Sevan Matossian (00:00):
Over already. Bam we’re live
Brian Friend (00:02):
And no one will never know.
Sevan Matossian (00:04):
Good morning. Chase beast, master Tyler. Good morning. Yeah. Sh sh Kenneth Corey, Elise. Patrick. It’s like romper room here. Uh, Elisa Schultz. Elisa Schultz. Where where’s Elisa. Redow that’s the name
Mattew Souza (00:20):
Of, is it Alyssa or Alyssa?
Sevan Matossian (00:21):
I don’t know. Cool. No one ever corrects me. Alyssa. Is it, is it Alyssa? Are you just being nice? You know, it’s Alyssa?
Mattew Souza (00:27):
I don’t know. No, I probably got it wrong. Remember, last time when I said it was Denise and it was dense after 40 <laugh>. Fuck you. I know
Sevan Matossian (00:35):
In a few minutes we are going to have on, uh, Matt Torres from brute strength training camp down in Florida. Um, I, I watched a podcast with him and, uh, Cly Dale, Mr. Switzer. I watched a podcast with, uh, Tommy and Sean that he was on and I watched, um, fuck the one with the great Kalei
Sevan Matossian (01:00):
Who who’s just completely run ahead. I should have never had her on the show. Oh fuck. I’m gonna take full credit for how she just completely just, she just ran away. I, oh, catch up. Every, this fucking guy did, the bone has been picked clean. There’s nothing left of Matt Torres, man, Tommy and Sean hit him hard. The LIC hit him hard. And Mr. Stitzer hit him hard. They covered all the bases. There’s nothing left to ask him. So I think we’re do figured out. I think we’re gonna do 45 minutes of just, uh, staring at him. Silence. Yeah, we just gonna stare at him. He’s a chicken with no feathers, Matt Torres.
Matt Torres (01:36):
Holy what’s going on? Fells,
Sevan Matossian (01:38):
Matt. Hey, good morning,
Matt Torres (01:39):
Man. Good morning. Seven o’clock over there,
Sevan Matossian (01:42):
Huh? Yeah. You’re like the good looking ver good looking version of Matt Suza.
Matt Torres (01:46):
<laugh> look at you.
Mattew Souza (01:48):
It’s about the time we give the people what they want.
Matt Torres (01:50):
Finally. You know what I mean?
Sevan Matossian (01:52):
I didn’t know. It was grow a beard and shave your head day.
Mattew Souza (01:55):
Shit.
Matt Torres (01:56):
I thought we just always had beards.
Sevan Matossian (01:58):
Yes. Those of us with, uh, a slightly higher T count than your average female.
Matt Torres (02:03):
You know, when you know, when you shave your beard and everyone looks at you funny for a week, <laugh> not gonna let that happen.
Sevan Matossian (02:11):
Ha. Hasn’t happened to me in a while. Yeah. Hey, when you get older and you grow a beard like this, you put on like 20 years, like I really do look like a 20, a 30 year old. I
Matt Torres (02:19):
Gotta come up. I gotta come up close to the camera to take. Can you come close? <laugh> oh yeah. I didn’t realize you got that. The, the angular chin hairs too.
Sevan Matossian (02:29):
Well, my wife, a black, my wife bought me one of those ball, hair ones. And instead of using it on my balls, a shaver for father’s day, I just use it on my face. It’s amazing. It’s it’s called the, um, it’s the one, the UFC’s always advertising
Matt Torres (02:42):
Mo what was it? Mans.
Sevan Matossian (02:44):
Landscape. Yeah. Landscape. Yeah. Wow. It’s awesome for your face. I don’t, I still don’t wanna use it on my balls. I’m scared. I just take a big, I think when it gets so big that I can grab a handful of pubes. I just take the scissors and kind of like,
Mattew Souza (02:54):
Oh, you little
Sevan Matossian (02:56):
Close to my balls. And I get scared. You know what I mean? I mean, there’s like I could could see, okay. I see space between them, but it’s still like, it don’t belong down here.
Matt Torres (03:03):
You’re living life dangerously.
Sevan Matossian (03:05):
<laugh> I am no, you are living life dangerously.
Matt Torres (03:08):
<laugh>
Sevan Matossian (03:10):
I try, I tried to tell Matto Keith that Danielle, Brandon isn’t, she’s just fire. And he’s like, well, she’s a great person. I, I have no problem with the gift of fire that Prometheus brought us, but she is fucking fire.
