Damn, Grid is exciting! I have enjoyed watching all the matches live streamed on NPGL.com but Tuesday night, seeing the sport in person was a totally different story. The crowd was screaming, the weights were being thrown, and it was spectacular. I have attended a few CrossFit regionals and numerous other functional fitness competitions, but nothing compares to the high speed, total power, and awesomeness that is Grid. This sport is very spectator friendly, easy to follow, extremely accessible, and it has the potential to be HUGE.
The DC Brawlers celebrate after a dominating 21-11 win over the Philadelphia Founders.
And Grid founder, Tony Budding, has HUGE expectations. He has said in past interviews that he hopes Grid surpasses the National Hockey League. It might be a long time before that happens but I definitely foresee Grid taking over the Sport of Fitness. That might seem like blasphemy to the Kool-aid drinkers who don’t think the sport of Grid is legitimate unless Froning is in it, but I bet if they went to a live Grid match they would change their opinion.
Taylar Stallings doesn’t just do barbell movements.. Here she is performing muscle-ups with ease.
Ok timeout for a second. I am growing tired of crossfitters saying that Grid doesn’t have the top athletes. First of all, Grid is loaded with Games athletes–just look at the New York Rhinos roster — both the second place male and second place female from the 2014 Games are wearing Rhino red this year. And more importantly this isn’t CrossFit —it is Grid. Quite simply this is a different sport. And no offense to CrossFit but it’s a better sport. It’s faster, more team oriented, requires in-game coaching, high levels of game strategy, and the list goes on. CrossFit might be more endurance based and appeal to the fan who likes conditioning, but other than that, Grid wins in every category. And speaking again to the naysayers, there are not unlimited substitutions in Grid. Moreover, athletes have to be good at multiple movements and possess plenty of gas-in-the-tank. Sure they might not be performing at the 80% mark many crossfitters do to maintain their pace but who wants to watch 80%? Grid is 100% effort and 100% badass.
Ok back to my point: fitness world, get ready for Grid. Olympic lifters, gymnasts, power athletes, crossfitters, house wives, and businessmen: it doesn’t matter, Grid will captivate you. It may take a while to win over the Dave Castro Disciples, but if you are serious about fitness OR simply serious about sport, then Grid will win you over. All you have to do is show up and you will believe for yourself.
Grid Founder, Tony Budding.
But how does Mr. Budding get you to show up? My simple answer is “stars.” Grid needs stars. Grid needs a face. And no offense to Tony but it shouldn’t be his face. Right now if you asked me who the face of the NPGL is, I would begrudgingly say its Tony Budding. But a couple more matches like last night and it might soon be Taylar Stallings or maybe Taylar’s teammate, Lindsay Bourdon Menerey.
Yes, yes, I just named two Brawlers, and I am clearly a DC area native so obviously I am biased. But the fact is, DC likely has the best two women in the sport. This will take a while for the functional fitness community to understand, but GRID IS NOT CROSSFIT. How else can you explain “no-names” like Ingrid Kantola, who just a few weeks ago wasn’t even in the league (DC took her in the supplemental draft), beating out six times Games athlete, Christy Phillips Adkins, for a startingspot on the Brawlers?
Lindsay Bourdon Menerey is a star at the bodyweight movements.
When the Brawlers signed Lindsay Bourdon Menerey and Taylar Stallings in the off-season, I will be honest, I had to look them up to even know who they were. But now they look like the two most dominant women in the sport. According to DC head coach, Justin Cotler, “no other team even talked to Taylar.” For you Grid fans who have seen her perform, you might be shocked to hear this. And if you don’t remember, DC was one of the last teams to join the league.Most of the other teams had nearly full rosters by the time the DC Brawlers entered the league. Taylar Stallings told us last night in the post game press conference that she expected to sit out this season because no one was interested in her. And now the experts, like Gridmaster, are putting the Brawlers at the top of the power rankings because of Taylar and Lindsay.
Will Taylar become the face of the NPGL?
Justin Cotler thinks she already is one of the faces of Grid. And its hard to disagree with him. Cotler also thinks Lindsay is one of the faces of Grid. In fact, last night after the game, Coach Cotler said, “We may have the two best female athletes in the league on the same team.” And their performance last night certainly merits this recognition.
Philadelphia Founders coach, Jason Leyden, after the game called the Brawlers, “one of the strongest teams in the league.” And he specifically spoke about DC’s women, “with Taylar coming up to the barbell, we had to get to the barbell like a good 5 or 6 reps before she could, because we knew her cycle time would be so much faster…and we also had to deal with Lindsay and her pull-ups.” Trust me, the league knows about Taylar and Lindsay.
Lindsay and her pull-ups
Holy cow, this was the talk of the evening! Just listen to the Brawlers fans go wild; even some of the fans in the Philly section (pictured in back, hard to miss because there weren’t many of them) had to applaud both of these athletes.
Race 3 and 4:
As you can see, this is a race with 40 chest-to-bar pull-ups and yes, Lindsay did them ALL unbroken butterfly style in mere seconds. And as impressive as that was, she had to turn around and do 30 CTB pull-ups in race 4 (Race 3 & 4 are the same but Ingrid Kantola took 10 of the reps in race 4.) The crowd was deafening while Lindsay rocked the butterfly pull-ups. But then came the kicker: the Founders coach threw a challenge flag on the number of repetitions of the the overhead squats and the challenge was upheld — so Lindsay had to do at least another 25+ AGAIN. And that is all the crowd talked about until Taylar stole the show in the last moments of the women’s triad (race 9) with the 115 pound snatches. The Brawlers’ women went into sheer beast mode in race 9 — my favorite race of the evening.
