6/2/24 WIR - Semifinals, organization voluteers leaders, Knoxville, Dallin/Roman, comments

[@I_am_fani_speegle]

TDC - always appreciate your Weeks in Review and the Review of the Week in Review on The Sevan Podcast.

[@SaywardsForrest]

Dave - great to meet you this weekend in Knoxville thanks for taking time for a picture. This was my first time attending Semi and I’m headed to Ft. Worth. I sat on the first row behind the staff tables and it was super interesting to watch the staff and Boz deeply involved in reviewing standards and some of the tough judging decisions that were made. Even though there were some missed calls- there were also a lot of tough calls that were spot on (although devastating to watch). Watching the team work provided greater context to all the behind the scene attention and diligence in running the event. Boz was taking a ton of notes which I’m sure will be provided back for better improvements. Thanks to all! Love my EVOO and the WIR.

[@Bern1808]

Hi Dave, I want to discuss the coverage of CrossFit as a sport. While we are passionate fans here and enjoy delving into all aspects of the sport, it's evident that the general public struggles to connect with it. Although you've emphasized the importance of making events exciting to watch, the current coverage can sometimes be hard to follow and lacks the informative graphics, discussion of metrics, and broad perspective found in other sports broadcasting. Have you considered looking at how other sports handle their coverage for inspiration? Improving understanding and promoting the appeal of the individual athletes, events, and CF’s unique methodology/history could significantly boost interest and growth. “If you build it, (they) will come” -- but no pressure, Dave. Thank you for your continued dedication to our sport.

[@bradanderson3241]

Good Evening Dave. Thank you so much for the Service Cup. Has been an amazing community event and hope it continues. Right on your heels with one more to go. I started with Randy, then Kelly Brown, so just need to do 3 pull-ups at the end of Daniel to pass you ;).

[@enriquenoriega3132]

Wilson is a great team leader. He makes volunteers feel special

[@station2fitnessgym916]

Just a thought. All those games foam boxes at semifinals could possibly have a sponsor or games logo on them.

[@ChrisBankovic]

Always appreciate the insight into the community. Keep up the good work!

[@TheOriginalSteveMiller]

Stunning reveal at 7:09

[@JoshuaGrenell]

lol. I thought the same thing.

[@susanlampman]

❤

[@richfroningsr4387]

Build IT and they Will Come! I do think we have some background stuff to do. Sorry I missed you yesterday!

[@jayb1108]

Thank You for the review ! Helps to stay connected to Crossfit. KZbin america east cameras and content was really good (better still then the others) … enjoyed to watch.

[@johngoldbeck5346]

Thanks for making time !

[@laurabenigno5720]

Thankful for these updates

[@pulga90p]

Hi Dave, is there any status update on the old CF Journal (2002-2016) webpage status? It's been broken for years. I believe the CFJ is HQ's Crown Jewel, it should be a priority to have it up and running and promoting it everywhere.

[@rowanmac]

Hey Dave, I'm really looking forward to the games. I thought the Semi's were great, programming set up some awesome races on Sunday. I'm really hoping for a swimming event this year at the games 🙏 Swim & Stuff was awesome as the swimming actually mattered and made a difference to event placement, unlike Rinse and repeat where subpar swimmers could still outpace great swimmers on the ski. A repeat of swim & stuff would be mint, just saying 😂

[@shelleygadd0909]

Will there be better media coverage for Teen, Age and Adaptive Athletes than last year?

[@listentwice]

Love the WIRs!

[@station2fitnessgym916]

Thoughts on Concept2 making a runner? All the concept 2 machines at the Games

[@omariglesias7042]

Will you be at the Crossfit Games for Adaptive Athlete so we can enact our picture from Carson when I was still active duty Navy.

[@Bossman_aus]

Hey Dave will the games in Texas look different than a semi final if the majority of events are inside. The best part of the games was the creativity of the outside events.

[@crystalbaca1495]

Hi Dave! Thank you for all that you do! Love the Olive oil and my husband loves the key chain I purchased him. The leather work is fantastic and it means more because we know you made! One question for you: I hear you speak on all the work you do with the military but I was wondering The United States Border Patrol is a sponsor and I don’t hear much when it comes to them? Do you work with them as you do with the military? Just curious! Thanks again Dave 😊

[@seanlenderman988]

The step down is to stop Colten Mertens enormous balls from slapping the ground every time he jumps off

[@davecosens85]

Yep, got it!

[@TheSevanPodcast]

correct

[@xtrmist1978]

Hey Dave, for whatever it’s worth. I for one; and I feel I speak for the many. Really enjoy and look forward to your WIR. Please keep them up, unedited, raw, and transparent. A non-CrossFit question. I saw a leather band on your Apple Ultra Watch; is that one you made? Is it available for purchase?

[@TTPodcast]

In your book, you mentioned the games potentially moving to Chattanooga TN, Madison, WI, and Jacksonville, FL after Carson. They obviously moved to Madison. Are the other two venues still options for future games?

