The Sevan Podcast - #90 CrossFit Games - Update

Episode Date: July 28, 2021

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Brian, first of all, before we start uh what the what's going on my i there was a post yesterday in crossfit games or a couple days ago with the schedule and it had the time and then adjacent to it it had the network so basically it looked like it's going to be more difficult to watch the crossfit games than to compete in them and i like that i like that let the fans actually chase it down throughout the different networks. And that's not unique to CrossFit. The UFC and other people do that too, where you have to chase it. But then in the comments, there was a debate on whether those networks adjacent to the times

were the actual networks that you have to chase it on or whether it's a simulcast, meaning it was going to be on all of those networks at the same time. And then my other question for you is, is it said that the event started today at one o'clock Eastern time, which would be 10 a.m. real time, which is California time. The whole world should be on that time. And and then I get a text from you. I'm trying to enjoy my coffee that the games have been delayed. So what's going on? How come I can't figure out what's going on so i i think for the the age and adaptive are the only ones competing today and they have already started the competition but there's no streaming of the morning events the morning event is uh is a running event a very distance depending on the

age group they're going off in three waves or three heats. The first wave was the, I think it was the oldest grouping. I think it was a 60 plus and 65 plus divisions and the adaptive divisions. And that heat finished and then a weather delay set in. And so it was actually, it was kind of nice timing because they didn't have to interrupt anyone in the middle of competition. And the weather delay is not for rain, it's for lightning. Rain. They would obviously continue to run, but I was in a room earlier with some of the meteorologists who are working with CrossFit this week and there's lightning in the area. And so they obviously have a protocol in place for that.

Did you see lightning yourself? I have not. I remember from, I have not, but I remember from two years ago, we had a similar situation. And I was in the room with those guys, same guys, actually, same meteorologists. And there's a three-step process, basically. And once it gets within a certain proximity, you have to take certain precautions. So I think that they didn't want to start the event with the lightning even threatening to enter that zone because it's such a long event.

As soon as the lightning strike warning came, did people put their masks on? Of course, of course, yes. Brian, are you on your phone or on a computer? I'm on my phone. First time trying it on a phone. Okay. And Brian, do you have his echo cancellation turned on? I mean, he sounds great to me. And Brian, uh, Ryan, do you have his echo cancellation turned on? I mean, he sounds great to me. Okay. Thanks brother. Oh, we haven't fixed your audio situation yet, huh? Okay. We'll work on that today, Ryan. Um, so I see, uh, there's a bunch of things to talk about here. Do you, do you have any update on Bethhany shadburn is she 100 out yeah she's definitely out and it's um i got a ton of questions about that on instagram i reposted the underdogs post

announcing that she wasn't going to compete and most people were curious if she was symptomatic or asymptomatic i spoke with her manager um and also one of her training partners, Danielle Brandon, and they both said, yes, she was she was having symptoms and was feeling sick. And so, you know, even if it was a negative for covid and she was able to compete, she definitely would not have been competing at 100 percent. She's actually sick. OK. And Cara Saunders and tested positive also, but she tested negative for the antigen test. They're letting her move forward, but with some precautions in place. Yeah. So she preemptively tested herself upon arriving to the U S after travel, I guess at some points and informed CrossFit of a positive test on site. She got a test that showed negative antigen. So I think she's going to have to be tested every day just to monitor the situation. But at this point, she is permitted to compete.

Okay. And then the other three athletes in question were Dan Bailey, who's a senior, and definitely his health should be in question because he's older and this thing really only affects older people. health should be in question because he's older and this thing really only affects older people and then uh daniel even though he daniel brandon and uh carrie pierce tested negative they're kind of on the watch list because they were uh schmoozing with miss miss shadburn dan had been hosting cara uh after arriving in the u.s and they were doing some preparation training at his gym in ohio his garage gym there i believe so that's why he's in that protocol. And then, yeah, of course, Bethany trains with Carrie and Danielle and they probably traveled here together. So they're,

you know, all in the same protocol, basically of daily testing, currently all negative and able to compete. But some precautions being taken. So they'll you know they'll be uh segregated as much as possible both off the competition floor and i guess on the competition floor but i don't know what that will look like in terms of during competition uh yeah so so sorry so i thank you for clarifying so i conflated all the cases as being like having the same vector what you're saying is it's two separate incidences we have have Shadburn and we have Cara Saunders and people they've been in contact with. Are any of the fans being tested?

The fans? I don't know. I don't think so. Okay. That would be too hard to keep up the shenanigans, the SARS-CoV-2 theatrics to test the fans. It's enough for the show if they just test the athletes. I know athletes, staff and volunteers. I think everyone, they call it at the games, they call it either inside the ropes or outside the ropes. So if you're inside the ropes, then you had to either present proof of vaccination or do COVID testing.

