National Finals Finale 2019

Edit: I realize in my initial post, I never actually congratulated Drew. He'll never read this, but Congratulations Drew Drechsel! It's really amazing that you won after all you hard work and dedication. It's truly admirable, and I hope to see you soon!

First things first, I really appreciate everyone who has taken the time to read my posts/rants. I realize I haven't really made things very easy with my large, long blocks of text. So, starting with the final post of the season, I will try to start implementing some organization. We'll see what happens.

Initial Thoughts

I really, really wanted Daniel Gil to win. When I saw Joe drop, and Daniel was shown last, I knew he would finish Stage 3. I wanted Gil to win so bad, you don't even know. I'm not mad that Drew won, I'm just not happy, not this year. If you've looked at my previous posts, you'll know why, but of course, I'll still talk about it today. The course wasn't my favorite, either. Ultimately, I think part of it was also that they told us there would be a winner, like, three weeks ago, and then kept hyping it up. I mean, how could we not guess that Drew won? I'm sure it was an advertising strategy or something to make people want to watch the finale, but who couldn't have guessed that it would be Drew? It wasn't the nail-biting bait they thought it was. If Drew had fallen and been shown early, then it would have been interesting, but we all knew it was going to be Drew. Aside from Drechsel and Gil, I was pleasantly surprised by a couple names, which I'll mention, too. I am actually quite conflicted about how I feel towards this season's finale.

Daniel Gil vs. Drew Drechsel

I suppose it's fair to start with our newest champion: Drew Drechsel. Don't misunderstand me. I definitely believe that Drew is one of the absolute best of ANW. He has tremendous skill, strength, and ability, and he has dedicated endless hours to his training. I won't deny the fact that he deserves to win it all. However, my issue only comes from his error on Stage 1. Despite Drew's 6 buzzer season, to me, Geoff Britten is the only one to have a perfect season. You can barely argue with me because it is undeniable that Drew failed. He fell on Stage 1 and that is on his record. If it weren't for their stupid new Safety Pass, he wouldn't have won. It saved his ass. Like I said, I believe Drew is one of the best athletes the show has ever seen, and any other year I would have been thrilled to see him on the top of Stage 4, honest. This year though, what with the Safety Pass and Stage 2's changeup, it just doesn't feel like the extraordinary season Drew is capable of. Maybe this is why he won this year, though... In terms of skill, Drew is one of the best no doubts, I've said this many times before, even within this post. Now, Drew has fallen from my favor a bit over the past couple years, which is part of the reason I wanted Daniel to win so badly (actually a pretty big reason). It just felt like a bit of a let down because Drew used his Safety Pass. If he hadn't fallen it would be completely different. I still would have wanted Daniel to win more than Drew, but I would have been so happy for Drew. I also still would have seen Drew's victory coming from a mile away, but that was just the way the show advertised. 

Surprisingly, I didn't have a problem with Drew crying and showing some emotion. Normally, it bothers me when anybody cries in public, and I don't like when the ninja's cry after hitting a buzzer. Period. However, in Drew's case, there was something about his emotion that made things very surreal and touching. It does show how much Drew wanted this, but I also believed that Joe and maybe even Daniel would have had tears if they won everything. The biggest question about Drew, now, will be 'Will he return next year?' (slash, is he allowed?) There will be a lot of hype the next time he takes to the starting line of an ANW course. 

