BlockParty Launch (Dedicated to Nugent)
Date: September 30, 2022
PAX (42): Unicycle, Bayside, Motorboat, Longneck, Lincoln Log (Respect, Respect), Hoser, Al Borland, Schnitzel, Thor, Hard Hat, Barn Door, The Plague, Griswold, Truly, Schweaty Balls, FNG, Rancid, Rollbar, Tator Tot, Khakis (Respect), Bubbles, Yodel, Patton (Respect), Diddy, Chucky, Pantyhose, Light Bright, Toto, Blades of Glory, Boji, Back Country, 12 Gauge, Armando, Cheap Seats, Steeple, Kryptonite, Tonight Show, Mufasa (Me-Ow), Big Unit, Stormchaser, Vlasic (Respect)
FNGs (1): Talcum. Talcum earned his nickname because he was EH’d by Schweaty Balls.
AO: BlockParty
Q: Fine Print (No Respect)
Conditions: Clear, 52 degrees F, Feels like 52 degrees F, Humidity 69%, Wind 6.1 mph from SE.
My youngest, Hendrix, woke me up at 1:00AM. I got him back to sleep but then kept thinking about all the things I still had to prepare for launch and couldn’t fall back asleep so I got out of bed at 1:30AM. I spent the next three hours fine-tuning my COT message; printing off the exercise sheets; packing supplies and provisions such as glow sticks, my wig, the foam route lights, headlight, speakers, etc.; building my EDM playlist (that I didn’t end up using); and going over the fine print for the workout. Finally, it was 4:00AM so I could leave and head to the Grove Park.
I arrived at the park and began to set up. I walked around the site placing the foam light sticks at each station. The excitement was crescendoing as I circled around the southeast end of the park and a steady stream of headlights entered the park for the 5:00AM prerun. The prerunners took off under Chucky’s supervision and leadership – thank you, Chucky. I sat down at a picnic table under one of the multiple pavilions (yes, we have multiple pavilions at BlockParty – no big deal…) to get the glowsticks ready for the PAX. While cracking glowsticks, I drifted off in a daydream reminiscing the time I almost drowned at a foam party at Space in Ibiza. As the suds approached the top of my head, I slipped and some Italians grabbed me from under the suds and pulled me up to safety – talk about picking up the 6… I came to when I heard Hard Hat’s voice asking if I needed help getting the glowsticks glowing – thank you, Hard Hat. The prerunners began to return and it was time to adorn the mullet. Side note, BlockParty is a place where we kick off the weekend with a tough business-like beatdown in the front but you can expect a fun-filled, second F environment in the back – the “Mullet of AOs”.
At 5:30, YHC welcomed the PAX to BlockParty and recited the 5 core principles, credo and mission statement and proprietary Fine Print DisclaimerTM.
Disclaimer: YOU HAVE OPTED TO PARTICIPATE TODAY UPON YOUR SOLE DISCRETION. ANY OF THE SUBSEQUENT ACTIVITIES YOU PARTAKE IN SHALL BE PERFORMED AT YOUR SOLE RISK. YOU ASSUME ALL LIABILITY FOR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER RESULTING TO YOUR PERSON OR ANY PROPERTY (EXCLUDING ANY DAMAGES INFLICTED UPON MUFASA WHICH ARE HEREBY EXPRESSLY ENCOURAGED). FURTHERMORE, YOU HEREBY INDEMNIFY ME THE Q, THE F3 OMAHA FOUNDATION, THE NANTAN, AND RELATED PARTIES AND FULLY RELEASE FOREVER INTO PERPETUITY THE FOREGOING PARTIES FROM ANY AND ALL CLAIMS, LIABILITIES, COSTS, DAMAGES, EXPENSES, WHATSOEVER, WHETHER KNOWN OR UNKNOWN, SO HELP YOU GOD.
Finally, I reminded the PAX that today was an important day in F3Omaha and we would be pausing to remember Nugent at 5:45AM. With the administrative tasks completed and liabilities disclaimed, we were ready to begin.
