old head? These little headphones from school. I don't believe you, Easy. Those are yours. Hey, Easy, I'm like so my own person and I'm like so – I'm so rooted in who I am. I'm almost impossible to move.

But if my wife, the slightest thing happens to her, I feel it. Like she stubs her toe or she wakes up in a bad mood. It's so crazy because I'm so impervious to the rest of the world. But it is – you're right. You're so – you don't realize that like when you're yourself, you're responsible for all your own emotions. But when you're married, like if they're not having a good day, man, like – or you're not – like you kind of – and you also owe it to them, right, to always like deal with your shit quickly or in a good healthy way because they're gonna feel your shit it's almost like you're like those twins in the cartoons where you punch one and the other one feels it you know it's kind of like that what if you have a strong

relationship it's it can get crazy you're like damn my wife just got punched in the face but my nose is bleeding so it's um So what did she think of Cookville? You said you moved there and it was like crazy white. I'm trying to think of when I visited there. I don't really remember much. I remember the inside of the gym and it just being just tons of dudes, just like you said, working out. It was basically you guys, the CrossFit team, and then the football team.

Every time I was there, just getting at it. But what did she think of Cookville? Was she okay with the demographic? Yeah, she was all right with it. She didn't enjoy it. She wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible. So, I mean, our plan was to get out of there sooner or later just because she wanted to live in the city.

And she's like one of those, like, I want to live in a condo with a lot of traffic and, you know, loud noises. And I want to go to my rooftop and be able to, like, not talk to, but watch everyone. Like, um, you know, like I want my own like garden just right outside my window. Like she's just, she's just, she likes to be in her own element. And, um, you know, that city was too small. It just wasn't, wasn't what she was vibing for. So I knew we were going to get out of there there i just didn't know how long it was going to be do you do you remember the um do you remember when we came out there my when my wife made a video with you yeah yeah yeah and it's so funny because last night when i was you posted it a long time ago but last night i was going through it and i'm

watching the video i'm like god this looks so familiar this looks so familiar and then all of a sudden i heard hayley asking you a question and i'm like oh shit it's hayley's video so i tagged her in it but it's like a post from like i don't know five years ago she was the only one that thought i was relevant at the time okay i couldn't get i couldn't get you or dave cash attention they were like uh that kid's not yeah we're not gonna keep the camera on him she uh she probably you probably sweet you probably sweet talked her she was there like probably then you basically you trained there for two years and what ends up being did you end up getting the story i heard is that you got a job

with high temp and that's why you eventually left cookville is that what happened? So, no, that wasn't exactly what happened. So in 2012, we were going to basically cross the Cookville. We were basically going to close the class down. We had a morning class and afternoon class in which I worked both of them to make up the money that I need to make in order to just, you know, make sure I'm all right. And we were going to close the morning class, I think it was, or maybe the afternoon class. We were going to close one of the classes. And so I said, if we close one of the classes, that cuts my check in half.

Like, you know, like, I don't get paid enough. Like, I got to figure something out. And out of when I had to talk with Coach Pugh, he asked me, like, do you think we're having issues with CrossFitters and the athletes that go to Tennessee Tech? And I said, respectfully and honestly, yes. It's a confusion because they feel like this is their gym when it's not their gym it's the athlete's gym but you know crossfitters are here when athletes are here and uh he's like yeah you know like this is their facility and you know we might have to close the class and so at that

time i was like well if we close the class like like we're we're living off of the crossfit money i make in strength and conditioning. So I was like, all right, I don't know what I'm going to do other than I got to go get a job, which means I can't coach classes or I can't train as much or I'm not a strength coach. And so at that time, I had a birthday party in Nashville and met a couple of CrossFitters down there. And one of them said they were opening a gym and they, um, they're looking for a head coach. They're looking for someone to run the gym. And so, uh, at that time, I basically was like, this might be an opportunity for us to get to Nashville, a bigger city. This might be opportunity for us to make more money. Um, and this might be opportunity for us to make more money. And this might be opportunity for me to really put in the time in CrossFit, just doing CrossFit. And CrossFit Cookville was soon to basically close one class or maybe have to close down.

