Sevan Matossian (00:00):
Put headphones on and it makes my hair look exactly the same like it does everywhere. <laugh>, no matter what my hair is doing, if I put headphones on, I look the same.
Sam Briggs (00:07):
It’s all good.
Sevan Matossian (00:08):
The gold of headphones. Hi dog.
Sam Briggs (00:12):
It’s, you’ve got a dog’s butt
Sevan Matossian (00:14):
<laugh>. I love a dog’s butt. Nice. I appreciate so good about you. Some people would push the dog off the cow couch. You just reframe it so it’s just more ass. That’s great, <laugh>. Very good, dude. Uh, where, where are you?
Sam Briggs (00:29):
Uh, uh, home
Sevan Matossian (00:31):
In, in home is,
Sam Briggs (00:33):
Uh, Cincinnati, Ohio.
Sevan Matossian (00:35):
Oh, how are you liking that?
Sam Briggs (00:37):
Yeah, it’s good.
Sevan Matossian (00:39):
I, uh, I um, have a, uh, do you know what truly is the real estate app?
Sam Briggs (00:44):
Nope.
Sevan Matossian (00:45):
It’s just, it’s just a, like, it’s like, do you know what Zillow is?
Sam Briggs (00:48):
Yep. So
Sevan Matossian (00:49):
It’s, it’s just Zillow. I actually think Zillow bought, uh, Trulia. But basically I like looking at Cincinnati cuz it, because in California I’m poor, but when I look at Cincinnati I’m like, oh, like you could actually live there and have like a refrigerator that works and kitchen drawers that work and like can live like a human being there.
Sam Briggs (01:06):
Uh, definitely. I mean, we bought, um, we bought our house in 2020 during lockdown. Um, and definitely a kind of like full of money. We’ve got a decent sized house, nice yard, and it’s in a, a nice area, so you definitely get more free money than you do in, uh, California.
Sevan Matossian (01:27):
I is Cincinnati coming up? What’s it doing?
Sam Briggs (01:30):
Uh, yeah, and so I’m not in the city center where kind of in the suburbs. Um, I’m in, uh, Westchester. So a lot of the areas around, I definitely kind of up and coming and, uh,
Sevan Matossian (01:44):
Oh, could it be the next Austin or the next Portor, like, like Portland was doing it. I don’t know if you’ve ever been to Portland. Portland was killing it. There were so many young people there, crazy entrepreneurs there. And then no shit. It’s like fentanyl took over and just bad thinking took over and the whole city and the last five years just went just straight into the gutter. I mean, it’s just, it literally is like zombies there. Right. Um, but, but I always thought Cincinnati could be one of those places where just young people, like excited young people could go and afford stuff and like, just start cool businesses.
Sam Briggs (02:14):
Yeah, I mean, like, especially if you go into downtown, there’s, uh, a lot of, it’s definitely got a younger vibe and, um, a lot of nice kind of like restaurants and uh, like bars and kind of like breweries and stuff all popping up, which is definitely a lot more trendy and kind of up and coming.
Sevan Matossian (02:35):
Comic bookshops,
Sam Briggs (02:37):
<laugh> breweries.
Sevan Matossian (02:38):
I know, but any comic book shops, you know, where your comic, do you know where, when’s the last time you read a comic book? Sam?
Sam Briggs (02:43):
Um, probably
Sevan Matossian (02:44):
Ever. Have you ever read a comic book?
Sam Briggs (02:46):
Yeah, so when I was younger, um, especially like while I was still in school, I, um, studied app and I wasn’t ever any good at kind of like realistic drawings. I was more into your kind of like cartoons and caricatures. So I used to, um, get a lot of comics then and kind of tip my inspiration from, uh, drawing from comic books.
Sevan Matossian (03:09):
And then you would draw on your mom’s face too?
Sam Briggs (03:11):
I would, yes.
Sevan Matossian (03:13):
<laugh> you really did that. Your mom would be sleeping and you would draw on her face?
