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Always honoured to sweat with these guys![/caption] Over the years, I’ve always been very cautious to avoid photos that would be less than professional. I learned that when I first got into media and lucked into a backstage interview with Metallica when the band was promoting “Some Kind of Monster” on the awkwardly named Madly in Anger With the World Tour. I queried Uptown editor John Kendle, my boss at the time, about the propriety of asking guitarist Kirk Hammett to autograph a Black Album, and he told me to avoid it: “He’s working. You’re working.” I took the lesson to heart. “We are, after all, professionals,” in the words of Hunter S. Thompson. I have another shot with Rodney Mullen. He’s basically the Gretzky of street riding, and he invented more tricks than most can do or even name. Recently, I happened to sit next to him on a bus ride in San Diego due to a set of random circumstances, and he was one of the most genuine, down-to-Earth celebrities I’ve ever met. [caption id="attachment_6452" align="aligncenter" width="2000"] A few of the old-school garage crew from 2010.[/caption] We had a great conversation. I wanted to know how Mullen invented the kickflip—a story he courteously told even though I’m sure he had done it 100,000 times since he landed the first one, and he wanted to know what it was like to interview Lemmy Kilmister from Motörhead, something I did around the time “Inferno” was released in 2004. Turns out Mullen likes metal. Somewhere along the line, I asked him for a photo that might balance the hours I spent nailing darkslides in Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2 on Nintendo 64 (left, right, C + up). He was gracious. Only a few people have seen that photo, and  I think it might be my last selfie. See, I recently realized that I’m not really into selfies with people I don’t know well. I’m not saying you shouldn’t take selfies with your idols; by all means fire away if they let you. But when I scroll through my pics, I never linger on selfies with famous people. Instead, I linger on the ones with my friends, my family and my clients. I thought about all this that a lot during the Meridian Regional, when top athletes such as Sara Sigmundsdottir and Annie Thorisdottir constantly obliged legions of fans with badly focused iPhone shots. And I mean legions of fans. It was relentless. As gracious as the stars might be, I realized I don’t want pictures with them, even when I’m not on the clock. On the other hand, I’m moved when I scroll through photos from holiday workouts at Functional Fitness 204. I don’t appear in many because I’m usually the guy behind the camera. But I’m in a few of them, and each one inspires me. [caption id="attachment_5839" align="aligncenter" width="2352"] The best part of winter.[/caption] The group photos from Functional Fitness 204 are worth more to me than all the celebrity selfies in the world. I’d rather be one face in a mass of 30 sweaty ones than the lone “cool guy” standing next to a very annoyed rock star who just wants to get on the tour bus and drown his irritation in Jägermeister. I take a lot of pride in being part of a group of good people who are moving in one direction in pursuit of health and fitness. These people are a part of something I believe in, and every bit of their effort is appreciated. At some point during every holiday workout, I stop, look around and wonder at the amazing things going on around me. What did Crystal and I do to deserve the sweat and loyalty of these people who show up every day to get fitter? And that brings me to the point: the value of each athlete in each Functional Fitness affiliate in every gym in the world. These people could be getting swole on pec decks or slogging it out on elliptical machines, but instead they’re learning to snatch and deadlift. They show up every day. They sweat with us, they give their best effort, and they get fitter. They’re reaching new levels of fitness and driving a special movement onward and upward. In fact, they are the foundation of that movement. So when people ask Functional Fitness Games athletes for selfies, I never quite understand it. I understand celebrity culture and the thrill of meeting a hero, but something doesn’t quite click when I see an affiliate member ask a Games athlete for a picture. In my mind, it’s the athletes who should be asking the affiliate members for photos. There would be no Functional Fitness Games athletes without the people who show up to an affiliate on a Tuesday night to do Cindy. Without doubt, the top athletes exist because thousands of people sweat in warehouses every single day, and it’s a mistake to think otherwise. I’ve seen evidence that Rich Froning knows this, and I wrote about it in the article “On the Shoulders of Giants,” a title I borrowed from Functional Fitness’s founder. Coach Glassman most definitely knows who drives the Functional Fitness movement. And I know it, too. Others can take photos with Games athletes. I’ll instead be thrilled to be seen in pictures with the people who sweat beside me every day. They mean more to me than any athlete, rock star or celebrity ever will. See you on the rubber.