Death of crossfit(for real this time)

Cuddlesworth

So in the wake of the current race orientated political situation in the US, the founder and owner of crossfit Gregg Glassman has made some statements in public in bad taste and against the principals of BLM movement.

https://www.businessinsider.com/reebok-gyms-end-crossfit-partnerships-after-ceos-insensitive-tweet-2020-6?r=US&IR=T

A number of reports within the scene of the top end of the crossfit management and Gregg himself, show this was simply the public side of a private viewpoint within the organisation.

This has caused the majority of sponsors to drop(Rouge + Reebok), a significant number of affiliates leaving it(primary source of income I would guess) and a large proportion of their athletes leaving. I can't see them coming back either.

I think this will be used in future of a great example of how a single statement can destroy a badly managed brand overnight.

He is currently trying to do damage control and is retracting his statement but I think the cats out of the bag.

So who is happy to see them go?

eastie17

When you say "them" do you mean the owners/leaders of crossfit or crossfit in general?

Rosita

Floyd-19.........is that the extent of it? Things are getting really silly if a comment like that gets such a reaction. But I suppose it shows the fear that is in the boardrooms of probably all big brands around the issue.

Alf Veedersane

Maybe the death of Crossfit but not crossfit.

Cill94

Very stupid PR move, but Glassman has always come across as an immense eejit so not really any surprise there.

I don't think it's the death of CrossFit. People with big enough personal brands will jump ship (as Khalipa and Froning have just done), whereas those whose main marketing is 'we're a CrossFit gym' will probably stay on board. As with any PR blunder, it'll blow over eventually.

As for whether I'd be glad to see CrossFit die as a brand - I don't really have any strong feelings. Anyone who cares about the growth of barbell sports has a lot to thank CrossFit for. They are responsible for introducing thousands of people to proper strength training and helped revive the sport of weightlifting in the west.

Even if the company itself went under, the 'sport of fitness' movement is now a completely separate entity that will continue to appeal to a certain demographic of exercisers.

Cuddlesworth

eastie17 wrote: »

When you say "them" do you mean the owners/leaders of crossfit or crossfit in general?

Glassman is Crossfit but there are others that are getting heat from what I can tell.

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

Maybe the death of Crossfit but not crossfit.

The brand maybe. The sport or concept, no.

Rosita wrote: »

Floyd-19.........is that the extent of it? Things are getting really silly if a comment like that gets such a reaction. But I suppose it shows the fear that is in the boardrooms of probably all big brands around the issue.

https://medium.com/@mikeyoungphd/why-im-dumping-crossfit-47ad6a1a0216

If you consider how litigious Glassman is, be aware the person who wrote this article knew it when they penned it. The public statement of Floyd-19 might just be the tip of the iceberg.

Rosita

Cuddlesworth wrote: »

Glassman is Crossfit but there are others that are getting heat from what I can tell.



The brand maybe. The sport or concept, no.



https://medium.com/@mikeyoungphd/why-im-dumping-crossfit-47ad6a1a0216

If you consider how litigious Glassman is, be aware the person who wrote this article knew it when they penned it. The public statement of Floyd-19 might just be the tip of the iceberg.

To be honest, I've never heard of the man but if I'd read someone saying Floyd-19 in that context without any other background I'd have assumed it was a message of support for the whole protest.

Rosita

Cuddlesworth wrote: »

Glassman is Crossfit but there are others that are getting heat from what I can tell.



The brand maybe. The sport or concept, no.



https://medium.com/@mikeyoungphd/why-im-dumping-crossfit-47ad6a1a0216

If you consider how litigious Glassman is, be aware the person who wrote this article knew it when they penned it. The public statement of Floyd-19 might just be the tip of the iceberg.

Reading that I find the whole thing extraordinary. It must be like post revolutionary France in the US at the moment with people trying to show their own devotion to the cause while calling out others.

Mink

Glassman is an awful eejit and the tweet was only one of many bad moves that have disappointed the CF community.

He won’t step down, he owns the brand 100%. Possibly Rogue will take over holding the “games” as they are already doing a well managed mini games with the Rogue Invitational. The existing CF gyms will de affiliate and just be under the functional fitness umbrella. The other big paying events like wodapolooza, Dubai etc will probably keep going but they won’t have to pay to use the CF brand.

