S07.E02: Kansas City Qualifying

[OnceSane]

A qualifying round in Kansas City, Mo., features such obstacles as the Big Dipper, Floating Tiles and Stretch Hold. Competitors include Meagan Martin and Brian Arnold.

[Lantern7]

Sign That I Might Be A Horrible Person: Hearing about the guy with the terminally ill wife having to wait on line for eight days. wondering why he didn't just tell the producers about the terminally ill wife. Wouldn't that be a guaranteed way to cut the line? And am I bad for thinking that? BTW, great of that guy to complete the course.

 

Another question: Was this course too easy? Thirty-eight people completed it, which is eight above the usual cut-off. Speedsters? Made it. Wolfpack? Made it. Jon Stewart? Made it, and didn't look like he was going to keel over once. And Meagan Martin? Made it, albeit with the second slowest time. Matt and Akbar didn't orgasm as hard as when she completed the Jumping Spider last year, but I'm betting at least one of them needed a change of underwear. And they're going to need a spare set next week, when Mighty Kacy makes her run.

[blueray]

I thought the format that they aired them was weird. I know it's not live so it is organized. The first few people couldn't get past that one obstacle. Then suddenly almost everyone could. It seemed that if you made it past the thing with the ropes than you were 100% guaranteed to make it up the wall on the first try. Also it was weird that they showed those 4 people get interviewed but didn't show their runs (at least not all of them).

 

I was hoping that the guy who was "I'll be the fastest" was going to fall, of course he didn't.

Edited June 2, 2015 by blueray

[VartanFan]

I was hoping that the guy who was "I'll be the fastest" was going to fall, of course he didn't.

Yeah...Lorin Ball...he grated for me last year, too. As does "er doc Noah".

I also wondered if it was maybe too easy. So I guess annoying kacey is going to be at every city now? I'll just have to be happy they didn't interview her...

[desertflower]

I don't know how this works exactly, but the guy who stood in line for 8 days, 8 days for what? An interview/audition? Because they still had time to make the montage about him. Anyway, his story made me tear up, as did the autistic guy. Loved seeing the other guys cheering for him.

ER doc never really bugged me in past seasons but he crossed the line tonight when he wore his stethoscope with no shirt. We get it, you're a doctor.

[biakbiak]

ER doc never really bugged me in past seasons but he crossed the line tonight when he wore his stethoscope with no shirt. We get it, you're a doctor.

Wait he is doctor? I was surprised that he didn't have MD tattooed on his chest!

[7-Zark-7]

 

Another question: Was this course too easy? Thirty-eight people completed it, which is eight above the usual cut-off.

 

Yeah, well, compared to Venice this certainly was.  That one only had a handful of actual finishers and the rest just had the best times at wherever they fell off the course.

[mertensia]

My guess is that the course setter uppers can't really gauge if one course is more difficult than another until the contestants start going through it. That said except for the bungee ropes people handled it pretty well.

I am so tired of sob stories in reality shows. Oh boohoo. Your mother died and wanted you to compete but you had to wait til you finished with chemo which left you blind in one eye and your spouse defected to North Korea and... Just shut up ánd run.

[questionfear]

The editing was definitely weird. There was no suspense since we knew the wolf pack would make it, and I knew Meaghan Martin must have put in a great run if they were hyping her all night and leaving her as the last run.

I also thought this course was super rock climber friendly-good for the Wolf Pack and Meaghan Martin.

I did like seeing the wolf guys all cheering for the various competitors on the sidelines.

[VartanFan]

 

The editing was definitely weird.

Yeah - Most of the time I just deal with it but seeing Isaac Caldero's girlfriend cheering him on with WET HAIR kind of removed suspense from her run. 

 

I also teared up at the sick-wife-guy finishing the course.  He looked like he was about to barf as he was waiting to start. 

 

 

ER doc never really bugged me in past seasons but he crossed the line tonight when he wore his stethoscope with no shirt. We get it, you're a doctor.

 

He lost me last year with the gold lame (can't find an accent key but the description applies even without it) pants. 

[blueray]

Yeah - Most of the time I just deal with it but seeing Isaac Caldero's girlfriend cheering him on with WET HAIR kind of removed suspense from her run. 

I noticed that too. I was like wait we already know that she falls. Which was annoying.

[saber5055]

ER doc never really bugged me in past seasons but he crossed the line tonight when he wore his stethoscope with no shirt. We get it, you're a doctor.

 

 

VartanFan beat me to it. I'll take the doc's stethoscope over that gold lamé (accent mark!) pantsuit from last year, the one that was skin tight and worn w/o underwear support. The poor camera guys tried their best to keep it above the waist but with limited success. It was not a good look for being in public, much less for being on network tv.

 

I did like ER Noah a few years back, when he put that guy's dislocated shoulder back in place after the dude fell on the course. He sort of went Hollywood after that.

