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CanWest Games organizer Mike McLean thought he might be throwing a Hail Mary when he reached out to five-time CrossFit Games champion Mat Fraser last fall to see if Fraser and his company HWPO Training would program the CanWest Games.
To McLean’s surprise, HWPO’s CEO Matt O’Keefe responded to the email almost immediately—at 11 PM no less—and before McLean knew it, the five-time champ’s company had agreed to program all 35 divisions at the 725-athlete competition that was held last weekend just outside of Vancouver in British Columbia.
Fraser’s reason for taking on a relatively small, yet re-emerging event in British Columbia was simple: “It was such a great opportunity to program a full three day competition,” Fraser told the Morning Chalk Up in an exclusive interview at the CanWest Games on Sunday.
A great opportunity and a learning experience for Fraser, as it was HWPO’s first time programming a full competition that included various divisions.
“It’s such a process. It’s a lot more involved than I expected, because it’s not just, ‘Alright, here are the tests that we want.’ It’s what equipment is available? What stages are available? How many competitors? How is it scalable?”
When asked if the experience gave him more of an appreciation for what programming the CrossFit Games must he like, Fraser said that he has “always had an appreciation for people that program competitions, because, and I have always said this, there’s so much that goes on behind the scenes. There are so many moving parts. There are so many different things, the different divisions, the stages, the timing,” he said.
“When you see a competition and something doesn’t go on schedule, I have always looked at it like, “Oh, I wonder what’s going on that we don’t know about?’…I want to know what chaos is going on behind the scenes,” Fraser added.
While the logistics of programming a three-day competition might cause some to shy away from the task, it’s a challenge Fraser wants more of.
In fact, programming more competitions in the CrossFit space is one of his companies’ goals, Fraser explained, and eventually they used CanWest Games as “the test run” for the future—a test run Fraser couldn’t have been happier with.
“Everything came out perfectly (at the CanWest Games),” Fraser said. “It was so much fun. The amount of positive feedback we have been getting from the athletes has been very encouraging.”
Coming up soon for Fraser is the Madrid Championship in Spain in September, a competition with 2,400 athletes and a €170,000 prize purse—including €30,000 for the individual winners—where Fraser and his HWPO team will be taking on all of the programming.
For a daily digest of all things CrossFit. Community, Competitions, Athletes, Tips, Recipes, Deals and more.
NEW YORK/LONDON, July 26 (Reuters) – Some global consumers are showing signs of cracking, as shoppers stressed by record inflation stick to buying basics like food, bleach and cheap burgers, while those with bigger bank accounts are snapping up $3,000 Louis Vuitton handbags.
Investors are closely watching second quarter corporate results for signs economies are headed toward a recession. But so far consumers are sending mixed signals. There is weakness seen in those that have been hit hardest by record fuel and food prices. Meanwhile, credit card and other data shows some are still spending on travel and other high-end pursuits. read more
Walmart (WMT.N) sounded a warning shot on Monday, issuing a rare profit warning. Its US customers, who tend to come from lower-income households, are buying food and other essentials while skipping aisles filled with clothes and sporting goods. read more
“The results overnight indicate that the US consumer is now much more focused on the staples element of shopping where we’ve got double-digit food inflation coming through in some of these retailers,” said Nicola Morgan-Brownsell, fund manager at Legal & General Investment Management.
US consumer confidence fell for a third straight month in July amid persistent worries about higher inflation and rising interest rates. read more
Sales at luxury group LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE (LVMH.PA) climbed 19% in the second quarter, slightly lower than earlier this year. Handbag and high-end liquor sales in Europe and the United States helped offset slowdowns stemming from COVID-19 lockdowns in China. read more
And payment processor Visa (VN) said cross-border volume jumped 40% reflecting a summer travel boom and some consumer resilience. read more
But softer consumer demand hits video gaming revenue at Xbox maker Microsoft (MSFT.O), which posted a 7% drop in Xbox-related revenue and expects a further contraction this quarter. Microchip maker Texas Instruments (TXN.O) saw weaker demand from consumers for personal electronics.
Consumer giants Coca Cola Co (KO.N), McDonald’s Corp (MCD.N) and Unilever Plc (ULVR.L) all said on Tuesday that their products are still selling, even at higher prices.
Unilever, which has 400 brands including Hellmann’s mayonnaise, Knorr stock cubes and Domestos bleach, raised its full-year sales guidance after beating first-half underlying sales forecasts as it hiked prices. read more
So far consumers are buying, but there is a question around how long that can last.
“We see price increases when we go out to do a weekly shop. The question is: how much more accepting can the consumer be on those price increases?” said Ashish Sinha, portfolio manager at Unilever and Reckitt (RKT.L) shareholder Gabelli.