And so I moved to Nashville with the intentions that CrossFit Cookville was basically either going away or just downsizing its class schedule. And so I took the job, and after regionals in 2012, I moved down to Nashville. You're on mute, Sevan. You're on mute. So the way you were saying that, i getting the impression that they and you left but they ended up not closing it down uh so you left for no reason yeah well i mean that's how it felt kind of uh it's not that i left for no reason i mean we wanted to get to a city anyway we wanted to get to a city we didn't know when but when i left mayhem opened up um and i didn't know

it wasn't until i basically told the gym that i was moving down there and then me and rich had to talk that mayhem was opening up um and uh yeah it just it just kind of ended up sucking in the way where i was just like well if, if mayhem was open up, I would have worked at mayhem, you know? Um, but, uh,

you know, just due to what was going on. And you guys were very, and you guys were very, very close, right? Like at least when I was there, it was like,

I'm trying to think who the three people were, if it was you, him and Darren. But when I was there, it was like, I think I went there two times and it was like, you guys were always together. Yeah. Me and Fr I mean we were super tight we're super tight you know I'm saying like I was I was my brother you know and I was the guy that I just you know looked

up to train with to you know get fitter and better and um yeah we were we were we were bros with my boy um still is I mean mean, to this day, you know. So you go to Nashville, and then from Nashville, is that when you – where is High – is High Temp where you went after Nashville? Yeah, so after Nashville, then I went to High Temp in Alabama and worked at High Temp. And they make weights, right? Yeah. Yep, they manufacture bumper plates.

I remember when I heard that – I don't remember if I heard it from you, but when I heard you got that gig, I was super-duper excited for you. I was thinking, holy shit, what a great place to go. Because at that time, high temp couldn't even keep the demand up, right? There was just such a huge demand for bumper plates. Oh, my goodness. It was crazy, man. It was super crazy.

But, yeah, when I got down there, I mean, it was crazy, man. It was super crazy. But yeah, when I got down there, it was a phenomenal job. High Tent was probably, working for Chuck was probably the best guy that I've ever worked for or just been around in a certain sense. I met some really close people that I'm still close with in Alabama. Chuck's the owner of High Temp? Yeah, Chuck Rumbley. And, wow, that's cool. So you were stoked when you got there. Yeah, man, that was huge. That was a huge time in my life.

That was huge. That was a huge time in my life. Yeah, it was a fun time because I qualified for the games, and I kept getting closer and closer to qualifying, and then I qualified there. And on top of that, I just had everything I needed. And then from there, where did you go? And then there, I went to Vegas.? And then there I went to Vegas. So I left Alabama, went to Vegas. And I was in Vegas for about a year and a half, I think. I want to say 2016.

And how many kids did you have then? By the time I got to Vegas, I had all four. I had my last one in Vegas. Okay. And why did you go to Vegas? So I got a job opportunity in Vegas. Okay. Yeah. And why did you go to Vegas? Um, so I got a job opportunity in Vegas. Dancing. Were you dancing?

Chippendales. I would still be there, man. Look at me. Look at me. Um, I got a job opportunity at a gym to, um,

to go in as like part owner at a gym. Um, and so I just took that opportunity, uh, and moved to Vegas, me and my family. You said when you went to college, you weighed 165 pounds, six feet tall. How much do you weigh now? I'm 192 now. But when I trained CrossFit and actually I'm lifting, like right now I'm training for a marathon and a 200-mile bike. So, of course, a lot more aerobically moving.

But when I'm training CrossFit, I'm usually around like 195 to 200, close to 200. It's crazy in your pictures. You look like you weigh so much more. I mean, you photograph like a guy who's 6'4", 240. It's nuts. Yeah. It's crazy in your pictures. You look like you weigh so much more. I mean, you photograph like a guy who's 6'4", 240. It's nuts. Yeah. It's nuts. It's probably your shoulders and just how long your legs are that make you look.

I know. Yeah, you got broad shoulders and a tiny waist. That's it. I'm super like, you got to remember, these guys are my body weight, but like five inches smaller. That's it. I'm super like, you got to remember these guys are my body weight, but like five inches smaller. That's compact. Like that's a

compact dude. I'm a basketball player. I mean, it's crazy that you weigh less than Fikowski. I mean, if I

would have put a picture of the two of you guys together, I would never think that. But then again, if I saw you guys standing next to each other, maybe. Not just Leslie, 20 pounds less.

Yeah, and how tall is Fikowski? He's less than 6'2". Okay, so you go to Vegas, and then from there, is that when you go to Iowa? Yeah, from Vegas, I was like, I got to get closer to family. I got to get my kids closer to family and need some assistance. I was traveling a ton. So it was just like, I got to do this. So we just packed it up after the 2017 games and headed to Iowa. Will you live there the rest of your life? I don't know.

Probably. He's telling them to get out of the room. He's like, yo, beat it. You're muted. We'll wait. That's exactly what I'm saying. That's exactly what I'm saying. Yo, scat.

So are you going to live there the rest of your life? Probably. Probably. I mean, I wouldn't care if I did or didn't. But as far as the foundation and what Iowa kind of presents in my eyes, I don't see any reason to move. I've lived west. I've lived east. I've lived south.