Matt Torres (03:22):
Yeah. You know what? I think, I think everyone from the outside thinks that way, but it kind of, it’s really not like that. Honestly. <laugh> <laugh>
Sevan Matossian (03:32):
Let me tell you something. She thinks on the inside. When, when, uh, I like the interview of D pepper when he says, man, he’s fucking awesome. You know what fascinating do pepper says in this last interview I watched of him. By the way, the reason why I called you a chicken is with no feathers is you’ve been picked, clean Tommy and Sean had their way with you. Fucking, the kaisei fucking had her way with you. Mr. Schweitzer had his way with you. I mean, you went, you just like, fuck it. I’m going for it.
Matt Torres (03:58):
Wow.
Sevan Matossian (03:59):
Three podcasts. Who are you
Matt Torres (04:00):
Talking? You? Who are you talking about?
Sevan Matossian (04:02):
Me? Oh yeah. Mr. Torres. You. Yeah.
Matt Torres (04:03):
Oh, I didn’t recognize any of those names. What?
Sevan Matossian (04:05):
Oh, <laugh> you went on, you went on three, you went on three podcasts and they, and, and, and, and they were all amazing podcasts. I mean, they asked you everything.
Matt Torres (04:16):
Hmm. Yeah. Tommy and, uh, Sean were like, all right, we’re only gonna ask you one question about Phil. I was like, yeah, man. Cool. I got a quick answer for that one. And then the first, like 20 minutes of it was loosely based around Phil and steroids.
Sevan Matossian (04:29):
Yeah. I was impressed. Everyone went in on you. Pretty hard. I like how Lauren does it. Just with a big smile.
Matt Torres (04:35):
Yeah. Yeah. Sneaky.
Sevan Matossian (04:37):
Sneaky. Damn. She’s good.
Matt Torres (04:40):
<laugh>
Sevan Matossian (04:42):
Uh, I, I think Danielle, Brandon is fire. I think she’s a unique character. I don’t think this sport. I don’t think there’s another one. Like her in this sport. You, I mean, she, this is a whole sum. Oh, let’s cheer on our competitors. She fucking won an event, flipped the crowd off and everyone stood on their feet and cheered her on. I mean, and it PR we are not all created equal and that’s proof of it. We all play by different rules. Anyone who says the word, it’s not fair, go fuck yourself. Like, what are you three? Like, of course it’s not fair.
Matt Torres (05:10):
What, which event was that? Do you remember what number, what? That was
Sevan Matossian (05:13):
One where she, the top.
Matt Torres (05:15):
So
Brian Friend (05:16):
The documentary, they showed a one second clip of her standing, a stepping up onto the finish line.
Sevan Matossian (05:22):
They didn’t show the, they didn’t show the, the fingers, the double bird.
Brian Friend (05:26):
She built the brand off that. I thought it was a missed opportunity, especially since they, uh, spent some time in the intro talking about the, you know, the, the COVID test and how that affected her, but they never kind of came back to that.
Sevan Matossian (05:37):
I haven’t seen it. Yeah. It’s gangster. It’s gangster. Right? It’s like, it’s, it’s, it’s like the beloved gangster. She’s a beloved gangster. She she’s, you know,
Matt Torres (05:47):
I think that was just like the, up until that point. Just everything, just, uh, the way things were being handled in the back. And, you know, when I was back there with, with Emma, you can kind of, uh, I mean, she wasn’t back there with any athletes, but then the way everything was being handled, it’s like, you know, you’re handling me like this, but you have all these fans, like squeezing and touch and like high fiving, the athletes the whole time, it’s like, this doesn’t even make sense. So I think it was just like a little like water boiling over, you know, after a little bit of time,
Sevan Matossian (06:18):
Matt and she pulled it off. It was natural. Sorry, go ahead. Brian.
Brian Friend (06:21):
Last year at the games, how many elite individual athletes did you have?
Matt Torres (06:26):
Uh, last year was just Emma.
Brian Friend (06:27):
And this year,
Matt Torres (06:30):
Um, this year is, uh, D and Danielle,
Brian Friend (06:33):
Do you envision yourself taking the lead with both of them or will you, you know, split that up? I know you got some other coaches on your staff.