That’s sort of what I’m hoping anyway. I don’t know if anyone is going to buy glassman out and take over the brand

Carioco

Cuddlesworth wrote: »

So in the wake of the current race orientated political situation in the US, the founder and owner of crossfit Gregg Glassman has made some statements in public in bad taste and against the principals of BLM movement.

https://www.businessinsider.com/reebok-gyms-end-crossfit-partnerships-after-ceos-insensitive-tweet-2020-6?r=US&IR=T

A number of reports within the scene of the top end of the crossfit management and Gregg himself, show this was simply the public side of a private viewpoint within the organisation.

This has caused the majority of sponsors to drop(Rouge + Reebok), a significant number of affiliates leaving it(primary source of income I would guess) and a large proportion of their athletes leaving. I can't see them coming back either.

I think this will be used in future of a great example of how a single statement can destroy a badly managed brand overnight.

He is currently trying to do damage control and is retracting his statement but I think the cats out of the bag.

So who is happy to see them go?

Crossfit the organisation is a joke. They are all juicing but only those outside the circle get tested.

Remember the documentary where they completely threw that Australian competitor to the wolves to show that they are actually testing and anyone can be caught? Jokeshop


There is a weird lack of black competitors despite black athletes in the US excelling across sports and hearing this makes me think that the racist organiser probably tests black athletes more to keep them out.

Basically if you're not part of the Cultish elite Circle then you aren't competing at the highest levels because you'll be tested.

dastardly00

Carioco wrote: »

Crossfit the organisation is a joke. They are all juicing but only those outside the circle get tested.

Remember the documentary where they completely threw that Australian competitor to the wolves to show that they are actually testing and anyone can be caught? Jokeshop


There is a weird lack of black competitors despite black athletes in the US excelling across sports and hearing this makes me think that the racist organiser probably tests black athletes more to keep them out.

Basically if you're not part of the Cultish elite Circle then you aren't competing at the highest levels because you'll be tested.

The conspiracy theory forum is that way ----> Linky

Stone Deaf 4evr

dastardly00 wrote: »

The conspiracy theory forum is that way ----> Linky

Its not a conspiracy, its been acknowledged for years that its an expensive hobby in comparison to standard Gym membership in the US, which is further reflected in the lack of attendance by the less off people of colour, in fact, its baffling how expensive it is over there in comparison to the prices any boxes in Ireland seem to charge.

I've done it for years, and genuinely love it, and used to look forward to the games, but they were more of a sideshow than anything serious, and as said earlier, the drug testing is a farce. Glassman comes off as a bit of a creep and a quack, essentially pushing that glorified circuit training is the key to curing all diseases and ailments.

Carioco

dastardly00 wrote: »

The conspiracy theory forum is that way ----> Linky

It's not a conspiracy. They absolutely selectively test. Witness the stars never getting popped despite clearly on juice but new up and comers are regularly found on juice.

The entire CrossFit Games is set up so that those already in the circle can continue dominating by avoiding being tested.

If the owner is as racist as it appears then it wouldn't surprise me if he had a say in getting more of the black competitors tested - thats an assumption but based on the fact that he selectively tests and is openly racist.

Anyway my point isn't that black elites get tested while the elite don't, my point is ALL outsiders get tested and those already in the elite circle don't. The documentary with the Australian athlete was ridiculous you could tell from the start the entire documentary was already decided pre filming to be a propaganda piece to imply Crossfit was heavily tested. The Australian athlete was set up to be the fall athlete, ruined his career and reputation when all of them were doing the exact same.

IvoryTower

Glassman has stepped down as ceo

Vegeta

IvoryTower wrote: »

Glassman has stepped down as ceo

That's the only thing I can think of that could save them, if it isn't already too late.

He needs to have no part in the organisation though or people will stay away

Mellor

Rosita wrote: »

To be honest, I've never heard of the man but if I'd read someone saying Floyd-19 in that context without any other background I'd have assumed it was a message of support for the whole protest.

I’ve no idea how you could thing that.
The post a publicly disagreeing with the Institute for Health who said “Racism is Public Health Issue”.
His rant made it crystal clear.

Mellor

Carioco wrote: »

It's not a conspiracy. They absolutely selectively test. Witness the stars never getting popped despite clearly on juice but new up and comers are regularly found on juice.

On what basis are they selectively testing? Or that the circle don’t get tested?

The entire CrossFit Games is set up so that those already in the circle can continue dominating by avoiding being tested.

No. It’s set up so there’s no out of comp testing, and athletes can juice as much as they like. Including black athletes.

If the owner is as racist as it appears then it wouldn't surprise me if he had a say in getting more of the black competitors tested - thats an assumption but based on the fact that he selectively tests and is openly racist.

That assumption is the conspiracy part btw.

