A Message to CrossFit Athletes and Fans - Justin Bergh, General Manager of Sport

[grace4nan]

Bergh knew that Castro will be fired in advance and earlier than he wanted to.

https://us12.campaign-archive.com/?u=408776e8ee20d739d8d3ba3ed&id=74c201c778

 

[gbob]

@grace4nan Is it just me or he looks a bit like Zuck?

 

[tonya41]

@grace4nan Anyone else think Justin just tip toed around all the things we wanted him to talk about?

 

[chantelle1989g]

@grace4nan Reading between the lines a bit

• everyone (athletes, fans, organizers)has told us there’s major problems with how we operate competitive CrossFit. We hired someone to help with that
• our communication sucks; we’re going to define the following official channels [I'm not sure this is a dramatic improvement]
  • direct email
  • our podcast
  • studio shows
• programming isn’t going to become a set of predefined tests; we plan on continuing the previous style.
• we’re going to talk more about the process of programming, and possibly address athlete concerns.

I, for one, hope that Dave's departure drives much-needed change in the organization, primarily humility and the ability to accept feedback and criticism so that we don't repeat Murph 2015, Regionals 2017, and E. Coli in Wisconsin. It would be great to see some cohesion in the sport so that athletes can gain exposure (and income) through other events throughout the year, while also working towards the Finals as a goal.

 

[grace4nan]

@chantelle1989g I've said it before and I'll say it again: it could get better as a business and as a sport without Dave and with the new owners. Just don't expect them care about the original message of CrossFit. I'm sure this was the dude (VP of Partnerships) that brought in Coca-Cola-Monster last year.

 

[elizamurr]

@grace4nan Mat Fraser literally was downing candy bars in between events and winning. I’m not sure the sport of CrossFit ever was a good representation of the original intention.

 

[grace4nan]

@elizamurr You know Glassman called it a clown show, right? And that they had Sons of Anarchy level fights about the Games internally. But ultimately everything that happened and will happen to CF is on Greg.

 

[chapelmusicworship]

@grace4nan I thought I heard Dave in an interview say he had a hand in bringing them in. Part of the challenge of putting on the games post-Reebok was getting additional sponsors to fund the games and they didn’t exactly have people knocking the doors down to be their partner.

 

[grace4nan]

@chapelmusicworship Not impossible. Dave was way too wrapped up in the Games. The whole setup was and is unhealthy (pun intended) to have a health company run an extreme sport as well.

 

[chantelle1989g]

@grace4nan I wonder how much of coke partnership was time driven. There’s good relationships to be made, but the companies aren’t big enough to redirect cash on the timeframe they wanted.

I hope, at least.

 

[kaykay]

@grace4nan He’s just holding it down until O’keefe is in the building.

 

[dawn16]

@kaykay O'Keefe runs the show, Fraser writes the programming. Boom.

 

[dawn16]

@grace4nan IMHO I think this is really good news for the CrossFit community. From my perspective, DC was more far more interested in enhancing and preserving his own personal image and ego than he was about promoting the virtues of the sport. Looking forward to better days ahead

 

[dawn16]

@grace4nan I don’t like his face.

 

[grace4nan]

I feel like he talks a lot, but said nothing new and pretty much described what was already there only in corporate speak.