The Harsh Truth About James Sprague

[@Garrettismyname]

I’ll say I never got the feeling that Sprague was powering through a difficult situation, it seemed like he was paying lip service to a tragedy he just didn’t care about.

[@Craig_Alexander]

Everyone responds to a traumatic event differently. Try to give him grace man cmon

[@AlexWindover]

any examples of his lip service?

[@Zansaldo1]

Nah man, that’s messed up.

[@dangerman5123]

Why? Because he didn't show the emotion YOU wanted to see? Didn't say what YOU wanted to hear? What would ever give you right, or authority, to judge how someone deals with tragedy?

[@Garrettismyname]

@@dangerman5123 this is the internet man, I can judge anyone on anything however I want. Sprague went through the games and mentioned that it’s what Lazar would have wanted, Lazar was a man of faith, etc but the guy never spent any time with him and is new enough to have never really competed with him either. Its fine, it doesn’t make him a bad person but if someone you barely know dies it isn’t going to affect you as much as it did like a Fikowski or some of the other athletes that knew him really well. I’m not personally losing any sleep over anything that happened at the games, because I don’t know any of the athletes at all. It’s a tragedy obviously but it doesn’t affect how my day to day life goes the way someone actually involved in my life would.

[@FaithInHim564]

Really appreciated this breakdown; matter of fact and objective in a fair way. James even eluded to only meeting Luka once. He was unaffected emotionally. What I didn’t appreciate in watching the games was his arrogance in acting like he had earned that spot…. It was sooooo apparent all the other talented guys that knew Luka were coasting by. He won the games, but in no way is he the fittest.

[@MarkField-wj9fq]

Looks like the Rogue Invitational pretty strongly confirmed your take.

[@hillerfit]

I pooped myself @5:30

[@andresrosales4389]

It´s quite simple. He is the 2024 Crossfit games Champ, NOT the fittest man on earth.

[@gillsteele]

At the end of the day the Games should not have continued on out of respect for Luka and his family. No-one should be considering James Sprague the fittest on earth, watching the documentary the way he said he earned it, he earned nothing.

[@mikehughes36]

I don’t think this is a knock on James. He said it perfectly in the video, James excelled at the current circumstances. The best player in the league doesn’t always win the championship and this could be something similar we won’t know till next years games

[@CarlosRodriguez-xy4ki]

Nah, the Rogue Invitational is showing that he’s no match for Adler.

[@mikehughes36]

@ haven’t watched yet but also proves my point. James excelled with the circumstances at the time. The variables changed and now he’s not winning

[@torricallan3992]

I'd love to see a video explaining the prediction score in a bit more depth!

[@Piluski7]

Yeah, it's an interesting concept. But when a specific season has cuts to 20 or 10 athletes, the metric will naturally skew towards the last events.

[@masonstartup1410]

@@Piluski7 I will try to do a more in depth video on it in the future! Also the formula accounts for number of athletes so you cuts doesn't affect it

[@mikebarron4920]

@@masonstartup1410 This would be interesting. When you do, make sure to explain why just a simple statistical correlation function can't be used. Like Excel's CORREL() function.

[@tonydecuba]

He got me here 😳👌🏾

[@870Meg]

It would be a different outcome if Jeff Adler was there

[@tomworrallpfc]

He won. There will always be an asterisk on 2024, that’s not on him.

[@kaylarosche]

Exactly.

[@patrickedwards5804]

Powerful argument. Would like to see the stats for the predictability score you mention.

[@leejensen69]

This is a very easy video to digest. As a person who doesn’t really listen to CrossFit that much I feel like I understand your position well

[@DenseUpdates]

Great perspective! James Sprague represents our community so well and I will always be rooting for him, but you are correct “For the first time in over a decade the CrossFit Games champion and the Fittest on Earth are not the same person”

[@kevindoonerpt9009]

