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L.A. City Finals 2019

Okay, yes, I am alive. I'm sorry I kind of dropped the ball the past couple of weeks. I did watch the Baltimore and Cincinnati qualifiers, I just never got around to writing anything, I guess. So, I'm actually going to skip over the qualifiers, in a way. I will mention some things I remember from those cities in this post, but if there is anything else I wanted to mention which comes to memory later, I will write it in the City Finals post which I will make sure to write.

Let's return to Baltimore real quick. We had the Flying Phoenix and The Weatherman as well as Captain NBC, Chris Wilczewski and Allyssa Beird. It was a good city. Obviously, the biggest shock of the night was 9 failed attempts at the Mega Wall between 3 of the competition's best competitors and two returning Mega Wall Conquerors. First, I was shocked that Joe ran in the middle of the two hours. Joe is usually in the last half hour, so it was a little unsettling that he was shown so early. I also thought it was interesting because he had the same run as Najee who was placed last. I know they are not shown in the order in which they have run when it was filmed, so they deliberately put Joe earlier than he has possibly ever been (at least in the past couple years). He was also probably faster than Najee, so they I'm wondering if they're mad at him for his early drop last year in Vegas. They clearly give preference to those who do really well the year before, hence why Najee ran last. Anyway, it was a heavy night when Joe and Najee and Chris all failed to win the $10k. They mentioned the weather and its potential interference. At first, I wasn't so sure, especially when it was only Joe who had failed. Believe me, I have so much faith in Joe's abilities, and I truly believed he could make it up there because he was so upset last year. However, when he didn't, I thought maybe he just didn't have it in him. A fair amount of people in the previous four cities had made it up this year after failing last year, probably after a lot of training, so I kind of doubt they changed the Wall itself. I figured Joe had trained a lot for the Wall, too, but considering he didn't make it last year, I didn't think it was too fishy. Then, Chris failed. He had made it up last year, but it was on an emotional power surge, thus I thought maybe he was just lucky last year. Then, Najee, the final runner, failed. He not only succeeded last year, but he can grab some serious air on the regular wall. This is what made me believe that the weather had some effect on the wall and its runners. Maybe I am giving them the benefit of the doubt, but when all three failed, it helps prove the weather point. The only other surprising thing that I can remember from that night was the Power Tower. Naturally, I would have guessed that Joe would have been one of the racers, but he failed half way through the show, so obviously it was not him. He was also clearly taking The Kid's route of focusing on the Mega Wall and not prioritizing time. He was more interested in his revenge on the Wall and not the Power Tower. He might have even been one of the guys who could have sought out both the Wall and the Power Tower like Gil and Dreschel. I also thought Chris would have been a great contender, but then he failed, too. Seeing Dave Cavanagh on the Power Tower was possibly more shocking than The Lizard. I was also a little suspicious of his Walk-on history, and I didn't understand why he wouldn't have been accepted normally after the first couple years of being a walk-on. I thought he didn't submit a video and chose to be a walk-on until this year. However, I have recently learned that Thomas Stillings was not accepted to compete this year after four years of competition on ANW. Therefore, I suppose it is possible he was rejected 5 years in a row. This was a bit of a tangent, but it does make me wonder how many veterans who were accepted in previous years have been rejected. It makes me think they prioritize people who have sob stories over people who have actual athletic ability. Anyway, it was still great to see some new faces hit the spotlight. In Conor Galvin's case, he is a very new face, but it's great to see Cavanagh hitting his peak and getting recognized in Baltimore. I guess we'll have to wait and see how he fares in Vegas. A couple other notes: I was bummed Jamie was skipped, I was bummed to not see James McGrath running (although he was there for his girlfriend), and Allyssa did really great. I actually was not a fan of this city course. For some reason, it seemed harder to me. I think it was because of Dangerous Curves and the order of this one and Crank It Up. I won't get into it, but this probably was my least favorite course this year.