 

I do like Caldero. He's the guy I would have dated in college. Except I've been out of college a long time. But I still remember those days. So I'm rooting for him.

 

I found this week to be pretty boring after Venice, which I thought was pretty exciting. I convinced a friend to watch last night and was sorry I did. I'm sure she was thinking, "So what's the big deal?"

 

For a minute I thought we were having a flashback when Lance Pikus's wife was holding a tiny baby. I thought what, that kid never grew this past year? So good we got an explanation of that.

Edited June 2, 2015 by saber5055

[revbfc]

ER doc never really bugged me in past seasons but he crossed the line tonight when he wore his stethoscope with no shirt. We get it, you're a doctor.

My significant other and I agreed that the only time the "shirtless with a stethoscope" look is appropriate is if one were performing at a bachelorette party. Then, and only then, are you allowed to do that and preface your performance with "Did somebody say they have the fever?"

[desertflower]

Oh I forgot about his gold pants! (Truth be told I probably willfully blocked them from my memory.) Yeah, those were bad.

[saber5055]

Not pants, entire gold bodysuit. Here's the video:

 

http://tv.esquire.com/videos/71269-noah-kaufman-at-the-american-ninja-warrior-2014-denver-qualifiers

[SmithW6079]

So I guess annoying kacey is going to be at every city now? I'll just have to be happy they didn't interview her...

Thank goodness for mute and fast forward.

[GeminiDancer]

I have to say Stanley, the competitor with autism, made me misty-eyed. I knew he wasn't going to go far, but I'm so glad he took the step to make it happen and get out there.

[TiredMe]

I laughed like hell when the new girl, you know, I'm the greatest athlete ever and all the guys wanna be me, fell right away. I normally root for the women but her package irritated the crap out of me. Then she was all mad after. Lol

[Kromm]

Sign That I Might Be A Horrible Person: Hearing about the guy with the terminally ill wife having to wait on line for eight days. wondering why he didn't just tell the producers about the terminally ill wife. Wouldn't that be a guaranteed way to cut the line?

I'm sure he did, at some point, but they'd have to verify the story and that certainly takes time.

 

Plus the actual time he spent on an actual physical line seems up for debate.  Actually, so does the fact that the guy (and his wife, AND the show) all baldly stated she has a terminal illness.  Generally the condition she has, as horrible as it is, apparently isn't considered terminal.  In fact, in the comments section of this article I'm going to link you can see someone debate this and the wife responds to debate that (saying she has a type of the disease nobody else recorded does and that they keep telling her that the complications in her case means she will probably die).

 

http://www.ew.com/article/2015/06/01/american-ninja-warrior-michael-stanger

[Richness]

I continue to fast forward through most of the background stories, but I will admit I watched most of Michael's segment. And of course, I was a little misty eyed, and rooting for him to complete the course.

 

However, I wasn't as moved by the autism guy's story. It was cool to see the Wolf Pack cheering him on though. I think a lot has to do with the rule bending that allowed him to hold onto and perch atop the quintuple steps. I seem to recall in past seasons where a guy disqualified himself when he accidentally held onto the top/back of the steps before an official edict by the judges. Either that rule was waived for this special case run, or the different shape/design of the steps made that rule obsolete. Neither option really bothers me though.

 

What does bother me is the showboating, especially when it's done while running the course. The most obnoxious example was when Caldero (or whoever it was) did the flag stand at the top of the warped wall. I don't mind smiles and moments of relieved exultation when completing an obstacle, or trying to pump the crowd for support, but I don't like the showoffs. I think he also did some showing off on the modified ring toss. I would have laughed my ass off if he had DQed himself while doing that.

 

That's in direct contrast to the awesome display of skill and sportsmanship of Brian Arnold and Lance Pekus. Sure, the latter banks heavily on his cowboy image and his body's sexiness, but he doesn't mess around while actually running the course. And once he's past the quintuple steps,he even takes his hat off so it doesn't DQ him on later stages when a clothing article touching water can result in failure. (I doubt he'll ever run in shorts, but I wonder if his jeans hinder him any.) Then the first thing he does afterwards is kiss his wife and then his baby girl. I swear my ovaries exploded, and I've never had any to begin with.

[Kromm]

The showboating is what the more shitstainy of them do now that they "learned their lesson" last season about speeding through the course (and then getting eliminated when they slip up).  So they've replaced that with going a little slower, then showing off like totally goobers with unnecessary tricks.

 

We'll likely see this all again when we get to Miami, and the idiot "Flip" (who wears the mask) and his associated crew pop up. 

[saber5055]

I think TPTB encourage the showboating just to make one run different from the next for viewers. It would be HEElarious to see one of the showoffs fall during their mid-course handstand though. I'd pay to see that.

 

Color me a bad person too because the autistic boy really bothered me. Not that he was allowed to run but that they played him up so dramatically. For ratings.

 

Does the show pay people who aren't competing in that city to be in the crowd in that city?

