All right, let's chat real quick. I'm going to attempt to make this a shorter post, but I know I've said that before and failed. Anyway, let's start with the team competition. As soon as I saw the teams, I placed my bets on Team Kristine, not just because she won the previous two years, but because I believe she has a keen eye for ninja talent. Well, I only think that because she chose Nicholas Coolridge because Flip and Graff were already strong fan favorites. With that being said, I think The Kid and Barclay were somewhat obvious choices, especially The Kid after his fantastic rookie year. However, Tyler Gillett, in my opinion, was a good choice. Unfortunately, we didn't get to see him in action at all, but I don't think he would have disappointed. In a super easy-going and joking manner I'm going to say the loss for Team Kristine fell mostly on The Kid. The Kid had a phenomenal opening season. He also ran really well in the USA vs. The World competition which is why I really believed, as did everyone else I'm sure, that he would annihilate his portion of Stage 1. Speed kills. I thought this would ring true for him during his full length run for Team USA, but it found him in the All Stars run instead. I was surprised he took such a tumble because Stage 1 was HIS Stage. I realize that Jake Murray had the fastest time (apparently), but The Kid really crushed it. I definitely believe that if he hadn't slipped when he did, Team Kristine would have won Stage 1 and been playing for all the glory again. Now, even with my bets on Team Kristine, in hind sight, I don't think this team was quite strong enough to take on Stage 3. All of them are fresher faces, and none of them have experienced the monstrosity of Stage 3. Actually, I'm not sure if anyone on these teams have, but I am fairly sure Jamie Rahn has seen a(n easier) version of Stage 3 a few years ago. This doesn't mean he would have any kind of advantage because I would bet the Stage 3 he saw was completely different from the current version. Anyway, let's break down Team Kristine really quick, shall we? Let's assume Team Kristine did make it to Stage 3. Barclay is absolutely jacked and amazing; however, I don't know how she would actually fare on Stage 3. Her height is a bit problematic for some obstacles, so I would see her taking the final portion of the Stage like the women did for Team Matt and Akbar. Now, the question is who would take the middle portion? I would have guessed Gillett, but honestly, I don't really know what he's capable of. Stage 3 is pretty intense. Maybe with only the middle 3 obstacles, he would have been fine, and The Kid could have taken on the first 3. We'll never know. I think if they had gone up against Team Matt, they would have lost, and if they went up against Team Akbar, they would have had a good shot. Either way, doesn't really matter because they were eliminated. So let's move onto Team Akbar. First, with all due respect, I think that if Akbar wants to win, he needs to replace Grant McCartney. I know Akbar is in love with him, but Grant is a personality. He dances, he jokes, and everybody loves him, but he is not a great representation of Ninja Power. I really believe there are better options out there. I know this sounds mean, and I am sorry. I don't intend to rip him apart or anything, I just don't believe Akbar will win if he continues to choose Grant. Now, I realize he didn't last year, and he still lost, but let's just put it to Akbar not assembling great teams. Jake was fantastic though. He took on the middle portions of Stage 1 and 3 wonderfully. (Actually, correct me if I'm wrong about the order for Stage 1 because I don't remember 100%, but I'm pretty sure) Jake is really growing on me. It's not necessarily for his outstanding Ninja Warrior record or his impeccable strength on the courses. I think it's his energy. He's the kind of guy I think I'd really like to be friends with. Someone you can have loads of fun with but is also there to talk to. This was kind of a tangent, and I think I've mentioned this before, but I think this is why I like him so much. I also feel like he's been receiving more notoriety these last couple years, but perhaps I just wasn't paying much attention. He's still kind of in the middle/average crowd, but aided by his fun personality, he reaches the (slightly) above average category. Meaghan is still a decent choice, but she takes way too long. Most of the women do, but since she's one of the best, I expect her to not be so time consuming, for some reason. Barclay isn't too bad, I don't think, Graff definitely isn't either, but Labreck also struggles a little with time management. So much so that it almost cost them the competition. Meaghan seems to have the hardest time. If you observe those who are fast, you can see that they don't think about the course, they just run it. Joe, Drew, The