Sam Briggs (03:16):
Yeah. Uh, I had a little mischievous streak, <laugh>
Sevan Matossian (03:21):
Oh w with a, with a sharpie, like a permanent marker.
Sam Briggs (03:24):
Oh. I don’t know if I ever was that bad. I would maybe use a permanent marker, kind of like on her leg or her arm or something, but I don’t think I ever used a permanent marker on her face. But I mean, she could, she could correct me on that one. Maybe I did
Sevan Matossian (03:40):
<laugh>. You ever draw on Nicole?
Sam Briggs (03:42):
Uh, I’ve tried, but she,
Sevan Matossian (03:45):
Like, she’s just sleeping and like you draw a sunset on her back or something,
Sam Briggs (03:48):
So I’ve tried, but she’s, she’s a lot more on the ball and, and she’s stronger than me, so she just beat me up. <laugh>
Sevan Matossian (03:55):
Uh, Jake Chapman. Sam is the reason.
Sam Briggs (04:00):
Thank you. Jake.
Sevan Matossian (04:02):
I started CrossFit. You were, you were, you were, um, you were only doing CrossFit for four years when you won the games.
Sam Briggs (04:11):
Um, yeah, so I started in 2009. Um, first games in 2010.
Sevan Matossian (04:19):
Nuts. Hey, um, the, the fact that, um, you won the CrossFit games and then the next year, um, didn’t go to the games. Do you, do you think that’s just a fucking in, in hindsight now that’s just a colossal failure on the CrossFit games? Like they,
Sam Briggs (04:41):
Um,
Sevan Matossian (04:42):
Do you think it was just bad for everyone? You, the sport, the, you know, the spirit of everything? Like as I, as I read that section in your book and I think back, I go, yeah, that was a fuck up. That was a, that was like a mistake on the, um, organizer’s part that, that was Dave did Dave Castro’s fault.
Sam Briggs (04:58):
I think there was a lot of changes that kind of happened, changes going into that year. Um, obviously they got rid of the past champion rule, so if they’ve kept that, um, me and Annie both wouldn’t have taken a spot. So, um, that would’ve been, uh, I think even Catherine might have made it to the games that year and that was the year that she missed as well. Um,
Sevan Matossian (05:25):
Uh, uh, okay. Uh, your Honor, uh, Ms. Briggs is avoiding the question. I would like to, uh, uh, approach the branch one more time. Okay. Thank you, your Honor. Uh, I, here’s the deal. What’s it say? You, you were just as fit in 2000, you won the games in 2013.
Sam Briggs (05:40):
Yes. Uh,
Sevan Matossian (05:41):
In 2014, your injury free Sam Briggs, maybe the best you’ve ever felt.
Sam Briggs (05:45):
Yeah, no, definitely. I was definitely in, in a lot better shape, uh, in 2014. And if you look at the results of all the other workouts minus the handstand walk, um, I definitely kind of like proved my like fitness and my like strength. Um, there. Um, it was just one of those unfortunate things back in 2013, the scoring was different mm-hmm. <affirmative>, uh, which was then changed in 2014. Um, and then in Europe we have a lot of ex gymnasts. So max distance hands walk for somebody who played soccer all the life is a lot harder for somebody who’s done gymnastics all the life.
Sevan Matossian (06:33):
Yeah. I I just as I, as I read it, uh, may maybe I’ll just keep saying it for you. It’s, it’s absolutely nuts that they didn’t make sure that you went to the games or, or at least, at least it should have been a huge, enormous flag of how fucked up the programming was. I mean, I, in hindsight, I think they just really, really botched the programming. That means they accelerated it too fast. They, it was just a huge, it was a huge miss now in hindsight when I think especially for how, how amazing the 2013 games were and that there were some unanswered questions, uh, with Annie being gone and that it was just a great opportunity to have Annie back. It was just a, it was a, it was a screw up. I’ll say it for you. They really, they shit the bed. And as I reread that in your book, I can’t even believe it happened. It’s, it’s an embarrassment, it’s a stain on the sport there. I said it
Sam Briggs (07:21):
Luckily though, like,
Sevan Matossian (07:23):
You’re so positive. Yeah, yeah. Go. Yeah, tell me. Luckily, luckily I won the lotto that year and, and walked away with $30 million. I got, you know, I
Sam Briggs (07:31):
Um, uh, at least I still made it back to the games in 2015, um, more years. Like yes. Um, it wasn’t like that was the end of me. I didn’t let it kind of destroy me.