All right, it turns out I didn't have anything new to say about Drew, but I have a bit to say about Daniel, mostly in comparison to Drew. First, let's look at what year they are. Drew had 5 years, I think, on Daniel. Here's a side tangent. It's unquestionable that the courses were getting harder every year from about season 6 (maybe) to about season 9 or 10. Now, the courses are probably reflective of the abilities of the athletes, so as more people learned about the show and started training for it, the obstacles had to get harder to keep up with the talent. However, as we know, it isn't just about strength when it comes to competing on ANW. It's also a mental game, and Drew had 5 years extra experience on the courses. Again, I realize that the environment and spectacle of the show grew more intense the more popular the show got, but still, Drew had 5 years experience more than Daniel. And yet, both of these guys were staring down Stage 4 on the same night. Additionally, Daniel arguably had a better season since he never fell on any course he took on and he had faster times in Vegas. At the very least, they did equally as well more or less because their city courses were different. Obviously, I have to mention that Daniel didn't need a Safety Pass unlike Drew. I'm going to throw that Safety Pass in your face a lot, by the way, because it still really peeves me. Daniel had such a phenomenal season, and I wanted him to win. At the same time, I can't ignore the fact that Daniel still wouldn't have won even if Drew had been eliminated on Stage 1 (like he should have been). Daniel still failed to climb 75 ft in 30 seconds, so without Drew there would not have been a winner. I recognize that. Daniel did not have a perfect season. It's also how we can assume it's not extremely rigged. You can make a stage easy, but even that's not a guarantee that someone will pass everything. The newest champion fell on Stage 1, and Daniel couldn't climb the rope. People's actual ability is a little harder to rig/fake. Now, we come back around to the Isaac/Geoff dilemma, slightly, of who had more time to rest in between Stage 3 and Stage 4. From Isaac's year, since Isaac had a faster Stage 3 time, he was allowed to choose who ran first, and he chose Geoff which begged the question, did Isaac have more time to rest before climbing thus leading to his victory? He was also shown before Geoff in Stage 3, but I think this was before I realized that the order of the runs were edited, so I don't know who actually ran first. Same with this week. It is possible that Drew ran after Daniel. I thought it was interesting that they still showed Drew before Daniel. Again, I think this was a way to keep people engaged since Drew ran at about the half-way mark. But, you still could have thrown Daniel in there instead, because we were kind of expecting Drew to pass, so it would have been interesting to have Daniel pass first. If they were trying to keep people watching through the second half of the finale, showing Daniel, in my opinion, would have accomplished the same effect, but maybe I'm wrong. I just thought it was interesting. 

Anyway, back to Daniel. I don't know if Drew finishing Stage 3 had anything to do with Daniel's failure on Stage 4. Maybe he didn't have as much time to rest? Maybe he lost focus or was worried going against Drew? Maybe nothing would have been different and he still would have run out of time? Probably the last, but you never really know what was at play, and it's not like Daniel would ever say anything to hurt the show or Drew. Based on what we've seen Gil do, and considering he did exactly what Drew did (in Vegas) in faster times, we can believe that Daniel is capable of climbing a 75ft rope in 30 seconds. The fact that he didn't just makes me wonder a little bit if there was something hindering him at that particular moment. Also, another side note, The Kid was standing on Drew's side! When they reached Stage 4, there was a clear, if maybe unintentional, divide between Drew and Daniel, and The Kid was standing next to Drew's girlfriend. Now, I'm sure this means nothing, I just didn't know The Kid and Drew were friends? I know Daniel and The Kid are friends and training partners, so I would have thought that The Kid would have been there for Daniel. I know he probably was cheering for him and in full support of him, but this was still a competition between the two, and whether people admit it or not, they were secretly rooting for one person more than the other. I'm sure it meant nothing, it was just something I noticed. 

Finally, Daniel has another job. He, like the majority of others, doesn't have the full luxury of training all the time. Drew literally flipped his sleeping schedule for months in order to prepare. It's another case I have for Joe, too. Daniel has another job that is not ninja related which takes away from his time training. I don't know the extent to which Daniel or Drew train, but Drew talks about training a lot, and he works at/owns a gym, so I'm not wrong in imagining that Drew has more time to train. It just seems as though Drew has dedicated not just his time, but a lot of his life to winning the show. Yes, in the end, it paid off. And maybe, Daniel spends just as much time training for the show. I don't know their lives. Another thing I was thinking about when looking between the two athletes. When it comes to these two side-by-side this year, Daniel had a better season and deserved to be on Stage 4 more than Drew, this year. I'm not even saying that Daniel deserved to win, but he deserved to be there more than Drew, that's all. 