Gotcha. And do the fans have access to the athletes? Do they ever mingle? I think, you know, the, the, I mean, I have yet to see, I have seen the path to walk to the outdoor venue is pretty removed from the fans. There's one small section that they would pass by to get on the field where fans can line the railings there, the guardrails. And I think similarly going to the Coliseum.

But outside of that, the athletes do not have to interact with the fans if they don't want to. Do they still take the athletes through the beer garden? Is that part of the route going out to that one field? That would be going into the Coliseum. I believe that same route exists and kind of go around the perimeter. But now it's called the Fit Aid Lodge. Once the athletes are cleared in the next couple days,

it won't matter whether they get COVID or not, right? Because they won't be tested. This is just a one-time check i guess what i'm trying to figure out is is that we we heard about that incident a couple months ago and then it happened again at the tokyo games where there's golfers out on the on the field um in the middle of their game and then they get pulled off because of a test once the show starts starts, are we in the clear? Like it doesn't matter whether they get COVID or not? I think that in general, yes. I'm presuming things here. But my guess would be if someone's showing symptoms that they might want to test them.

Or if someone feels like they're in contact with someone, they'll be tested. Or if someone's flagged, like the athletes we previously mentioned, someone that will be tested or if someone's flagged like the athletes we previously mentioned, then they'll have to continue to take a test each day to extend, you know, to be able to compete that day. OK, so going going back to the scheduling. So this these events that you mentioned that have already started, those are not televised and the actual broadcast will not begin until 10 a.m. Well, there's just another delay. So I think the next wave of Masters on the running course, which is the first event, is supposed to start in about 10 minutes.

But that's going to be almost an hour delayed from when it was originally supposed to be. So it's possible that that 10, I don't know if that's, I think that that it'll probably be an hour supposed to be so it's possible that that and i don't know if that's i think that that it'll probably be an hour supposed to be because the second event for them is also set to take place on the north park field outdoors which is where the finish for the running course is so they'll probably have to push everything back an hour okay and this isn't directed at you how the fuck am i supposed to watch the games i mean i need a goddamn schedule i need an updated schedule no i would watch these games i want to report on these games and i want

to play i want to be a part i've canceled everything from my week and i want to watch these games how the fuck do i watch these games when where what time this is one of my frustrations too because uh even a even a few masters athletes who I know last night were posting start times for their competition online. And I went to bed thinking, okay, I can watch this person or this group at this time in the morning. And then when I woke up, I had received a updated master schedule from CrossFit and the times were no longer the same. So it's a possible, even that the athletes were going to bed thinking that they were starting at a certain time and waking up, finding out that that time had changed

overnight. And I, I do not agree with that. Okay. So you don't know, um, you don't know when I can watch either. I just have to stay close and just keep digging. If you see anyone, um, will you ask them and text me if you see like anyone who knows anything? And I don't want to bug Dave about it because I know this is out of Dave's... He's big picture and on the ground. And I know broadcast isn't like... He doesn't want to be bugged about broadcast details.

It's like asking him what color shoelaces the athletes will be wearing. Oops, it looks like I lost Brian. Maybe he got hit by a lightning strike. A couple other topics when Brian gets back on here, we're going to talk about is it looks like a Brazilian athlete tested positive. I only got to watch the first two minutes of her and I'm not 100% sure she's Brazilian. Just being racist and lumping her up because I didn't understand what language she was speaking. But I suspect she's Brazilian. And I think maybe she tested positive for something. And I watched the first two minutes on her Instagram and it broke my heart.

Is that a Brazilian athlete or am I just being racist? Or is racist the right word? Linguist? Whatever it is. I didn't understand what language she was speaking. So I just called her Brazilian. What is she? Yeah, that was Portuguese. That's Larissa Cissa kunha a lot of people call her lari

i don't have all the details on that but it's for me it's a bad situation and i can tell you what i think is going on just a little background she was national champion for brazil last year in 2020 and due to covid and the way they had to restructure the game she missed out on that opportunity to compete last season this season she went through all the qualification processes, made it through the South American semifinal and was obviously very excited to get to compete this year after missing out on the chance last year. She showed up here and this is where the gray area comes in. And she was informed via email from CrossFit that she had failed a drug test. And Osterin was the thing that was found in her sample.