Sevan Matossian (07:44):
Yeah. And it, it, and it could have, right, it could have been just like straight to heroin and drinking.
Sam Briggs (07:49):
Well, you never know.
Sevan Matossian (07:51):
<laugh> you, you liked drinking in college. You were a normal, you were kind of a normal college kid. You got a job at a bar and just
Sam Briggs (07:57):
Pardon? Yeah, uh, uh, definitely kind of, uh, played sports like, kind of all the way through, um, my younger years and then kind of got to that college stage and then decided, oh, drinking and going out and partying. This is so much more fun. Why have I been doing all this, uh, working out instead of partying? So it kind of took a little bit of a, a change of pace and had a few years where, uh, just kind of didn’t do any exercise and was more into going out with friends. Um, but yeah, I don’t, I don’t regret any of that. That definitely gave me a lot of life experience and probably made me more determined when I did get back into sport, um, to kind of like concentrate on it. I don’t feel like I ever missed out on anything cuz I kind of had the best of both worlds.
Sevan Matossian (08:57):
Um, I, I like that how you say that too, because a lot of people when they take you, you know, we get these stories on here where, hey, I started drinking in college and then next thing I know I’m in rehab. And so I found CrossFit to like help me with that. But I think my experience was more like yours too. I mean, I wish I would’ve drank just a little bit less maybe and I, I wish I would’ve smoked less, but, but other than that it was a great experience. I really, really enjoyed it. I, I, I loved, I loved partying.
Sam Briggs (09:22):
Yeah, no, I did. And I think, I definitely think like then when it got into competing seriously and you had to then start missing out on, uh, social experiences and missing out on people’s birthdays, it was kind of easier to say no. Cuz I’ve already kinda lived that life and now it’s time for me to dial things in and concentrate on the hard grind instead of going out and partying. Le leads, leads
Sevan Matossian (09:49):
<laugh>, that’s where you played. Is that considered semi-pro? What is that? What is, what kind of soccer is that? You played there four years, right?
Sam Briggs (09:56):
Uh, yeah, so I was at, um, so I played for Braford City and then Lead City and I was never good enough to be a pro football. Um, but we, we were like a high level, uh, we would play like the uh, FA Cup, women’s Cup and kind of like counting cups and stuff. So we were a decent level team. Um, I just wasn’t talented enough. Um, I wasn’t a skillful player. I was just high. I had the fitness, I could get back to the ball. I could, I could run up, I could continue running for the whole 90 minutes. So I was one of those kind of reliable players more on my fitness as opposed to my skill on the ball.
Sevan Matossian (10:42):
And then, and then you, you quit, uh, when you were getting injuries from, uh, football, you quit because you had put your priority as a firefighter over, uh, football and you’re like, okay, I can’t get injured and, and screw this up with my job.
Sam Briggs (10:57):
Yeah, it just got to the stage where I was in work one day, um, after playing football the night before and my ankle was so swollen that we’d got back from a job and I couldn’t actually get my like, fire boot off my foot had like swollen to the size of my boot and I was like, I can’t be doing this. This is kind of ridiculous. I was never going to go anywhere with, um, with football, with soccer that it was going to pay me a career. That was just kind of my hobby. Uh, so I had to kind of prioritize working and earning a living to be able to pay for the bills and stuff of, uh, doing something like that.
