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Does The North Face Actually "Play Different"?

Today on THE ROCK FIGHT (an outdoor podcast that aims for the head) Colin opens the show by talking about the new brand video from The North Face and what the messaging from outdoor brands should be in 2024 (00:55).


An image that is not from TNF's new brand campaign.

Then Colin & Producer Dave talk about the latest stores to open under the banner of Gearhead Outfitters (22:23), a prediction for the future of Public Lands (26:52) and the rumor that Interbike may be making a comeback (28:33). They wrap things up with their Parting Shots (29:25).


Here's the link to the video that Colin mentions and Producer Dave worked on: Colors.


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Episode Transcript

Colin (00:00):

Welcome to the Rock Fight where we speak our truth, slay sacred cows and sometimes agree to disagree. This is an outdoor podcast that aims for the head. I'm Colin True. It's Monday and to get your week started right, we're going to talk about the latest from the North base as well as some outdoor retailer news from Gear Head Outfitters and Dick's Sporting Goods. But before we get to that, a few housekeeping items like we always do. Please follow and rate the Rock Fight this podcast that you're listening to right now. Leave us at Five Star Rating, click follow Guys. Follow is the key thing to tap. If you like the rock fight, you're definitely going to like Gear and Beer, our other podcast on the Rock Fight Podcast Network. So please check out that show. And lastly, we want to hear from you. Send us your feedback by sending an email to my rock fight@gmail.com, reaching out on the socials where we can be found as Rock Fight Co. Alright, let's start this show Fight. Fight.


(00:54):

Alright, so we're recording this on Sunday, September 15th, 2024 and this past Thursday night, the Buffalo Bills, they played the Miami Dolphins on Thursday night football during the Game, dolphins quarterback Tua Tonga. Viola was concussed on a play and he had to leave the game. Now depending on who you listen to, this was the third or even fifth concussion he's received in the past two years and in the days since, the discourse has been centered on not how long Tua should wait to come back and play football again, but if he should come back and play football at all. And you don't have to look too deeply if you don't pay attention to the NFL to find out that the NFL waited way too long to address concussions in a real way. It's only been about a decade since a real push started to change the game from ultra big and violent hits being one of the signature reasons we all watch football to a time when we would actually encourage a player to retire after a big hit like what happened to Tua the other night?


(01:49):

And if you're wondering why I'm talking about football and concussions, it's because I think a lot about acceptable risks in the outdoors. Football's a violent game that is loaded with risk and even with rule changes and improvements to technique and strategy, every football player is one play away from an injury that could change the trajectory of their career or their lives. Now, risk is also baked into the outdoors as Fitz Kahal told me on his first rock fight appearance way back in early 2023. Part of the reason we do these things is because there's risk. Our skill sets in a certain outdoor activity may progress, but we can't mitigate every risk and we may not be getting paid like pro football players, but we choose to go out there and take those risks anyway because look, it's kind of part of the fun and just like with football back when the outdoors was starting to explode in the 1990s and the extreme part of those sports was key to the growth it experienced.


(02:45):

I've talked about it a bunch before on the show, but go watch an old episode of MTV Sports and the outdoors was cool because it was pretty punk rock, it was contrarian, it was different. It was something that only a nut job would go and pursue. How could you go and do such a thing? Oh my god, it's so crazy and maybe rock climbing, maybe you didn't get into rock climbing to do the same stuff that we saw Dan Osmond doing, but you definitely watch Dan Osmond do that stuff and thought he was a badass. But at some point as we age, the shine starts to come off young and brash doesn't always allow us to process the real implications of the risk. And when folks like Dan Osmond end up not being with us anymore, it gets harder to justify that risk. And I think about this every winter when clockwork, some members of our community die in an avalanche and I can't help, but it starts to feel just very unnecessary and I've been thinking that a lot about that a lot this week because in addition to Bill's dolphins this past week, we also got a brand new video from the North Face.