Matt Torres (06:40):
Yeah. So I’m definitely gonna be taking the lead on both of them. Um, our assistant coach, coach Tom is gonna be helping as well. Um, you know, Dom is the behind the scenes guy. He does a lot of work. Um, you know, he’s our weightlifting guy as well here in, uh, in Naples. And so it’s, it’s super helpful, his, the way he chats with them, he’s like the best friend coach. Um, and I’m kind of guess I’ll
Brian Friend (07:06):
Say like more what you need to hear coach.
Matt Torres (07:08):
Yeah, yeah,
Brian Friend (07:10):
No, I, I just, I remember you, uh, telling me some stuff when we had a chance to talk about, you know, just, um, how, how important it can be, especially for younger athletes, what you say to ’em when you say it, how it’s delivered. And I didn’t know if the burden would be, you know, to do it for one person is one thing to do it for two people is obviously a little different. So I didn’t know if you, that was something you were gonna share this year or not. Yeah,
Matt Torres (07:33):
Honestly, it’s easy. It’s easier having, uh, male, female it’s, you know, when I was going through the, the teen ranks at one point in time, I had Doon James and tutor, and then there was another, there was another, uh, guy that, um,
Sevan Matossian (07:48):
You had, you had tutor Magda
Matt Torres (07:50):
Mm-hmm
Brian Friend (07:51):
<affirmative> yeah. Cause tutor and James had trained together their basically their entire careers until about, I don’t know, six months ago.
Matt Torres (07:57):
Yep.
Sevan Matossian (07:57):
And when you moved, he didn’t make the move with you
Matt Torres (08:01):
Now, him, him or Cole, um, they, you know, saber, it happens. Yeah. It
Brian Friend (08:06):
Happens. That’s right. Colere saber.
Sevan Matossian (08:08):
Mm-hmm <affirmative> that’s the dude I always think is a girl. Who’s the girl version of him. There’s a colere shaver and the
Brian Friend (08:14):
Christine Cole brand or
Sevan Matossian (08:15):
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I wanna see them in the same room. I think’s, no, it’s
Brian Friend (08:17):
Actually from, I mean, I don’t know how, how Matt necessarily feels about it, but I thought, I thought it was kind of cool that they all kind of went their own way, those three, um, you know, it’s, uh, they’re all, they’ve all now reached a point in their career where they’re getting pretty serious. All of ’em have a lot of potential. And, uh, you know, I, I think it’s kind of a, a cool, uh, kind of playing out of this, you know, all people are talking about these camps, right? And so these people were kind of in a camp of their own, even though they didn’t all live together necessarily where they were all following you for a while. And then they got to this point where they’re all making this step into the elite stage and they’ve all kind of decided to take their own path. So it’ll be cool to see how that plays out for each one of them.
Matt Torres (08:55):
It’s very natural. That’s just, that’s how it goes. You know,
Sevan Matossian (08:58):
I ain’t buying it. I ain’t buying it. No one loses tutors and, and is happy about it. What, what, um, <laugh> so while that’s, so, so while, while Matt was poaching, um, Matt was only able to poach, um, Matt O’Brien because, uh, because, uh, wait, wait, there was, there’s a great, there was gonna be a great line there. <laugh> let oh, James Townson took his eyes off mal to poach tu. And while he took his eyes off her mouth, fucking Matt came in and took her, got her from the dog pound. Holy shit. There
Brian Friend (09:30):
You go. That’s
Sevan Matossian (09:31):
How that worked. That’s how that worked. Yeah. Put that on the front
Matt Torres (09:34):
Page. Gotta you gotta, you gotta edit that part out and then reinsert it like 30 seconds earlier.
Sevan Matossian (09:39):
So it doesn’t look, I don’t look like a stubborn, a stuttering mini. So two man tutor. I’m kind of, so the two athletes that I’m really high on there were, there were three athletes I wanted to get on their train for Colton. I wanted to get on the col God and James FRA, too. There’s so many athletes I wanna to get on their, the bandwagon. As
Brian Friend (09:54):
Soon as you said, too, I knew you were
Sevan Matossian (09:55):
Full of shit. I know. Yeah. There, cause I, I just really, like, I like Colton, I’m just pumped on down. I like to make fun of athletes and then if they can take it, then just go all in on him. He,
Brian Friend (10:05):
He still left his, his old para of nanos on the Travis mayor train. He thinks he’s still riding that too.