The Course

I probably should have started with this first, but I was so eager to talk about Drew and Daniel. I don't have as much of a problem with Stage 3 as I did with Stage 2, but this still wasn't my favorite. For starters, you all know I hate when they reuse obstacles. For Stage 3, especially, they should be using unique obstacles. Everything should be special to Stage 3, even if they decide they want to change it every year. It's a little boring to see obstacles over and over, but it's also unfair. The Battering Ram, Crazy Clocks, and Iron Maiden/Northwest Passage have all been in City Courses, thus some of these people have experienced the obstacle, even if they are alterations of them (i.e. Grip & Tip and Iron Summit). Now, maybe none of the people who passed all three of these had any of these obstacles in their cities, but the fact that it is always possible is what is annoying. It could be an unfair advantage. This happened last week with Snap Back which The Kid and Daniel Gil and Josh Salinas and possibly others saw and had been on prior to Stage 2. I don't like this. We definitely should not be seeing the same obstacle multiple times in one season. That just feels lazy. The obstacles in Vegas should be unique to Vegas, in my opinion. I realize that these duplicate obstacles may show up in various cities across the future years and allow lots of ninjas experience them, but in general, I don't care for it. Stage 3 also had 3 of them, and I don't think Grip and Tip nor Crazy Clocks are very difficult. Josh Salinas was the only one to slip up and nobody fell on Crazy Clocks. I guess these obstacles are meant to wear down instead of drop people, but considering there are only 7 obstacles (I'm not sure the number in previous seasons, it may always have been 7) I think each obstacle should be a potential dropper. Crazy Clocks especially, in addition to the actual proof, doesn't really deserve to be in Vegas. It seems a little too easy for Stage 3. I also wasn't so sure about Pipe Dream. This reminded me a lot of the obstacle from Isaac's season. I think the name was Area 51 or something like that, and it was kind of like a horizontal version of Pipe Dream. You kind of had to slink across these discs, but it was a full body obstacle, which is my point. Pipe Dream is kind of a (potentially) fuller body obstacle. It was hard to lock in the lower half completely, but you could. Also, I was mad that they dumbed down the Ultimate Cliffhanger. Last year, they made it two jumps before you could dismount. I wonder if it's because Drew fell there on the second jump last year, so they had to take it out so that he could win? This is the kind of stuff that's really annoying, though. Stage 3 is meant to be nearly unbeatable, and the Ultimate Cliffhanger is a fantastic obstacle. The fact that they kept adding and lengthening it was a great way to spice up Stage 3 and keep it consistent, something they usually and still do fail to accomplish. Then they go a scale it back? They should stick to their guns and keep it the way they change it. Last year's Ultimate Cliffhanger is what I am talking about. They keep the obstacle which is only really found on Stage 3 (there was a variation 5 or so years ago in St. Louis, I believe), and they revamp it every couple years to keep up with the talent, but they don't switch it out all together. They add a little more every time someone completes it. I like it that way instead of seeing a completely new Stage 3 every year. Speaking of new courses...

Stop Talking About Isaac Caldiero

Another issue I had is that they kept referencing Isaac's win several years ago, and how he and Geoff are the only ones to have conquered Stage 3 in regular season. Yes, they did, BUT this year's Stage 3 is absolutely nothing like Isaac's. The Flying Bar and part of the Ultimate Cliffhanger were the same, but the Flying Bar of Stage 3 is like the Warped Wall or the Salmon Ladder. Everything else was different, though. I liked what they've had before this, but I wasn't a complete fan of this year's Stage 3. It was also like Stage 2 in this regard. They talk about people getting revenge on Stage 2 or redemption or whatever, but it was a completely different obstacle course. All the have in common is the name. Isaac winning was a big deal, and it still is since he is the first to take home the million dollars, but his Stage 3 is irrelevant to Drew's. In fact, Stage 1-3 were probably quite different between Isaac's and Drew's. He's also MIA, so I'm not sure they needed to be talking about him, to be honest. What these two guys did, what Geoff and Isaac did, it was different, thus we can't really talk about them in the same light. 4 years difference is a long time in ANW years. Once we see Isaac back in Vegas alongside Drew, then we can start talking. 