I don't know when that drug test was taken. But she's also said that she's taking another drug test. And she's hoping that that will prove or that they're doing another round of testing of some kind. And just hoping that it'll show that it was an error. There was some kind of mistake. In that video, her two kind of ideas are either one, there was some kind of error in the lab, or two, there's some contamination of her supplements. That video, to me, she was looking dead in the camera.

She was speaking very clearly and calmly, given the situation, and saying, I don't cheat. I don't want to cheat. I don't ever want to cheat. I don't have taken anything. I understand that there are ways for supplements to get contaminated and ways for mistakes to happen, but she feels confident that she has not intentionally done anything wrong. However, we know from past history that sometimes supplement contamination happens, and that CrossFit has a very firm line for that. My feeling based on history is that even if. So the two things could happen, possibly they could review this B sample and find out that it was a mistake. But even if it but if that sample is not negative, then she will, I think, at minimum, get a two year ban just based on history.

Yeah, I'm no I'm no expert on on lying but um my heart broke when i saw the two minutes of the video that i watched and uh and i believe her it it it hurt it hurt seeing her and you're right she did look right into the camera i'm trying to look up what austrin is as we speak do you have any idea what it is i'm'm at WebMD. It says Osterin is an investigational drug that has not been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. It's used by mouth to improve athletic performance and for involuntary weight loss. It's a product in bodybuilders use. It attaches to proteins in the body known as androgen receptors when austrin binds to these receptors it tells the muscles in the body to grow shit sounds like

i need to take some of that unlike some other chemicals that uh bind to androgen receptors such as steroids austrin doesn't seem to cause as many side effects. Oh, man. Do we know how many athletes have popped now? This season? Yeah. There were four teams removed from the competition after semifinals. One of them had previously failed a drug test in a different uh competition environment tried and then was

crossfit upheld that ban and then there were three other teams who had at least one athlete test positive this is the first individual this season uh at least who made the games that i tested positive for for any banned substance okay uh just a quick note coming in from youtube i just wanted to mention something someone was mentioning that it it's sunny and 82 degrees in Seattle right now. But don't forget, Seattle, crime is legal there. And half your city has been taken over by homeless zombies. And you guys let homeless people shut down 10 square blocks of your city and demolish a police station. So Seattle can go fuck itself

okay back to the story at hand here um do you have any standings brian so far from the events that have run i haven't checked i have not checked that yet okay uh what else do i got here for you failed drug test um what any news on um how jason hopper's doing i i saw he that the pressure's mounting i saw he announced that he's received a nike contract and he posted a love letter that matt fraser sent him inside of his shoebox yeah so. So, I mean, I, my, my assumption is that he's working closely with Matt O'Keefe to make decisions like that. Probably fielded a few offers and sat down and kind of weighed the pros and cons. It sounds to me like he's always liked Nike's apparel and it's something

that he's pretty excited about. So I'm happy for him. Awesome. Uh, any other athletes that you've schmoozed with that got an insight on, have you seen Brandon Luckett and talk to him about his shoulder elbow? Um, I saw Brandon yesterday, but, uh, I did not get a chance to talk to him. Actually. I did also talk to Hopper after the individual event, one announcement briefly, he was happy with both of the announcements that fins is going to be helpful for him on that distance and the kayak is something he's more than a you know a prone paddle uh what about this uh paddle event three miles i'm trying to think the last, I don't do anything that's three miles long unless it's in a car. Yeah, so, well, basically you were right. I was wrong on this one.

I did not think that Dave would introduce a kayak in this way in the past when he introduced the paddleboard originally, or when he introduced that you had to clip into a bike in the year they had the crit race he gave athletes a couple weeks notice on that so that they could practice obviously his intent this year was not that and he expressed with you last night that he feels kayaking is a is a fairly simple skill everyone can sit in a kayak and paddle and he wants to see the athletes who can who either have been training that potentially or have the ability to adapt quickly and learn how to do that so all the individuals will have an opportunity this afternoon to practice the kayaks out on the lake. And obviously, you know, we've seen in the past, you've been front row for a lot of it. Most of these athletes are very athletic and I'm confident that they'll figure it out.

A majority of them will figure it out pretty quick. The trick is three miles is a long distance. So you need to not only have an efficient stroke, you can't you know dave was talking about the difference between kayaking for fun and kayaking for race and i think in a race setting and if uh and over three miles even on something like that that's a relatively quote-unquote simple skill if you start that part of the race too quickly um you're going to probably have to back off uh pretty dramatically middle to end of that distance dave dave made a really good point on that as i was prodding with that yeah exactly and it kind of tag teams on what you just said follows up on what you just said basically yes three miles going hard it's going

to be hard regardless whether you're experienced or not experienced. And I'm very curious as this goes on who we're going to find out because all of these CrossFitters have pretty amazing sporting paths. There is going to be someone who we find out has spent three hours every day in their youth from the age of five to 15 in a kayak. And it's going to be very interesting guess what guess what yes yes the second group of uh masters is on the course for the running right now you can see them there over the barricade oh that's awesome that's a great shot brian where are you sitting are you at the venue i'm at the venue outside of the vendor pavilion um just the right right behind this wall is the morning chalk ups booth. I was hanging out with some of those guys while the competition was delayed.

