AJ its been so great having you brother. Austin (AJ) Brooks joined us back on May 1st as a good looking, enthusiastic kid. Four and half months later he emerges from our brotherhood as a man. Having the opportunity to coach, mentor, and bleed/sweat/puke alongside him has been a treat. He has left my gym a standard of work output and sheer guts that is legend. AJ you will be missed, never replaced and will always have a spot on my “A” team. University of Washington is damn lucky to get such a fine young man. Study hard. Row harder. Be a leader. Never ever settle for less than the best. And lastly establish a standard of excellence as you did right here in my gym. Ill miss you brother.
WOD
AJ has been bugging me to do this WOD ever since he learned the muscle up. So here it is buddy.
“Jason”
For time:
100 Squats
5 Muscle-ups
75 Squats
10 Muscle-ups
50 Squats
15 Muscle-ups
25 Squats
20 Muscle-ups
( Muscle up you say?! Not a chance? Ok your buyout is 3 pullups and 3 ring dips for each muscle up)
Please join us tonight for dinner to send off AJ to college in style. We will be leaving from the gym at 8pm and heading to Francos where they have a table of 15 reserved for us. Post to comments if you plan to attend.
Good Luck AJ, keep up the good work in Seattle.
Oh and even though I can do muscle ups now, you can keep your workout.
We will miss you AJ. But I know I will see you at Crossfit Seattle when I go up there in Dec. We are all very proud of you!!
Well I wouldn’t miss this for the world. A chance to get my ass kicked by AJ one last time until next time. Why not?? I still think that Angie should be renamed AnJaaaaay. No sh*t talkin’ today, it’s humble pie for Matty but I will be there my friend.
I’ll definitely be there!!
A.J. and Garret it was great to have both of you in the box. You are both great athletes and I know it will continue during your time at the University of Seattle. Keep high goals always before you and you will succeed!
Cheers Boy Wonder! Heart, dedication and a great personality are three words I would use to describe you. Keep chargin and have a blast at the “W”.
I’ll be there for the dinner along with Mel.
Cheers!
So sad to see you go AJ, but at the same time I am also happy for you and so proud of all your achievements. Good luck and always remember that you have your OCCF family to come home to.
AJ, I have never seen a guy with a greater work ethic than you, seriously! Your tolerance for self inflicted pain is legend in the box and even tho you may not be 6’6″, I’d put you up against those amazons any day of the week. Nobody will disagree with me that pound for pound there is no-one in our gym more fit, strong, athletic or with a better attitude than you. The Huskies have no idea what they have just tapped. Best of luck! Chip
AJ,
I am sorry I am not there to wish you farewell. I know you are going to kick the living shit out of this wod tonight, so go out in style. You are an absolute beast in every aspect of life, be it athletics or not. I am proud to have been your teammate and great friend for as long as I have. You are going to achieve great things at UW, I know you are going to show everyone what’s up and how things should be done up there, you are a world class athlete my man. I remember the the first time we did Xfit, it was filthy fifty in 20 minutes or so. We have gotten in a lot better shape since then, and you will see that rowing is much easier now that we have been training with crossfit. Good luck with everything. Love you dude
A.J.
Words cannot express how much you will be missed
You have such a GREAT soul, wonderful and kind heart and are an absolute BEAST of an athlete.
You are about to embark on the BEST years of your life, embrace it and show us how it’s done.
Can’t wait to see you off at dinner tonight and don’t forget your roots.
We love you man!!! Cheers!
-Mel Mel
AJ, you have definitely been an asset to the Box. You are always in there pushing me to push myself. You have a GREAT attitude, always happy and giving 100%. We will miss your energy. I know you will do great up in Seattle and we can’t wait till you are back for the holidays.
I am trying to make it to dinner tonight and will for sure see you for this wonderful work out, fricken muscle ups! Maybe today is the day I finally get them down!
See you later!!!
AJ- You’ve establish a level of excellence for OCC. You’ve set the bar for both attitude and accomplishments and have provided inspiration for all of us. Thank you.
Best wishes for a great future. It’s sure to be bright!
AJ you are the man! It was really cool as a newbie to the gym to get coaching and motivation from you and Manchild from the very start.
AJ, you sure look different today than the first day you walked in!! In fact I did not even recognize the picture of you above. Keep up the spirit as it will serve you well and take you far.
I am in for dinner this evening. See you at the WOD….
Gonna miss you, friend. See you at dinner tonight!
I wanted to let everybody know that I was sorry that I couldn’t stay last night. Especially AJ. I’ve been extremely busy and just wasn’t able to join in the fun last night.
Matty
Aj — You are going to be missed!!