This is perhaps my favorite city because of Drechsel and Graff. It was no surprise that Drew not only finished, but walked away dry with the fastest time at 1:10. When you watch for two hours you see a lot of people struggle and fall, and I can only imagine that all those people watch Drechsel with a little bit of jealousy. This is definitely a sport with a lot of support, camaraderie, and sportsmanship, but some people, like Drew, have such talent, that it must be slightly difficult for other competitors to see someone run through with such ease. I'm sure Drew is very gracious and genuine to the others. During the USA vs. The World, America's team's strategy was mainly to have fun (which threw off Jessie in the beginning) and I can only imagine that this was implemented by Drechsel. Drew seems like he has a lot of fun, and though ANW may have become his life (he opened an actual ANW gym: the Ninja Academy) he doesn't seem obsessed or competitive about it. I've never had the privilege of meeting Drew Drechsel in person, but he seems so happy and so amazing. I would love one day to meet him and see him compete at Mt. Midoriyama.
Next, obviously, is Jessie Graff. She is still the best female athlete in this show even though she couldn't hit the buzzer. I'm fairly confident that she will be in Vegas, and I really want to see her finish Stage 1 and 2 again. She still finished 26th, so she was still in the Top 30, which is impressive. I know she can complete the Qualifying part, and based on last year, she can go really far in the City competition.
I was disappointed seeing Casey Suchocki fall on the Wing Nut. I remember his run last year, and it was pretty great. He finished his Qualifier run, and I thought he fell on the 9th obstacle in the Finals. Regardless, he was in Vegas, and I was looking forward to seeing him there again. Fortunately, he did propose to his girlfriend, and she said yes, which is sweet despite my dislike for public proposals. Anyway, I'm hoping to see him again next year.
It was great to see Travis Rosen and Ryan Stratis competing. JJ Woods also made his comeback. I thought his drama was a bit overdone. I don't know how devastating it is to fall so early, but he seemed very emotional (overly in my opinion), and to be depressed seemed extreme, but I think he overcame it well and he got back on his feet to make a fantastic comeback. The real test will be in the City Finals. Now because of the No Wildcard rule, he will definitely have to prove himself and go far, if not finish. Then Vegas will be the challenge, of course.
I was confused and sad to not see James McGrath on the course this year. He was on the sidelines cheering competitors on, but his run was nonexistent. I know he is on the Team Ninja Warrior with Drechsel, and perhaps he is in another city, but they didn't say anything about it, so maybe he is taking a break this year.
The others I enjoyed watching were Tyler Gillet and Kevin Carbone. Tyler had been working for this for 7 years, and I thought it was cool that he finally got the chance and succeeded by hitting a buzzer. So, despite my general dislike for the bio stories, I actually liked his because I was glad to understand how much it meant to him. I remember Carbone because he designed the Wing Nut obstacle which caused a lot of athlete's end, and he was a walk-on. I find that walk ons tend to do pretty great. I mean, Kevin Bull was a walk on (I think), and he is pretty dang great.
Now, I thought that Bree Widener was very peppy, and honestly, I didn't think she would go that far, but she surprised me and did quite well. She may not have gotten in the Top 30, but within the women, she may have a chance at the Top 2 women. I'm pretty sure that Jessie Graff will be one of them, and then it will come down to Bree and Lindsay, I'm assuming.
Eddy Stewart really surprised me because the bigger, more muscular competitors tend to fall, but he made it. So, it should be interesting to see him on the back half of the course.
When I look back on everyone who finished the course, I feel like half of their runs were not shown. I've noticed that ANW likes to do bios on people who don't finish, and then those that do are on commercial breaks. Which, again, I know TV time isn't what is important especially for the Qualifiers, but I don't typically remember a lot of the finishers because I don't know anything about them and I didn't even get to see them run.
Anyway... the people I am looking forward to the most will definitely be shown. Drechsel and Graff are two, and I think Rosen and the other women. I'm hoping Gillet and Carbone will shown because I like both of them and want to see them in Vegas.
All the cities are great. In all the cities there are great athletes; I really couldn't pick my favorite. I'm not sure what Kansas City will be like. They advertised for The Towers of Power and Lance Pekus, which I agree are recognizable athletes, but not necessarily on the Drechsel, Moravsky, Gil, level. So, basically, it'll be interesting to see what happens next week.
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