Kid, Jake, Daniel, and a plethora of others who put up impressive times rarely pause in between obstacles and run with such ease. Meaghan, granted she's a woman and she's a shorter than the men, takes a lot of time in between obstacles. You can see it in her Stage 1 runs. I have very little doubt that she would be unable to complete the course; however, the time limit is what will get her. That's really my only gripe with her. I'm going to return to Grant really quick, too. Honestly, he surprised me in a bad way, and I'm sure you can gather that my expectations for him are not the same as with others. Yet, he struggled with Catch and Release on Stage 2 (although he did pass it unlike his teammate Jake), and with the Floating Doors on Stage 3. Watching him on Stage 3 was actually kind of difficult which proves that he, along with 99% of the other guys and gals, will never be able to complete the whole thing. Again, sorry that sounds so rough, but let's be honest, you all know that! Now, Team Matt, the champions! Solid team, same as last year, so not much new to say. Lance really surprised me on Stage 3. I thought he'd do better, but he fell in the same place as Grant. He did give Jamie 20 more seconds than Grant gave Jake, though. As I would have guessed, Jamie was the strongest member and took on the middle sections of the Stages they ran. Jesse was still good. She made me a little nervous on Stage 3 because he let the time get pretty close, but she pulled through. Overall, like I said before, in hindsight, Team Matt was probably the way to go. Still, I think Team Kristine was great, and I wouldn't have changed it. My faith in all three of them as individuals is not shaken, and I excited to see all these people in the upcoming regular season.
Okay, so that was really long, but we still have the competitions to talk about. First, I was actually hoping that Geoff and Isaac would face off in a rope climb since that is what I thought they were advertising. Regardless, it is exciting to see Geoff again, and I really hope he does well this season. We'll never know if Geoff or Josh is better at the Doorknob Drop, but I was glad to see Josh Levin in something since he got slightly jilted in Season 10.
Sean Bryan is an absolute beast with 35 rungs of a salmon ladder in 17 seconds. Barclay is also pretty unbelievable. She was the only competition for Bryan. 28 rungs is really impressive. What's more is that they said she can do a pull up with an additional 100 pounds, meaning she can lift 215 pounds! If she had a few extra inches vertically, she would be a real contender for strongest female athlete. I think height still really hurts people, particularly the women, despite what people say about it not making a difference or being a problem (It obviously is).
Joe Moravsky and Nicholas Coolridge went head to head in a competition. As you all know, I love Coolridge (so bummed he's not competing this year), I had to root for Joe this round. It was pretty close, but Joe always comes through. Jake and Thomas were an interesting pair, what with them both being former champions of this competition. After seeing Joe's run and his straight jump to the buzzer (no rope), I figured at least one, if not both, of them would disregard the rope. Surprisingly, though, only Thomas imitated The Weatherman which brought him to victory. It was really tight, and if you look closely, it was pointed out to me that Thomas' buzzer is the one which "goes off" meaning the smoke extinguishes when he hits his, but not Joe's. Watching the slow motion playback, it does appear that Joe touches his first, though, which is why he is rewarded. Joe must not compete in a lot of the skills competitions if this was his first win.
The Mega Spider Climb had me surprised with how close it was between Craver and Chris. Craver definitely surprised me. He did really well especially for the age gap between him and his final competitor. It was also another close call. Well, it was the first of the night, but I'm writing about it second, so it's "another."
The last skill was the Wicked Wingnuts. What can I say? Najee, Najee, Najee... Always the bridesmaid and never the bride. Here we thought that his one true competition, Drew, was out for this year, so the gold was as good as his. Yet, it was still snaked away from him. If you told me Adam Rayl would be walking away with the medal instead of Najee, I would be surprised, to be honest. However, Rayl isn't too shocking. Actually, I think he would have been a great choice for a team in the Team Competition, but just my opinion. Anyway, I do feel bad for Najee because I know he really wanted it, and I am fairly sure he hit 19' last year, but failed at the 20' mark against Drew. I wonder if he choked a little here with the pressure. Rayl is not unbelievable though, and in this case, "failure was [not] inevitable."
