Leroy N. Soetoro
2016-07-20 19:58:09 UTC
http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-36825953
To its fans CrossFit is a hardcore way to stay healthy, but for its
detractors it is a brutally demanding gimmick that inspires cult-like
reverence. And it's only around 20 years old; a truly millennial fitness
regime.
But now what Forbes magazine has called "the fastest growing sport in
America", has become engulfed in a controversy which has divided
enthusiasts. The cause of the division is that the organisers of this
year's global CrossFit Games - which start in California on 19 July - have
announced that the winners will each receive a Glock handgun as a prize.
The sign of trouble came when the CrossFit Games' official Facebook page
posted a slick video last week, showcasing the handgun.
The video, has been viewed more than 800,000 times and drew a swift
response. Most of those who commented were outraged that their firearm-
free sport had been associated with guns. An online petition which demands
an end to the partnership with Glock has now been signed by more than
20,000 people.
One of the outraged CrossFitters, Kyle Williams called the video "a
glorified pistol ad." A CrossFit gym in Vancouver wrote, in a an Instagram
post, that "CrossFit stands for fitness, health, and community, and The
Games is rewarding the top athletes with a gun. How does that make any
sense?"
Another Crossfit gym, in Sweden, showed its disgust by posting a picture
on Facebook of the famous sculpture of a gun with it's barrel twisted in a
knot made by the Swedish artist Carl Fredrik Reuterswärd following the
fatal shooting of John Lennon. The caption expressed the hope that any
Swedish winners would throw their prizes into the sea.
However, there were some supporters of the tie-up between CrossFit and
Glock, and they were mostly American. Dane Anderson from Montana wrote on
Facebook that "shooting guns is fun. It's a great way to decompress, let
off stress. Learning to become proficient with it so that if you need to
you can defend yourself or others." Ronny Rossi felt similarly: "This is
America its our constitutional right to be able to bear arms."
Those voices, though, were very much in a minority on the CrossFit
Facebook page. Many more were appalled by the choice of prizes. And some
have criticised fellow sponsor Reebok for not acting to stop a gunmaker
getting involved. But the sportswear company told Vocativ that it "does
not have input on CrossFit Games' other partners or promotions, and it
would not have agreed with teaming up with Glock if it had."
The anti-Glock petition was started by Australian CrossFit enthusiast
Daniel Bartels, who pointed out that the sport had, up until now, been
very selective about what sort of sponsorship deals it agreed to be
involved with.
"CrossFit Inc would not form partnerships with fast food restaurants,
alcohol companies, cigarette, or pharmaceutical companies on the same
basis. But a gun manufacturer is deemed as a good partner. This is not us.
CrossFit is for health, fitness and the well-being of people in all
communities. This is not CrossFit. This should never be CrossFit."
Bartles told Trending that he set up the petition was a "spur of the
moment idea as result of my own personal reaction and on serving the
largely negative comments online. I didn't like the association that I
would have entered a competition where one of the prizes for the winners
was a firearm."
For Bartles CrossFit is something that you mess with at your peril.
"What it means to me is a great community. We know each others families
and how life is at work. We get excited when someone hits a goal or makes
a new personal best. We get excited when the membership of the gym grows
because the owner/s are our mate's and we want them to succeed. I would
say that it is more of a lifestyle as most people are doing their best to
live, eat, train, stretch and perform better each day. "
Trending approached the games organisers for comment. Although they
offered to answer questions via email, they had not responded at time of
writing.
However, the director of the CrossFit Games, Dave Castro has defended the
sponsorship deal in a newspaper interview. "I am one of millions of people
in the US who own guns for recreational and legal purposes. I compete in
competitive shooting events, and I have a lot of friends in the shooting
industry. Glock offered up pistols as prizes, I agreed to it," Castro told
the Los Angeles Times.
"There has also been tremendous support. If I were to make all of my
decisions based off of backlash, everything I have done around the
CrossFit Games would have been butchered, altered and changed multiple
times over.. As long as guns are legal in the U.S. based off of our
constitutional right, nothing is changing."
Competitors take part in the intensive CrossFit Games, which spans three
stages over several weeks, from all over the world. It's website says the
Games are deliberately intense in order to determine who are "the Fittest
on Earth".
Trending has approached Glock for comment.
--
His Omnipotence Barack Hussein Obama, declared himself "Pooptator" of all
mentally ill homosexuals and crossdressers, while declaring where they
will defecate.
Obama increased total debt from $10 trillion to $19 trillion in the seven
years he has been in office, and sold out heterosexuals for Hollywood
queer liberal democrat donors.
Barack Obama, reelected by the dumbest voters in the history of the United
States of America. The only American president to deliberately import a
lethal infectious disease from Africa, Ebola.
Loretta Fuddy, killed after she "verified" Obama's phony birth
certificate.
Obama ignored the brutal killing of an American diplomat in Benghazi, then
relieved American military officers who attempted to prevent said murder
in order to cover up his own ineptitude.
Obama continues his muslim goal of disarming America while ObamaCare
increases insurance premiums 300% and leaves millions without health care.