Sevan Matossian (11:42):
I like this. Um, I like this notion of, uh, celebrating firsts. Um, like, um, I like, I like the cel. I like the idea of celebrating the fittest person in the world. I like knowing where the tallest tree in my town is. Yep. I like the, I like the notion of, uh, knowing, uh, that, um, uh, I don’t, I don’t remember what you, uh, what was it at some, at some event you beat every, uh, let me see. Um, at some event you beat every single person in the workout except for one male. I like that too. I like, I like contextualizing that in general we think of women as not being as fast and as strong and then, you know, we see things like what Carrie Pierce did or what you’ve done where there’re these workouts where a woman beats all the men. I, I I like all that.
Sam Briggs (12:36):
Yeah, I think it’s cool. I think that’s, um, one thing that kind of, uh, is good about CrossFit. Uh, especially if the workouts, they get kind of the, the scale indifferent, um, differential correct. Between the male and the female that it is kind of like an even race or like when it is Mary and it was, uh, body weight, just that kind of, where you can actually see the comparison of the male and female competitors. It doesn’t come down to the fact that, oh, they’re winning because they’re a male. They’re winning because they’re female. It’s like, oh, they’re winning because they are actually the fittest at that workout.
Sevan Matossian (13:19):
Right. And, and, and, uh, it was in 2009 at your first CrossFit competition. Uh, the first event was a run and you beat everyone including the boys.
Sam Briggs (13:27):
Yeah.
Sevan Matossian (13:27):
<laugh> now, um, and, and then I, and then I also like this notion that you brought CrossFit to an all male, uh, fire station to an all group of, you started CrossFit and then you brought it to these guys.
Sam Briggs (13:42):
Yeah. It was really cool. Um, I think so during, um, back in the uk, uh, in the fire service, uh, you can, um, I, I did my personal training qualification through the fire service to be the fitness instructor for my shift.
Sevan Matossian (14:02):
They asked you to be it, right? Your commander asked you to be
Sam Briggs (14:04):
It. Yeah. So then, uh,
Sevan Matossian (14:07):
And you were hugely flattered by that.
Sam Briggs (14:09):
Oh, obviously, because, uh, you, you are doing things for your fitness and doing things that you enjoy and it’s always an honor when somebody else kind of like notices that and sees kind of like what you’re doing and then wants you to then share it with other people. I think that’s one of the greatest compliments is when somebody asks you to share your knowledge or share like what you are doing with other people to teach other people people.
Sevan Matossian (14:39):
What I don’t like is when the celebration I do, I do like these celebrations. I do like noting I, I don’t like this perseverating or obsessing on, um, on trying to make the sexes equal. And it was interesting hearing you talk about it in the book because you didn’t want, so, so, so basically you were going through the academy and there were a bunch of cuts and someone came from the head office and they just assumed you had been cut. And they’re like, Hey, they were from the d e i council. They were from the Equality council. And they’re like, uh, you can’t cut Sam. Uh, she’s our only female. And you were in the, the, the commander’s like, yo Sam beat the dudes. Like, what are you talking about? We’re not cut. Like it was, it was, it was a, it was a judgment. And, and it brings me to this thing, um, recently I just saw in Australia they’re lowering the standards for firefighters for the mile and a half run to get more women. And I’m thinking to myself, I wonder how Sam would feel about that. Well, first of all, I, I hate the idea because you shouldn’t lower the standards to get the best women. You should set the standards to get the best people.
Sam Briggs (15:48):
Yeah, right. I’m kind of with that, that notion. Um, like if for any job you have a certain requirement, it shouldn’t be a change depending on who that is that’s going for the job. It literally is. When I wanted to join the fire service, um, I was already kind of physically fit, um, through playing football. Um, but I wasn’t very strong. So I got a gym membership, I learned how to lift and I started improving my strength. And I trained for a year to, to pass these tests and to, to be strong enough and to be competitive enough. So you should rise to the challenge. They shouldn’t be like dropping the challenge for you. You, it should be that people are wanting to rise to that challenge to get in. And then I think, you know, that you’re getting the people in the job that really want to be there. They’ve proven because they’ve passed the tests, they’ve got the fitness, they’ve got the strength, and they’ve worked hard because they really want the job and they’re the ones that are gonna be the best fit for, for the royal.
Sevan Matossian (16:58):
And you weren’t given respect. You earn respect is what it sounds like from your book.
