I'm partially cheered, and partially disturbed that my insanity is so widespread.

It is so sad really. CrossFitters discover why sports are a good idea, and then turn around and go back to the stupid idea of fitness:

"In implementation, CrossFit is, quite simply, the “sport of fitness.” We’ve learned that harnessing the natural camaraderie, competition and fun of sport or game yields an intensity that cannot be matched by other means. The late Col. Jeff Cooper observed, “the fear of sporting failure is worse than the fear of death.” It is our observation that men will die for points. Using whiteboards as scoreboards, keeping accurate scores and records, running a clock, and precisely defining the rules and standards for performance, we not only motivate unprecedented output, but derive both relative and absolute metrics at every workout. "

The issue is, obviously, that beyond health and sexiness, most modern people have no need for fitness at all. Their definition of fitness, "increased work capacity across broad time and modal domains", is wonderful except we don't actually need to do that sort of work. We sit at desks and get paid for it, and mainly want to be sexy and healthy, that is what we expect from the gym.

The reason sports are are better is that they give a reason to be fit. They give an actual real life goal to use fitness for.