I really do get that argument. You can see that Mason plays devils advocate rather than just hating on him or fanboying like alot of people do. This is the way I see it: 1. Crossfit as a wholes programming has changed to the point where bigger guys and girls are starting to do better. (More running, ergs and boxes) 2. Whislt, this year had the 1st death of a fellow athlete, its not the 1st time the programming has been adjusted. 3. Alot of wins happen by circumstances such as this. In a similar fashion, you can say the only reason Horvath won in 2023 is because Tia decided to have a baby. Tia would be 8 in a row otherwise. 4. Sometimes people get lucky and this is across any sport. For example you can say some guy become MMA champ because he landed a lucky punch. But if he goes on to defend his title multiple times then maybe it wasn't so lucky. 5. Carrying on from number 4. This video makes alot of sense, however we will have a clear answer on 2025. If he wins again or even podiums, I think credit is due. If he doesn't even make the top 10, then it points towards you being spot on 6. Whilst this would never apply to Tia, the same should be said for the Affiliate cup winner. I think we all agree that if it wasn't for the tragedy, Peak 360 or Invictus would have won

[@ricardomarquez1011]

Good point

[@masonharris6961]

Good point on Tia, according to the video we could also say she isnt the fittest since multiple female athletes withdrew and especially Laura Horvath withdrew. I dont agree with trying to take away from James accomplishment.

[@aronlisy6108]

I don't think the point of this video is that Sprague wouldn't have won, but that the test wasn't legitimate. Most of the athletes didn't compete or didn't want to compete because of the events and organization's decisions. It wasn't that they wouldn't be menatlly strong enough to compete, but they wasn't sure if that is right thing to do.

[@DisDatK9]

@@aronlisy6108which is totally fair, but I think that’s why his results through 2025 will cement his legitimacy. It could very well be a fluke and the tragedy was a means to a victory, but if he comes back and delivers a winning performance we can come back and say “Okay 2024 wasn’t just a flash in the pan.”

[@christytaylor6395]

Disagree on #6. Mayhem knew Lazar well & were broken over it, but had the best team. I thought they would win before competition started.

[@Pepesilvia267]

Sorry it’s an illogical argument when Hiller made it. Fittest on earth is not a fact but a title. The title goes to the winner. IMO Roman was fitter than Adler in 2023 and Tia was fitter than Laura in 2023. If you believe “Fittest on earth” is a title then it goes to the winner no matter what. Only 6 people I think competed in 2020 but no one challenges Fraser’s title that year. It’s like winning Worlds Greatest Dad. It’s a title not a fact. If you believe it’s a statement of fact then there’s questions for you to answer. When Fronin retired and Smith won, was fronin still fitter? Is it possible in chinas entire population there isn’t someone fitter? If you only test 100k out of 2bln on earth, how do you know who is the fittest? It’s a stupid arguement IMO because it’s a title not a fact. Now I agree that if the games were normal in 2024 that James probably would not have won. But it’s possible Tia wouldn’t have either since Laura dropped. Do we need a video on why Tia isn’t the Fittest on Earth because he last years champ dropped?

[@bmak114]

the reigning champion shouldnt be able to unilaterally invalidate a competition by dropping out

[@Joeyclubbin]

This is a great point, Fraser retired BEFORE he wouldve stopped winning most of us would assume. Doesnt invalidate anything. Circumstances are always variable

[@JAGwerkz]

@@Joeyclubbini think he’s referring to Adler

[@Joeyclubbin]

@@JAGwerkz I know I was using Mat retiring as an example, you could easily say Medeiros gets an asterisk for his titles because Mat stopped competing. But thats not how sports works. If you withdraw, quit, retire, get injured it doesnt matter.

[@MrOMGWTFROFL1]

Really good video. I personally didn't watch the games after seeing the actions and couldn't see a way or didn't believe there should've been a way that it continued. "This is sport, not war." This was the comment I appreciated the most, and what many people have neglected the most but sums this year up perfectly.

[@drew8996]

James showed more emotion when he won than the cameras captured following Lazar’s death. Unfortunately I think that says a lot. Can’t take the championship away from him, but he’s got a lot to prove (both with his image and fitness) heading into next year.

[@spankwish]

Everybody deals with grief differently. Do you know him personally to make such outrageous statements or just an assumption just because you didn’t like that he didn’t cry for you?

[@hanneslundasen4388]

Could you explain the math behind this prediction score? I don’t think it’s very viable to base an entire argument on your own “point system” without actually explaining it more than “it’s complicated”. Without an actual explanation, logically it doesn’t seem more waterproof than me saying “Tia is not the fittest on earth based on this point system I’ve come up with, trust me”.

