2020 All Stars

 Welcome Back

Wow, it feels good to be back. I've missed American Ninja Warrior, and it should be very, very interesting this year. I will be tuning in for every episode of Season 12, and believe me, I will have plenty to say. My prediction is that this "season" won't be as good as normal seasons because of the new format. I don't really have any information, but I saw on a comment from an IG post that they weren't doing Vegas. Now, of course, they weren't in Vegas, they were all in St. Louis, but I think this means there are no Stages this year. I also saw something about the top 8 fastest going head-to-head on the Power Tower, but I really hope nobody is crowned the champion from this year, considering Mt. Midoriyama might not be in play. This should really be like season 11.5, but at least they have something. I'm sure it will be very odd, but we'll just have to wait and see. It'll also be interesting considering all the drama with Drew Drechsel. I know he competed in St. Louis, but he was arrested after filming, so they had to completely edit him out and any mention of him. This had to be especially hard, but I'll probably get more into that next week. So for now, let's talk about Monday Night!

Team Competition

So, they shook it up this year and had the team competition interspersed with the skills competitions. I kind of like it better the other way, but it's not a huge difference. I saw the team announcements on IG previously, and I was a little shocked by Yuri and Matt. In the past, Kristine Leahy had made some good choices (i.e. Nicholas Coolridge and Tyler Gillett). Yuri's choice to pick David Wright, Seth Rogers, and Mady Howard really wasn't that bad. For the rookie team, those were some really great athletes. Now, it's been so long since I saw season 11, that I don't really remember what happened, and quite frankly, I'm too lazy to go back and look up the outcomes for every single ninja, so I'm just going to leave it at they all did good. With that being said, I also knew they weren't going to win. The inexperience alone was a disadvantage. I know David and Seth did well on their seasons, but people like Stratis and Murray are just more comfortable on these courses.

Akbar practically always chooses Grant McCartney, even though he's not necessarily the best choice, because he's totally in love with him. Jake Murray is a good choice, probably someone I would have selected, and Allyssa Beird is dependable, too. Akbar chose Jake and Grant again, and he lost last year, so maybe he should have switched it up. Matt's team surprised me a little. His team from last year, Pekus, Rahn, and Labreck, was solid. They won that year, and I wasn't overly surprised, although Kristine had a really strong team, as well. Now, I don't know his reasoning for changing it up this time, but it didn't fail him. 

I was most surprised that Michelle took on the first half of Stage 3. Grant was struggling when he ran, and I thought Michelle was sure to drop, but she was very impressive. Of course, if Michelle or Grant had to do the rest of Stage 3 alone, they wouldn't stand a chance (which makes what Daniel and Drew did even more amazing). Then Ryan and Jake did well. Jake seemed a little more comfortable with that portion, but he's living in Colorado, so he probably rock climbs, and that obstacle is a rock climber's dream. He was a good choice to have in the middle of Stage 3 and Stage 1.  Now, his placement as first on Stage 2 was a little surprising, but I guess it makes sense. Grant obviously couldn't do it because he can't pass the Salmon Ladder, or whatever it's officially called. I kind of thought Allyssa would do it, but she did fine on Snap Back. I guess in hindsight, it was best to have Jake do the salmon ladder. As for Stage 1, I think Yuri's team should have had David go in the middle. Seth is taller and that might have been better on the first obstacles. David, like Jake, is more "normal" size for ANW, and that seems to fit a little better on something like the Spider Jump. Anyway, Team Matt did great, and I know it was going to be between Matt and Akbar, but honestly, throughout this entire special, I really wouldn't have placed any bets. I wasn't sure about who would win anything. 

For who I would pick on my team, I definitely think there are limits to who they can choice regarding the men (i.e. Joe, Daniel, Najee, Sean all would have been off-limits), but the women don't seem to have restrictions because Jesse Labreck and Jessie Graff had been chosen in the past. Michelle Warnky was a really good choice on Matt's part. If not Jesse or Jessie, I would have taken her. As far as my choice for men, Jake Murray is dependable, but maybe I'd go with Ethan Swanson or Michael Torres. They both had good seasons. There would be a lot of strategy involved in picking your team, especially given the rules. If they won Stage 1, they wouldn't need to compete on Stage 2, so you'd have to pick great Stage 1 runners who also have potential for Stage 3. At least, I think those were the rules. And if you sacrificed Stage 1, you'd be thinking about who can best do Stage 2 and 3, which are a lot harder than Stage 1, and require different skills. There are a lot of fast and agile ninjas out there, but those with grip strength and endurance are rarer. I might have picked Jake Murray, Tyler Gillett, or Adam Rayl. Obviously, I would pick Nicholas Coolridge if he was competing (and I'm very disappointed that he won't be). I can't really think of people off the top of my head, which means it has been too long since I've had ANW. I guess, at this moment, Jake Murray, Adam Rayl, and Michelle Warnky. Maybe Jamie Rahn if he was available. 