[blueray]

Color me a bad person too because the autistic boy really bothered me. Not that he was allowed to run but that they played him up so dramatically. For ratings.

I was annoyed about how they focused on that. It's okay during his back story but his autism had nothing to do with his run and the announcers shouldn't have focused on it, instead of how he was doing on the course.

[jhlipton]

I would have loved it if the guy who did the Quintuple Steps in three steps had been DQed (as I think he should have been). If you can just jump from 1 to 3 to 5, why is anyone going to bother with 2 and 4?
 

if you made it past the thing with the ropes than you were 100% guaranteed to make it up the wall on the first try.

 
With so many places to practice, anyone who doesn't make it up the Wall on the first try doesn't belong on the course.
 

I laughed like hell when the new girl, you know, I'm the greatest athlete ever and all the guys wanna be me, fell right away. I normally root for the women but her package irritated the crap out of me. Then she was all mad after. Lol

I root for the women, and she had some awesome looking muscles but it was kind of funny to see her go out on the second obstacle.

[Kromm]

I would have loved it if the guy who did the Quintuple Steps in three steps had been DQed (as I think he should have been). If you can just jump from 1 to 3 to 5, why is anyone going to bother with 2 and 4?

Bingo.  

 

Some people won't be able to make those leaps, but SO many will that it seems if you allow it you've permanently fucked up the way the obstacle is run.

 

I honestly can't believe this is the first time anyone even tried that, by the way, in ALL the years of not only this show, but the Japanese one (which I'm sure has that particular obstacle, if not all of the US ones).

[SophiaD]

I don't understand that rationale of allowing people to skip some things and not allowing them to skip others.  Then again, not a fan of Lorin Ball.

 

I think the Wolf Pack are amazing athletes, but they do seem kind of cocky.  It wouldn't break my heart to see one of more of them tank in the finals.  I did like that both Brian Arnold and Lance Pinkus (not a Wolf Pack guy, of course) just concentrated on running the course without all of the grandstanding.

 

Once again, I liked the rookies and Jon Stewart, who is amazing.  Of the women, I really liked the PE teacher and the woman pole vaulter and was rooting for both of them to finish.  With so many finishers, I don't think anyone who didn't make it will make into the finals with a wild card.  Bummer.

 

Meaghan Martin is a beast.  I just wish she was a few inches taller, to have a better chance at the finals course.  (I'm already assuming she'll make it).

Edited June 8, 2015 by SophiaD

[Taeolas]

However, I wasn't as moved by the autism guy's story. It was cool to see the Wolf Pack cheering him on though. I think a lot has to do with the rule bending that allowed him to hold onto and perch atop the quintuple steps. I seem to recall in past seasons where a guy disqualified himself when he accidentally held onto the top/back of the steps before an official edict by the judges. Either that rule was waived for this special case run, or the different shape/design of the steps made that rule obsolete. Neither option really bothers me though.

 

 

IIRC, the guy who DQed himself on the steps grabbed the supports at the back of the steps by mistake. That apparently is a no-no. But as long as you are just grabbing the step itself (including its edges) then you are fine. One of the woman competitors was doing a similar run IIRC, grabbing and landing on the top of the step and bracing herself for the next jump.

 

I assume that there's some set of rules for each obstacle that everyone running the course is briefed on ahead of time, outlining when they can and can't skip course elements. The course designers probably try to minimize the exceptions as muhc as possible (as in "You HAVE to do X to pass a stage") so that fantastic feats don't get auto-DQ'ed. (Imagine if there was a rule last year that the Cannonball Run had to be done hands only) I'd say if they test a challenge and realize late on that skipping a challenge element (or doing an element a certain way, like the log slide with the legs last week; they made sure we knew that using legs would be a DQ on that part; ditto stepping on anything but the stones on the stepping stone challenge 2 weeks back) would make it too easy, they add a DQ exception to that stage to make sure a stage element isn't ignored.

 

One thing I noticed that makes me a bit wary. The stage just before the warped wall has a metal railing at the end leading to the steps down to the ground. A lot of those stages, competitors will tend to have a lot of momentum coming off of. Granted there is a lot of padded run space at the end, but it's still only a few metres wide; you'd think they would wrap some padding around that railing just in case someone shoots off too far and overshoots the landing pads.

[QuePasa]

I automatically root against anyone who pauses along the course to pose for the crowd. I hate that kind of arrogance. They can do whatever they want at the end in my opinion, but during the course it is just a turnoff for me.

[kechara]

I always liked Caldero, but that was offputting.  Liked him better last year.

Can you really make a living being a rock climber?

[theatremouse]

I don't know how this works exactly, but the guy who stood in line for 8 days, 8 days for what? An interview/audition? Because they still had time to make the montage about him.

I'm not sure exactly how far in advance this is filmed, but I assume they shot the B roll after he'd already run. I don't think he's the first walk-on to have a background sob story with footage.