(03:45):

The name of the video is We Play Different and that's the name of their attached campaign to the video. And look, it's objectively well done. I don't think anybody can look at that and not say that. And it really taps into a lot of the old feelings of our community and our industry that no doubt many of my peers share when considering the why of going outside. There's steep lines being skied, whippers being taken of broken bones and there's bloody lips. They're kind of playing all the hits, but they do it with a real modern aesthetic that makes the video exceedingly watchable. And I've watched the video the full length 62nd cut at least six times now and honestly it's kind of like the outdoor version of the Nike winning isn't for everyone. Ad the one we talked about here in the rock fight just a few weeks ago, they talk about quote out here, we don't play games, we don't use whistles, we play chicken with gravity and it's kind of leaning into that harder edge of the outdoors.


(04:39):

But for me there was a key difference between this ad by the North Face and Nike's recent efforts because while the winning isn't for Everyone, campaign was edgy in an era of participation, trophies and everyone being nice to each other, we play different felt as good as it was felt kind of routine like I'd seen it before and I think I went on a YouTube deep dive of the North Face and other outdoor brand videos and commercials and it kind of verified my feelings. If you go back to videos from 10 to 15 years ago, maybe this production or the sound or narration hasn't aged very well, but there's a lot of the same in terms of tone, a lot of pushing the were badass narrative. And then I found an ad by the North Face that didn't have an air date in the YouTube notes, but it must've been made in the 1990s based on the quality and the fact that it featured Climb Repeat Athens looking quite a bit younger than he does today.


(05:28):

And the theme of that ad is Exploration North Face's tagline is never stop exploring and the ad explains that the risk was worth it that you would take in the outdoors and in the back country because those who go out of doors, they were seeing new places and accomplishing these new feats for the first time. And I have to admit that I'd sort of forgotten that that used to be sort of a crucial piece of why we would take these risks. What are you going to explore? What are you going to see? And so then we play different again and marketing the risk without the discovery, it just didn't hit home. It felt a little shallow. Look, maybe I don't have any new ideas here. The risk if you participate in these sports, if a brand glorifies it in the name of Bad Assery, I understand it.


(06:14):

Plus what's the alternative? Because also in my search I found videos from folks like Co Epoxy who do meaningful work, but their early brand videos were focused on things like why a llama was their mascot. And spoiler alert, the reason a llama is their mascot is because llamas make people smile. So look, I can look at this video by the north face and give them credit for making a sweet piece of marketing that plays into their heritage and is frankly the most outdoor thing I've seen in quite a while, but I still have to watch it and wonder and ask what's next because we've seen this before. The only constant in the outdoor world lately seems to be the consensus that things are changing. Who participates is changing the way we go outside. It's changing. Our space has expanded to include so many new faces who go outside for so many different reasons.


(07:03):

So is there only one way to tell brand stories? Is this just the North Face way of telling brand stories and other people need to do things differently or sort of like our stagnant outdoor media scene or we just bogged down in the way that we always do things and no one with any clout is willing to try something new and whatever we decide? I do know that we need more Dan Cortez in our lives because I moved to make Dan the of official czar of the outdoors so we can bring MTV sports back, which will just, it'll fix everything if we do that guys. But it's time now to bring in producer Dave who this conversation is tailor made for. I mean this has got brand and heritage and the outdoors and visuals and music. Dave, what'd you think of We play different.


Producer Dave (07:46):

Haven't seen it.


Colin (07:48):

Okay, so let's move on more with Themore. Let's go.


Producer Dave (07:55):

Okay, so what you're saying is that your takeaway from we play different is that it's actually just the same, that it's not different.


Colin (08:05):

Yeah, I think it is good. I go back to my original point, I stand by it is good, you watch it. Wow, this is a good video, but it feels like I've seen it. I have seen it before. Everything in it just feels very


Producer Dave (08:17):

The same. Well you probably have seen it before in the sense that it's an anthem video, a mantra hype piece. It's definitely that type of big broad umbrella.


