2021 Tom Jones Award winner Alessandra Pichelli is flanked by 2020 TJ Winner, Erika Linden and 2019 Winner, Dean Quiambao
“If you are an athlete or coach going into the Games with the belief that your success depends on the programming that comes out that weekend…You lost already. You are not prepared. You are just showing up to participate.”
Dave Castro
ON DAVE CASTRO’S FIRING – Dave Castro’s untimely termination from his job at CrossFit was hard news for me. He is a good friend that I have known and worked with for almost 15 years. He is also a retired, 12-year Navy Seal with multiple tours in the Middle East. And, he is extremely passionate about CrossFit the methodology, the business, the affiliates, and most of all, the Sport. He literally created the CrossFit Games in 2007 and grew it to become a nationally televised, multi-million dollar sport.
Dave has an incredible work ethic and puts a tremendous amount of time, research, and testing into programming CrossFit Games competitions. He was also the Co-Director of Training, leading the CrossFit Certification program with Nicole Carrol for many years. And, for about 3 months in 2020, Dave was appointed CEO, when Greg Glassman stepped down due to controversy. Amazingly, during Dave’s 3 month tenure as CEO, he launched the Affiliate Representative Program and the Level 1 Scholarship program for low-income minorities. Both programs are still in place today. CrossFit will not be the same without Dave’s influence and work.
Dave is also a leader and a man of his word. He will let you know if you disappoint him, or if he disagrees with you. In 2014, I decided to help launch the GRID league and, with two partners, purchase a GRID league team – a new functional fitness team sport. Soon after, Dave Castro called me to let me know that he (and Glassman) was not happy with the new venture and strongly recommended that I not participate. When I asked if Diablo would lose our CrossFit affiliation, he replied, “we are not taking a position on that at this time.” He then gave me some personal advice for working with Tony Budding, the former Media Director at CrossFit and founder of the GRID league. And, I thought for sure I’d lose him as a friend. The GRID League failed in 3 years, and Dave remained a friend throughout. He never gloated nor raised the matter to me again.
In 2019, Dave asked if we’d like to host an Open Workout. We hosted 19.3 and, because of our success, we also hosted 20.4. In 2020, when Dave was appointed CEO, he called me to ask me to be the first CrossFit Affiliate Representative in the world. Needless to say, I and Diablo CrossFit, will miss Dave. His social media persona is not the best representation of this man’s character, integrity and contributions to CrossFit and the CrossFit Games. CrossFit and The Games will survive and thrive, but they will never be the same without Dave.
THE 2021 TOM JONES AWARD GOES TO… Alessandra Pichelli! Our annual Tom Jones Award, named after our awesome member, “Tom Jones”, is presented to a member of our Diablo Community in recognition of relentless, enthusiastic, and loving support of the Diablo CrossFit Community. For the last 10 years, Sandra has committed herself to competing at the highest level of CrossFit, qualifying for the CrossFit Games 9x as an individual and 1x on a team. Every year she has proudly represented and promoted Diablo CrossFit, entertaining and motivating our community to be better at CrossFit. Most of us literally only watch the sport of fitness because of Sandra. And 2021 was her final year in the sport – and it was a blast watching her compete to qualify in the gym and competing against the fittest in the world in Madison, again. So it was only fitting that we recognize her amazing contribution to the sport, and to the Diablo CrossFit community with the 2021 Tom Jones Award. Thank you, Alessandra, for all you have done for Diablo and our family.
WELCOME COACH AUSTIN! After 2 months of internship at Diablo, Austin Brown is now on the schedule. Austin is 25 and has been CrossFitting for 8 years! He has 6 years of coaching experience, most recently coaching at Jason Kahlipa’s NCFIT in Pleasanton. Look for him on the schedule on Thursdays and weekends. .
Tweet of the Week: Diablo CrossFit: Make no mistake, CrossFit is hard af. Most CF gyms are rough around the edges: loud music, weights crashing, and energetic, fit people. There’s swearing, shouting, fist bumps & cheering. But if you put aside your fears & judgement it will improve your life & health dramatically.
WORKOUTS
January Focus: Calendar / Newsletter
- Primary: Varied Heavy Lifts
- Secondary: Barbell Cycling
- Skill: Open Prep EMOMs
The week ahead:
- Mon: Open EMOM – WB, Pull Ups, WW. E2MOM x 4: L-Sit buyin. 12 DB Snatch. 12 SA FR Lunge.
- Tue: Push Press. Metcon: 6/8 Ring Dip, 15/20c Bike
- Wed: Amrap 22m – 2k Row Buy-in, then, 2 Rope Climbs, 4 DB Devil Press, 8 DB HSC. Min 10: Row 1000m
- Thu: Power Clean Complex. Metcon: 3RFT – 100m FC, 40 DUs, 12 DB FC Box Step Ups
- Fri: Amrap 14m – 200m Run, 12 T2B, 9 PPress, 6 Wall Walks
- Sat: Open 18.2 & 18.2A In 12m Complete – FT: 1,2,3…10 – DB Squats, BF Burpees. Then 1RM Clean.
- Sun: 3RFT – 20/30c Bike, 10PSn, 20 Pull Ups, 2m Rest. #95/135
CRAIG’S LIST (Stuff I’m Reading, Hearing, Watching, Using or Buying)
Sevan Podcast #257 Affiliate Call In Show. Sevan is a very rough-around-the-edges, straight up, blunt individual. He’s not a fan of the new management team at CrossFit – he was fired early on as media director. I call in at about the 1:50 mark to share my thoughts on the loss of Dave Castro. I go off on a bit of a rant..
Joe Rogan Podcasts: Joe Rogan is not everyone’s cup of tea – I get that. But I really like his humble approach to share unbiased information on all topics. He is inquisitive by nature, which yields very down-to-earth, easy-to-understand conversations with brilliant people. Below are two recent JRE podcasts I listened to last week that I believe should be essential listening for all Americans. The pandemic and our political and medical response deserve scrutiny. We have all sacrificed a lot and many have died. Dr.s Malone & Ambamson are frontline MDs and scientists that shed a tremendous amount of light on treatments, vaccines, big pharma and mandates. These are very smart, very educated and extremely experienced, scientific medical professionals. Please, especially if you have children, take a moment to listen to these with an open mind. They are important for the future of healthcare in our country. You’ll need Spotify.
Joe Rogan wih Dr. Malone, MD. Dr. Robert Malone is the inventor of the nine original mRNA vaccine patents, which were originally filed in 1989 (including both the idea of mRNA vaccines and the original proof of principle experiments) and RNA transfection. Dr. Malone, has close to 100 peer-reviewed publications which have been cited over 12,000 times. Since January 2020, Dr. Malone has been leading a large team focused on clinical research design, drug development, computer modeling and mechanisms of action of repurposed drugs for the treatment of COVID-19.
Joe Rogan with Dr. Abramson, MD. Only 2 Countries in the world allow pharmaceutical advertising: USA and New Zealand. John Abramson, MD, is a Harvard Medical School Lecturer, national drug litigation expert, and author of the book: “Sickening: How Big Pharma Broke American Health Care and How We Can Repair It.” This is an eye-opening episode that describes the clinical trial and approval process for drugs in America. It is an amazing and very scary episode.
Make it an awesome week!
Craig