[@bentanner8797]

Hey Dave! Thanks for all that you do. I really admire what you said about leaving a legacy when it comes to being a father. I guess you could say I’m a young father looking for some direction. Would you have any good book recommendations that impacted the way you viewed life?

[@bmclaughlan]

There are so many reasons to be optimistic about the future of CrossFit as a brand, as long as we remain rooted in the methodology. We can survive trends, ups, downs, and mistakes, as long as we pull in the same direction.

[@luketweddell3559]

Hey Dave have you put any thought into the demo team this year?? I hope Taylor Self is on your radar for that he would be an amazing athlete to help test the games workouts and refine them even further 🤝🏻

[@Sionnach7331]

Hey Dave, are there any plans to bring back last chance qualifiers at the semifinal stage? minor injuries/illnesses or judging decisions can cost an athlete at their semi final and i think the strength of field at the games would be higher if this was introduced. Something like the Q from the rogue invitational, what are your thoughts?

[@beck8507]

My guess re: box step downs not jump downs. Is it to minimize impact on the body after the way athletes descend on the rope? Looking forward to watching the games once again this year, always a great show.

[@jcashin82]

Where are these comments that you read off coming from?

[@TheSevanPodcast]

OMG

[@aceterol]

Looking at the low attendance at both North American Semis, is it time to try holding them in Canada instead??

[@cadebearden8881]

Dave will we ever get the media coverage of athletes in the offseason and approaching the games like we did in 2015-2018. I fell like the games popularly has tapered since that time. Thanks for everything.

[@hillerfit]

I gotchu

[@TheSevanPodcast]

@@hillerfit #metoo

[@kathealy60]

Hi Dave. I really do appreciate these WIR videos for a variety of reasons - not just the WIR as it relates to CrossFit but getting more of a sliver of your personality and ethics - which always seem to come out when answering questions or comments people post. Please keep doing them - adds so much value but I know it is time suck for you. As far as the Don Faul email to affiliates - I do not believe we got that (referencing the sale of CF). We sadly missed the affiliate town hall (patiently waiting for the recording to post to our dashboard) - but I do not see an email to affiliate regarding dispelling the sale gossip; do you know when that was sent? Thank you again for all you do. I really do love these videos.

[@scottpreston2853]

Re: Box Step Down. My opinion is to make them harder physically, mentally, and to show precision by the athletes. Athletes will have to stay focused on the task at hand to step down.

[@emmanuelub637]

Definition of humble = Dave

[@jasoncatarino6110]

Because the box might tip over?

[@alexesqueda3608]

Hey Dave, What is the best email to send my application for Seminar staff intern? I attained my L-3 in 2019 and own two Affiliates. Any direction is much appreciated 👊🏽✊🏽

[@WoodChipher]

I think, for the most part, judges do an exceptional job, but like anything on social media, no one wants to point out or show the quality judging, but rather focus on the "bad judging". With the number of "judging errors" throughout the competitions and the focus on them by outside personalities, is there any plan on changing or enhancing the requirements for Games and/or future competition judges? I saw Hyrox was using a counter for at least one of their events at a recent competition, would CrossFit ever implement anything like this?

[@davecosens85]

Step-down on box-overs.... Something to do with achilles when rebounding?

[@Jmancini]

Dave, I understand the step down from the box is the safer thing to do to prevent injuries. On the other hand yall let the athletes jump down from any height on the rope in the other event. This does not make sense to me, as you can get injured from that as well. Otherwise great comp and looking forward to the games!

[@BallisticTech]

Dave, Sorry for the essay. Its harder to be brief and concise. Feel free to pick out whatever you might want to talk about I'm a CrossFit athlete, L1 Coach and competitive fanatic. I love CrossFit and want to celebrate when it does great things AND see CFHQ have accountability when things go wrong. Big or small. I appreciate these WIRs because they provide some of that. I don't personally agree with every decision you or CFHQ make or opinion you hold. But i also know i dont have all the info you do. You use these to present your standpoint, explain decisions and generally inform the community. Id honestly like to see more. A lot of pundits in the CF media space need things to go wrong to have something to talk about. B Sometimes blowing things out of proportion and dwelling on the bad things gets views. The good/better outlets will acknowledge the good decisions and events. But posts/videos about missteps or inconsistencies will get the most engagement for certain media. So CFHQ is always at a disadvantage in that regard. Please keep these up. Let us know what things went well. What things went wring and why. How things will improve. Ill try to comment on things more specifically in the future. Thanks, Brian R

[@michaelwright9101]

I don’t comment often, but wanted to say that I appreciate the way you handle criticism and I really enjoy these videos. Calling you a tough guy behind a keyboard is one of the more childish things I’ve seen on here in a while. What are you supposed to do? Go to the guys house to respond? 😂 Keep up the great work and thank you for what you do. Also, doing Murph with your daughter sounds pretty amazing. Looking forward to my girls being old enough to join me if they choose to do so.