But I also knew that I would have this vantage point so I could see when the athletes did eventually start to run. So they're on time. They delayed the start of this heat by about an hour. And so to answer your earlier question, I would expect if there's no weather, it does look like it's clearing up quite a bit which is what the meteorologist said would happen that that one o'clock starting time for broadcast uh might be pushed to two o'clock there's ron ortiz running by oh sweet oh we got to get him on the podcast he would be a um yes yes someone yeah someone wrote is is Brian working security?

It does look like that. It looks like you're watching a gate that no one's going to go through. Someone wrote here, I didn't take you for such a softie, Sevan. I don't buy any sob stories about tainted meter supplements. You nailed me. I struggle to believe that there's drugs in the sport i am extremely naive and a softy and i just i i take people a lot of people at uh face value and i believe what they say i shouldn't say that i don't believe that there's any drugs in the sport

but it's um yeah i i think that's a totally fair assessment. When I listen to her video, I 100% believe her. Now, would I bet my kid's life on it? No, fuck no. But just mano a mano, I believe her. I don't think. And Laurie, I know Laurie. I know her. I've spoken to her at both Wadapalooza and Dubai the years that she competed there.

I know her. I've spoken to her at both Wadapalooza and Dubai the years that she competed there. And I, you know, I think that my guess is this is just contaminated supplement, which is just a really sad and unfortunate situation. I want to believe the same as that she was not doing this intentionally, but this is the nature of sport. And we have seen it happen before where, you know, like I said, I'm expecting that's a case and that she is going to receive a minimum of a two-year ban because of it. Um, someone, Will R said they even test the vaccinated people. She, um, she tested positive. And as Dave said, she had symptoms. Well, when we had a Hobart on the show, he actually told us that they were not testing vaccine. And that's what I And that's what I've heard. I was hearing during check-in also that if you could prove vaccination with your vaccination

pass, they have an app that you can use to do that. You do not have to go in for the testing. Pandora, be love. What does be love mean to you? I definitely would say my be love role model is for sure my sister. Unconditional, infinite love. Something that is never ending, that you know is always there. Never questioned. Never questioned. No matter if you fall off a cliff, she's there to catch you, you know?

Be Love. Shop now at pandora.net. And some athletes, you know, I was actually surprised. If that was the case, despite whatever my opinions about vaccination would be, I don't think as an athlete, if you're a serious contender to win at the games or to compete for a podium spot or something like that, it seems like you probably should have just bit the bullet and done the vaccine because you're risking, obviously, the false positive is the thing everyone would want to avoid i don't agree with you at all i think if you are an athlete and you take your body seriously you would not let someone inject something into it not knowing what it is uh wayne lang sevan now that bethany is feeling ill from covid do you still think that super fit people can't get covid wayne you're not listening

you're conflating you're trapped in your Listen, it has nothing to do with how fit or unfit you are. It has to do with the shit you stuff in your body. And we are all aware, we are very aware that these games athletes are high carb. Most of them are on high carb diets. That's why also ultra marathon runners, long distance bikers, they're all super susceptible to this because they consume massive amounts of goo, high carbohydrate diets, and people who push their body to the extreme have very compromised immune systems. Go ahead and look at what's that thing Lance Armstrong does, the Viking event in France. Whatever the fuck that thing is, those people are terrified of getting sick during the event because their immune systems are severely compromised. It's people like you, Wayne, who are conflating ideas and causing the, and you know the word, your peeps love it, misinformation. Don't get me wrong, Brian.

It's a tough call. It is a tough call. You've worked your whole you know five years to work your ass off to come there and if you can scoop by the test by getting vaccinated it's easy for me to say sitting here in my chair but um it is and it's not just a tough call honestly in a lot of situations what's becoming unfortunate is it's not just a tough regular people have to make that decision too there's things that are happening that make it easier if you get vaccinated if you choose not

to because you like you you were talking about value your body and don't want to put a foreign substance into there unnecessarily um then there's certain um and are already more difficult for people to do. Yeah. Ian, once again, I'm going to explain this to you. Sevan thinks COVID is a hoax. No, I think you're a fucking hoax. I think you're someone who thinks like you look at the top of a lake and think that that's it. You don't think that there's anything underneath it.