Finally, we come to the Big Dipper Freestyle. I don't consider this a skill, but it seems like it was more of a fun way to end the night. It looked like it was more fun to be a part of, or at least see live, than it was to watch. I greatly enjoyed Sean Bryan's launches, but not so much for everyone else. I'm not exactly sure what it was, but I didn't like it that much. It wasn't really a competition, in my eyes.
At the end, the All Stars Special is a fun night. I like seeing some newcomers and fresh faces in the competitions, and I hope to see even more as it continues. While I don't mind too much that some people compete in multiple competitions, there is definitely enough talent in the pool to have new people in each competition, so that is something I am hoping to see.
I'm pumped for Season 11. I can't say I'm super excited for this new obstacle element they're adding, but we'll see what it is. I promise I will return after the premiere tonight and lay it all out. So until then...
Okay, so that was really long, but we still have the competitions to talk about. First, I was actually hoping that Geoff and Isaac would face off in a rope climb since that is what I thought they were advertising. Regardless, it is exciting to see Geoff again, and I really hope he does well this season. We'll never know if Geoff or Josh is better at the Doorknob Drop, but I was glad to see Josh Levin in something since he got slightly jilted in Season 10.
Sean Bryan is an absolute beast with 35 rungs of a salmon ladder in 17 seconds. Barclay is also pretty unbelievable. She was the only competition for Bryan. 28 rungs is really impressive. What's more is that they said she can do a pull up with an additional 100 pounds, meaning she can lift 215 pounds! If she had a few extra inches vertically, she would be a real contender for strongest female athlete. I think height still really hurts people, particularly the women, despite what people say about it not making a difference or being a problem (It obviously is).
Joe Moravsky and Nicholas Coolridge went head to head in a competition. As you all know, I love Coolridge (so bummed he's not competing this year), I had to root for Joe this round. It was pretty close, but Joe always comes through. Jake and Thomas were an interesting pair, what with them both being former champions of this competition. After seeing Joe's run and his straight jump to the buzzer (no rope), I figured at least one, if not both, of them would disregard the rope. Surprisingly, though, only Thomas imitated The Weatherman which brought him to victory. It was really tight, and if you look closely, it was pointed out to me that Thomas' buzzer is the one which "goes off" meaning the smoke extinguishes when he hits his, but not Joe's. Watching the slow motion playback, it does appear that Joe touches his first, though, which is why he is rewarded. Joe must not compete in a lot of the skills competitions if this was his first win.
The Mega Spider Climb had me surprised with how close it was between Craver and Chris. Craver definitely surprised me. He did really well especially for the age gap between him and his final competitor. It was also another close call. Well, it was the first of the night, but I'm writing about it second, so it's "another."
The last skill was the Wicked Wingnuts. What can I say? Najee, Najee, Najee... Always the bridesmaid and never the bride. Here we thought that his one true competition, Drew, was out for this year, so the gold was as good as his. Yet, it was still snaked away from him. If you told me Adam Rayl would be walking away with the medal instead of Najee, I would be surprised, to be honest. However, Rayl isn't too shocking. Actually, I think he would have been a great choice for a team in the Team Competition, but just my opinion. Anyway, I do feel bad for Najee because I know he really wanted it, and I am fairly sure he hit 19' last year, but failed at the 20' mark against Drew. I wonder if he choked a little here with the pressure. Rayl is not unbelievable though, and in this case, "failure was [not] inevitable."
Finally, we come to the Big Dipper Freestyle. I don't consider this a skill, but it seems like it was more of a fun way to end the night. It looked like it was more fun to be a part of, or at least see live, than it was to watch. I greatly enjoyed Sean Bryan's launches, but not so much for everyone else. I'm not exactly sure what it was, but I didn't like it that much. It wasn't really a competition, in my eyes.
At the end, the All Stars Special is a fun night. I like seeing some newcomers and fresh faces in the competitions, and I hope to see even more as it continues. While I don't mind too much that some people compete in multiple competitions, there is definitely enough talent in the pool to have new people in each competition, so that is something I am hoping to see.
I'm pumped for Season 11. I can't say I'm super excited for this new obstacle element they're adding, but we'll see what it is. I promise I will return after the premiere tonight and lay it all out. So until then...
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