I just like my seasons, man. I can't live where it's just warm. I think we can count Alabama as south. Yeah, Alabama, yeah. South Tennessee, Alabama. But, yeah, I like my seasons, man. I like shoveling snow. I like using my fitness to shovel snow. And every year I build my kids a snowman and we go sledding and we spend

that time together and have those memories. In the fall, we do fall things and pumpkin patches and celebrate those things or just have those events. In the summertime, we have those events. In the spring, I just enjoy my seasons. And so right now, while I'm young, I don't feel any need to be like, I just need warm weather because I can't function. As long as I got my fitness, I'm going to shovel my snow. I'm going to push mow my lawn. It's just who I am.

So I don't want to go to a place that's constantly warm or constantly cold. What city do you live in? In Des Moines. The city is Ankeny. It's right outside of Des Moines. Yeah, and your house looks awesome. Your neighborhood looks awesome. It looks like the kind of neighborhood the kids can play in the street.

You're looking at my house? How did you see my house? I don't know. Just from Instagram. Just like from the kids. I just assumed it was your house. I don't know. Just from Instagram. Just like from the kids. I just assumed it was your house. Oh, the video. Okay.

I thought she was like looking at something on like Googling my address and looking at the. No, like Google. No, I don't know your address. Just from the stuff I see on Instagram. It just looks like, hey, like just the little shots I've seen of like a sled being pulled on a sidewalk or the kids looking at a frog under the car or just stuff like that just the little glimpses i get i just like oh wow he's like in the poltergeist neighborhood you know like just a neighbor or like where et lived you know just a cool neighborhood kids can ride their bikes you don't got to worry about anyone speeding down the street it's pretty

comfortable um kids get to go out and play and enjoy themselves and you know there's a lot of kids in the neighborhood there's a lot of kids in the neighborhood so they all link up and ride scooters and ride bikes and stuff like that so so did you go there and did you have a job there?

in Iowa or did you just go there and wing it? start hustling? I guess by then you have your online programming and you're hustling. Yeah. When I moved here, I mean, we lived off of pretty much sponsorships and, you know, online sales, like apparel sales and stuff like that. And then my wife was just like, we need to open a gym because there was only like 15 gyms or like 12 gyms uh in the Des Moines area in the metro area so and were you stoked were you stoked when she said

that were you like yeah let's do it or were you like oh shit here we go again I was like fuck that I don't need to open a gym I don't I don't want a gym I'll coach out of the garage I just wanted to kick it I just literally I wanted to kick it um but just literally, I wanted to kick it. Um, but she was like, you know, we need to open a gym now, you know, before a lot of gyms are opening. And, um, I was like, well, once you do this, it's like, it's forever. Like, I'm not just going to quit on it. I'm going to continue to push it, continue to try to make sure it thrives, continue to invest in it, whatever needs to be done. And so, um, yeah, she opened a gym. She pretty much got everything together and opened a gym.

So we started a gym here. And how's the gym doing? It's doing good now. For the first year and a half was a cluster, and then COVID happened. But it's doing good now. And then when did you launch Project Onyx? That was almost a year ago to this day, right? July, August.

I think it was in September to be a year, I think. And was that your idea? No, that was a friend of mine named patrick ford his name is patrick ford he's a physical therapist here um and he came to me and basically said hey you know i'm a fan of yours you know i'll follow you on social media and just so happen to live around the corner from you and uh you know yeah now that guy was looking at your house not me that guy um and so uh basically he was just like uh we need to um you know i wanted to try to do something and create this opportunity for youth and told me his idea. And I was just like, I'm game. Like, let's do it.

You know, I've been thinking about the same thing. I just haven't done it because I got so much going on. And, you know, it's time to move now. So let's do it. And so we just kind of put it together and ran with it. And tell me what it is. What is Project Onyx? It's to build equity in the – I was just joking.

It is – Hey, I scoured the entire website and I go, the word equity isn't on here once. Like just last night. I commanded F. I'm like – and then I'm like, and all these people got upset at what I said because of that word. But the word equity isn't on this – anyway, go on. Sorry. So we started –

As to what? We started basically to just provide access to the black community. And we were talking specifically about the black community, one, because I'm black and Pat's half black. And when everything happened in CrossFit, when everything happened in the world. Wait a second. What's half black? What's half black? What's half black?

His father's black and his mother's white. Okay. What if then he marries a black woman and he has a kid with her? Will those kids be half black? Well, he married a white woman and he has a kid with her, will those kids be half black? Well, he married a white woman, and he has a daughter, and his daughter is now probably a third black. She has that quarter black in her, I guess. It's weird.

I guess I don't hear that distinction. I either hear just black or white, but okay. Yeah. I get it. It's math. You're doing math. Yeah. We started to basically give access to youth and just teach them about CrossFit.