I'll tell you what. It is a shame that they're not broadcasting any part of this running event for the Masters athletes because these guys are incredible and it's fun to watch them. Did you drink good dude's coffee this morning, Brian? I don't think it was the GDC. The GDC, I love it. So is there anything else you'd like to talk about here what how do you think um have you have you had much interaction with dave have you seen dave have you met dave at the event i uh shook dave hand a couple days ago at an orientation for some of the uh what they call the black shirts on the crossfit team it's a little orientation they do for

that group of people. Justin and Dave were there answering questions and, um, we're very professional and it was nice to talk to him. I had any formal interaction with him other than that, but he was at the finish line for heat. One of the age groups this morning, congratulating all the athletes after they were, as they were coming off the field of play as he often likes to do.

Um, Tia Toomey, have you, have you spoken with her or seen her? I waved and said hi to her this morning. That's the extent of it. There are several athletes I did talk to yesterday during registration, but mostly if I saw them when they were going through or just getting to registration, how much after they were coming out if I happened to be there, then I would talk to them a little bit more.

so much after they were coming out if I happened to be there then I would talk to them a little bit more are you needing to uh are they taking any precautions um in regards to interacting with people like it does it seem like as the sport's gotten bigger it's hard getting harder and harder to get access to these people get close to these people the big names um we'll see about that as the competition goes and more and more people get on site it's been no fans on site uh pretty pretty open some athletes are are taking precautions i think in an effort to make sure that they get covid still because they don't want to be removed from the competition so i saw a few athletes wearing masks during registration i saw i did see one athlete who a fan asked for a picture with them and it's his significant other jokingly said but uh you know when someone says like this is obviously element of the are you vaccinated so you know they are what did they say wait what did they say you broke up what did they

say what did the significant other say? Are you vaccinated? Ah. So not even wanting to get close and take a picture that, you know, the transmission, because I mean, there's this kind of competition. You know, who knows what precautions different athletes have came, especially if you have traveled internationally. You're putting a lot on the line to be here and you don't want. Silly or unnecessary like that be the thing that keeps you out. Yeah, I think at that point, if you're concerned about people being vaccinated or not, you should just stay away from the people. Because as we know. Well, you can.

I mean, you still have to. This person and they were walking to registration and someone stopped them in a parking lot. Yeah. I would say stay away. You can talk to me. If you are concerned, just tell the fans to stay away until after the games. You're not concerned. And depending on when, depending if they're done testing for SARS-CoV-2, would depend on how close.

If I was an athlete, I'd let the fans get to me. If I thought they were going to be testing throughout the week, I would keep everyone the fuck away from me. Makes sense. Because it would suck to get pulled out of the event, event 14, and you see Tia Toomey get pulled from the event because of some sort of testing.

And that is what you two mentioned earlier that we've seen happen in other sports with golfers especially. Yeah. Did you see Reagan Huckabee? I saw Reagan and Danny walking by yesterday. I did not get a chance to talk to them. They were just arriving to registration when I saw them.

Does she look amazing as she did in the past? Yeah, Reagan, I didn't stop, but she looked like she's in great shape. Obviously, takes phenomenal care of herself. Mallory O'Brien. Have you seen her? I did not see her yesterday. I was not there during when she registered. All right. Um,

have you been over to the campground where the mayhem empire is set up and, and seen if Samuel Conway is, uh, sleeping in the campground or if he actually made it to a hotel? I, I was in the campground today for a little while i was not in the mayhem section i was over there with uh talking league fitness and morning chaka ball of the area um all of the individually athletes are walking by right now you want me

to flip the camera so you can see them yeah yeah yeah that would be awesome. Let's see him. Let's see him. Let's see him. This is like being at a, this is like being at a, what's the big horse race in Kentucky? The Kentucky Derby and Brian seeing all the horses go by. You can just turn your phone around if it's too complicated for you to push the turnaround button. Here's Zach Watts. Yeah, Zach. Here comes Emma Tall. Sydney McAleish is over there. Amanda Barnhart, Yonah Cosi. I'm a tall. Sydney. Sydney. Wow. She made it there. Amanda.

Barney on a coast. See, there's Hopper. He's a. Oh, nice. And also, maybe there's. What's up, Jason? Can they hear us? No, no, no.

You could be only in my headphones. Oh, that sucks. I was like. One bill or there's Carolyn Prevost. Oh, get her autograph for me so brian you have a quarantine yeah that was good you have us quarantined in your head you're selfishly keeping us away i'm able to talk to them wave to seven wave oh yeah that's my boy Travis Mayer. There's Colton Martins. Oh, there's Jay Crouch. Colton, no, no, he's Mollet.