Sam Briggs (17:03):
Yeah, no, for sure. And I think, I think that’s the best way. Like if, if you’ve earned everything in your life, if you’ve earned your respect, if you’ve earned your position, then the people that you are working with and the people that are gonna be working either above you or below you, it’s like they can see that. It’s not like you’ve just been given everything. And I think, I think there’s a greater kind of, um, mutual then respect, especially in a job like being a firefighter. You’re going into, uh, burning buildings and doing things where you are looking after each other. You are, you wanna know that the other person’s got your back. If anything happens, you are there for each other. And if you’ve been given everything, do you trust somebody that’s there because they’ve been given everything? Or do you trust somebody that’s earned that respect and earned that position?
Sevan Matossian (18:00):
I, I wonder how we balance that. Like I, I like, I love, I really do like the idea of celebrating firsts, but it doesn’t, um, it’s okay if there’s only three, uh, female firefighters. It’s just like, um, for some reason women don’t want to be coal miners. It’s okay. Women don’t want, there’s not a lot of female electricians. It’s okay. Right. Um, there’s jobs that for some reason our sexes kind of lean into, um, uh, pilots. So I don’t know if you heard, but they’re trying to lower the standard for pilots. Not they’re trying, they lowered the standards for pilots at United Airlines to let in more women and minorities. And I’m thinking to myself, nobody wants that <laugh>, right? Like, no, no, nobody wants a surgeon. I don’t need an ar, I don’t need an Armenian surgeon. Like if, if Armenians are better at working at liquor stores, then that’s where we’ll go work. I’m <laugh> my dad made a, a great living working at a liquor store.
Sam Briggs (18:56):
Yeah.
Sevan Matossian (18:57):
It’s, it’s a, it’s a, it’s a weird, um, but, but you did it, you, you, you went to a place, you went to a place that was all male and you succeeded.
Sam Briggs (19:07):
Yeah. Um, and it’s like, um, I’m back in the fire service now. Uh, I’m just trying to think,
Sevan Matossian (19:15):
Are firefighters in Ohio? Just, oh, I, I I hope none of your workers working. H how, how is their fitness?
Sam Briggs (19:22):
Um, it’s not bad. I’ve definitely seen worse
Sevan Matossian (19:25):
<laugh>. Oh, uh oh. Uh oh. <laugh>,
Sam Briggs (19:28):
The department that I’m at, it’s pretty, pretty cool. Um, regarding the fitness, uh, it is classed as, uh, part of your role on your 24 shift that you do fitness training and each station is equipped with a gym. So, uh, I do, I do think that that is a good step. If, if this, if the actual department is behind fitness, then at least it helps alleviate that barrier. You can’t go in and say, well, I don’t have the chance to work out when you are working a 24 hour shift and there’s a gym on station fully kitted out for you to use. So
Sevan Matossian (20:10):
You were super proud to to, to be a firefighter in the uk. Is it same in the United States? You’re proud, you’re proud of your service?
Sam Briggs (20:17):
Yeah, no, definitely. Um, and that was one of the like cool things. Um, when I was thinking about getting back into the fire service, I wasn’t even sure whether it would be, uh, possible for me to do it. And so the fact that I’m now back doing it and I’m back working in a profession that I loved doing before, um, just kind of like, felt, felt right. It was like the, the progression from being a firefighter, going to athlete and now I’m back as a firefighter, um, definitely feels good. And I’m super proud of everything that I’ve achieved in, um, all the domains.
Sevan Matossian (20:59):
Um, how, how long have you been a firefighter in Ohio?
Sam Briggs (21:02):
Uh, so, uh, I started in the academy in August. Um, we had a five month academy. Um, so I started with City of Hamilton, uh, kind of mid-December.
Sevan Matossian (21:15):
So, so just so just recently.
Sam Briggs (21:17):
Yeah.
Sevan Matossian (21:18):
Holy cow. Hey, is that a trip that you’re a veteran firefighter, um, and that you started all over in the academy?