Get them understanding what health and wellness really is, the actual foundation of it. Teach them CrossFit and help diversify CrossFit where it's just like now we can get them certified we can put more black coaches in gyms and we can help eliminate this issue that um I'm not even gonna say issue we're gonna help eliminate this the whole idea that CrossFit is not diverse and that there's not enough black people in it we're gonna help eliminate that we're gonna help put more black people in it um we're going to help eliminate that we're going to help put more black people in the crossfit space give them access to it so maybe we we find more black athletes um and that was the initial where he's a physical therapist and i'm a crossfitter and um it was just like these kids can't afford a membership about my gym um they don't know about CrossFit, and they probably won't get into CrossFit because they don't have the representation to find interest in it.

And so go ahead. Why do there need to be more – I want to use the exact words you used. So get more black people into CrossFit. Why is that important? Just for health issues, for health reasons. My mother is 65 years old. What do I tell her? Hey, mom, if you move to Iowa, I can take care of you. I can help you prolong your life through fitness, through CrossFit. You come into my gym, that's my job, is to find all the underlying things for us to learn how to mobilize

and stretch, keep your bodies and joints healthy as possible, um, and allow you to just the basics of, um, increasing blood flow to your body so that you can stay as healthy as possible and, you know, live your life longer and be able to function and do things. Um, and so we know it works and we know exactly what it is. And we're just talking about the smallest stage of it. And that's just walking into a box and working out, right? That's the smallest stage of it. So we know it works. And if we're looking at this issue in the black community where they are eating bad or we're dying at rates higher because of certain things, it's just like, okay, well, if I know CrossFit is going to help,

why don't I just give you access to the gym so that you can work out and we can figure this thing out? And so we just basically said, let's start with the youth. And as Project Onyx grows, hopefully we'll get into where we can find a way to bring adults in to where they can figure out the same thing. But it was just as things happen, we got the uproar of the are you leaving? Come in here. I'm sorry. All right. One of my members is moving to D.C. today. She's leaving us. So but we'll take a gratuitous hug. If you need to take a break to hug someone, go ahead.

She'll be back. But yeah, so it's just like we're project onyx we can give this access to kids and hopefully they can then spread the word of what they're doing and we can continue to bring you know black people into crossfit we can continue to bring black people into the sport that has changed so many lives and allow people to to healthy and fit. And then on top of that, for me on the flip side of it was I own my own gym. Like I'm a business owner. I can create revenue to take care of my family. It's like, why not get you a level one so that you can do the same thing? We can open up a gym in the middle of the city. You know, we can start in your garage.

We can do workouts at the park. And, you know, just it's a way for a kid to immediately find a way to do something they love and create a revenue stream to take care of themselves and not have to clock in or work for someone else. And so it just all made sense with Project Onyx to start the program. But it's not just for people with black skin. It's for people who can't afford a gym also. Yeah, which…

Is that right? Yeah, which was predominantly black, black kids and stuff like that. I mean, you got a kid in this picture. I'm no expert. But you got a kid in a green shirt here on the end. I don't know how he got past your criteria. He doesn't look like to me. You see him?

Sorry, I'm on the empowerment youth page. I'm on the empowerment youth page. You let one slip in. I guess he could identify with being black. He could have told you and you were like, shit, we're stuck taking this one. Hold on. And Elijah, how come there's no girls? Are you thinking that Project Onyx is only for black kids?

I thought that you just said that in the beginning. But I only hear what I want to hear. So I made it wrong. Not only for black kids. It's not only for black kids, Avon. It was created to create the representation for black kids. So we're going to attract the same way a white kid is going to look up to you because he sees you and you look like him. No one's ever looked up to me.

Right, no one's ever looked up to me. Let's use someone else as an example. I'm 5'5", only 9% of the population is shorter than me. Yeah, so I get what you're saying. Yeah, it's not only for black kids. It's just that me being who I am in the sport is going to attract a kid that looks like me or that I can identify directly without even knowing who I am or what I do because I'm black. And so therefore, it was just to bring in kids like that.

We have Mexican kids. We have Asian kids. We have white kids in our program. And we do have females. We have a ton of girls in our program. How do you launch that how does that start how by that i mean like do you like how do you get your first your first participants how do you get your first participants in a program like that let's say i want to start a program like that in my neighborhood how do i get my first participants so what happened was is um are you about to leave,

Jess? Come in. I'm sorry. Give me a second. I take your time. He, this, uh,

Elijah takes more breaks than me. I don't know if I, if I told you about this, but as he's been talking about it, I've been thinking, you know, I went to, uh,

I got to go out there and see family. Cause I set up a black people participating in this fitness event way more than I've ever seen the CrossFit events. And've got to go out there and see family. There are a ton of black people participating in this fitness event. Way more than I've ever seen at a CrossFit event. And I couldn't figure out why. All right, girl. What city was it in? Chicago. Oh, maybe that's why.