(08:27):

It's izing the outdoor in terms of fast paced, again, I don't see it so much as the hardcore for the hardcore. I think it's a more of a less hardcore vision of what the hardcore is because actually the hardcore is 23 hours of boredom punctuated by a few seconds of exhilaration. The work that it takes to do those things and to get to the climb is all that preparation and again, slow go where this is really the snap two kind of element of what it means to be hardcore, but it's also a sense that it's the similar tactics. You brought up Nike and that's, that's not an accident. This was created by a couple of longtime widening Kennedy Nike account creative directors done a lot of pieces and probably some of the same ones you just talked about over the last 10 years. It's a ton of footage, it's a deep cut with Chaka Khan.


(09:33):

It's got this high powered post-production in it. Look, I really think I would call this a polished gem of a compilation piece. They've taken a bunch of footage from all different sources and all different sides of this, the action side of their brand and turned it into one cohesive piece. So technically it's really an achievement. It's really, really well done. I think they nailed it. I think they nailed it from all of that. Now we're talking about the brand side of this. This isn't us versus them. This is kind of laying down, hey, if this appeals to you, you are our type of person and it's not for everyone, but it's not exclusive. I'm not putting up a gateway for you. If you appreciate this tone, if you appreciate this vibe, then you are someone who's going to like what we have to put out there.


(10:26):

And by even comparing with what is it, we don't play games. We don't play games with whistles or referee. We play with adrenaline in euphoria. Then it goes down that kind of this that I think we need, these brands need these. You need to be able to set parameters and identifiers for your consumers to coalesce around. And you don't need to try to be everything and all at once. I think that's also what you see here. This is the adrenaline side of the brand. This is absolutely okay. That does not mean that they're not trying to include folks that haven't been included before or they're not trying to be welcoming or thoughtful or contemplative. Those are different areas of a brand expression for a different piece. You can't do everything all at once. And I think that's a danger. In fact, actually, this is what Homogenizes work and that's what happens when committees get involved in creating work is that everyone has their side that they want to push into the piece of creative and all of a sudden, next thing you know get this milk toasty, gelatinous kind of gook.


(11:30):

And this isn't, it's sharp, it's really sharp. It breaks through how hard it is today to break through and a documentary is not going to do it right? You need something that is really that steps up and does it. It's funky, it's upbeat, it's tribe defining. You got your Alex Holl appearance throwing in there, but it's really not about celebrity as the outdoors. We know as we've kind of talked about, outdoor really is never about the athlete as much as it is about the brand. The brand is the star and that's what's going on here for sure.


Colin (12:01):

But if they're hanging their hat on the adrenaline side of it, and this is what we're all about, but who is the North Face customer in 2024? Now again, this is going to be a very inside baseball kind of inside looking out, but when they're so huge and ubiquitous and they're easily, I would imagine if they're not the biggest outdoor brand, they're top three, right? I mean they've got to be, I would assume top, we'll say top five just to be safe. So the vast majority of people is this what they aspire to by buying the North face? Is this what they would want? And I guess you bring up the Nike comp because the winning isn't for everyone. Ad I feel like for the people who, the people on the inside we talked about who were being a little like, oh, this is the wrong message to send. Whereas I feel like for the masses they were probably like, okay, this is awesome, right? There was a little bit of that kind of grit to it that I could see a normal person being resonating with. I don't know how this plays with someone who just wants to get a North Face jacket winter now, or somebody who's a little bit more of a casual outdoor enthusiast who doesn't go out maybe as much and try to do these kinds of things.


Producer Dave (13:10):

Branding doesn't work that way. So that's who you get by having a point of view and speaking to a specific group. And so what they're doing here is speaking to it with a specific voice and identifying themselves as to me, what I see from this piece is it is hip, it is contemporary, it is energetic, right? It's colorful. It is of the moment. That's what they're communicating as the brand. So if you want that in your jacket, then you're going to look at a brand that communicates that. But the idea that I'm going to create my brand piece around the casual purchaser of an item probably because it's on sale, that's just not the way branding works.


Colin (13:53):

I don't want to bring up that retailer. We're going to try and break our streak today. All right? We're not talking about on sale goods today, Dave. We're not doing it.