Warm-O-Rama: The PAX moseyed to the basketball courts for warm-o-rama consisting of 1 side straddle hop. I was concerned we’d run out of time so kept the WOR brief. You’re welcome, Khakis
Thang:
Rifle Carry Mosey on Trail around the Park (approximately 0.5 miles)
Stop 1: 20 Curls
Stop 2: 20 Overhead Press
Stop 3: 20 Kettle Bell Swings
Stop 4: At Stop 4 we partnered up and did the exercises: Partner 1: Murder Bunny Up, 3 Blockees, Reverse Murder Bunny Down; Partner 2: Derkins (Feet on Coupon)
Due to my impeccable timing and a significant amount of luck, we completed Stop 4 at 5:44AM, just in time to pause the beatdown and remember Nugent. I had asked Tater Tot to lead, thank you Tater Tot. The PAX circled up, took a knee and formed a ball of man. Tater asked us to spend a few minutes in quiet thought, thinking about Nugent and other important people in our lives. It was a powerful moment knowing that across F3Omaha, all PAX were honoring our brother together in the gloom. Tater led us in a brief prayer and we were back on the move. We picked up our coupons and headed for Stop 5.
Stop 5: 20 Squat Thrusts
Stop 6: 20 Dips at The 7 Stones
Stop 7: Grave Diggers (10 Each Side)
Stop 8: 20 Big Boys w/ Coupon
6MOM
15 Gas Pumpers
42 Rancid Hammers
Prayers and Announcements
Golf Fore COPE on Tuesday, 10/11. Check Slack for details.
Catamount launch on Tuesday, 10/4.
The Plague presented YHC with the shovel flag. Thank you Plague for the kind words and for your leadership. Thank you Bayside for the beautiful shovel flag. Amazing job!
Prayer request for Diddy’s friend Al and Al’s family. Al passed unexpectedly.
Prayer request for Nugent’s friends and family.
COT
First, I just want to say, this is such an honor and a privilege to be here with you and to launch this new site. But today is not about Block Party and it is not about me. Today is about Nugent.
I knew Chris the baseball player. We were both 2002 grads and so we played baseball against each other from about 10 years old and into college. We had some of the same friends: guys like Adam Engelkamp and John Ciaccio who many of you know and have both posted to F3Omaha workouts a few times. While I never got to know Chris personally, these friends of mine talked about him all the time.
I wanted to share one of the online comments to Nugent’s obituary. This is from Mike Bianucci who played with Nugent in the Texas Rangers organization. Mike perfectly captured who Nugent was based on all the stories we hear about him.
“Never played with a better guy in my 20 plus years in the sport of baseball. He would do anything for anyone who needed help at any time. Never met another guy like him and probably never will. The intensity and passion he had on and off the field left such an impression on everyone around him along with his loud laugh and jokes which I remember most about him. Many of us know Chris from different parts of our lives but I’ll remember him as the life of the locker room in Bakersfield CA with his mullet and smile. Rest easy Grady”
– MIKE BIANUCCI, October 3, 2021
Hard to believe it’s been a year.
Life is short. It can change forever in an instant.
We hear it every morning standing in these circles during prayer requests – a diagnosis, a car crash, a fluke accident, a random act of violence.
I went to dinner with my M last night as we do every Thursday.
We dropped the kids off with my parents and went to Rivera’s.
Rivera’s is closing at month end (Oct 29) so there was an hour and fifteen-minute wait.
We got some margaritas and were just talking while we waited.
My M kept getting texts from another mom in the neighborhood who is a doctor, was on call, and had to get to the hospital to deliver a baby.
She asked if we could pick her son up from flag football practice because the husband was gone.
I mentioned to my wife, it seems like she only calls or texts when she needs something.
My M mentioned she never wants anyone to feel that way about her – like she only reaches out when she wants something.
My M told me she actively goes through her phone and finds someone she hasn’t spoken to in a while and reaches out to them. One person each morning. Just a simple “hey how’s it going” or “what’s new”?
I immediately realized how bad I am at this. I haven’t reached out to some of the guys I consider my closest friends in months. And sure, when we see each other, we pick right back up where we left off.
But life can change in an instant – don’t take relationships for granted. Get to know the people in your life again and meet new people.
I wish I’d have gotten to know Nugent on a more personal level instead of just as a friend of friends. My message today is to focus on reconnecting with friends or family you haven’t talked to in a while. Get outside your comfort zone and talk to someone you haven’t before. Try and create new friendships with others in your orbit. It’s one small way we can honor Nugent and his legacy.
Thank you all for the support, encouragement and love. I love all you guys.
Slainte!
FP
P.S. Special thank you to the HIMs who ran back and picked up all the BlockParty paraphernalia scattered throughout the park post-beatdown. I think I saw Truly, Blades, Cheap Seats, The Plague and others. Thanks brothers! SYITG