My mom went to a gym in Benicia, California. It was all Filipinos. It was like 50 Filipinos and my mom. It was crazy. That was her box. Sorry, go ahead. So how do you start this? The first day, do no kids show up and you're like, all right, I guess I'll just do some burpees?

So when I first opened my gym, I went and spoke to a group of kids. And one of the kids, I told like, Hey, anybody that wants a free membership at my gym can come to my gym for free. If you're serious, you know, so that you can train, work out and we can introduce you to CrossFit. Well, it was one kid that was like, Hey, I'm serious. I want to come. And he started coming. And then, uh, he asked, could he invite his friend and he invited his friend. And so once his friend started coming, he invited his friend. And then I had like four kids. This was like when I first opened my gym and from those four kids, um, I basically, once we started the nonprofit and started the organization project onyx, I told those kids

to go get all of your friends, go get them all. And they just, they went out and went rampant and tell everybody, Hey, we got free memberships. And by that time, um, you know, I have been working with these two, these three, four kids for a couple of years. And so, I mean, their friends have seen me, heard about me, started following me on social media and stuff like that. And, um, it was just, it was just time. It was just time for, um, time for me to just open it up.

To put a name to it. You were already doing it. You were already doing it. Like you said, the premise is to give kids an opportunity to do CrossFit and kids who might otherwise not be introduced to it or couldn't afford it. And you were already doing it, and then this dude rolled around and you guys built a website and named it is what it sounds like. Yeah, pretty much.

Yeah, and we just created a nonprofit. Yeah. How many kids in the program now, Elijah? I think right now we're almost at 30. Holy shit. And do you guys have any sponsors? Just went out. Do you guys have any sponsors?

No. Sponsors? No. We try to collaborate and work with people, but no, we don't have any sponsors for Project Comics. And do you still have any sponsors? Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah, I still have a few. And do you have any aspirations to still go to the Games? Crap, you went on again. Do I have any aspirations for? To still go to the Games? Yeah, when I get to the Masters, I'm going to try to compete in the Masters and try to qualify. Yeah, because I still see you're working hard, man.

You are working hard. Yeah, every now and then putting in a little bit of work. Just like I said, just like I got this 200, this double century bike and this marathon run that just changing it up a little bit, trying to see if my body can uphold, you know, different stimuluses and different type of trainings. But CrossFit's still the platform. Are you doing that training with

anyone or are you planning to do those events with anyone or are you just doing that for yourself? Yeah, just doing them solo. Is it local? Yes. The Des Moines Duathlon? No, no. I didn't do that one. I didn't do that one.

I just made that up. I didn't even know what a duathlon was until yesterday. Medeiros had to explain it to me. Yeah, they just had a duathlon like last week or something like that. As I dug through your Instagram, one of the people I was surprised to see on there was Mallory O'Brien. I had no idea. Obviously, she's popped on my screen just because she did so well at the Mid-Atlantic region. Where did she do so well?

Granite Games. And is she your – do you still coach her? Not anymore. She's coached by James Townsend. I coached her her first two years at the games. And in Iowa? Yeah, she's right here in Iowa. She lives in Iowa?

Mm-hmm. And how did you meet her? How did you find her? She just was some kid who just rolled into your gym? Yeah, I met her when I first moved here. I had dropped into her gym to work out um and that's when i first was introduced and met her and then um she was with another coach and he brought her to my gym because they were going to like a competition and they didn't have runners or

something like that and then uh a couple months later she contacted me and said could she come you know train under me and you could she come train under me. She wanted to make it to the Games. I was like, okay. Every kid says I want to make it to the Games. Let's do it in CrossFit. I just told her to just drop in a few times and work out and we'll see. If it's something that I feel is worth the time, then we can go toward it.

She dropped in, started working out, signed up for a membership at the gym. And I want to say it was like a week of classes where I was like, gosh, this kid is different. Like, and so, um, put her in our comp class and, uh, started programming for her and working with her. And she just continued to excel and excel and excel and excel and she just she just had that switch she had that that froning switch that that fraser switch that she just had it she's and uh she just continued to get better and better and better fast and i was like okay this is gonna happen and that same year I didn't qualify for regionals, which was 2018. And she ended up qualifying for the games. So I was just like, well, I guess I'm going as a coach.

Are you saying that with all seriousness? Like she has the Froning-Fraser switch? I would guess you wouldn't throw that around lightly. Yeah, I've been around both of them. I've been around Froning, Frzier, and Annie Thor's daughter enough to know what it looks like. And I told her when she was 14 years old, you don't owe me anything because with your work ethic and your efforts that you put in and who you are, it's going to happen anyway. It's like, it's trust me, it's going to happen. Like I've been around these athletes, I've seen them. I know what they do and don't have. And I, I mean, I was very honest with her.