Producer Dave (14:02):

We can't say this. I was going to say there's a brand for that person already. Colin. It's called Columbia.


Colin (14:06):

Okay, good, good. You went with another brand that plays really well here in this conversation, right? Yes,


Producer Dave (14:12):

Correct. So this is North Face flexing its muscle, it's high concept, high production value, top tier media. This, they're putting it on YouTube for us to go explore, but it's also going to be running in the New York Times and some bigger publications. There's a media buy behind this, right? And again, this is only a few brands could do this and I think our industry needs this. It needs things that give you hyped and stoked about the category and wanting to participate in the category. And now I can drill down and create other pieces that are going to speak to that other sides of the psychology or the personalities that are involved in the diverse group of people who enjoy outdoors. But this is letting it be what it is for its moment. I think it's really, really well done.


Colin (14:57):

Well, I think the thing that people are going to miss, and I kind alluded to this in my open and look, obviously we just spent the past five minutes putting this under microscope and talking about what should they do, what shouldn't they do? How does it compare it here? If you go back, one of my deep dive yesterday, going back and looking at these videos, there was one consistent thing and that the person who makes these kinds of videos or the entity that makes these videos the most consistently is the north face. Sure you find the occasional Patagonia video you find. I found Martin Hardware videos, I found outdoor research videos, but this played like a commercial you would see on tv. They released a 32nd spot, a 62nd spot, the new North Face one. I'm talking about all those other ones. Maybe they could have been played on television, probably they're shown at a sales meeting and put on a website and that's what they were there to do.


(15:39):

And the pushback that I know the folks in our industry, and frankly it started this morning and Martin seeing post on LinkedIn about this video specifically and as it plays as I'm talking about the broader outdoor space and how the outdoor space has changed is that nobody else does messaging like this. Now, the Nike thing, the athletic space is incredibly competitive. Everybody has messaging, everybody's trying fighting for that share and how do we look cool and knowing full well that you're wearing your running shoes to the airport and that's it. But we still market like you're going to go run a marathon in them. The outdoor space consistently over the last 20, 30 years, this is the one brand who actually puts out content like this. And so that's an industry and brand like broader problem. If you want to see more people marketing towards the broader outdoor market, I would think


Producer Dave (16:29):

Who's the biggest brand in our space? I don't think it's an accident that the brand that does this type of communication regularly over the last 10, 15 years is the one that has grown and developed a more broader mainstream audience. There you go, right? I think they're connected because this is the stuff that gets people's emotion. This is an emotional ad visually, verbally, that's what this is. This is selling an emotion to be attached to the


Colin (16:55):

Brand and


Producer Dave (16:56):

That's why we try to break it down and be too precise with it. That's where you get into trouble. I think that middle of the road brands get run over, alright, pick a lane, be that and be strong. And that's what they're doing. I really believe the industry needs more leadership like this. We need to sell the emotion and we need to sell the stoke of this, of what we do in all of its forms. And by always doing the same thing over and over again, a documentary kind of style where I try to get all of my marketing points into this piece, you lose the excitement, you lose the energy, you lose the pass around. Have you seen this? Have you seen this? I think that if you were to show this to younger consumers who have some who are building their attachments to the outdoor industry, they're going to find this to be appealing and something that cuts through the clutter of the gazillion different cool visual things that they've seen in their feeds over the last 24 hours. How are you going to break through with that? This does that.


(17:58):

It's kaleidoscope, it uses a kaleidoscope, kind of refracting the image on one of the just visually. That's cool. It kind of gets into kind of that outdoorsy, psychedelic kind of kaleidoscope thing going on. I think there was probably a practical reason why they did that, probably because they were using a bunch of different footage and so how do I make it interesting and how do I even it out so it all looks the same? So that's my guess is that we're building kind of visual tension and interest by doing that, but it just turns out to create a good vibe for it. And look, north Face needs this too. They need to step back into this. I feel like they've gotten, I prefer this way more than the Italian Fashion Week colabs and all that stuff. Now that's important for the brand as it starts to broaden itself and premiumize itself. But still this is straight up Alpha Dog, this is cool. And I think that's what this brand needs, you know what I mean? It's like a little less runway, a little more descent.