--- news://freenews.netfront.net/ - complaints: ***@netfront.net ---
To its fans CrossFit is a hardcore way to stay healthy, but for its
detractors it is a brutally demanding gimmick that inspires cult-like
reverence. And it's only around 20 years old; a truly millennial fitness
regime.
But now what Forbes magazine has called "the fastest growing sport in
America", has become engulfed in a controversy which has divided
enthusiasts. The cause of the division is that the organisers of this
year's global CrossFit Games - which start in California on 19 July - have
announced that the winners will each receive a Glock handgun as a prize.
The sign of trouble came when the CrossFit Games' official Facebook page
posted a slick video last week, showcasing the handgun.
The video, has been viewed more than 800,000 times and drew a swift
response. Most of those who commented were outraged that their firearm-
free sport had been associated with guns. An online petition which demands
an end to the partnership with Glock has now been signed by more than
20,000 people.
One of the outraged CrossFitters, Kyle Williams called the video "a
glorified pistol ad." A CrossFit gym in Vancouver wrote, in a an Instagram
post, that "CrossFit stands for fitness, health, and community, and The
Games is rewarding the top athletes with a gun. How does that make any
sense?"
Another Crossfit gym, in Sweden, showed its disgust by posting a picture
on Facebook of the famous sculpture of a gun with it's barrel twisted in a
knot made by the Swedish artist Carl Fredrik Reuterswärd following the
fatal shooting of John Lennon. The caption expressed the hope that any
Swedish winners would throw their prizes into the sea.
However, there were some supporters of the tie-up between CrossFit and
Glock, and they were mostly American. Dane Anderson from Montana wrote on
Facebook that "shooting guns is fun. It's a great way to decompress, let
off stress. Learning to become proficient with it so that if you need to
you can defend yourself or others." Ronny Rossi felt similarly: "This is
America its our constitutional right to be able to bear arms."
Those voices, though, were very much in a minority on the CrossFit
Facebook page. Many more were appalled by the choice of prizes. And some
have criticised fellow sponsor Reebok for not acting to stop a gunmaker
getting involved. But the sportswear company told Vocativ that it "does
not have input on CrossFit Games' other partners or promotions, and it
would not have agreed with teaming up with Glock if it had."
The anti-Glock petition was started by Australian CrossFit enthusiast
Daniel Bartels, who pointed out that the sport had, up until now, been
very selective about what sort of sponsorship deals it agreed to be
involved with.
"CrossFit Inc would not form partnerships with fast food restaurants,
alcohol companies, cigarette, or pharmaceutical companies on the same
basis. But a gun manufacturer is deemed as a good partner. This is not us.
CrossFit is for health, fitness and the well-being of people in all
communities. This is not CrossFit. This should never be CrossFit."
Bartles told Trending that he set up the petition was a "spur of the
moment idea as result of my own personal reaction and on serving the
largely negative comments online. I didn't like the association that I
would have entered a competition where one of the prizes for the winners
was a firearm."
For Bartles CrossFit is something that you mess with at your peril.
"What it means to me is a great community. We know each others families
and how life is at work. We get excited when someone hits a goal or makes
a new personal best. We get excited when the membership of the gym grows
because the owner/s are our mate's and we want them to succeed. I would
say that it is more of a lifestyle as most people are doing their best to
live, eat, train, stretch and perform better each day. "
Trending approached the games organisers for comment. Although they
offered to answer questions via email, they had not responded at time of
writing.
However, the director of the CrossFit Games, Dave Castro has defended the
sponsorship deal in a newspaper interview. "I am one of millions of people
in the US who own guns for recreational and legal purposes. I compete in
competitive shooting events, and I have a lot of friends in the shooting
industry. Glock offered up pistols as prizes, I agreed to it," Castro told
the Los Angeles Times.
"There has also been tremendous support. If I were to make all of my
decisions based off of backlash, everything I have done around the
CrossFit Games would have been butchered, altered and changed multiple
times over.. As long as guns are legal in the U.S. based off of our
constitutional right, nothing is changing."
Competitors take part in the intensive CrossFit Games, which spans three
stages over several weeks, from all over the world. It's website says the
Games are deliberately intense in order to determine who are "the Fittest
on Earth".
Trending has approached Glock for comment.
--
His Omnipotence Barack Hussein Obama, declared himself "Pooptator" of all
mentally ill homosexuals and crossdressers, while declaring where they
will defecate.
Obama increased total debt from $10 trillion to $19 trillion in the seven
years he has been in office, and sold out heterosexuals for Hollywood
queer liberal democrat donors.
Barack Obama, reelected by the dumbest voters in the history of the United
States of America. The only American president to deliberately import a
lethal infectious disease from Africa, Ebola.
Loretta Fuddy, killed after she "verified" Obama's phony birth
certificate.
Obama ignored the brutal killing of an American diplomat in Benghazi, then
relieved American military officers who attempted to prevent said murder
in order to cover up his own ineptitude.
Obama continues his muslim goal of disarming America while ObamaCare
increases insurance premiums 300% and leaves millions without health care.
--- news://freenews.netfront.net/ - complaints: ***@netfront.net ---