Sevan Matossian (10:10):
Yes. Yes. Thank you. What’s deal with what’s the deal with tutor? How, how did you, how did you guys part ways? Was it amicable? Was it, I I’ve heard you mention in a couple interviews that you went to Florida and he just didn’t want to come there. Was it just a destination thing or did you guys, yeah, he was ready to move on from you,
Matt Torres (10:28):
You know, I think it was a handful of things. Uh,
Sevan Matossian (10:30):
I wouldn’t wanna lose him. He’s a stud.
Matt Torres (10:32):
Yeah. He I’m honest. He’s a great guy. He’s, he’s gonna have a lot of, um, like home run shots this year at the games where, I mean, you guys seen him sprint on his hands it’s and his ring must like his gymnastics is, you know, incredible. And then you mix that in with the strength that he is gain it’s it’s it’s gonna be some, uh, what do you think
Brian Friend (10:51):
We’ve pretty, we’ve seen enough sprinting on hands events though. I wanna see that tested in some other way.
Sevan Matossian (10:55):
<laugh>
Matt Torres (10:56):
Yeah,
Sevan Matossian (10:56):
Right. Brian, don’t be here. Yeah.
Matt Torres (10:58):
Brian’s over it. Yeah. <laugh> yeah. You know, here’s the thing with tutor, uh, when, when it came down to everyone moving here, uh, his family is in Washington. He’s, he’s a family guy. Um, he’s a super smart dude. So I think he’s like an engineering major. And so the school, he had to be there for required amount of time. Um, and then the last little piece is, you know, just him growing as an athlete and exploring on his own to see if there’s another route that would be, uh, more beneficial to him, I suppose. And so, you know, him and him and, uh, Townsend have a lot of the same, uh, you know, spiritual beliefs. And I guess it was just a good fit for him. It was a good choice, you know, like any of us, when we’re growing up and 17 years old, you know, we’re gonna, we’re gonna make decisions that we feel like is most necessary. Um, you know, and every time I see tutor, it’s nothing but love, you know, I
Sevan Matossian (11:53):
Like that, but Townsend’s in Pittsburgh. Right. And tutor moved to Pittsburgh.
Matt Torres (11:56):
I don’t know. I think, oh, Iowa.
Brian Friend (11:59):
I thought, yeah, I think he’s in Iowa, unless I don’t think he’s gone anywhere. Mm. Not
Sevan Matossian (12:04):
Washington, but he is not in
Brian Friend (12:05):
Washington appealing destination compared to Naples, Florida.
Matt Torres (12:08):
Yeah. This is my first time watching these clips right here.
Sevan Matossian (12:11):
So I’m gonna, I’m gonna scratch off. The reason you gave is that he’s a family person in Washington. If he’s in Iowa and, and I’m just gonna go with, he’s a super, well, I, I asked Townson one time, if he’s a Christian, he said, no, but I think he has Christian values. Mm-hmm
Matt Torres (12:26):
<affirmative>.
Sevan Matossian (12:27):
And
Brian Friend (12:27):
So I never like it when anyone asks me that question, because usually they’re, whatever I say, it’s gonna be something to either satisfy or not satisfy your reason for asking. It’s not gonna have anything to do with that. What I actually think that means.
Sevan Matossian (12:40):
So, so you think I should take that off? My list of questions sounds like it’s in a Scientology to me, Matt, are you a Christian?
Matt Torres (12:46):
Yeah. You know, I, I, I would probably say that’s kind of like my moral compass. Um, you know, am I practicing as much as I should be now, but
Sevan Matossian (12:57):
You know, that sat, that satisfied me. I, I
Matt Torres (13:00):
Take offense
Sevan Matossian (13:01):
To that, Brian, that an, that, that answer satisfies me. The one Torres just gave me I’m satisfied.
Brian Friend (13:06):
He’s a, he’s a very eloquent man.
Matt Torres (13:08):
I’m here. I’m here. Just so warm your heart. It’s 7:00 AM over
Sevan Matossian (13:11):
There. <laugh> thank you. Good dude. Um, you use this line that about transparency with your athletes. And it reminds me of this line that Ben Eron uses a lot. And I think it’s super duper potent. Uh, and I don’t know who came up with it originally, but, um, we can, we move at the speed of trust and, and relationships are like that. That’s why, like when you meet a girl and you’re both on MDMA fucking that, that shit fucking, you do 10 years, right? Everyone’s walls are broken down year,
Matt Torres (13:42):
10 years and two hours.
