American Ninja Warrior

9 finishers in 6 cities. Is that a record? I remember 2 years ago, season 7, only had 11 finishers total. Denver was definitely a difficult course. First, a mini trampoline, which always sucks, but that caused more trouble in Qualifying, then the Rail Runner, The Wedge, and the Ninjago Roll, and, of course, The Elevator Climb. The Wedge is challenging in the sense that it requires strength, but also a lot of control and technique. I noticed with Meagan Martin she fell on it because she was stuck on the first jump, but when she tried to add more force to move, she added too much and took too big of a jump. The Wedge is a really challenging obstacle. Only 3 people have beaten the double wedge from Stage 2 (Drew, Daniel, and Jessie) and a handful have passed the single aside from the 3 tonight (Jake and Josh as examples). The added 3 were Lorin Ball, Jesse Lucero, and Ian Dory. Ball actually surprised me because I have never seen him as an upper body type, not insanely muscular, just lik...

So, KC 2017 joins Philadelphia 2016 in the No Finishers Club. I'm not as disappointed because KC didn't have any of my favorites, but like everyone else, I would have liked to see someone finish. I had a sneaking suspicion when they gave Maggi Thorne the POM Wonderful Run of the Night no one would finish. The first disappointment was Ethan Swanson. He was one of the runners I was most looking forward to, and it was a huge shocker to see him out on the balance obstacle. It seemed that in this City there were a lot less people to reach the 8th obstacle, or even the back half. A lot of people seemed to have gone out on the Qualifying part. Last week in Cleveland, over 20 of the 30 runners made it up the Warped Wall. This week, only 2 passed the 8th obstacle (which wasn't unusual), but only a few reached the Salmon Ladder and/or the Floating Monkey Bars. Crank it Up still took out a couple people, and the Bar Hop worked its magic just like in Qualifying. However, the Broken Pi...

I am going to start off by saying I really did not think Joe Moravsky was going to finish. I didn't necessarily doubt that he was going to miss Vegas, but I thought he would fall on the Nail Clipper like the 19 others. This is because Jamie Rahn finished at the half way mark on the show and earned the POM Wonderful Crazy Healthy Run of the Night. I would think that they don't give it on the spot because in Cleveland's Qualifying Round, Najee and Joe and Allyssa all finished, but they gave it to LaBreck who ran/finished last overall. They were either very confident in the fact that LaBreck could finish, or they already knew and edited it before it aired. They always give the Run of the Night after the recipient runs, not at the end of the show, which is why I think they already know the outcome and give the Run of the Night after everything happens. This is just what I think; I could be totally wrong about how they go about things. In L.A. there were 4 finishers, and they g...

This city was definitely difficult. Last week may have also had only one finisher, but as I've already ranted about, I did not like the Hourglass Drop. This week, however, the Giant Cubes seemed like a ninja terror: much more physically challenging than the Hourglass Drop. A few people were able to pass it, though. With an obstacle like this, I feel like maybe it isn't so much about "figuring it out" as it is just having the strength. Yes, there was some trial and error going on until Carbone figured out a solution for the first cube (using the pole and sort of pushing off of it), and then Graff used her insane flexibility to reach the second cube. Although, only one other athlete was able to mimic her: Travis Rosen. Drew did attempt twice to make an easy out, but he wasn't quite flexible enough, I guess. Luckily, that wasn't a problem for Drew. Anyway, the Giant Cubes reminded me a lot of the I-beam Gap that was in Cleveland Qualifiers. This was probably mor...

First, I want to comment on the obstacle course itself. I personally felt that it was easier than the L.A. Finals. Now, I know what some people are thinking-- there were less finishers in this city than last week therefore it must be harder. However, I feel that the killer was the 8th obstacle, as usual, and the main reason it got people was because of the horrible trampoline. There were a few people whose grip slipped on the actual hourglass part of the Hourglass Drop, but for the most part it was just the trampoline. Now, what bothers me is that this obstacle is about being able to drop onto a trampoline correctly. I don't think that has anything to do with strength, and, therefore, is not a true testament to one's strength. Even the ANW site says it's jarring and unpredictable and that you can be in peak physical condition and train really hard and still fail the trampoline. Yes, it does deal with some coordination and form, but compared to the other types of obstacles ...