Like, I'm not like them. Like, I'm just not like, um, I have no desire to put in that, that time. I have no desire to put in that time. And I've never wanted to win the games. But you want to win the games. And I'm telling you right now, it's going to happen just in due time. And she continues to awe me just throughout the years of her training and her dedication. She just continues to awe me. And now she's just on that stage where she's um the world's looking at her now like everyone's seeing her now you know when you're 14 15 years old no one's really

paying you any attention um but now they see her and um they're gonna have to deal with that and what did you teach like when she came to you could she do a snatch or a clean or a kipping pull up? Did you did you introduce her to all those or? No, she was a gymnast by trade. So she had a lot of the gymnastics pretty locked down. She was pretty good. We worked on her weightlifting a lot as far as technique, positioning. And then everything that we kind of dove into, like, was just like, she's a kid, so she just wants to go fast and she thinks she can hold on for a long time. So it was just a lot of pacing, just getting her to understand, like, sets and reps that you can do for your body, for your fitness level, where you're at. And then just challenging her by competing with her because I can, I trained with her for the two years. So it was just, just training with her and, you know, giving her that push, that edge. Because I always,

I always train with Froning. So I knew the difference between having a coach and having a training partner. And for me, it was like, nah, I'll take a training partner over a coach any day.

And so it was just like, all right, I'll be your coach, but I'm going to train with you because you got to know what it's like to lose and you got to know what it feels like to win and handle yourself in both ways.

So, yeah. Can you imagine being 14 years old and training with Elijah Muhammad? I mean, just the hootspot, just the – it's either complete lack of awareness or complete self-confidence, right? It's not the only environment in which that's happening. This girl who's, I think, 16 or 17 now, Olivia Kerstetter, she's been training alongside Heppner for several years as well. But, yeah, it is mind-boggling to think about.

It's crazy. I mean, those kids give you that extra edge because, like, it's just certain things that you just can't beat a kid at. Like, when it comes to certain things, like a good fit kid is just going to, like, you have no chance. So it gives you that edge to push a little harder too. As well as, like, I know. I got to see her compete live for the first time in, in Minnesota.

And I have my own thoughts about this and, and you already kind of alluded to it, but what do you think is a reasonable timeframe to her to, for her to threaten for the winning the games? Um, so I don't, I'm not going to say she can't win this year. I think she needs to feel that stage. I think this is her feel year. Like, she's going to do, I think she's going to do substantially well. Because there's nothing that kid can't do.

Like, she is well prepared and well rounded. But it's just that first year, man. The Frazier, that feel stage, the Fronings, that feel stage, Danny Thor's daughter, that feel stage where it's just like, I know I can win this thing, but it just didn't happen. I know she can win it,

but it just might not happen. Then when she comes back after that, after that, oh, I know what it feels like. I've tasted it. I just really feel sorry for a lot of the athletes that thought they were next in line. Well, it is like that, right? Sorry, Brian. Let me say this real quick.

It is like that, right? Like you think that, okay, I just need to wait for Tia to retire and Katrin to get old and Annie to get old and they're going down and I'm going up. But then all of a sudden Mallory O'Brien showed up. It's like – does it break their heart? Does it break their spirit? Heck, yeah, it breaks your heart, man. Everybody thinks – listen. Everybody thinks because Frazier is gone that they're next.

And now you got this kid who, Hopper? Is his name Hopper? Is it the Hopper kid? Yeah, the Hopper kid. Man, like everybody thought they were next, and now this other guy pops up on the radar and is just like, oh, shit, we got to deal with this dude. He's like 23.

He's like 22 years old. He's like, I'm crying. Oh, I don't know whether to laugh or to cry. Okay, sorry, go ahead, Brian. There's an interesting dynamic in that regard for sure because you've got the older guys, Felner, Frikowski, Panchik, that think like, man, I have an opportunity here. But you have Hopper who's 23 and Medeiros who's 22

who's already proven what he can do at a young age, and he's already had the opportunity to feel it out against Matt. But on the women's side, it's similar, I think, because obviously Mallory's exceptional. I mean, she won three events consecutively at a semifinal. That's pretty rare error right there. But, you know, Hayley Adams is not very old, and Emma Carey is also very good.

You've probably had a chance to see her compete. And I wanted to ask you just, you know, because in individual sports in general, sometimes, like, the best people people historically they get knocked for saying yeah you know Federer had all these majors won before Nadal and Djokovic showed up on the scene so he kind of got a soft era where yeah he was the best but there wasn't anyone to challenge him and if Mal's going to come up and be the best she's going to have that challenge from Haley and from Emma who have also proven to be pretty good do you think it's an advantage that there's other people around her age that she knows she has to keep pushing against?

