Oops, I managed to miss Padraig's 'til just now.
as far as "overly hardcore" think that's a stereotype, or misconception - really its about pushing yourself as hard as you can, consistently, to maximize your results. some people overdo it, but some people always overdo anything.
I'm not too much of a CF hater - I just think it's something that *I* would have to be very careful with this, as I'm past 40 now (just), so I'm trying hard to avoid injury as much as possible, because my recovery time is not what it used to be. I read a post a few years ago by Greg Glassman which said basically "injury is for pussies" i.e. you're not working hard enough if you're not risking injury, which struck me as really stupid.
The only other problem I can see with maxing out your workouts like this is after a while it'd become hard to maintain any strength gains etc. I read a good CF critique a while ago which went in depth on this which I'll post if I can find it. Anyway, as you say, the reality actually in CF gyms may be much more nuanced. It certainly encourage an informed and critical fitness culture which can only be a good thing. There's a number of CFers who come to my place to perfect their O lifting form.
One of the things I really like about Crossfit is it's integration of gymnastics, just because so many of these moves impress the hell out of me. I'm 6' 4" so a lot of these movements are going to be beyond me, nonwithstanding the limitations of age and strength, but I'm wondering now what I could integrate. Do you do any gymnastic stuff yourself?
Currently - with my own fitness. I'm having an attack of plantar fascitis so I can't run, annoyingly. In the gym, I've had a new programme written for me which incorporates lots of more specialised O lifting stuff like snatch balance and snatch receive, which is keeping the working out interesting. I wish I was stronger and wonder about doing straight power-lifiting for 6 months or so to build up, but I think I'll get the same gains from O lifting, though progress may be more circuitous.