What's up, guys? Jesus. There's Samuel. Listen, maybe we should strike a deal with Colton. Wave to seven. Wave to seven. Oh, here comes Cornwall. What's up, Roller?

Yeah, baby. What's up, Samuel? Oh, here comes Cornwall. Yeah, baby. What's up, Samuel? Here they are. Here comes the rest of the guys. Jeffrey Adler.

Where are they going, Brian? Where are they going? Where are they going right now? Jeff, where are you guys going? Where are you guys going? Going to test out the kayak and swim. Hey, Andrew. What's up, Nico?

Okay. Do you have access to stuff like that, Brian? Could you go over there and watch them test the – get in the kayak for the first time? Morning, guys. Good morning. I don't know. I probably could watch that if I wanted to. Someone asked, were you banned from the premises?

No, in all fairness, I did apply for a media credential. And I was planning on sending someone there. Brian's super busy. So I was planning on sending someone there with an iPad to run around and get interviews from me. I couldn't get my shit together. Someone wrote, Brian has reached nirvana. That is correct. He has reached nirvana.

You know what my wife told me, Brian? She said that when you laugh, you sound like Eckhart Tolle. I don't know if you know who that is, but that's an enormous compliment. I would definitely consider that a compliment. He's a man whose laugh is infectious. on YouTube in the last 28 days, and then approximately another 200,000 on iTunes or total 400,000, which is just insane since it's Brian and I just doing what we love and fucking around. And it is a lot of work,

but it comes pretty easy to Brian and I, because it's just what we want to do. But thanks for tuning in and thanks for letting us, thanks for listening to our insights do you want to do you want to talk about the cuts at all before we go sure sure i don't think we've i don't think we've talked about it yet i just i talked about it so much with dave i feel like it's beating a dead horse but but i but i would love to hear what you think about it i'm i'm i'm i don't have a strong opinion on it i'm okay with it what your thoughts? What do you want to contribute to it?

Definitely, I'm okay with cuts. But someone did bring something to my attention that I thought was interesting, especially in light of something that Dave and you talked about a couple days ago. And Dave, in particular, was talking about the freedom of creativity once the field is narrowed in terms of programming events. When I was looking back, there are six years in which there were not cuts at the CrossFit Games. It was the first two years, which was 2007 and 2008. And those were some of the tightest and most exciting finishes in the history of the sport. I think OPT ended up winning by two points that first year on the men's side. And obviously, Kalipa had the epic comeback in the final. He was in ninth, climbed to first on the final event. Let's also, though, reiterate here, for those two years,

you could also just show up to the CrossFit Games and compete. Anyone could have just shown up. 100%. Okay. So then there were cuts every year until 2015. And actually, I think it would be great to ask Dave why in 2015 they stopped having cuts. Okay. And then they did not have cuts for four straight years, 2015, 16, 17, and 18.

And if you think about those years, it was some of the most exciting and competitive finishes we've ever had at the CrossFit Games. I will give you this insight. There was a point where, I don't remember what year it was. It was whatever year that we took the national champions. Besides that year, Dave has pretty much been in 100% control of the games every single year. It is Dave Castro's baby. Now, of course, he takes a lot of input. Anyone who works with him knows he's always searching for feedback.

He's a great listener. He's an amazing leader. That being said, in that one year, and I think it was 2018 that we had the national champions. 19. 19, sorry. That was the year that Greg really, really inserted. And I remembered Greg was really, really pushing for cuts. And that was the most I'd ever seen Greg insert in on the games. And of course, since he was Dave's boss, Dave had to acquiesce. And that was the most I'd ever seen Greg insert in on the games. And of course, since he was Dave's boss, Dave had to acquiesce and it was Greg's baby. I mean, the whole thing was. Well, that's that's exactly right. And so that's why I was I was curious to see if we'd have cuts this year, because 2019 was was basically Greg's idea and he wanted that.

And we know that 2020 was kind of necessitated by the global situation. But 2021 now is the first year where it seems like Dave has that same control that he used to have, and the last four years in which he had that control, 15 through 18, there were no cuts. Like I said, in those years, there were some of the best finishes we've ever had. We had Sarah Sigma's daughter, Tia Claire Toomey, and Katrin David's daughter in 2015, epic finish. Matt Fraser and Ben Smith in the same year, great finish.