Sevan Matossian (13:43):
Yeah. 10. Yeah. To two minutes.
Matt Torres (13:46):
Just one light show and you’re in.
Sevan Matossian (13:47):
Yeah. Um, it, it are those interchangeable. Um, this, I, I need trust in transparency. Are these
Matt Torres (13:57):
Trust and transparency? Ah, I think, um, I think transparency leads to trust, you know? Okay. Cause everyone everyone’s on the same page. Everyone sees like everyone’s cards, you know, I’m not a, you know, whenever I make a decision for, you know, for the team, you know, everyone’s on the same page of knowing why. And typically my, my decision is what’s best suited for the team. Uh, so if I take that approach with things, then usually everyone’s on board. Not always, but typically,
Sevan Matossian (14:25):
So transparency, almost like as a noun leads to the verb trust.
Matt Torres (14:31):
I think so a piece, you know, a little pieces of it.
Sevan Matossian (14:34):
You like that hum Matt, that Matt, I wouldn’t tell you. I thought about saying that I’m like, I’m gonna fuck this up. That is way too smart. What I just said, but I tried anyway. Um, and so that brings me to Phil, like, like I, I’m not his coach, but like I had Jole on. And like for me, the, the greatest gift I can give someone or is, is allow them to be honest. And there’s like only one or two things. I would never want anyone to be like, if they were, if they were honest with me, I, I would judge the fuck at ’em. There’s only one thing I can think of. Other than that, like I like I’m, I’m, I don’t care that Jo did drugs. I care the fact that he could come forward with it and be like, Hey, I did them like, and he’s free.
Sevan Matossian (15:17):
I think putting human beings in a position where they have to lie is despicable. I think it’s, I think it’s worse than the liar. And, uh, and I, and I, on the other hand, I, I had hunter McIn on the show and he fucking hates a cheater and I get it. It’s where he is in his life. Right. Um, do you even care if he, on the shows that I’ve watched you on, it seems like you believe him, but, but you don’t. I don’t, I don’t feel like you a hundred percent say that. So I’m thinking may, are you more like, Hey, I don’t care. Um, I don’t care whether he did or not. I’m his coach and I’m gonna stand by him no matter what.
Matt Torres (15:56):
Not, not really honestly, oh, I, I do care. I do care. You know, I’m not, um, you know, I, I take people for what they say, you know, there’s not, I know how hard Phil is working. And, you know, what’s funny is I was just watching the mouse to Madison with, uh, Ricky Gerard. And it was the very, it was the opening line of the, uh, of the miles to Madison doc, uh, you know, current episode. And it’s like, you know, did you do it? No, I did it. And it’s like, I don’t, I can’t, I can’t, I can’t spend an energy trying to figure out the whys behind, you know, what supplement was taken, what supplement was not like, that’s not where I’m like, you know, spending a lot of my time as a coach to even be in there. Like I have no control of it. So one, you know, when he called me and he was telling me, and I was like, you know, son, a bitch, you know, we’re here now. And it’s like, what can I do at this point? I don’t know, comfort him, trying to, trying to help fill in the gaps that,
Sevan Matossian (17:03):
You know, see when I hear you say that, I think you don’t care. I think you’re more like me. That’s how I feel too. I want to help them. I wanna help Joelle or fill through it. I don’t care whether they did it or not. I want to help. Well, and, but telling the truth is the only way out of something like this, I mean, for yourself.
Matt Torres (17:20):
Yeah. And here, and here’s the thing is like over and over and over again within, you know, those three days where, where we found out, he’s like, dude, I don’t this isn’t I didn’t. And when I’m hearing it, I’m not gonna, I’m not gonna start to question. Like, I don’t know if that’s the right time to be like, well, are you lying to me right now? You know, is,
Sevan Matossian (17:40):
Is this really right? I dunno if that is either. I agree with you.
