The beginning of a love story!

It is the beginning of a new year and it would have been super easy to share all my new years resolutions and personal goals for the new year with you. The truth however is that noone really cares what an old over the hill, semi fat kid, has planned for the next year! Those of you who claim to want to hear- its really are lovable, but there is no need for the courtesy!

Instead I would love to share some thoughts on the thing everybody has been talking about the last couple of months- the Reebok/ CrossFit partnership!
What is is all about and how do we feel about it? Has CrossFit sold out and become mainstream? Has CrossFit given in and jumped into the lap of the MAN?

What we do know is that Reebok and CrossFit have signed some sort of partnership, and from what I hear it is a long term commitment! I could be wrong, so let us not get to hung up on the details!
The first Reebok CrossFit box has opened, and I have a feeling more will follow within a very near future!
It has also become mainstream knowledge that Reebok will sponsor the Games!
I am sure that there are many more facetts where we will see Reebok get involved in the CrossFit community. I have heard a lot of rumors and have been blessed with some info straight from the horses mouth, but until it all becomes official lets just keep it at that!

So how do we feel about this? Has CrossFit sold out? Has CrossFit given up everything we stand for and sold it all for a bag of coin?
I have heard lot of haters go nuts about this! They have been very vocal both to my face and in different media! They are saying that CrossFit has lost its soul! That CrossFit has sold out? That HQ is just trying to cash in? That HQ has forgotten where it all began??
My personal favorite it this quote: " CrossFit should be elite and underground, this has ruined it all!" I'll get back to it, but I have to say that this one made me laugh! I am never going to take a swing at another persons opinion. Opinions are like assholes, we all have one! But this persons perception of CrossFit could not possibly be any further from mine, and by no stretch of imagination can I relate to this defination of CrossFit!

HELL NO! CrossFit has not sold out! CrossFit has not sold all moral values for a bag of coin! CrossFit has not forgotten where it all began, or where it was Coach wanted to go with this!
There have been plenty of opportunities to cash in before now, and I know that there were plenty of other options that would also have generated a lot of money for HQ! The partnership with Reebok will give CrossFit the possiblity to develop in the way that CrossFit has always wanted to go! In order to develop CrossFit has needed money and a partner that could help facilitate this development- This is exactly what Reebok is! reebok is not going to change CrossFit in any way shape or form! Instead Reebok is going to help CrossFit go exactly where CrossFit has always wanted to go! In return CrossFit will try to benefit Reebok in any way they can, and I am sure there is a pretty hefty contract saying what CrossFit has to do!
The essential part however is that Reebok is not going to change anything! Let me say it again so it can sink in! Nothing is going to change! CrossFit will just be able to take CrossFit where they want, in the way they want! The need for compromise in order to make the guy with the money happy is non-existent!
Just lean back for a second and think about it! If you accept the fact that Crossfit has turned down a bunch of bidders and substantial amounts of money because they all came with a prize of changing what we do! What do you think would have to be offered in the deal with Reebok, for CrossFit to take it? That is right! A partnership that allows CrossFit to continue down the path we are all already walking, but with the suport of a partner with some serious muscle! How could that ever be wrong! So if nothing changes, how could CrossFit have sold out?
I keep my fingers crossed that this is the beginning of a love story between Reebok and CrossFit, and I pray that both companies will prosper from the partnership!

So back to the comment about being elite and underground! We publish what we do online! We share information on everything we do virtually free of charge! Every affiliate that publishes their programming helps provide free access to some of the finest training in the world! On CrossFit.com you will find more information than you will know what to do with free of charge! The list goes on and on- but you get the picture! Everyting we do is transparent, and easily accessable for everyone! It has always been that way- what is underground about that?
Keeping something elite and underground just means keeping it to ourselves, which is something CrossFit has never done! The problem with this attitude is also that it gets in the way of progress! Why would you want to evolve if you are already better than the rest, and the biggest fish in a very small pond, and how are we going to develop and become better if we get no input from anyone else, since we are a closed society? No way!

I would like CrossFit to be easily accesable to everyone willing to put in the work to become a better athlete! I would like the entire world to know that there is an alternative that can actually get you where you want to go, if you really want to be a better athlete, no matter what that means to you!
My promise to you is that if I ever find a cure for cancer I will never sit on it and keep it to myself and a chosen few- I will share it with the world..... I am not sure that is the case for the one who wrote the quote!

2011 looks like it will be a fantastic year for CrossFit, for you and for me, so lets help each other make it all come true!


Much love