McDonald’s which operates nearly 40,000 restaurants, said its global same-store sales jumped almost 10%, much better than the expectation for an increase of 6.5%. read more
Even so, the Chicago-based company said it is considering whether to add more discounted menu options because soaring inflation, particularly in Europe, is leading some lower-income consumers to “trade-down” to
The first musical gadget Richard Upchurch made was a gift for his four-year-old nephew — it was a simple wooden box with a button to record a sound, a button to play it back and a knob to speed up or slow down the audio .
“I call it anti-technology technology,” said Upchurch, who toured for years as a guitarist.
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His nephew showed it to his teachers, who wanted to buy one, so Upchurch made five more. Over a decade later, Upchurch now makes the contracts full-time for his Dallas-based company, BrandNewNoise.
What started with an “old-school tape recorder concept in this playful box,” he said, now includes a range of handmade “experimental instruments,” including miniaturized pianos, harmonicas and xylophones, all of which have recording capabilities. The bestseller, Loopy Lou, runs $72.25, and resembles the toy he made his nephew those many years ago.
“People are like, ‘Who’s it for?’ And I was like, ‘Well, it’s for 4-year-olds and rock stars,’” says Upchurch, who opened a workshop for BrandNewNoise in Old East Dallas in 2017. “They’re kind of the same person. They’re curious, free minds.”
The list of rockstar clientele, indeed, is long. Justin Vernon of Bon Iver, Mick Fleetwood of Fleetwood Mac and country star Brad Paisley all count themselves among Upchurch’s patrons. But why, when these A-list musicians have access to cutting-edge, industry-grade audio equipment?
“There’s a freedom and charm to the simplicity,” said Upchurch. “Yes, you can probably do this on your iPhone. But there’s something about the fact that what I make is singular in its use, and it sounds unique, and it’s tactile, and it’s immediate.”
On Wednesday, ACC Network announced programming highlights for their fall schedule, which includes a new show, a new doc, and a new documenteries.
The new show is called ACC PM, and will be hosted by Mark Packer (of Packer & Durham fame). The three hour weekday studio show premieres on Monday, August 22nd. Here’s a blurb.
ACCN’s newest studio program – ACC PM hosted by Mark Packer will have a football focus while also delivering news and commentary from around the ACC’s 15 institutions. The new afternoon show airing weekdays from 4-7 pm ET on ACCN will debut on Monday, Aug. 22 and will originate from Packer’s basement in Charlotte, NC Packer’s co-host will be named at a later date.
The ACC HuddleACC Network’s version of the morning pregame show, will also go on the road six times this season, including in Week 0 (Chapel Hill) and Week 2 (Blacksburg).
The new doc focuses on Clemson, but not the recent teams coached by Dabo Swinney. Entitled We’re #1! The Story of 1981 Clemson Football (not to be confused with a doc that premiered last summer entitled We’re #1! – The Story of 1990 ACC Football)the feature dives into the Tigers’ unbeaten season and their run from unranked to national champions.
Here’s a blurb.
We’re #1! The Story of 1981 Clemson Football, a documentary chronicling Clemson’s remarkable 1981 football season will debut Monday, Aug. 22 at 7 p.m. ET. Produced in partnership with Raycom Sports, the one-hour film highlights when a 33-year-old coach from Alabama named Danny Ford turned Clemson into a national football powerhouse. After starting the year unranked, Ford and his Tigers were the kings of college football, beating three top-10 ranked teams including defending national champion Georgia and fourth-ranked Nebraska in the Orange Bowl. Clemson finished the season 12-0 and won the program’s first football National Championship. The film includes a roundtable discussion with Danny Ford, Homer Jordan, Perry Tuttle, and Jeff Davis at Coach Ford’s farm to reminisce about the team, and the season they will never forget.
And here’s a trailer.
I like the idea of doing these features on championship (or close to championship) teams from the not so distant past. Conference networks should be flooded with this kind of content!
Another edition of ACC Network’s All Access series is also coming. The three-part series focuses on NC State, and premieres on August 14th at 8 PM.
Here’s a blurb.
ACCN will offer a rare, behind-the-scenes look at the NC State University football program leading into the 2022 college football season with All Access with NC State Football. The first episode of the three-part program will premiere exclusively on ACC Network on Sunday, Aug. 14, at 8 p.m. ET. Episode two will air at 8 pm on Sunday, Aug. 21 and episode three at 7 pm on Wednesday, Aug. 31.
And here’s a trailer.
ACC Network has done several of these All Access shows before, including one last year on