Isaac Caldiero vs. Drew Drechsel/Season 7 vs. Season 11

While we are on the subject of Isaac, let's talk about season 7's finale compared to season 11's. First, Isaac was the first official winner to be crowned with the title and the money. But we also saw Geoff Britten be the first (and only) one to perfect his season, and technically win the title of First American Ninja Warrior (despite what some, including Isaac, may say). That season had its first official champion which was absolutely amazing. Drew being the second winner doesn't have the same amount of complete amazement and wonder that Isaac earned simply because it was not the first time.  It was totally unbelievable and unobtainable at the start of Isaac's year. For Drew, there was already a winner, regardless of whether or not he was competing that year. The unbelievable could now be believed and it was only a matter of time and when for Drew. He didn't necessarily shatter anything like Isaac did. He wasn't a complete game changer. On the other hand, season 7 had its complications due to the fact that there were two winners which put an odd damper on things because we felt bad for Geoff (I still do). This year, there was one clear winner. In my opinion, the level of hype was actually pretty even. Isaac didn't have as much intensity behind him or as strong of a fan base. Drew is beloved within ANW, and a lot of the other ninjas rallied behind him, unlike Isaac who had a smaller group (the Wolf Pack). I'm not sure how popular Drew actually is within the Ninja community, but he definitely seemed to have more fellow ninja supporters than Isaac. Plus the audience buzz might have been more extreme because people were expecting Drew to succeed, and Isaac was a little out of left field. To even this out, Drew was the second winner. Let's be honest, even though this meant more to Drew than it did to Isaac (probably, but we don't know obviously), Drew was the second official winner. He did fail at being the first. Also, like I mentioned, their courses, their Mt. Midoriyama, was different from each others. This throws things more out of whack because they earned the same title and amount of money, but they did completely different things. I think this attributes to the more positive feelings for Drew. We shouldn't have been thinking of Isaac at all as Drew climbed to victory. I do hope we get to see Isaac, Drew, Daniel, and Geoff all together in a season, and hopefully, we'll see all four of them again on a Stage 3. To see them all compete on the same course, the only 4 to see Stage 4, would be an epic setup for something great to happen. 

Joe Moravsky

Before Drew and Daniel, I was cheering for Joe. I wanted Joe to win even more than Daniel. When they showed him 30 minutes in, I knew he was not going to be climbing Stage 4. I also didn't realize he had so much experience on Stage 3. It makes his fall even worse. He was only a few inches away, too. If he had been on the right side of the bar for the Cane Lane dismount, I know he would have cleared. The Flying Bar would have been nothing. He could have really given Drew a run for his money, too. Joe's ANW career has been so remarkable. I really wanted him to win. Like Daniel, Joe has a full-time job non-ninja related and a family. Unlike Daniel, his family takes away from his ninja training opportunities. I definitely don't think Joe has nearly as much time as Daniel or Drew to train (should be interesting to see what Drew does with a kid next year). This makes him way more incredible. He doesn't get to switch his sleeping schedule or spend hours at a ninja gym, yet he can almost keep up with Drew, who just won. Joe was literally 6 inches away from Stage 4, I believe. Once you take into account Joe's circumstances versus Drew's, it makes Joe look a lot better. Drew may be the 'Real Life Ninja', but Joe is so natural at this. Elet Hall garnered the official nickname 'The Natural' but Joe is truly amazing in American Ninja Warrior. I was so disappointed when he fell. I just feel like he deserved better! I have no idea what would have happened should it have been Joe instead of Daniel competing against Drew. Obviously, I love Joe, but part of me still knows Drew would have won. I feel like the producers wanted Drew to win this year. They want someone who has dedicated his life to ANW, not a regular family man, in my opinion. People like Joe keep people watching, but people like Drew make new people watch, is what I think the producers think. Drew lives and breathes ANW, and is like a walking billboard for it. He's their poster child. He's more likely to be able to keep up the image. Joe has a family which he has to prioritize. Joe doesn't travel or go on tours, not as many as other ninjas. This isn't his career; it's his hobby, and I greatly respect that. I hope to see Joe win one year because I think he really deserves it. Let's just blame this year on his hand cut he got on the Ultimate Cliffhanger. He would have been fine without it!

The Kid

Okay, surprisingly, The Kid kind of disappointed. I had the whole thing about him standing on Drew's side, but his actual run was not what I expected. As a refresher from last week, because The Kid used his Safety Pass, I wasn't rooting for him to clear the Stage. I was more interested in seeing how far he could get, which I did; however, I thought he would have made it farther. His run was very average. I though he would at least pass the Ultimate Cliffhanger. I still believe in The Kid's ability, and I think he is one of the frontrunners for leading the next generation, but I think the was overhyped. We've seen some really great young guys other than The Kid go farther than The Kid. I guess I did see what The Kid could do, and I maybe I shouldn't have been surprised. Last year and the start of this year, The Kid was high on my list, but I think he has sunk to be closer in the middle after this finale. He's fallen from my list, but Drew is 30 and he just won. The Kid is 20, so assuming the show lasts long enough, The Kid still has at least 10 good years left. We'll see what happens over the next couple of those.

