The Man Behind the Comments: Darrell "Bingo" White

March 27, 2012

Josh Bunch

Darrell "Bingo" White doesn't represent the firebreathers who compete at the Games. White represents everyone else participating to be part of something more.

Bingo is the name given to Darrell White, a longtime CrossFitter hailing from Cleveland, Ohio. White doesn’t represent the firebreathers who compete at the Games. White represents everyone else participating to be part of something more.

“I’m no threat, I just want to be part of the CrossFit conversation as I have been for so long,” he says.

MUSINGS, CROSSFIT.COM AND COMMENTS

In 2006, with less than 100 affiliates worldwide and the CrossFit Games not in existence, White found CrossFit by accident. “After I stumbled on the website and studied it for a while, I figured I would give it a try,” he recalls. “Forty five minutes after, I began a very modified version of Angie. I lay in sweat and workout anguish wondering, ‘Where had CrossFit been all my life?’”

White’s immediate interest in the health benefits of CrossFit motivated his journey. He soon realized it wasn’t just about the workout, as he started to read the comments section on CrossFit.com – it was about the people doing the workout.

“For three months I watched the comments beneath every workout learning all that I could with a healthy fear of speaking out because I knew very little,” he says. “Hell, even Coach was on the boards then and if you said something that was just stupid or hurtful, he bitch-slapped you publicly.”

White’s CrossFit spirit grew until he courageously dawned the name “Bingo,” and began “The Sunday Musings” many years ago. Every Sunday, White brought his weekly CrossFit studies, along with his medical and scientific background, to the community. He posts random ideas and thoughts geared toward CrossFit. “My position just kind of evolved into a referee. I make sure the content is about fitness, health and motivation,” he says. “I mean, it’s a fitness website, that’s what it should be about.”

THE OPEN

White has seen many changes in CrossFit over the years. None as big as the worldwide CrossFit Games Open. “The five week Open challenge presented the true beauty of CrossFit, much more so than the Games. CrossFit isn’t all about fitness monsters, it’s also about turning the average and the lost into the athletic and the healthy,” he says. “The all-inclusive Open does this perfectly.”

White had his own thoughts on each Open Workout.

12.1: “WELCOME”

“Burpees suck, what’s new? However, they pretty much solidified the judging capability making it universally hard to mess up. No matter how much you hate those burpees, 12.1 eliminated judging controversy.”

12.2: “SEPARATING THE WHEAT FROM THE CHAFE”

“The second Open Workout asked 69,000 people to perform an Olympic snatch. A movement most CrossFitters had no clue about before CrossFit. If anything, Workout 12.2 began to separate the field proving raw strength is expensive if technique doesn’t accompany it.”

12.3: “CLASSIC CROSSFIT”

“Simply put, this was a gift to the experienced CrossFitter who could cycle movements well and had broad, general and inclusive fitness.”

12.4: “INSIDE JOKE”

“When 12.4 came up, I immediately got the joke – if one WOD doesn’t kill you, two might. Sure you had to be skilled to get a high score, but you had to be fit to be skilled. Great joke CrossFit.”

12.5: “COMPARE TO”


“It’s funny how many people complained about this workout when we should have expected it. However, it’s also very interesting that all those complaints stopped when people CrossFitting for the last year bettered their previous performance by leaps and bounds.”

THE OPEN IN THE FUTURE

Every CrossFit Games season has drastically changed from previous years. In somewhat of an uncharacteristic move, CrossFit kept things virtually the same from the Open 2011, to the Open 2012.

“If the Open continues unabated for the next five years, I think we will see 250,000 competitors and a continued inclusive format,” White says.