Colin (18:58):

Yeah, that's kind Reflecting on this. I think all things are true. I think what you're saying is absolutely true. I do seeing something that is more about the activities versus maybe the Polar Tech beyond campaign, which came out a few weeks ago and has got as lame as hell. I'm sure I know folks who are there that I worked with. I'm like, it is soft and it is not interesting and it feels incredibly overwrought to see something like this where it's like, no man, here's people doing badass shit in the outdoors. Yeah, we've done that before, but that's who we are. I think the bigger problem that I'm pointing out is that lack of who's here doing itself with us? Who's here telling that's what the North Face does? These are the same stories we've told before. And again, I go back and look at the videos, they are the same. This is the modern version of that.


(19:44):

So


(19:45):

Who does the other things putting up Polar Tech and give them credit? It's a video you worked on when you were at Polar Tech, let's call it The Outdoors is for Everyone. And for My Money, it's still one of the best outdoor videos I've ever seen because it still struck the tone of what it meant to be outdoorsy while talk by pointing out bigger themes. And I'll link that in the show notes if you guys haven't seen it. You can see some of the work that Dave's done in his past. This is after I had left Polar Tech. So I think we need more of those kinds of things to sit next to the new video from the North Face to get what I'm looking for out of this conversation.


Producer Dave (20:22):

Right? Well, I mean you bring that up, but those also had two very different purposes behind them, right? With Outdoors are for everything everyone. We were really going for a much, even though it's broader in its message, it was much more of an insider type of audience, a smaller group of outdoor industry people. North Face is shooting way bigger and they're way bigger. And I think that that's where they've really created though that again, I think that there are plenty of inside folks that are going to dig this for what it is not think about it too much and others on the outside are going to be like, yeah, that's cool.


Colin (20:56):

See, I think people on the outside are going to say, yeah, that's cool. I think most of the rhetoric on the inside are going to be talking like I'm talking like, well, we've seen that before. I mean it really just feels like this is going to be the industry vibe of like, okay, north Face you're badass then oh, and all you sell are T-shirts and trucker caps, which is something that I would absolutely say,


Producer Dave (21:14):

Right? And that's why our industry has lagged so far behind in the quality of our messaging and our culture defining creativity. That is absolutely right.


Colin (21:25):

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(22:22):

Alright, let's talk about a few other stories that come out of the outdoor industry in the outdoor world in the past week, starting with according to SGB, gearhead Outfitters hosted a grand reopening of multiple Colorado locations just this past weekend, formerly known as Summit Canyon Mountaineering. The two locations in Glenwood Springs in Grand Junction have officially changed over to Gearhead Outfitters, founder of Gearhead Outfitters, Ted Herge said of the reopen locations, we've carried the same dedication to personalized service, but now with an even wider selection of outdoor gear for every kind of adventure adventurer of those locations, the constant chatter on this podcast and in the industry lately is always about REI. And over the past couple of weeks, backcountry and the Grassroots Outdoor Alliance and Gearhead just keeps quietly making moves. We talked about them a little bit this past summer and now they're back again.


(23:12):

They're now at 20 stores. They've opened stores on their own and they've also integrated folks like these shops in Colorado as well as Uncle Dan's in the Chicago area and Rock Creek in Tennessee. I want you to all out there listening, mark Gearhead as the retail chain to watch. I had a chance to talk to Ted Herge this past summer and we're making plans to bring him on the rock fight in the future. And I'm so bullish on these guys mostly because Ted told me specifically that he values the specialty experience. He's not just trying to like, Hey, let's build something up to make another REI. These are specialty driven stores the same thing you would want at a specialty shop, and the more moves they make, the more that others are going to have to reckon with them. I think honestly, gearhead feels to me like what EMS could have been if you've listened long enough.