Seth Rogers and Lucas Reale & the Next Generation

All right, these two are the guys we should be talking about. I'm very glad both of them were shown because they deserve it. Cane Lane and Pipe Dream respectively ended their seasons and that's not too shabby for a 19 and 20 year old. Seth Rogers is the youngest to make it to Stage 3, and even though that was probably because Stage 2 was such a bust, it is quite impressive. Being that young still isn't an advantage, though. I think a major drawback to being young on the show is that you're inexperienced. The Kid had some exposure due to his training with Gil which I think helped, and he does look more relaxed on the course, so some people are just more meant for this type of show. Rogers and Reale have proven that they can play with the big boys, too, but it doesn't mean they don't have more to learn in the ways of focus and the mental aspect of the competition. With this being Rogers' first year, I think he might have been a little frazzled and overwhelmed. He looked good out there, but I can't say he was as confident and relaxed as some others (young or not). He's also one of the taller athletes, so it was a double surprise for me that he did so well. At first, I wasn't too sure about him; he kind of blended in with the others, but after this finale, he's definitely on my radar. I hope he doesn't get lost in the shadows in the upcoming years. Reale also had a good season. Maybe it was kind of a fluke, and he'll go down early next year. The possibility exists for Rogers, too. I hope not (for both) because he shows a lot of potential for the young guys. Honestly, instead of The Kid, it could be Reale, Rogers, and Day (he did go out early this year, but he did great his rookie year, so I still want to mention him.) who lead the way for the next generation. R.J. Roman is also a younger guy who has done well. I vaguely remember Reale from last year, but like Rogers, he is definitely on my radar now. I hope that this year was truly reflective of what these two can do, and that they were on Stage 3 by no mistake. I guess we should also be expecting to see a lot of great, young talent. The show has been in America for over a decade now, and they lowered the age limit to 19. People like The Kid, Reale, and Rogers have been training for this show for years, something people like Drew and Joe, who were before the rise and hype of ANW, never did. Even now, though, we still see a lot of young people fall early. Drew and Joe are testaments to how gifted you actually have to be in order to be successful on ANW, but these young guys prove the same exact thing. To be young isn't important. It's actually natural ability. A lot of young people are training years in advance to their first opportunity to run a real course, but this is something that you either have or you don't, in my opinion. Just look at the people who have competed for years and years and are just now hitting City Finals or Stage 1 or Stage 2 buzzers. I don't believe success here can be created or obtained through training, but maybe more people will unlock the full extent of their ability. These last few sentences were a little contradictory, weren't they? But what I'm saying is that I hope to see a lot more young talent and it's a lot more likely now, but people still have to prove themselves; that doesn't change. 

Ethan Swanson, Chris DiGangi, Michael Torres and others

Once the ball started rolling, and we began seeing people pass the Ultimate Cliffhanger, it was kind of weird to look back at these three athletes. I'm not sure what I expected from DiGangi or Torres, but I guess I thought Swanson might have had more potential. I do have to say that I love the Chicago-an posse they've got going on. Something else interesting is that Drew and even Joe don't really have close ninja relationships, not like some of the others. I suppose Drew usually has Flip and last night he had The Kid, but he doesn't have a crowd like some others. It's really cool to see the support these guys give each other, and it's cool to see that Swanson recruited all these people to work and train with him at the gym. It's not the jobs and the money and the tours that come from Ninja Warrior that I like seeing, it's the relationships and friendships that are built. Right now, Jake Murray is hanging with Kyle Soderman and Hunter Guerard and Thomas Stillings, and he was with Ryan Stratis a while ago who is now hanging out with James McGrath. Jamie Rahn and Najee Richardson among other ninjas were at an event together, too. Maybe they come together for some planned event at first, but I love seeing them hang out together outside of the event, at each other's house or at a restaurant or just in the parking lot. This is a major aspect of the show that they could highlight, but they don't as much. Anyway, this was a bit of a tangent. Seeing them run first was surprising, but once I saw them at the start line, I kind of knew they weren't going to do too well. Although, the Ultimate Cliffhanger is about half way. Honestly, the amount of people who reached the Ultimate Cliffhanger and the amount who passed it really surprised me. A handful of people even made it passed the jump and just failed the dismount. A fail is a fail either way, but I feel like the transition jump used to be a really difficult thing, now not so much apparently. I can't say I had high hopes for any of these guys, along with people like Stratis, Carbone, Suchocki, Guerard, Williams, Smith, Salinas, Roman, Voiles, and Burkhalter. I also could have easily guessed that 6 of these guys got skipped. I still think it's unfortunate that they get passed over, especially since these guys are no stranger to being fast forwarded. Carbone, Voiles, Suchocki, and Guerard were skipped in Stage 2, too. Voiles, Carbone, and Williams actually really surprised me with all three of them passing the Ultimate Cliffhanger. I can't say I expected that out of any of these guys, so cheers to them.  