[@Nick_Altgilbers]

Dave, when you look at the L1 training guide, what do you think is the most commonly misunderstood and/or applied principle of the CrossFit methodology? IMO, it's the word "Intensity"...high intensity doesn't necessarily mean high heart rate. The L1 training guide has a pretty simple definition of intensity...high intensity = high power.

[@eltennis]

Why make the box step down a standard for athlete safety yet athletes were allowed to essentially free fall from the top of the rope without a controlled descent?

[@MrJustinBurch]

Dave, appreciate the weekly updates on such a wide variety of topics. Can you give us any background on any possible beef between you and John Wooley with the newly rebranded Wooley Memeth pages? Sounds like even he doesn't know why you keep blocking him. Would love to hear.

[@Lundinvirre]

Will there be a Crossfit Games documentary for 2023? Pretty quiet about it...

[@marvistadutch]

Re: Why the box stepdown standard this year. My Guess: athlete safety/injury prevention (Bounding box jump achilles tears heard around the Crossfit community: Alethea Boon 2016, Jamie Hagiya 2014)

[@RosaAndJordan]

Yet they had no standard for controlling the descent of the rope climbs, and many simply dropped from the very top.

[@box59156]

Programming Question: Hey Dave, Enjoy the weekly videos and getting some insights from you directly. Please keep them up.

This is specifically a programming question: It is quite long, so understand if you don’t have chance to read the whole section, but would love to get your thoughts on the question: Do you think the sport has started to bias a certain type of athlete, more specifically bigger/stronger athletes, especially on the female side? - More details: In this day and age a Chris Spealler, James Fitzgerald, in fact any smaller athlete etc would not be competitive at the top level, not because of their conditioning / gymnastic capacity but because they wouldn’t have the size-strength ratio needed to lift the loads that athletes can today. I would say this has occurred because of the style of programming over the years. As an example, every single stage of the CrossFit Games since its existence a barbell has been used, apart from 1 (2017 CrossFit Regionals) in fact already this season 7 of the 13 programmed events have used a barbell. To go one stage deeper, even the coupling of the workouts often favours a bigger athlete. To breakdown this years Semi final workouts:

 Event 1:
Running - however coupled with 50 Clean and Jerks at a medium load barbell. Event 2:
Double Unders and TTB however coupled with 50 heavy Front Squats. Event 3: Legless rope climbs however coupled with Echo bike and High box jumps Event 4: Handstand walking however combined with an erg/machine Event 5: Pure barbell Event 6:

Ring muscle ups, however combined with Echo and heavy DB’s. Therefore each workout had a component that would favour a bigger athlete (Machines / Barbells / Odd objects) and there wasn’t a workout that would purely favour a smaller athlete. Is there a reason specifically for this type of coupling of workouts and do you think that strength is a more important component of fitness based on the history of the programming?

[@swimstart1]

The step downs were a result of looking at all the other programmed exercises during the comp. Minimise injury

[@RogueCylon]

Dave why is CrossFit HQ such a mess? Inconsistent messaging, poor judging of the semi-finals, poor media coverage, poor Carsen attendance, actually terrible Carsen attendance.

[@paulbrownsr]

It’s obvious Dave isn’t overly sensitive to criticism. Hiller stans just convince themselves that he is because that’s how they want it to be.

[@summerw5773]

Love you, Dave, Ouick question and ! I'm sure you heard this million times i, in all seriousness.Why you don't bring Savan back? I'm not even sure if he wants too! .But if he does.Will you bring him back to HQ? You guys need. Him!!!! he is a genius Man!!!!❤❤❤❤

[@austinfairbanks9142]

South America had the best media of any Semi finals

[@austinfairbanks9142]

step downs are required for safety. Jump downs will tear Achilles

[@austinfairbanks9142]

Sell Crossfit to Greg Glassman!

[@MarkAshwell760]

DCC - Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders 😊

[@whiterabit09]

Wasn't talking about you with tuff talk Dave..... Its all of the rude comments you read out, that you received 2 weeks ago.

[@christineyoung78]

You were blocking cute Doug ❤

[@apatnode91]

All the talk about being sensitive….. I’m curious When was insensitivity something to strive for? Your doing great Dave 💪🏼 stay sensitive or whatever you are lol just do you it’s cool 😎💪🏼

[@inegma]

You are disconnected from reality. Hiller is by far the best media source in this space and denying him from a media pass show just how much you've missed the mark.

[@MrJustinBurch]

Hiller is far the best media source in the space. Give me an specific example of another "Hiller" as a top media personality in any other sport.

[@tonyminutola9515]

If CrossFit crashes and burn out of business Dave can take over and rebrand it CastroFit

[@Looks_its_poolboy]

My theory on the box jump step down requirement. As most people would assume it’s for “safety” I’m going to make the guess that forcing the step down is no different than changing a kipping hspu to a strict hspu or a rope climb to a Legless rope climb. It’s just another added element or skill that forces the athlete to have to adapt to or learn. Personally a step down off a box fatigues my legs far faster than a rebound