Skills Competitions

Fearsome Ferris Wheel

Okay, so Daniel versus The Kid was interesting. Them being blindfolded created a completely different dynamic and atmosphere for the obstacle and the competition. I wasn't sure what would happen at the beginning, but after seeing The Kid struggle on finding the first couple handholds, I figured Daniel would make it. However, it was no surprise that Cavanaugh beat Daniel. Daniel was up there for almost 2 minutes, they said. I don't know how much time passed in between their races, so I don't know how much rest Daniel got, but it wasn't too shocking that he lost. 

Spider Chimney

This was surprising. Now, I kind of figured Torres and Swanson would beat out Carbone and Gillett, but I thought for sure that Ethan would win over Michael. Maybe it's because Ethan is such a veteran and he is pretty consistent with his deliveries, but I definitely underestimated Michael. Not only did he beat everyone, but he kept beating his record. 16 seconds is so short! He did have a good season. Granted, I think a lot of people had a good season (Daniel and Drew included) because the courses were a little easier than they have been in the past. Regardless, Torres was surprising.

Striding Steps

This is another one that I would have not bet on. I had absolutely no idea who would come out on this one. I don't really have much to say. Jody Avila did a lot better than I thought considering his height. I guess that probably helped a lot, though, because he wasn't really running or hopping, he was just stepping. He didn't seem to sway or lean like a lot of the others. Chris DiGangi surprised me a little. I didn't expect him to do so well, and I kind of wish he had won against Flexington, who was also surprising. I guess I'm going to say 'surprising' a lot because that is what I was throughout a lot of this. I would have guessed that Avila was going to win, and he made up some good time on the rope thanks to his height. 

Double Dipper

All right, I've got opinions about this one. Beginning with Grant, his first run was good. His second run, though, did not deserve the score it got. He missed the freakin' ring! The dive was very nice, yes, but the whole point was to make it through the ring, and he failed. I think if it was going to be a dive-off, it should have been between Jessie and Najee. Najee's first dive wasn't as spectacular, but his second one was beautiful. He was showing off his true gymnastics ability, and it was really good. Both of Jessie's dives were near perfect, too. The only reason it was Grant is because Akbar is in love with him, and he's such a personality, but we all know that it should have been Najee and Jessie. That kind of upsets me, honestly. Grant was also in the Team Competition and the Striding Steps. He gets so much face time because (Akbar loves him) he dances. Look, I'm sure he's a great, fun guy, but he definitely seems to get some preferential treatment because of the persona he has on the show. In my book, Jessie was the best of the four, and Najee was second. Jessie was basically perfect in her dives. Her stuntwoman background really showed, just like Najee's gymnastics. The way she did the superwoman pose, from the get-go, it was stunning, and then the backwards dive on the dive-off, she had perfect form. She did fantastic. Grant had to have Adam come up, which I don't think is as impressive, it's just bigger. Someone did something like that last year, where another person joined them and they did a regular flip, just together. Is that really that amazing? Compared to what Jessie and Najee could do on their own? I don't know. I think it was rigged. Matt also could have given Jessie a perfect score, which she deserved, but I think he wanted a dive-off, so he gypped her. 

***I also think that they might have had the Super Sonic Shelf Grab, or some variation of it, where Drew was competing. They had it last year, and they might have even had it every year on the All Stars Special. Now, even if Drew didn't win, he definitely competed in it, so obviously they had to scratch it. I really think they did have it and edited it out. I believe Drew was there, and they had to re-edit it to cut every shot and mention of him. I guess I'll probably never know unless I talk to someone who was there. If you were, I'd appreciate a little light on the matter. 

Closing

Well, I'm really glad ANW is back. Like I said before, this season should be very interesting. I have no idea what it's going to be like, who all will be competing (thanks to IG, I actually know of a lot of veterans who were there), or what will be at stake. The course(s) are going to be different, the layout, the atmosphere, everything. I'll still be watching, and I'll still be posting, so tune in after the season premiere of American Ninja Warrior Covid Edition.