missed all the fun today traveling and not looking at the blog. good comments.

Yes, exactly! That was the point I was tying to make, and I think it’s the central argument here: should PCF be trying to make money off its top performers, or should it try to help those athletes the best it can, and try to recoup the extra effort through the publicity of having a bunch of really strong athletes showing up to competitions?

At some point, trying to make money off of _everything_ takes something away from the love of the sport, doesn’t it?

Went light on both because my back is fried from yesterday.

Also: Holy shit, Scott. That was eloquent.

I’d just like to reiterate that I am mildly impressed with Scott Q’s post. I don’t impress easily.

My thoughts as someone who has publicly stated the intention to participate at Regionals (now Sectionals) way back in April, and probably someone who has the furthest to travel in a short time:

Decision to have a separate Games prep class -
Yes, there needs to be a games prep class. You could argue that regular WOD programming should reflect the intensity found in these competitions, but there is a different mentality required for them that perhaps isn’t everyone’s cup of tea (strict judging of reps, managing work concept). I don’t think that there are enough resources right now to have a low athlete:coach ratio (and if we did, frankly, that would increase prices for everyone) to be able to create the competitive atmosphere for those interested in competing (mainly, counting reps) and be able to tailor/ scale the WOD for those beginners and monitor them as well.

Games Prep Mandatory -
No, it isn’t necessary. If you’re already doing WOD’s rx’d, then you’re getting good prep to compete. I think Jon made a good point earlier (in his blog and on this one) that this will help you get there (wherever that may be) faster and with fewer setbacks. From my perspective this is a good chance to light a fire under my @ss to get serious and stop making excuses. And if it doesn’t work out, well, then I’ll re-assess my goal.

Price -
Well, yeah, it sucks that it’s expensive and as a finance guy I’d like to understand the cost buildup to justify the price but… like most things from a financial perspective it’s all about trade-offs. Do you pay more for quality food if it means you have less discretionary funds? It averages out to $37.50 a week. With the strict nutrition that’ll probably go into effect, I probably won’t go out as much so I’ll save on my bar tab. I’ll still hate shelling out the extra $150 for it, but if my performance improves at double the rate it did during the rest of this past year, I’ll consider it a wise investment.

Of course this is coming from a Spider Monkey who hasn’t yet competed in said competitions (and extremely apprehensive about whether I can do it), so take it with a grain of salt.