[@olsonrerj]

He's not asking us to "just trust me, bros". He has put a ton of analytical thought into developing what is essentially an algorithm, the results of which speak for itself. Think of it like a search engine algo, you don't have to know the secret sauce to know it returns the most relevant results. Meaning it's still empirical, not a gut feeling.

[@robbolton8844]

I think your comments at 8m40-45s sum it up, Sprague was not close to Lazar Dukic and I think he admits this himself, so he would not be affected by the emotional stress others clearly were.

[@jackmack657]

Respectfully you just said a lot of things that everyone already knew. People in the comments judging someone’s personal impact from a tragic situation is nuts. James Sprague is one of the fittest people in the world and is going to continue to prove that.

[@zcristian11]

I agree, obviously there will be many negative comments because they will think you're belittling the title of Fittest on Earth, but that's not the case. I was really shocked when they decided to continue with the event; it seemed like a more bureaucratic decision focused on money or whatever really, rather than the athletes, especially knowing how important camaraderie is in CrossFit. Those of us who love the sport know that, besides being physically demanding, it is even more so mentally, and a situation like what happened on the first day goes beyond any imaginable scenario. Great content, as always.

[@3zoozQ80]

imagine putting pull ups in the events .

[@sportsbettingeducation]

The creator of this video is 5’7.

[@zebfross]

That is pretty crazy considering box step-ups favor tall people, and also the form was super sloppy.

[@carltonsprague7346]

The last name literally means cross-fit just 400 years ago in its origin. 🤣Some would say I'm well-read in this particular subject.😁 On a side note one of the most prominent names in the establishment of the United States. Congrats Mr. Sprague

[@r3iKoEXE]

"for the first time in over a decade, the person who won the CrossFit games is not the fittest on earth" we talking about cami here? 👀

[@spankwish]

The title is a joke anyways. The fittest on earth? Yet you have a bunch of heavy weights events that negatively impact the smaller athletes. So how can you really win that title of fittest if the competition is already not in your favor. Like deadlifting 400pounds makes you stronger, not fitter

[@erikcastro72]

I've been saying this about him ever since he won. He saw everyone else's moment of weakness as an opportunity to get ahead. He never seemed to really care about Lazar's death or it didn't make an impact on him.

[@donjuco242]

is he responsible to feel guilt or some kind emotional expression, yes he died!. He had mental fortitude and that made him the winner. Even Tia when she was asked why compete? she simply asnwer if that was me I would like the competion to compete. I can't agreed with this vid. In other sports athtletes has died. and yet the competion continues. Even Glassmen said crossfit could kill you.

[@AlexWindover]

REALLY REALLY big assumption you are making. "He never seemed to really care about Lazar's death or it didn't make an impact on him." OR he did care, it did effect him and he pushed on anyway, maybe he would've won by an even bigger margin. An explanation as to why he won that includes James Sprague as being a heartless psychopath is definitely irrational.

[@MrBassaman]

I totally agree. I understand that competitors and audiens have traveled and put a lot of money into going to the games. But I think this was a time to do a WO and try to reset. If you look at the rouge invitational you se a more true result. Sprague was 11 says it all.

[@zebianhussam]

Great work! As usual!

[@benjaminupton1281]

Who's to say that a 45 min long event should not be a predictor? CrossFit in general lends itself to shorter athletes so you could make this same argument from the opposite side for basically very CF games prior.

[@Molkepulver]

And if in let's say rowing or basketball suddenly the top 5 athletes are under 6 foot you wouldn't investigate the situation if there's something that is different to prior years?

[@KippingItRealcrossfit]

I expected a compelling argument. Instead I got the same argument Hiller gave which is based on a flawed premise

[@ryanjevning5493]

I expected you to give us a compelling argument on the flawed premise, but unfortunately I did not get one.

[@KippingItRealcrossfit]

@@ryanjevning5493 why would i argue in a comments section when i can make a rebuttal video? working on it already. spoiler alert: ill actually explain my points system. and thats no disrespect to mason. he makes great videos. he is just wrong in the logic and math of his argumentation.

[@ryanjevning5493]

@@KippingItRealcrossfit should have said that in the first place.