(23:58):

I talk about how the thing about that EMS is interesting is for a chain you still had a very much a local kind of gear shop vibe to them. And that seems to be what Ted is trying to build with Gearhead Outfitters. So I think what you look at someone like an Evo or a public lands, what they're doing is different than this. It's more curated, which it has its own place, but Gearhead appears to be gear more like gear shops and they are continuing to expand and just doing their thing and doing it quietly. So Dave, any thoughts on Gearhead Outfitters?


Producer Dave (24:30):

No, I think you're spot on. I think it's really almost a balance between the Gear Shop and the Curated, right? They're bringing a little more sense of branding sophistication, well not over the top, but it's just recognizable. It's simple, it's just got a little bit more fun and polished to it. I think they're moving into those spaces. Well, it's not just overtaking it and doesn't seem right, like you said, it's still a gear shop and so it kind of connects that way. But yeah, I definitely like what they're doing and they do seem like they've got some momentum with the model and keep it


Colin (25:08):

Going. And we also are going to have Gabe Meyer from the GOA on the show in the next few weeks. So I want to make sure I ask him about them as well and see what the specialty world is, thinking of the rising retailer coming out of Arkansas. But alright, listen, let's take one quick break and we come back. We're going to talk about a couple more stories and then get to our parting shots. This episode of the Rock Fight is brought to you by the great Malden Outdoors and outdoor enablement campaign in the city of Malden, Massachusetts. And the brains behind this initiative, Darren Josie, he's here with me right now. Darren, first of all, what is an outdoor enablement campaign?


(25:43):

An outdoor enablement campaign provides four things, advertising, resources, programming and youth development. These are the four things that I believe are really important to getting more people outside.


(25:54):

So why is this campaign important to DEI efforts in the outdoor industry?


(25:57):

We have to start by getting more people outside and that can start their journey from one, becoming someone who just enjoys outdoor recreation as a lifestyle, but two, a path for a job. No one told me that going outside and rock climbing could lead to a job one day or fishing or bike riding. Didn't know that was a thing until I got into the industry and I want to change that and start that journey a lot earlier for way more people in our society.


(26:24):

Hey man. And lastly, how can outdoor brands and retailers help or participate?


(26:28):

Go to the Great Mall than outdoors.com, click on the contact button and reach out. We are always looking for donations for gear, funds and expertise. You can lend your existing staff to lead an online course. Or if you're in New England area, come on down and lead a class. We're looking for more programming.


(26:46):

Head to the great malden outdoors.com and click contact to build a partnership today. Alright, next story. Speaking of public lands like we just did in the last story. According to their earnings results published in the daily last week, Dick's Sporting Goods delivered a strong second quarter based in part on customer experience enhancing store service and growing its house of sport concept, which includes amenities such as climbing walls and batting cages. And I guess I'm making predictions on this show because I'm bringing this up. I want to make another prediction and Dave, you can hold me to account on this if I end up being wrong. I'm predicting September 15th as we re record this, Dick's is going to abandon public lands and go full on into House of Sport. If this happens,


Producer Dave (27:26):

I


Colin (27:26):

Want everyone to look back and say the Rock fight called it back in September. So public lands came in with a splash and they really were trying to be like, look, Dick's is going to have, we're going to have it all, we're going to have our own version of REI. We're going to have our traditional sporting goods stores. But it's been very quiet lately on the public lands front and House of Sport has been very loud from the Dick's camp. And if you look at what House of Sport is, it kind of has got a city sports in the two thousands vibes where they have outdoor, but it's also sporting goods. And I think they can blend that together. I mean there's climbing walls in there now and I think the name alone is ambiguous enough that it can be sort of a catchall. They apparently opened to one or two new stores at public lands. That's the one thing that give me pause on making my prediction this year. But I feel like all of these little specialty shops from Dick's is just going to move into House of Sport. They have been very bullish on the House of Sport brand. So yeah, my prediction, public lands goes away at some point. I don't know when, maybe in the near future, maybe the not too distant future and Dick's turns it all into House of Sport. That's my prediction.


Producer Dave (28:30):

Very bold. Very bold, Colin.