Matt Torres (17:42):
Yeah. Mm-hmm <affirmative>, you know, uh, and so from pretty much from that point, moving forward, it’s like, and this it’s a super tough conversation. It’s like, what do do you tell someone that just got everything stripped away? Uh, and we don’t know, we don’t know what this, uh, you know, what the, um, punishment’s gonna be, but typically it’s a longer one. Like, what do you tell someone? It’s like, Hey, you know, the next, how’s
Sevan Matossian (18:02):
It going? Go get a job at Starbucks. Your CrossFit path is over.
Matt Torres (18:05):
You know what I mean? It’s like, I don’t sometimes I don’t know what to say in those scenarios. Um, but I’m here just to listen to people. And that’s kind of where my role was within this realm with Phil. And it’s like, you know what? I can control the fact that I gotta go back into the gym in the next like hour or so. And coach these two athletes that are going to the games. It’s like, that’s where
Sevan Matossian (18:29):
Danielle, Brandon and Dallas pepper.
Matt Torres (18:30):
Exactly, exactly. And you know, I, I understand how important, uh, communication is at that time. So let Phil know, like, dude, I care for you. Um, but I really don’t have, like, my hands are tied in this scenario with you. It’s like, you know, let’s, we’re figuring this out together and I, I gotta go. I can’t even, I can’t even
Brian Friend (18:51):
Take him out for a few minutes and say hi to you.
Matt Torres (18:53):
Yeah, man. Hey, I’ll see you. Um, what, what day are you going into,
Brian Friend (18:56):
I’ll be there Sunday. So I’ll see you Sunday.
Matt Torres (18:59):
I’ll your stuff. Yeah. I’ll see you Sunday.
Brian Friend (19:00):
All right. Later man
Matt Torres (19:01):
Later, dude. Thanks. Uh, but yeah. Um, you know, I can’t, I can’t even like when I’m looking at the email I CrossFit sends him. I’m like, I can’t even tell you what any of this stuff is. It looks like Chinese to me.
Sevan Matossian (19:15):
So I, I’m gonna try to sift through this. So, so basically he, he, you have three, you have three, you have three more, but for the sake of this, the spirit of the story’s right. You have three cars on the racetrack. One of him crashed. You ran over, he’s alive. He’s out of the car. He’s in good hands. I’ll get back to you. The other two cars need tending to
Matt Torres (19:41):
Yeah, yeah. I would say fair. I would say, I would say that’s pretty, that’s
Sevan Matossian (19:45):
Pretty fair. You’re you’re not gonna give you, you only have so much processing power and it’s like, Phil, you’re safe right now. You have family, you have a wife. I, I need to get these guys through the games and then let me, and then this thing will, then I’ll have to, once they’re like on their Vaca, um, Dan, uh, down and BR, uh, Danielle are splitting their, their massive amounts of money. They win at the games. You’ll come over and be like, okay, Phil, what, what let’s let’s do this process.
Matt Torres (20:08):
Yeah. And, you know, Phil would want the same thing if he was their shoes and anyone else’s in and that’s
Brian Friend (20:14):
Yeah,
Sevan Matossian (20:14):
I agree. Uh, it it’s um, yeah, he, he, I, I really, I really liked him. I, I had him on the, um, show last year. Um, I do, I do think the question, I do think that the interviews that were done, all the interviews that were done around him or, or with you were fucking amazing, like no one pulled any punches. They were super respectful. I think it was Tommy and Sean, who also asked about his power lifting background and about how his girlfriend got so strong and like it it’s it’s um, you, you know, we have, we have California hormones as a sponsor. And so in a, in a, in a second here, I’m probably gonna put up a video of me, squat cleaning 1 35, and everyone’s gonna think I’m juicing, but I’m not. But, but I, but, but I, I understand the, say I understand the desire to want to
Matt Torres (21:05):
Those all the guys are all the guys and girls would be thinking that are gonna be the ones that are about your age and don’t CrossFit
Matt Torres (21:11):
<laugh>
Sevan Matossian (21:13):
Yes.
Matt Torres (21:13):
Check this guy out.
Matt Torres (21:17):
Oh, shit. It’s not that great.