[@KippingItRealcrossfit]

@@ryanjevning5493 my bad

[@leejensen69]

@@KippingItRealcrossfitwhen you make the video mention this one so I can remember to watch your video back to back with this one. I’m curious about your argument

[@Zeoilvia]

I don't see how simple correlations between any single event and the overall Games winners have anything to do with the overall quality of programming - at all. You started presenting some hypotheses with height bias, mental fortitude, relation to Lazar but I don't feel like you backed them up with strong arguments or actual data in this video. You could've dug a little deeper and connected a few more dots :)

[@jeremyeatworld807]

Very well done good sir 👏

[@chrismorel1837]

Sprague after winning the C.G said quoting the Bible that God helped him, which is to say that the dead athlete was part of God's plan. This year 11th at the Rogue Invitational. I don't think he will be able to place in the top 10 in the next C.G.

[@bignoknow]

Great content.

[@akublackdragon]

Yoooo this was a great video

[@gkurosaki]

This Was a Flawless argument about a subject Mason, the best of all based on data. Thanks!

[@SASKProD]

Absolute banger content

[@CHIN-qw6xq]

A very necessary video 🔥💯

[@HatokoCZ]

James is just the lucky b**** of the most tragic and disgraceful Crossfit Games ever. He will have to prove himself next season.

[@colbychildtraining]

Super well made video 🙌🏼

[@theminion8665]

Good video. But i don't agree with the mental fortitude part. Some people just don't have it. Colten Mertens mom died before the open announcement 24.1 and he still performed

[@robgronkowski947]

and if I recall correctly, when Marcus Filly competed, I believe he had a grandparent who died before competition, yet still competed

[@gagagagaga89]

Sorry but did she also drown in front of everyone and no one helped? When someone dies there is certainly sadness. What happened at the Games is tragic. A person died in front of the camera because of greed for money. Others swam over Lazar. And after a few hours break, the games continued. They didnt know what to do. Didnt know what was right or wrong… I personally totally agree with this arguments from the video

[@christytaylor6395]

Not the same thing.

[@tadeorodriguez6577]

Great content! And I could not agree more. Sprague is truly NOT the fittest on earth.

[@kelleylewis8264]

Agree with everything in this video.

[@DGMikeBarker]

The history books won’t care. He won fairly

[@Molkepulver]

let's see if he makes the top 10 next year

[@robgronkowski947]

I admire your passion

[@thomasm0310]

James won fair and square but the mofo can’t do a handstand push up lol

[@PectusPT]

1000%!!!!!!

[@uglydave7135]

this was very well done

[@MD-lb1oz]

Good content. But you made a big statement at the end of your video, which you were not able to proof. I also think you can never claim first place is the fittest on earth. the first place is the winner of the CF Games. there are thousand variables which go into it (injuries, programming, sickness...) for finding the fittest on earth you (in my opinion) need at least 3 Competitions over some months where the fittest on earth is the overall winner of these competitions.

[@michaelevans605]

Great video

[@RussellGSharp]

No rowing,,, well that MASSIVELY favours short men as rowing is exclusively a tall man sport

[@sebastiankauschke3237]

What i actually EXPECTED from both winners of the 2024 games was a statement like this: "Hey guys, this years games were very confusing and dramatic for everyone. I am glad that I won, but i will not be claiming the title "Fittest on Earth 2024" for this year, out of respect for my fellow competitors, the community and Lazar" Thats what I expected (at least from Tia, she can really afford to have one title less), and I was definitely disappointed that it didnt happen.

[@DylanLopossay-do5vx]

You don't know how hard it is to train to be a professional athlete do you

[@sebastiankauschke3237]

​@@DylanLopossay-do5vx Of course not. What does that have to do with anything?

[@johnstrout7706]

If you expect other people to always act the way you feel, you will always be disappointed in life bud

[@sebastiankauschke3237]

@@johnstrout7706 maybe expected is the wrong word. I would have been a really nice - and imo the right - thing to do. it wouldnt have taken anything away from the victory or the price money. The whole toxic discussion (as can be seen by the many youtube videos regarding this topic) could have been avoided.

[@andolan2813]

word

[@aronlisy6108]

100% agreed! CFG champion, not Fittest on Earth.