Sam Briggs (21:25):
It was pretty crazy. Uh, I definitely, I’d been out of the service for nine years, so I definitely needed a refresher, that’s for sure. And obviously a lot of things have changed. Different technologies are in different ways of, uh, firefighting, so it made sense to, to do the academy again. Um, it, it definitely, uh, felt different going, going back into being a, a probationer and, uh, in the academy at 40 rather than 20. So it is a, it’s a big difference.
Sevan Matossian (22:02):
<laugh>. Hey, um, what was the, were you the oldest person?
Sam Briggs (22:07):
Uh, yes I was.
Sevan Matossian (22:09):
And, and was there an age where, um, isn’t there an age? Like I, I had a friend, I have a friend, uh, here over the hill in Sunnyvale who wanted to become a firefighter and they told him and he’s 37 and they told him he’s gonna need an exemption cuz he’s too old. He’s gonna have to like, and he’s really fit, but they said, Hey, we don’t take people who are 37.
Sam Briggs (22:29):
Yeah. So, um, every department’s slightly different. Uh, the department that I’m employed with now had a cutoff of 41. So, um, that’s why Wow. That’s why literally I got straight into the academy and got the application and everything, uh, rolling as soon as I found out, um, I started interviewing and stuff before, uh, semi-finals last year. So it was always the, the plan to in the summer start and get all my qualifications done so I could be employed before my flight first birthday.
Sevan Matossian (23:06):
Um, is there, is there a demographic, Sam in the fire, in the, um, like, you know, um, uh, carpet stores in LA are owned by Armenian dudes, um, jewelry stores in LA are owned by Jewish dudes. Um, all the guys who work at Facebook are Indian. Like is there a demographic for firefighters in Ohio? Is it like all Nigerian immigrants now? Or?
Sam Briggs (23:29):
Uh, I would say it’s definitely a, a higher majority of, uh, white males.
Sevan Matossian (23:34):
It is. So that’s still a white male job firefighter.
Sam Briggs (23:37):
Yeah.
Sevan Matossian (23:38):
Any dalmatians?
Sam Briggs (23:40):
Uh, so like, I actually found out for the first time why dalmatians were the fire dog. And it goes back to when horses used to draw the firecat and dalmatians are actually naturally even tempered with horses. So that’s why Dalmatians were the fire dog.
Sevan Matossian (24:02):
Oh, they’re cool dogs. Yeah, I think they were overbred, right? They started getting a little weird.
Sam Briggs (24:08):
Yeah. Uh, they, yeah, I think that happened with, uh, a lot of, a lot of different dogs. I was reading the same about, um, Dobermans as well, that Dublins have been overbred and they used to be really good security dogs and stuff like that. And now they can’t, they they’ve been too overbred and the traits that they were bred for are now too, too strong and everything else is too weak and stuff like that.
Sevan Matossian (24:36):
You have a pit bull?
Sam Briggs (24:37):
I have two. They’re both rescues
Sevan Matossian (24:41):
And, um, how, how come you have a pit bull? When I think of people with pit bulls, I think of people who are like, like, like they want a little bit of trouble in their life. Like <laugh>, they, they, they’re just looking not, not that they’re bad dogs, but, but if they do go bad, it gets really bad.
Sam Briggs (24:58):
Yeah. Um, definitely coming from the uk, uh, where like you are not allowed, um, pit bulls and stuff,
Sevan Matossian (25:05):
Uh, what really they’re illegal in the, in the uk? Yeah.
Sam Briggs (25:09):
Um, when we, wow. When we were getting our first dog, uh, I was obviously a little like, oh, are we sure? Is this, uh, is this okay? And like, honestly, our older dog, Grut, he is the softest, most loyal, loving big dog you would ever meet. And they, you couldn’t wish for a better dog. And then, uh, Teddy, who’s our youngest, um, we adopted him. There was a litter of seven that needed homes and so we actually fostered two of them and we ended up keeping Teddy and he is the heist energy thing I have ever known in my life. But he’s also, again, the most loving, uh, dog. Like, all he wants to do is just give you kisses. He’s like, just how he wants when he sees you, he’s kisses, kisses, kisses. It’s like, how come people say that these are like the most vicious dogs when, uh, they’re just like, they’re just so loving. They’re definitely, they’re people dogs, they just wanna be with, with people all the time.