2016, it was Katrin and Tia trading blows on the weekend, great finish. 2017, Katrin and Kara comes down to two points. 2018, by that point, Tia and Matt had kind of separated from the pack a little bit, but still Laura Horvath was within 64 points. And to me, Dave proved two things there in those four years. One is that he is certainly capable of programming exciting and meaningful competitions with a full field for the entire competition. And secondly, what we've seen- That was very manipulative. Okay, go on.

Am I me? Yes. I liked it. Okay. Great. And secondly, contrasting those four years with the next two years in which the margins of victory were so extreme that there was really no excitement about who was going to be the winner on the last day of competition at all in three of the four cases. The one case was obviously Fraser and Olsen in the 2019 games. But the problem was that with less athletes in the field, it's the scoring system. The gap between placings becomes so big

that the gaps in the leaderboard start to swell, and then you lose some of the drama on some of the final events. That's what I've started to think. Brian, I appreciate your artistic shot of the water on the ground, letting the viewers know that it's raining. But it would be nice to either to see your face or to see something else. We understand it's wet there. My computer or my phone is completely frozen, so I have no idea what it's showing you.

Oh, it's it's pointed at the ground. I'm straightening your spine into a to its natural S curve and keep the camera and your arm rigid and it will pop up. There we go. Who are those people running by right now? Those are Masters athletes that are between 50 and 59 years old. There's Ron Ortiz with no shirt on. Oh, damn. That would have been worth running out there and getting a shot of.

So anyway, I think the cuts are fine. I think in this particular year, I would have preferred to see if they're going to have cuts. I would have preferred to see Friday night after nine events, straight cut to 20. I don't like the idea of having one event and then one additional round of cuts. I think that that's basically unnecessary, especially for the last couple athletes who make it through that initial cut. It's like, you're not going to climb from 28th, 29th, 30th to inside the top 20 on one event. That is a long event, three total miles of running and 90 toes to bar with not much to gain. Cause even if you move up a couple of spots in the leaderboard, you're not winning any money. You're not placing in a position that's got any

prize money. So unless you actually win that event outright, obviously that's the one chance you could have to make money in that scenario. So I would have preferred a straight cut to 20 at that point. On which day? prefer to straight cut to 20 or to cut to 30 and then they let all 30 compete on saturday where they have multiple events to make a move and climb up the leaderboard and then cut to 20 for the final day either of those two scenarios would have been preferable for me right but you are okay the one place you see exactly perfectly with dave is you don't think all 40 need to compete on the last day um not necessarily i definitely agree with him when he says that at some point in the competition, you're just showing up. And I think even, um, Carly and Matthews posted on Instagram as a competitor who has been cut at the CrossFit

games before that she recognizes that as an athlete, that sometimes you get to the point of the weekend where you're just competing, knowing that it's kind of futile. There's nothing really to be gained. Your body's already completely wrecked and you might be moving from 34th to 32nd, which is almost meaningless in the grand scheme of things. Right. Can you walk closer to that fence so we can see the old people running by? Of course, of course. Here's the thing I find fascinating. I'm sitting at the Three Plain Brothers Empire Palatial Estate. You're sitting on a sitting in my at the three plane brothers empire palatial estate you're sitting on a lump of cement at the venue it's 907 a.m pacific standard time so it's 11 07 a.m there and as far as i know this is the only footage um so far coming out of that live footage coming out

of madison this woman right here is actually a friend of mine, Savan. I used to train and coach her a little bit down in Naples when I was living there three or four years ago. She's worked really, really hard. She's actually training under OPT or maybe his brother, Michael Fitzgerald's tutelage and has made the games. These are the leaders right now in this competition. These guys right here have been in the front of the pack on every lap. And how far are these ladies running? Men and women. It changes every division. They have some scaling divisions, but these laps are 1200 meters each. And I think this group has five of those. I think

the next heat will have six of those. And is that security I see in the shot too, to make sure people stay off the course? Yeah, it's event team event team yep she's running quickly right there this is the last lap i think were you implying just now that you are a games caliber coach by suggesting that not at all not at all no no no no uh i mean i think she's uh she's just put in a lot of work no no nothing to do with me it just happened to to know her. Have you seen Armand Hammer there? So what I, one of the things I do while sitting at home is I keep going to his, um, I, I've been started watching his podcast and his YouTube station to get information on and get some synergy between the two stations.