[@spankwish]

That title was stupid to begin with anyways. That’s one of the reasons people dislike CF. The fittest? Really? It’s like NBA or MLB calling the winner of the finals “world champions”. I guess it’s an U.S.A. thing

[@lmn13]

+1 subscriber

[@PK7_PRO]

CrossFit Athletes how to make money, please make videos about CrossFit games business model documentary.

[@comradedyatlov712]

James just happened to TREN harder than anyone this year.

[@SPRAGUERRRR]

I like this one

[@luisaisaac517]

I understand the frustration, but in my opinion he won fair and square. He was able to exercise some mental resilience in the face of a very tragic event, whether he knew Luka or not. The athletes that dropped out of the competition surrendered their shot at the fittest on earth by dropping out of the competition and lacking the mental resilience and tenacity. The mental aspect of competition and war are very similar and extremely necessary.

[@alliemcquaide7369]

Yes he won... period..

[@jeffsdavis]

Let's be honest. If Adler stayed in and won it, no one would dispute him winning just like no one disputes Tia. Let him have his moment and I hope he wins it again to shut all you haters up. Crossfit community has turned into a bunch of trolls/haters/complainers. 😤

[@GDTheTrain13]

Ok so he showed up and competed like everyone else. He won. He’s the fittest on earth until the next games competition in 25. Mason must be a little 5’9” guy

[@markpalacios6137]

Bru, no one is saying he didn’t win calm down and stop glazing so hard, he won under extreme conditions that’s it, we all know he’s gonna get trashed next year when everyone is back and actually taking it seriously.

[@GDTheTrain13]

@ bruh everyone is saying he didn’t earn the title the fittest on earth, stop gargling podcast balls. He won the competition that was there and he beat everyone who competed. That’s that

[@cadencleaveland1621]

Do a video on the teen games programming , quads left the chat

[@Nuggett57]

Give it a rest and let James hold his head high with a well fought victory. I really don’t believe there would be so much drama behind this had someone like Dallin pepper or J hopper would’ve won. Maybe even Roman. But instead James was BETTER THAN THEM AND WON. It’s a damn sport. There will always be controversial moments but it was played out and he won. Give the man his dues he paid and respect it. The video was very well done and has great points. However it still doesn’t respect James and his accomplishments. Give the man his dues and reset for the next year.

[@olsonrerj]

I really don't understand why things can't just be discussed anymore without people thinking it's "drama". It was an unexpected, upset outcome. Like any other instance of this in sport, it will be analyzed from every angle for years to come. Nothing more, nothing less.

[@nickjakovac5180]

Not your best...sprague is the champ, others have excuses, he doesn't. Its that simple. James, Colten, and Taylor are reasons i will continue to follow the sport side of CF...def not Adler etc.

[@kylesantos2580]

What a pointless video

[@jasonsmith7649]

Sprague went up against the very best in the world in the same exact events in the same circumstances and outperformed them through out the competition. The title of fittest on earth has always been given to the 1st place finisher of the CrossFit games which he earned this year. He’s improved every single year and clearly trained extremely hard to put himself in a good position to perform in any event. If it was Dallin or Brent that won nobody would be saying a single thing. Congrats to James, excited to watch him prove the haters wrong

[@ainokea4u]

I don't understand why everyone dogs on Sprague. He is the fittest on earth for 2024, period.

[@mas9493]

On paper yes. 2024 Games were sad and cringe to watch, don't want to be disrespectful to the tragedy, but I really found cringy the mourning and crying moments. He won the worst Games edition ever.

[@djones3291]

Tell me you didn’t watch the video without telling me

[@Nuggett57]

He won the competition. Regardless of what happened, he won and everyone else made excuses for their performances. He capitalized on his abilities and came thru. If Fraser was still competing and he blows everyone out of the water, is a dirt bag or just the same old Matt doing Matt Fraser stuff? He’s the same competitor. Doesn’t matter what is going on. Keep personal emotions and competition separate. It’s a sport. He played it and won. Anyone else who thinks otherwise is a sore loser and cry baby because they didn’t beat him.

[@djones3291]

@@Nuggett57 god isn’t real btw

[@Nuggett57]

@@djones3291 is that why you play fake games all the time?

[@samuelbaiano99]

Incredibly well done video good work!