Sevan Matossian (26:21):
Uh, the, like for instance, look at this guy, um, David, he said pit bulls are the best, but of all, all the people who listen to the show regularly, he’s like one of the most dangerous guys. Like, he’s like, I can just tell by his comments. Like, if you’re in a bar drinking with him, shit could get weird.
Sam Briggs (26:36):
He’s even got a skull next to his name.
Sevan Matossian (26:39):
Oh yeah. See? Right. Yeah. Good, good eye. Are you on a computer?
Sam Briggs (26:43):
I am, yes.
Sevan Matossian (26:44):
That’s good. Some people,
Sam Briggs (26:46):
Last time you made fun of me and said that you didn’t think I had a computer, but I didn’t have any earphones to plug into the computer. So after the last podcast I actually bought some plugin earphones.
Sevan Matossian (26:59):
Oh, that’s awesome. Um, someone someone told me the other day that Rich Froning doesn’t own a computer. Like he doesn’t have a laptop. He’s just a phone guy.
Sam Briggs (27:08):
Yeah. I don’t know, like if he does a lot of programming and stuff like that, I’m sorry. It’d have to have,
Sevan Matossian (27:15):
I think he just has people. Yeah,
Sam Briggs (27:17):
I think he just,
Sevan Matossian (27:18):
He just has people, Froning just has people. Um, uh, what were you doing at the Arnold? I saw that, I saw this, I see this picture of you and, uh, Mr. Schwartzenegger.
Sam Briggs (27:26):
Yeah, so, uh, obviously Ruger the big sponsor of the Arnold and so I was just on the booth with, uh, Dan Bailey on the Friday, and then I was on the booth with, uh, Marion Mari on um, Saturday. And it was actually really weird, curious. Started closing down the booth and pushing all the people away to one side. And, um, we were like, ah, what’s coming through? And like shutting everything down. So we were getting ready to just take a selfie as he was walking by and he actually stopped and took a photo with us and then, um, mid time to take a photo with all the rogue stuff that was there.
Sevan Matossian (28:09):
No shit. He looks great.
Sam Briggs (28:10):
Yeah, he definitely doesn’t look, I mean like how old is he now? Like 70. He definitely doesn’t look that old.
Sevan Matossian (28:18):
Yeah. Wow. Crazy. And how was the event? Did you like it?
Sam Briggs (28:21):
Yeah, it’s always a interesting place. I think definitely good for people watching,
Sevan Matossian (28:28):
You know, um, when the, the first time I went to the Arnold or the Mr. Universe, I was, I was filming some arm wrestling and I went there and I was like, man, there’s a lot of like people here I don’t even recognize as human <laugh>. Um, they, they, they had stuff had ha their bodies didn’t look human to me, whether it was because of, um, surgery augmentations or steroids or just, just all the stuff, you know, the extreme because it’s a, it’s extreme, right? It’s like the strongest people in the world. The fastest people. And sometimes I wonder if the CrossFit community, if, and and I always thought of crosses us kind of different than them, right? Like, because ours, I, I, I guess I fancy our sport to be clean and this just to be an expression of our d n a when you, um, when you, when you put it under this, this lifestyle regiment. But, but other times I wonder, I’m like, oh shit, am I now part of this like weird group and I’ve lost my, like I don’t know what a regular human being looks like anymore. Like I recalibrated to, to weirdo world. Do, do you ever wonder about that?
Sam Briggs (29:36):
I do think, uh, especially when you spend a lot of time in environment where people work out and people think even in, um, just your local box, the average member looks fitter than the average population where you live. So,
Sevan Matossian (29:56):
Right, right. Like you walk into a Starbucks and you’re just like, now and.
The above transcript is generated using AI technology and therefore may contain errors.
Check out our other posts.