And I don't see, I'm just not seeing a lot of media from anybody. What, what's going on? Are you seeing anyone else there putting out content? I don't think he's here. I not 100 sure that i definitely have not seen him and i have not seen a lot of content being put out no okay is there anyone else that you would suggest that people go to and watch i know um your homeboys uh tommy and sean are working the event so they're probably not putting out a lot of content they will be putting out nightly something called gone camping series in which they talk talk about the events of the day and maybe the next one they put their first one out last night

they got a pretty cool setup at the campgrounds actually so if you like their stuff you can definitely check that out in the evenings uh they'll be live gone camping yeah talking elite fitness gone camping monday tuesday wednesday etc i think they intend to do one nightly It's called Gone Camping? Yeah, Talking Elite Fitness, Gone Camping, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, etc. I think they intend to do one nightly. Okay, fantastic. And they'll have guests on that show. Maybe the Buttery Bros will be on. Maybe I'll show up on there one night.

I'm not sure. Maybe some of the guys from Morning Chalk Up. I know they'll try to get some of the Mayhem people or other people. Medeiros' family is camping right next to them, so maybe they'll get some of his family on there at some point. I'm not sure, but they have a setup where they can have guests as well. Okay.

And if you think of anyone else, someone is saying Nate Edwardson, we need access. We need to be able to see what's going on. Completely agree with that. I think a life of Josie is a guy on Instagram. You can follow. He works really closely with a lot of the European athletes.

So that might be another one, especially if you like the European contingency, of which obviously there's some incredible athletes here. You can check out Life of Josie, I think. But yes, if I think of anyone else, yeah, we can try to make sure people know where to go. Someone is suggesting Craig Ritchie, except every time I go to his videos, there's a thumbnail of what the video that he tells you the video is going to be about and 100 percent of the time that's like three seconds of the video and the rest is him with his shirt off working out so he's definitely here he's definitely here i don't know what yeah i don't know the

quality or your nature of his content but um he's on site for sure yeah so and i've been you know i would guess we'll put some stuff out but i don't know what that will be they do have some uh videographers and photographers and stuff here um Clydesdale Fitness Podcast might be doing some things they work as a with the Morning Chalkup a little bit so those are some other people that could be putting some content out okay if you spot any people, and especially I like the fact that you mentioned the European people, what was the name of that outlet that's doing some work there with the European athletes? Life of Josie.

He travels around to a lot of events. There's Ron. There's Big Ron. Oh, can you get close to him? Let's see that. Do all the athletes have their shirts off or just him? Oh, no. It's 50-50 at this point point i think this he looks like he's hurting right now i would have to say that a five to seven k run is not probably his uh best event of the weekend well you should

run next to him and interview him right now he might just elbow me in the face or something nah he's too tired okay um so we got a little feedback on the cuts we learned about the sad story of uh uh miss kunha from brazil yeah um you're saying that she's keeping the dream alive by hoping for a second drug test to see if she can prove that she's innocent um we know that bethany shadburn is out um is there any other breaking news or anything directly involved in the competition you want to talk about? I think those are the headliners at the moment. And obviously not the kind of headlines we really want to be having,

but that's what's going on. And it looks like we have secured an interview with Sam Stewart, an individual male athlete for this evening. He's out of Ireland. Is there anyone else that we have on the calendar? I know we've been talking to Michelle Baznett, making an attempt to check in with her a little bit. I don't know if there's anyone else on the calendar.

I'm hopeful that we can get maybe some of the Masters guys, like Zach Forrest or James Hobart. They're obviously competing the next three days, but maybe after they finish or when they have some downtime that would be fun to check in with them Sam Sam Herring is asking a question and it's my question too do we need CBS or all events streamed on games or YouTube it doesn't seem like anyone has the answer to that you can go to the CrossFit Games Instagram and see a posting of the schedule but honestly someone of my primitive IQ

cannot figure it out I can't figure out whether it's a simulcast, I can't figure out if you have to chase the games to a different network every single day I honestly can't tell and if you look in the comments there's people who subscribe to both beliefs, some people believe it's a simulcast on all of those, Facebook, Twitch, YouTube, CBS, and other people believe that the name of the network next to the time slot is where you have to be specifically.

Oh, so Sarah is saying Arm & Hammer just put something out. I'd be very curious to see what that is. All right, Savan. I'm going to keep going because I think that James Hobart teaches about a star triangle. Cheer him on. Okay, fantastic. Thank you. Give Hobart and Zach my love, and I'll talk to you later.

Thanks, Brian, for checking in. This means a lot to all of us. All right. Great chat. Okay. Bye. Bye. Okay guys. Thanks a lot. That was a surprise to me. I hadn't even showered. Brian said, Hey, let's go live. Uh, we're super lucky to get that. Uh, I took a quick shower for you guys, uh in the office, and we will stay in touch. Hopefully later on today, Brian will check in with us again. We're extremely fortunate to have a guy on the ground there. He is working for CrossFit, so his time is very limited. But we will keep bugging him when we can.

Peace.