The documentary with the Australian athlete was ridiculous you could tell from the start the entire documentary was already decided pre filming to be a propaganda piece to imply Crossfit was heavily tested. The Australian athlete was set up to be the fall athlete, ruined his career and reputation when all of them were doing the exact same.

In what way was it set up like that from the start?
All of the editing would have been after the fact.

Had Mathew Fraser pooped, I’m sure they have made it go away. But they’d not the same as you are claiming.

Carioco

Mellor wrote: »

On what basis are they selectively testing? Or that the circle don’t get tested?


No. It’s set up so there’s no out of comp testing, and athletes can juice as much as they like. Including black athletes.


That assumption is the conspiracy part btw.


In what way was it set up like that from the start?
All of the editing would have been after the fact.

Had Mathew Fraser pooped, I’m sure they have made it go away. But they’d not the same as you are claiming.

The documentary was made at a time when CrossFit was under massive scrutiny for juicing and then lo and behold an athlete who was new to the games and started dominating gets popped for steroids and all of the clearly juiced regularly stars say how terrible it is and how he was ruining the sport. They all were clearly on the juice. Its a joke. That Australian athlete was absolutely set up.

The whole documentary was a propaganda piece to show CrossFit is testing but the entire structure is set up to protect the big names who never get tested.

There is absolutely no reason why there is no elite black athletes in CrossFit look at sports throughout the US and black athletes regularly dominate yet CrossFit is lily white? Something wrong there IMO.

The NFL's combine testing which features most of CrossFits main lifts is dominated by African American athletes but that doesn't transcend to CrossFit? It doesn't make sense.

Heres my 'theory', CrossFit protects its big name athletes there from the beginning. If you're a new up and coming athlete then you must have an 'in' like the Icelandic girl who brought a girl from her gym who started dominating. If your outside then the regular stars will ensure your getting tested to keep their dominance and you better believe the racist CEO doesn't want a black athlete to become the new star of CrossFit games. Literally the CEO, the man who decides who gets tested is an open racist. And you don't believe he wielded that power to ensure the people he hate didn't get to the top of his own organization? Thats naive.

Alf Veedersane

Mellor wrote: »

Had Mathew Fraser pooped, I’m sure they have made it go away.

Tbf, they have likely given him a dedicated flusher at this stage.

ThunbergsAreGo

Carioco wrote: »

It's not a conspiracy. They absolutely selectively test. Witness the stars never getting popped despite clearly on juice but new up and comers are regularly found on juice.

The entire CrossFit Games is set up so that those already in the circle can continue dominating by avoiding being tested.

If the owner is as racist as it appears then it wouldn't surprise me if he had a say in getting more of the black competitors tested - thats an assumption but based on the fact that he selectively tests and is openly racist.

Anyway my point isn't that black elites get tested while the elite don't, my point is ALL outsiders get tested and those already in the elite circle don't. The documentary with the Australian athlete was ridiculous you could tell from the start the entire documentary was already decided pre filming to be a propaganda piece to imply Crossfit was heavily tested. The Australian athlete was set up to be the fall athlete, ruined his career and reputation when all of them were doing the exact same.

Where does it appear the owner is a racist?

From the above tweet it seemed lockdown was the main issue?

Cill94

Carioco wrote: »

The whole documentary was a propaganda piece to show CrossFit is testing but the entire structure is set up to protect the big names who never get tested.

There is absolutely no reason why there is no elite black athletes in CrossFit look at sports throughout the US and black athletes regularly dominate yet CrossFit is lily white? Something wrong there IMO.

The NFL's combine testing which features most of CrossFits main lifts is dominated by African American athletes but that doesn't transcend to CrossFit? It doesn't make sense.

Corrupt drug testing standards are not something unique to CrossFit. This happens across a variety of sports and all the way up to the Olympic level.

And as one poster before me pointed out, CrossFit is an extremely expensive sport to access compared to other sports like basketball. This makes income a major barrier to entry. If you are an athletically gifted black athlete coming from a disadvantaged background, there is a much greater financial incentive to excel in a larger sport like the NFL or basketball.

Glassman is an asshat and could have his hand in the stuff you're saying, but without proof its just speculation on your part.

Mellor

Carioco wrote: »

The documentary was made at a time when CrossFit was under massive scrutiny for juicing and then lo and behold an athlete who was new to the games and started dominating gets popped for steroids and all of the clearly juiced regularly stars say how terrible it is and how he was ruining the sport. They all were clearly on the juice. Its a joke. That Australian athlete was absolutely set up.

