Are The CrossFit Games Are Stupid?

The CrossFit Games Are Stupid
by Tai on February 28, 2011


When trying to explain the idea behind the CrossFit Games to someone who isn’t double-fisting frosty mugs of Kool-Aid, most often they stare back at you like a dog contemplating a frog in their water dish. This is not a new experience for anyone who’s tried to explain the basic concepts of CrossFit to someone unfamiliar with them, but when you add the idea of a competition they become particularly hesitant. One of the main arguments I’ve heard (and read in the comments of several blogs) is something to the effect of, “that’s stupid – who wants to go watch people compete in working out?”


Ok, let’s take a look at sports in general for a moment then.


Baseball - A guy on a little hill throws a ball toward another guy who tries to hit it with a stick. If he hits it, he runs like hell while a bunch of other guys chase the ball. If he doesn't hit it, another guy gets to try.


Football - A guy takes a squashed ball and throws it (or gives it) to another guy with the same color shirt. When that guy has it he runs like hell and a bunch of guys with different shirts try to knock him down and take his ball. If he runs far enough, he throws down the ball and dances like an idiot.


Basketball - Ball. Hoop. Make ball go in hoop. And bounce it. A lot.


They seem pretty stupid when you look at them this way, but this is what someone who knows nothing about these three sports might perceive when someone else tries to explain them. Now take a look at my simplified (though accurate) description each of these sports and try to answer for me one question: why? Why hit the ball with the stick and then run? Why knock down the guy with the squashed ball? Why make the ball go into the hoop? My answer to all that would be, “why not?”


CrossFit as a sport may be in its infancy, but it’s as viable (and perhaps more so) than any professional sport out there, and it’s anything but stupid. Instead of seeing who can hit a ball farther, run 40 yards faster, or hit more 3-pointers, we’re finding out who can best negotiate the widest variety of challenges pulled from an infinite pool of possibilities. It’s the same thing we do in our local CrossFit Affiliate every single day, and when we watch the CrossFit Games we get to see the best in the world bring a new level of incredible to this thing we love so much. In my opinion, that’s just f*cking cool.