Yeah, for sure. I think that is definitely an advantage. I won't go into too much detail, but when I coached her, we had a lot of mental talks about seeing the field. And, um, you know, I'm one of those guys where like, I'm not a, I'm not a head down, just stay in my lane kind of guy. Like I'm like a, who else is out here doing what and how good are they really? So I can figure out who I need to keep an eye on and who I like. It eye on. It's just something about being aware of who you're going up against. You know what I'm saying?

And finding the little things. I'm a huge person. I'm a huge person on understanding the other athletes. When I see Matt Frazier catch a clean and his body just stays as firm as possible and he just stands it up that's a fear factor it's like okay like that scares me a little bit that puts a little like damper on what's going on so it's just like i think that's a huge part of the competition aspect where it's just like hey you need to know that you can beat these girls you need need to know, you know what I'm saying, what their weaknesses are and what they kind of lack at. Like, you need to know that.

Continue to do exactly what you're doing to get better and fitter and stronger and learn more about yourself. But, like, when you're on the field, I need to know, oh, sled pushes are her weakness. Like, she was slowing down on sleds. That might transfer into some grunt things that she may have issues with. She doesn't want to hurt as bad as me. All right,

here's my advantages. And here's how I, you know, almost like put the damper on her weekend when I crush her in a certain workout, you know? So I just think it's a part of the game where it's just like, I need to know all aspects of the competition and,

you know, like things like that. So I think with her coming up with these girls that are around her age it's going to keep her striving a little bit harder because it's like they got as much time as me to continue to grow and get better and you don't really know what they're good and bad at yet because they haven't been able to perform at the games at that top level so it's just like we don't know what we're about to see that these kids are going to kind of do well like i know a tia to me we've seen what she may not

excel in multiple years until she gets better at them so in those years it's like well i need to crush her soul on this one um so i just think that's going to be the push for them. I think what Elijah is saying is one of the most honest perspectives I've heard about competition as opposed to the conventional wisdom that you hear from a lot of coaches and trainers where it's like, hey, you can only do what you can do and put your head down and focus on yourself. I think that what he's saying is a missing part to a lot of this. And it's funny you say that because in the,

you maybe just think of two, two different kinds of CrossFit games athletes. There's the one who's the first time on the big stage and they're really nervous and it might scare them. And then there's, and maybe that was the original Tia Toomey we saw. And now we see a Tia Toomey who thrives in the light. And the scary thing about Mallory is, is she showed at the semifinal,

just by her post-game interviews, that she thrives in the light too. I mean, she already has swagger. She's already getting fed from the crowd. It's nuts. It's nuts. There was actually one event there that was a great example of what Easy's talking about, both components of her. It was the event with the muscle-ups the cleans and then the torque tank and when just her turn to push the torque tank

she had head down staring at the ground step step step step the ultimate focus on the goal but as soon as she finished and got to the end and turned around when she was making her way back to the rig her head was not on a swivel she was looking at the other girls and observing the things that easy's talking about while she's still achieving work getting back to the rig to do her next set. Yeah, when we talk about sport, think about it. Before I went and played a team, what did we do? Scouting report. I need to know everything about this athlete before I've got to go against them.

That's it. It's a scouting report. I need to know the plays. I need to know what he lacks on defense, which hand he likes to drive to, if he spins a certain way. I need to know as much about this athlete as well as how I'm going to perform and how I'm training and preparing for this competition. And I think that's sport. It's not like, oh, head down, just worry about myself and only control what's in my lane. It's like whatever you lack at, I need to expose

or I need to just be able to crush you at that time that I know this is going to be a bad event for you. Important question here. So what does the scouting report on Dave Castro, the basketball player? Have you played hoops with Dave, E no we talked about it man we we talked about it and he said he was straight up man he was like easy i suck i just like playing basketball and i was like hey man listen people can smack talk me and crossfit all day long and it may not even disturb me you may not sometimes you may not get anything back from me it may just be like all right cool like the moment you start talking about basketball i don't

care if you're in a wheelchair i don't care if you're a kid i don't care if you're i do not care the moment you cross the lines and come into that court it is game on i'm going to play you like i'm playing a professional athlete and i'm going to talk to you the same way. So Dave, me and Dave chatted up and he was like, yeah, I want to play you. And I was like, Dave,

you do not want to play me one-on-one. Like I'm pretty sure you would, it would not be a good experience for you. You would not enjoy it. And he was like, oh, I know I suck. I just want to have fun and play.