Matt Torres (21:20):
<laugh>
Sevan Matossian (21:21):
She? Um, um, so you’re, are you trying to tell me that Danielle Brandon is, um, the Buddha and sleeps on a, um, hardwood floor and, uh, and I have mistaken her as, uh, the guy from one of those motorcycle shows that puts together more like she’s more Buddha than she is. Um, uh, the drummer on the Muppets monster. <laugh>
Matt Torres (21:49):
Yeah. You know, that is, I think
Matt Torres (21:51):
I, I can visualize the person, just like a wild one, just like,
Sevan Matossian (21:55):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I see her more like, as the drummer on the Muppets, not a lot, not like if the Buddhas over here and the drummer’s here and this is the middle, she’s like, eh, over here. And you’re trying to tell me, you know, if I got to know her, she’d be more over here.
Matt Torres (22:07):
Yeah. I think about it more like this.
Sevan Matossian (22:09):
I think she still has, like, if you dug through a room as a kid, like she have a pack of cigarettes still there
Matt Torres (22:14):
<laugh>
Matt Torres (22:15):
To, to no, she, she’s not that drummer. I do like that drummer a lot. I like his attitude
Matt Torres (22:20):
<laugh> but no, she’s not.
Matt Torres (22:22):
She’s, she’s not that drummer. Uh, everyone, everyone has her own like, kind of like personality. Right. I, I think back at this, um, and you might, you might have been the one shooting it, I think back at one of the documentaries of Carson. Um, and it was when Tia was, it was when she was like, before Tia, like a different version of Tia and the Tia that I was witnessing at this time, I was like, I don’t know, 2014 or 15 something like, I don’t know, was one that was, uh, very unsure of herself. Mm-hmm <affirmative> it was one, it was one that, um, didn’t see herself within the realm of like, at that time it was like Kathryn and whomever was doing really, really good. And, uh, and then the next year it was a little less version. And then the next year I think she won.
Matt Torres (23:05):
Right. And it was, and now the Tia that we see today is this one that’s just like, you know, holds herself to this high standard is like very extreme focused. And what people don’t understand is Danielle’s kind of relatively, uh, new to being at the CrossFit games. 2019, I believe was her first year, uh, 20, 20. She was on demo team, 2020, uh, 2021 was her like her sophomore year. And then, so we’re seeing these stages of Danielle Brandon, the same way we see these stages of any other athlete. And I believe this year at 20, you know, 20, 22, we’re gonna see that next, like transcendent, like level of Danielle where, you know, I think people are gonna be like, surprised to see that she’s just a normal, like girl. I was about, I was about to say normal dude, but she’s just a normal person.
Matt Torres (23:58):
You know, it’s like, uh, the circumstances that she was put in last season, uh, and the growth area that she was currently in at that time kind of showed us like, uh, in a very like microscopic form, think about it, like the most pressure in the world for one entire week. It’s like, everyone’s put underneath a microscope and her pressure was even more intensified with mm-hmm <affirmative>, uh, with the circumstances that she was given. And that’s just what we happen to see. But honestly, like throughout the year, it’s, I mean, I didn’t know her at that point last year, but I would assume that it was just, just a normal person training, you know, like the colors and the tattoos and whatnot, you know, whatever it may be. But I know that this year, I don’t know if people would be surprised and I hope it doesn’t take away from like the brand that she’s built, but I feel like it’ll be, you know, just a, you know, a better version of her than it was last year.
Sevan Matossian (24:59):
And people want like, well, I can’t speak for people. Me, I want more of her. And so the demand on her is great too. And she’s given it to us. Mm-hmm, <affirmative>, there’s athlete. She’s been so vulnerable. How, I mean, the truth is it’s a blessing in disguise that she was, um, you know, the, uh, the, the COVID queen at the games. I mean, what a, what a, she’ll never forget that no one will ever forget it. She handled it. Well, she flipped off the crowd with the smile. She made great friends with that doctor, um, Catina, Thornton. I mean, she won the, she won everyone’s heart. I mean, she’s the bad girl that won everyone’s hearts. Like, let’s say you didn’t like her going into that now all of a sudden you’re like, you feel sympathy for her.
Matt Torres (25:39):
Yeah. You know, what’s funny she
Sevan Matossian (25:41):
Killed it. She murdered it.