Colin (28:33):

Alright, lastly, today Word has it, I'm hearing some buzzing around that. Interbike is out running a survey Interbike the bike trade show that folded up, I want to say like 2020 timeframe. I can't remember the exact year, exact year, but they're running a survey implying that the discontinued trade show was on the verge of a comeback. It's all speculation for now, but given how Sea Otter has grown and become the trade show that everyone points to as a model from what they want from a bike gathering, if this happens, I'd say it's going to be an uphill climb for Interbike and we'll need to offer something pretty unique to be a hit. I mean, getting together to go ride bikes in the deserts, because that show is always in Las Vegas is always fun to do. But maybe so maybe it is time for this show to return.


(29:12):

I don't know, the more trade shows, I feel like attendance is up in certain shows so everyone's like, oh, bring back more trade shows. And we talk about that a lot, obviously around here. But I don't know if we need Interbike now with the way Sea Otter has grown. I don't know, we'll keep an eye on it, hearing some buzz around it, see if that actually happens. But so everyone, if you heard anything about Interbike, let me know my rock fight@gmail.com and alright, guess what? It's time for the parting shot, Dave, you got the floor.


Producer Dave (29:41):

Well I like to take my parting shot in a literary direction. So this week's book, days book log. That's right, it is. It's becoming that. And this one's not a new one by any stretch and it's kind of a classic of outdoor reading. It's called The Emerald Mile by Kevin Fedarko. Good book. Have you? Yeah, you've read that one.


Colin (30:02):

I've read this one, yeah.


Producer Dave (30:03):

Yeah, it's fantastic. And for those that don't know, it is about a couple of crazy people that wanted to set the speed record going down the Grand Canyon in a Dory. And they did it in 1983 during one of the biggest flood releases ever in the Grand Canyon. So you had massive water running down there again, kind of irresponsibly, massive water and just what these guys did to try to set that record. And it's just really well told. He's done a couple other pieces about the Grand Canyon that are just, he's just an incredible storyteller. And so I think making something that the outcome of still seemed taught and hanging on your seat and like I said, the language and the wording is great. So anyway, just one I recommend to give you a try The Emerald Mile by Kevin Diarco Em.


Colin (30:58):

Yeah, great book. Alright, my parting shot not nearly as nice as yours. I'm throwing a rock at Major League Baseball. Somehow they lost me. I was the biggest baseball fan. You may have heard Hausman and I talk about baseball every once in a while. I used to as my favorite sport and play hockey, but I like baseball. And this summer I kind of was following along actually early on with a lot of different teams and just sort of paying attention and it just occurred to me, I have no idea what the standings are. I have no idea who's good. This year I have completely lost out, checked out on Major League baseball and I don't know quite how it happened. I know over the past few decades or so, interest has trailed off of baseball, but I kind of hung on and now all of a sudden, I don't know, and I don't know if I'm even going to watch the playoffs in October. It's weird. It just went away. I'm like, yeah, I don't really care anymore. I don't know how that happens. How do you like something once and then now you just don't care anymore. That just happens I guess. So I'm blaming Major League baseball. I'm throwing a rock at you and that's my parting shot for the week.


Producer Dave (32:00):

Fair


Colin (32:00):

Enough. Alright. Alright everybody, that's the show for today. The Rock Fight is a production of Rock Fight LLC, our producer today, David Carstead, our direction provided by Sarah. I'm Colin. True. Thanks for listening and here to take us out. It's Krista Makes, he's here to sing the rock Fight, fight song, come back on Wednesday for Hausman Adventure headlines. That's early this week. We're going to run those on Wednesday now, so make sure you come back for that. Now, like I said, here's Krista makes we'll see you next time. Rock fighters.


Chris DeMakes (32:35):

We go into the where we our truth slay sacred cows and sometimes agree to disagree. We talk about human power, outdoor activities and pick bikes about topics that we find interesting like my culture, music, the latest movie reviews, ideas in for the head. This is where we speak our truth. This is where we speak our truth to. Welcome to.

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