All right, let's move on to Cincinnati. Ethan Swanson did not surprise me at all. Grant, on the other hand did. It's not because he made it up the Mega Wall (albeit on the third try, so it's a little less impressive), but because I thought he might be the one racing against Swanson. I guess some people surprised me in their decisions. For most, I imagine it was between the Mega Wall and the Power Tower. Daniel and Drew may have been able to achieve both, but this is definitely not the case for everyone. I know some people were also gunning for this like Adam in L.A., but failed to do either. I really don't know what people are going to go for. Grant clearly was not shooting for both, though. Like Joe, he seemed to know what he wanted going in because he was taking his time on the course, looking only to the Mega Wall and not beyond. The other biggest thing I wanted to mention was Jesse Labreck and Chris DiGangi. These two are so adorable! Oh my gosh, they were so cute on screen together. I'm usually not this mushy about couples, but they have a cute story. It was also funny that Chris was so excited to be her fiancé this year and not her boyfriend. Speaking of Labreck, I thought of Michelle Warnky. She did really well. She's been doing a lot better because I remember she was not always a true powerhouse for the women. She was called one, but had yet to really prove herself. This year, she did really good. She did well last year, reaching the 8th obstacle (as the first runner shown), but I thought she was edged out because Allyssa and Labreck were also there, and they had better times. The last big thing I remember about Baltimore was the ending between Swanson and Twait, the cat guy. He definitely surprised me going head-to-head against The Swan in his rookie year. However, these two seemed to have a lot less camaraderie after the winner was declared. Partly due to the fact that Twait slipped and fell and was unable to be at the buzzer with Ethan, so there could be no handshaking and whatnot. However, even Ethan's friends were cheering for him very loudly. I realize this is what friends do, but it sounded kind of intimidating for Twait, and I imagine it was a bit discouraging. In all the other cities, everyone was so friendly afterwards like there was no real competition. This one felt a lot more stiff, and it made me uncomfortable, even a little sad. Something great about this show/competition is that everyone is friends with each other. There's competition, but it is mainly against yourself, so everyone can come together without a lot of tension. This just felt unnatural in the ANW world, that's all. Also, I didn't see Brian Arnold, Ian Dory, or Isaac Caldiero? I knew Dory was supposed to be there, but an absent Caldiero? He comes back once after 3 years, fails hard, and disappears again? Really?

And now, we can move onto the first of the City Finals. Let's start by saying that even though Kretsch did great and has a good story or whatever, we all knew Flip was going to win the Safety Pass. There was over a minute between their finishing times, and we all know Flip is fast. Even Kretsch knew he wasn't going to win. I think for him, though, finishing the City Finals course was more important anyway. If I am correct, this was his first City Finals Buzzer, and apparently, he has never completed Stage 1. If this were me, and I had been competing on every single season of ANW and hadn't gotten that far, I probably would have ended my career already. This does sound kind of harsh, and obviously Kretsch doesn't let this get in the way of him competing, but it's got to be hard emotionally. Also, after learning about Stillings, it makes me wonder how he has been accepted year after year. This is a little meaner, I admit, but it was shocking news, Stillings. Especially after his injury in season 7 which he still uses a knee brace from. I feel like there should be a clause somewhere stating that people can't compete within a year of breaking a bone or having major surgery or something health related. For their own safety. Ryan Stratis and James McGrath are two such men who probably should have taken a break, just in case. Maybe even Sean Bryan. Don't get me wrong, they're all great athletes and fan favorites, but what's more important? Okay, tangent. Kretsch's story made me think about motivation. If this was his first City buzzer, and he has motivation, if that's what you want to call it, in the form of his father, how much of his success is credited to that? He claims he is doing it for his father, right? Yes, that makes sense, I suppose, but is he any stronger than he was in previous years? It really makes you think about how much of this could be mental, and how some people find motivation or inspiration in loved ones that helps them push through. Is that even a legitimate thing, or is it like a placebo effect or something? Obviously, if you can't do something physically, you can't do it. This year was different for Kretsch, but was it truly because of his father? I'm probably not making any sense, but I wonder if he wasn't running for his dad or whatever reason he gave, would he still have finished? The human mind is a very strange thing. This was kind of a tangent as well, but at least it was more specifically related to L.A. I was surprised to see Adam Rayl passed over, but I'm sure he won't be in Vegas. Hunter Guerard was the next biggest surprise. Considering he didn't finish, I wonder if they are just placing the Safety Pass winners at the end regardless of how well they do. I'm hoping they'll at least show all of them. Matt made a comment about how Hunter's time was fine, so he didn't need to try to dismount early, but he was obviously uncertain about whether or not he could make the blind jump. I don't know the actual order they all ran in, but it is possible he recently saw some of the greats like Kevin Bull and Adam Rayl fall on it, so he didn't want to risk it. He wanted to return to the Power Tower. I think he ran before Flip even though he was shown after because they panned to Flip, and he was still wearing his jacket and air pods seemingly in the warm up zone. The real run order would also change people's perceptions about time and how they want to run the course. Maybe they've already seen someone really fast run, and they go against their original plan and don't run for time because they know they don't have a great chance anymore, but they are shown after this other runner, so it appears different to viewers. Am I making sense? Who knows what goes on in these people's heads, though, right? Anyway, he took a pretty nasty hit to the head. Fortunately, this was in the City Finals and not Qualifiers. If it was the first night, he might not have been okay to run the next night in the City Finals, but at least in the City Finals, he had a few weeks to recover before Vegas. I'm actually pretty excited to see these finishers reach Vegas. I'm sure at least half of them will be cut out, but we can hope. People like Ben Udy, Seth Rogers, Danell Leyva, Scott Willson, and Brian Burk showed some real potential. Rogers is 19, so that's always hopeful, and Leyva surprised me. He is also a great case for why gymnasts are really prefect for this type of competition. Najee, Joe, Adam, and Barclay are also strong proof. Again, I really think most of these guys will get skipped when they are mixed in with all the big dogs, but we'll have to wait and see. They always surprise me with who they decide to show and who they gloss over.