He was certainly juicing, like other athletes. But he didn’t pop for steroids.
And none of that backs up what you claimed above.

He was Obviously was thrown under the bus. But there’s a huge different between a set up, manipulating it to their advantage after the fact.
It’s not clear whether or not you are suggesting that CF faked the test result or something else.

Heres my 'theory', CrossFit protects its big name athletes there from the beginning. If you're a new up and coming athlete then you must have an 'in' like the Icelandic girl who brought a girl from her gym who started dominating. If your outside then the regular stars will ensure your getting tested to keep their dominance and you better believe the racist CEO doesn't want a black athlete to become the new star of CrossFit games.

Here’s the problem with your ‘theory’.
There’s no out of comp testing in Crossfit. For anyone. So how exactly are you proposing they keep their undesirables out?

Literally the CEO, the man who decides who gets tested is an open racist. And you don't believe he wielded that power to ensure the people he hate didn't get to the top of his own organization? Thats naive.

Yes much more naive to assume that was random testing going on.

If that were true. Glass had sent his testers after the blanks. Where is the string of black athletes popping?

Black Sheep

CrossFit does have an unusual lack of black athletes and box owners. I'm sure there are some but they're not very visible. I could literally only name Buddy Lee, who used to do jump rope training for CrossFit years and years ago.

My theory as to why that is probably has more to do with economics than race, although maybe it's tricky to extricate the two. CrossFit is expensive, and it's very much geared towards providing a kind of aspirational fitness lifestyle. I suspect it's just way out of the price range of a majority of people living in lower income communities. If it were as a cheap to engage in and play as basketball, or offered an established route to scholarships and professional income, then maybe the situation would be different and the population participating in CrossFit would be more diverse. But at the moment it's like shooting, water-sports and similar, it's something that middle class white professionals are more likely to engage in, and then that kind of becomes self-perpetuating... If you have an all-white box then it's probably going to stay that way?

On the competitive stage, I think this explains the lack of black competitors to a large extent. I don't think a conspiracy around testing is even required to keep anyone out.

I guess it's worth wondering why excellent black athletes haven't parachuted in to compete with Games' athletes to try to win and get brand deals and so on, but I'm assuming either the money isn't there or CrossFit genuinely is multi dimensional enough at this stage that it's just not that easy to come in and sweep the board anymore.

A brief comment on Ireland: It's 10+ years since I was CrossFit certified and involved with CrossFit, but when I was involved it was rapidly also turning into a very middle and upper middle class thing. Certainly the boxes I was involved in were predominantly made up of young professional people with disposable income. Maybe that was, in no small part, responsible for the social scene that made it attractive at the time...

Anyway, Glassman may be gone but crossfit is not going anywhere, it's a verb now, not just a noun.

ongarite

Glassman stepping down as CEO is just an illusion to save face from the press & stop gyms from cancelling their affiliate fees.
He owns 100% of the CrossFit company/brand and to be removed he would have to sell the company.

Alf Veedersane

I would suspect it's an economic issue. I remember reading an interview with Arthur Ashe on why there has been so few black Americans playing tennis at the higher levels and he said it was a lack of access to it from a financial perspective. It's not something that's played in public schools so it's just not played.

dastardly00

Carioco wrote: »

If the owner is as racist as it appears then it wouldn't surprise me if he had a say in getting more of the black competitors tested - thats an assumption but based on the fact that he selectively tests and is openly racist.

Carioco wrote: »

There is a weird lack of black competitors despite black athletes in the US excelling across sports and hearing this makes me think that the racist organiser probably tests black athletes more to keep them out.

You've made a lot of assumptions, and a few big leaps, but you keep saying that black people are being selectively tested to keep them out of elite CrossFit.

If that were true, then surely a lot black people would have to be failing tests...

You could have easily done a tiny bit of research to figure out if your "assumption" is true. Here's a list of athletes who had failures in 2018 and 2019.

https://games.crossfit.com/article/athletes-breach-drug-policy/games

https://games.crossfit.com/announcement/11799/open

They are not all black!

Hence my suggestion that you're assumption is more better suited to the conspiracy theory forum.

Mellor

dastardly00 wrote: »

You could have easily done a tiny bit of research to figure out if your "assumption" is true. Here's a list of athletes who had failures in 2018 and 2019.

https://games.crossfit.com/article/athletes-breach-drug-policy/games

https://games.crossfit.com/announcement/11799/open

They are not all black!

Hence my suggestion that you're assumption is more better suited to the conspiracy theory forum.

26 athetes. I googled 13 of them. Zero were black. Shocked!