Matt Torres (25:42):
What’s funny about like, when someone’s given that, um, you know, that stereotype, the bad girl, it’s kind of like, they don’t see themselves that way, you know, like the, uh, yeah. You know, like the, the bat, you know, the Batman joker, it’s like, who’s really the, the one doing the saving. Is it joker doing the saving or is it Batman doing the saving? It’s like, you know, everyone could paint her as like the potential joker of CrossFit. Um, you know, the, uh, but through their eyes, it’s like, you know, am I like, this is, this is literally just like, this is the version of me right now. You know, that’s, that’s something that I would, that I would question is, you know, kind of like that parallel to the Batman joker thing.
Mattew Souza (26:26):
Does she not like it? Does she not like being the bad, the bad girl? Cause I’m sensing like, as you guys maybe have talked about this before, maybe she doesn’t really like that, that image of herself,
Matt Torres (26:37):
We haven’t really spoken about that. Uh, I would just, I would assume that she just wants to be looked at like an athlete, you know, I’m just out there competing. What she, what I believe she really wants is to be on that podium. It really does. And here’s the other thing is, and this is just the way I think I could care less. You know, if someone looks at me as the most evil person in CrossFit, if I’m on that podium, whatever, if someone looks at me as like, you know, the happy go, lucky, whatever CrossFitter in our, at that podium, whatever, you know, at the end of the day, it mattered two things. I think matter number one is being on that podium. Number two is making a living out of CrossFitting.
Sevan Matossian (27:16):
I, I guess the only reason why it matters in your, in your situation. Well, at least from the outside looks like would is how she’s gonna get along with the other athletes. And no one would’ve. I mean, I had, um, this blonde girl on, I can’t remember. She was, she was an underdog’s Alex athlete. No, not GZA. Um, the girl who didn’t make it, she had Anika, Anika had Anika Greer on and she came out hard with the story about nothing bad about Danielle, but just about how, like, it’s, it’s a bumpy, it was a bumpy entry. And she told a story about like, when you first meet Danielle, like basically I think she was Danielle’s the alpha in the gym is the way she painted it. And, and then, and then we see what’s going on with her. Um, whatever happened over there at underdogs was obviously, well, you I’m gonna make the assumption comfortably, make the assumption that it was serious because you don’t have an athlete and a coach separate three weeks before the biggest day of the year. So whatever happened there was serious. And so now you’re bringing her in to an environment where there’s like one of the most wholesome dudes. Well, who presents himself as one of the most wholesome dudes in, in the sport, uh, down, down in pepper. I mean, he, he looks like he just like someone made him outta snow and put him on the fucking team. <laugh> um, so
Matt Torres (28:30):
That’s true.
Sevan Matossian (28:31):
So, uh, so in, in that regard, you know, it’s just more intrigue for those of us watching from the outside mm-hmm <affirmative> oh, shit down. Pepper’s a white piece of, you know, a stack of brand new paper and Danielle’s just a fucking flame thrower is down, gonna catch on body.
Matt Torres (28:45):
<laugh> you know what, man? You
Sevan Matossian (28:47):
Know that from the outside, it looks like that. And I, and I like both those guys, no one should take that. Like OIF thought I, when I call her fire, I’m saying something bad. I’m not saying something bad. It’s all good for her. Yeah. It’s all good for her, but it’s a lot of power to wield when you’re her,
Matt Torres (29:00):
You know, you know, when, uh,
Sevan Matossian (29:02):
You I’m gonna buy, I bought some tow spacers. I mean, this bitch got bowed.
Matt Torres (29:05):
<laugh> yeah,
Sevan Matossian (29:06):
Dude. Oh Keith. Oh, Keith said he bought to spacers cuz of her, Hey, she night on the show. She converts yeah. Conversion. She conversion power. Yeah.
Matt Torres (29:15):
Think about, think about it like this when you, when you’re growing up, watching Michael Jordan play. Yeah. Right. And I, I know how tricky this is gonna be, cuz we, when Michael Jordan’s really good, but we didn’t get the inside. Uh, you know, behind the scenes view of Michael Jordan at practice, what we saw of Michael Jordan was game day winning. Okay. Yeah. Mm-hmm <affirmative> the day and age that we’re in right now. If we got Michael Jordan now. Yeah. We would see the behind the scenes and everyone would paint Michael Jordan as this like evil figure, but the dude just wants to win. Right. And it’s just the passion that he brought with him. And I think it’s the same type of scenario that we’re seeing right now is just, we’re seeing her passion and drive and want to win. And because CrossFit is this like.
The above transcript is generated using AI technology and therefore may contain errors.
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