And I was like, well, as long as you keep it as cordial and as fun as possible. But if you score a bucket and you say something to me, it's going to get personal. And he will. He will. I know he will. I don't know if he'll score a bucket, but if he does, he'll say something.

So what ended up happening with Mallory? Where's James live? James' gym is up the street from mine. Oh, so she basically... Was that a painful separation? I had no idea he was in Iowa. I thought he was in Pittsburgh or something.

No, he's in Iowa. He's literally up the street from me. It wasn't painful. I was just over there training with them at a training camp this weekend. I just stopped by to jump into training camp and just see everybody. But no, it wasn't a painful situation. She felt like she needed a little bit more support. I was traveling a lot, moving around a lot. She felt like she needed a little bit more support. And it was just that, I guess it was that season. She left her coach to come train with me. She left me to move over to James. And obviously the decisions that she's making

are putting her in the best position possible. So I'm never going to fault anyone for doing what's best for them and to pursue their career or what they want to do. And so I just hugged on her this weekend and high-fived her up and told her how great she's doing and trained over there with James and some of the other guys this weekend.

So James has two amazing daughters right yeah yeah like like like he's really and and i don't know if they're they're gifted but um i would say it looks like it's just all tons of hard work which is kind of the crazy thing because tons of people will be like, oh, your kid's so gifted. And you're like, nah, not gifted at all. This is just putting the hours in. This is just practice, practice, practice. Do your kids play with his kids? When they were over there? Yeah. But they don't, they don't play like, like me and James don't hang out. Like we don't see each other regularly he's usually doing this thing i'm usually super busy over here and we're about uh like living ways we're about 25 minutes from each other living i'm guessing oh okay but now they um they don't get to hang out as much i'm pretty sure as they get older as we find more time and uh like schedules and stuff like that. They probably will, though.

I'm going to ask you a really uncomfortable question here. I apologize, but I got to know. Would you like to have me as a neighbor? Yeah, I think that'd be cool. That'd be cool. I would love to be your neighbor. Even if you didn't want to be my neighbor. I would love to be your neighbor, even if you didn't want to be my neighbor. I would love to live next door to a married couple that had four young kids my kid's age.

And, man, it would be so awesome. I'd cut a hole in the fence between the backyards, put a little latch on it. Cut a hole in the fence between the backyards, put a little latch on it. I was talking to a couple friends out in Santa Cruz, and I told them next time I come out, I'm going to try to bring the boys and have them link up with Savant's kids and stuff like that. Who are you friends with in Santa Cruz, if you don't mind me asking? Lance. Oh, yeah, from Nova. Yeah. asking um lance um oh yeah from nova yeah hey if you come out here you can stay at my house i got this like my house is kind of like in two in two wings and you guys and i have and my kids can stay

in my room and uh you can bring your whole family you have your own bathroom your two bedrooms that would be amazing you told me that like uh i want to say it was like three years ago. You were like, hey, come out, you and your family, and stay with us. That was when I liked you. Now I just know we can make a lot of content and I can get more followers. So my agenda has changed. For sure. But the invitation is still the same.

I appreciate you coming on here um i have another podcast coming up before i do that other podcast um i'm going to go over to product i have the website open now i'm going to go to project onyx i'm going to make a small donation that fits my my uh my budget and uh I just really, really appreciate you coming on. Um, I know we have a long history together. Um, I know we exchanged some DMS after the, uh, post on Noah Olson's thing. Um, and true to your nature, um, like your line, you only gave me positive energy. And, uh, I have, I have to when you responded to my DM, I played it like five times. And I just kind of just laid on my couch and was just loving on it. So thanks, man.

For sure, man. Yes, man. Thank you all for having me on, man. Super appreciate it. Yeah. And you got to come out you got to come out that would be that would be so awesome yeah well for sure and you can come out for a long time i know i know traveling with kids sucks like i would never want to go anywhere for a couple days so if you come

out come out and stay for a while is that the same dog y'all had 10 years ago holy crap he doesn't move as well he's old as shit now but man she kept that dog with her all the time ah he said that dog was always with hayley it still always is dude it'll be a hundred degrees and hayley will still make that dog come everywhere with her um but yeah man thank you guys for having me, man. Super appreciate it, man. Brian, it's your turn to talk. Oh, I thought we were done. Like say bye or something. No, yeah, but you got to say something like thanks for coming on or cute headphones or you got to just like some closing statement. Oh, okay. Jordan or LeBron?

Jordan. No, no, no, no, okay. Jordan or LeBron? Jordan. No, no, no, no, no, no. LeBron. LeBron. That was too quick. I thought that might be a tough one for you because you were the same age, and I knew you grew up during the Jordan era, but you're also from the same state as LeBron.

So I was like, I wonder what he'll say. I got to go for LeBron, man. That's my guy, man. I can't argue with that.