Lindsay Bourdon Menerey does her freestanding handstand push-ups and even helps out her teammates with a few reps.Taylar Stallings finishes off the snatches in race 9.The DC Women are out of this league. On most teams, Abby Graham (center), would be the strongest female athlete. Ingrid Kantola (left) and 40+ athlete Janet Black (right) help make the Brawlers’ female starting 5 the best in the league. Ingrid and Janet are amazing in their own right.We’re not forgetting about the Brawlers’ men. We will have more to say about them in our DC vs. New York preview article.Marcus Hendren (back) and Christian Harris (front) showcasing their own skills in the Men’s Triad.
If you are excited about Grid, or even if you think it’s lame, we still want to know. Let us know what you think in the comments section. And check us out and “like” us on Facebook, where we will soon be doing a DC Brawlers T-Shirt Giveaway.
And for the DC fans, you won’t want to miss our Brawlers vs. Rhino preview article, which will include DC fitness legend, Jerry Hill, talking about the Brawlers and the DC fitness community. Sign up for a free subscription in the sidebar.
About Erik Walker
Erik made the switch from athlete to coach in 2001. Since then he has coached hundreds of athletes ranging from high school and college sport specific athletes, to adults looking to lose weight and/or gain muscle. Erik earned his BS in Interdisciplinary Studies from James Madison University and his MA Ed in Curriculum and Instruction from Eastern Mennonite University. Erik also holds multiple coaching related degrees and certificates.
Taylor and Lindsay are definitely the faces of Grid. Watching those two dominate on Tuesday night was one of the most incredible moments of my sports-watching career–haha!! Seriously, watching them makes me want to train harder, lift heavier, pull more–it’s crazy. This DC team, IMO, is unbeatable. I think Jessica Phillips is another strong woman who pulls rank in the faces of this new sport, and I am definitely excited to see Annie Thorisdottir go up against Taylor and Lindsay. I think both Taylor and Lindsay are better at their perspective skill sets than Annie would be against them, but it will still be exciting to see what she has to give when going head to head with these DC team. Can’t wait for your article on the guys, Erik!!
Yeah not only is Sam Dancer one of the strongest Grid athletes he is one if the most unique “characters” out there. And the Fire are one of the top teams (maybe the best West Coast team) so he will be getting lots of “face” time.
Jankesays
Was a fan of functional movement and trying to be a spectator of team competition for the past few years, I have to say how happy I am that Grid is here. It’s so much easier to watch. I can keep up with both teams and feel as though I have not missed out on any ‘star of the show’. The Grid has so
many different stars because you can display your strong suit at all times. This makes for athletes, such as Lindsay Bourdon Menerey, to become a household name. The Grid has given functional movement a fresh face. Taylor Stallings and Lindsay Bourdon Menerey have the freshness the Grid is lookin for. BTW, for one athlete to do about 100 c2b pull ups in the matter of minutes plus free standing handstand push-ups and muscle ups then pull her weight on snatches shows some endurance. Just a fan talkin here. Enjoy watching and can’t wait to see a match in person.
Lori Davissays
I’m from Central FL and not at all surprised to see Taylar Stallings emerge as a leader and “the face” of Grid! #Brawlout
Erik Walkersays
I hope you guys caught the NY vs. Miami match last night. It came down to the last race and was certainly the most competitive match of the season. Check it out at NPGL.com if you haven’t yet. It will blow you away.
Sam Dancer, Lauren Brooks, Iceland Annie, Courtney Walker, Elijah Mohamed, Matt Fraser, Jessica Phillips, Christian Harris, Marcus Hendren… the list goes on. All are becoming stars in the most exciting new sport that is taking the fitness industry by storm.
Taylor and Lindsay are definitely the faces of Grid. Watching those two dominate on Tuesday night was one of the most incredible moments of my sports-watching career–haha!! Seriously, watching them makes me want to train harder, lift heavier, pull more–it’s crazy. This DC team, IMO, is unbeatable. I think Jessica Phillips is another strong woman who pulls rank in the faces of this new sport, and I am definitely excited to see Annie Thorisdottir go up against Taylor and Lindsay. I think both Taylor and Lindsay are better at their perspective skill sets than Annie would be against them, but it will still be exciting to see what she has to give when going head to head with these DC team. Can’t wait for your article on the guys, Erik!!
Sam Dancer of SF Fire is in the running.
I would definitely agree with you.
Yeah not only is Sam Dancer one of the strongest Grid athletes he is one if the most unique “characters” out there. And the Fire are one of the top teams (maybe the best West Coast team) so he will be getting lots of “face” time.
Was a fan of functional movement and trying to be a spectator of team competition for the past few years, I have to say how happy I am that Grid is here. It’s so much easier to watch. I can keep up with both teams and feel as though I have not missed out on any ‘star of the show’. The Grid has so
many different stars because you can display your strong suit at all times. This makes for athletes, such as Lindsay Bourdon Menerey, to become a household name. The Grid has given functional movement a fresh face. Taylor Stallings and Lindsay Bourdon Menerey have the freshness the Grid is lookin for. BTW, for one athlete to do about 100 c2b pull ups in the matter of minutes plus free standing handstand push-ups and muscle ups then pull her weight on snatches shows some endurance. Just a fan talkin here. Enjoy watching and can’t wait to see a match in person.
I’m from Central FL and not at all surprised to see Taylar Stallings emerge as a leader and “the face” of Grid! #Brawlout
I hope you guys caught the NY vs. Miami match last night. It came down to the last race and was certainly the most competitive match of the season. Check it out at NPGL.com if you haven’t yet. It will blow you away.
Sam Dancer, Lauren Brooks, Iceland Annie, Courtney Walker, Elijah Mohamed, Matt Fraser, Jessica Phillips, Christian Harris, Marcus Hendren… the list goes on. All are becoming stars in the most exciting new sport that is taking the fitness industry by storm.