Adam Rayl and Tyler Gillett

These are two guys who are right under Joe, Drew, and Daniel in my book. They are two people (Rayl more than Gillett) who I would totally believe could clear Stage 3 but at the same time would also believe that they fell. I think they're really consistently strong. Honestly, Adam Rayl is still a strong bet for clearing Stage 3 in the near future. Technically, he made it the third farthest, touching and therefore beginning The Flying Bars. He was also a walk-on which I'm sure I knew but forgot. He does seem like the kind of guy who would be a walk-on, though. He's very zen and meditative in demeanor, very close to hippie, I feel. I wouldn't be mad at all if Adam won some year. I think I'll still be cheering for Joe and Daniel more, but Adam is a good bet. Tyler Gillett is still a little overlooked, and he got screwed a lot this year. City Finals, Stage 2, and Stage 3 were all passes for him (buzzer and screen time). I can't completely remember Stage 1, but I think they showed him. He's a young guy and he's really great. I don't think they are giving him enough attention. I hope this changes over the next couple years, but unless he does something really extraordinary or is the last man standing or something, he's probably going to get screwed over a lot more before he retires. 

The Safety Pass

The next thing to think about is if the Safety Pass will return next year. I think people kind of enjoyed the Power Tower to a certain extent (myself included). However, the Safety Pass brought us a winner. Without it, there would have been no champion. This could mean that they want to keep it around in hopes of another winner, or they'll remove it for next year because they don't want two winners in a row. The Power Tower may stay, but the reward may be different. I am completely in favor of getting rid of the stupid Safety Pass all together. I don't care that Drew wouldn't have won if he didn't have it. I think it actually makes it victory less grand and a little bitter-sweet. To think that Drew needed it is a shame. I feel like it actually takes away from his achievement, like a dent or a scratch on the otherwise perfect record. I'm sure he doesn't mind too much because he finally got what he's wanted for the past 9 years, but hopefully, it is in the back of his mind. He could have done better that year. 

Conclusion

I don't think there should have been this many people on Stage 3 to begin with. I didn't like the course that much. I really wanted Joe or Daniel to win. Nobody had a perfect season; Drew failed (on Stage 1). Some of these guys genuinely did impress me, and maybe some of them did deserve to be on Stage 3. These are pretty much the summation of my thoughts on Season 11's finale. I knew Drew was going to win; you could feel it; they set it up. I feel like they wanted Drew to win (or somebody) which may have influenced the course design. But, like I said before, you can't make somebody clear all 4 stages. You can't really alter their natural ability. I believe that it could be done somehow, but I truly don't think this was the case. However, I think the Safety Pass was in its own way a form of cheating/rigging/help from producers in order to produce a winner. I think this is where the question mark comes from, but at the very least, if it's of any consolation, I do truly and genuinely believe that Drew did everything he did in Vegas (including his fall) of his own ability. Drew has put in a lot of himself. He does deserve to win, I just think it was unfortunate that he did it this year when he had to use something like the Safety Pass. I really don't think I'll ever get over that. It should not be ignored especially as we wait to see if it returns next year. In the end, when I saw that Daniel ran out of time, I wasn't immediately thrilled that Drew won, and I think that speaks for itself. 

Well, I will return next year and for USA vs. The World and All Stars (if they have them). It was a blast this year, albeit surprisingly not as exciting of an ending as I'm accustomed to. Drew finally won, and I wonder how that will affect things moving on. I would expect to see him come back as soon as possible and not go MIA like Isaac. 

I guess we're coming to a close, aren't we? Comment your thoughts on this season's finale. What are your opinions on Drew and his use of the Safety Pass? Who impressed you the most? Did you like the course? Do you think Joe would have won if he cleared Cane Lane? Who do you think will be the Top Ninja next year? How's the headings/organization working for you? Let me know! 

And that wraps up Season 11 of American Ninja Warrior! I'll see you in May for Season 12!