Tiana Webberly came back strong. I was suspicious because she dropped on the second obstacle in Qualifying, so I was wondering if she still had it in her. Also, Anna Shumaker couldn't make it back up the wall. Maybe they changed it from last year? Did they cut a little bit of the running space, or was she just more tired after this course than she was after last year's course?

Okay, I want to mention something which really bothers me. I think last year they let in the Top 15 based on time and distance plus the best two women for a total of 17; I don't recall the women being included in the overall 15 they send through (because they weren't). This year, oh man... this year is stupid. They count the 2 women in the final 15, so it really becomes the fastest 13 people who make it through, which screws over 2 people who could have been in Vegas in place of women. I am mixed on this, yes. However, what is really annoying is that they included Hunter Guerard, too, but did not rank him. So, there were technically 12 fastest men, plus 2 women, plus Guerard. Here's my issue: if they decide to count him towards the total number of those moving on (the Top 15) they should have ranked him on his time. He probably would have been around the 3-5 mark, but they did not do this! He was just listed at the end as moving. So this screws over yet another person who could be going to Vegas. Either, consider him a finalist in the City Finals and rank him so that there are 13 fastest people plus 2 women for a total of 15, OR don't include him since he is automatically going, and let someone be in the 13th slot to go to Vegas. Does this make sense? Because I want it to. This annoys me greatly. Passing over men in favor of women is happening a lot more in this show, so I can get by it, but this seems like an insult to whomever was on the 13th slot bubble. The Speed Pass Winner should not be included in the overall Top 15 whom they allow to advance because they already secured their place the night before.

Finally, I hate the Safety Pass. I said it. I hate it. It's stupid. You are going to the NATIONAL FINALS. You have ONE shot. It is stupid to let someone have a re-do. First of all, they probably won't win because if they can't pass Stage 1 or 2 the first time around, they probably won't fare very well on Stage 3. Also, it would seem really lousy if someone who won the Safety Pass won everything and the million dollars. It would look bad, PERIOD. Everyone should get one shot. It's also not fair because some people are naturally very fast competitors. They have to go fast to do well, and others can do the same thing, but not in 5 seconds. This also has a tendency to be some of the bigger names in the competition. In short, this is playing favorites. This is unfair. I did not like the Speed Pass, but I got over it. I definitely DO NOT like this stupid Safety Pass. Look, I was so disappointed when Joe fell on Stage 1 or when Daniel fell on Deja Vu or Najee ran out of time or Adam Rayl fell on the Salmon Ladder, but this is the big leagues, and I think it's a joke to let them have a re-do. Even if one of my all time favorites earned the Safety Pass, and used it, and won everything, it would not mean nearly as much as them completing all 4 stages with everything on the line.

So yeah, they made some alterations, and needless to say, I am not happy with them. I'm still going to watch every second of this season, though. OKC and Atlantis have some of my favorite runners, although let's be honest, I love people from all the cities. The Power Tower is still interesting in trying to guess who will be racing whom, but I could do without it/its reward. I will say that I am kind of hoping to see Daniel Gil vs. The Kid. Without the Mega Wall, it's very possible. With that, I will be talking to you next week. Here's to praying I'm actually within a reasonable time!











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