S09.E00: USA vs. the World

[Lantern7]

Before the new season, we got ninjas from the U.S., Europe and Latin America. Let us have a moment of silence for the Japan team, who had good moments, but didn't score a point in the past few battles.

[Taeolas]

Just starting to watch it now. 

When was this filmed compared to the actual season? Sounds like the course descriptions are assuming it is after the 2017 season has aired. 

I am surprised they didn't bring a Japan team in regardless. Guess two wallopping was enough.

[slf]

I really like Team Latin America.

Super surprised Jessie Graff went out on the first obstacle. But, like they said, even the greats mess up on these obstacles.

ETA: Holy hell, Jessie! She did it! She did stage 2! This is why people love her so much, she just gets better and better!

Edited June 5, 2017 by slf

[Lantern7]

Where my mind went:

"Drew, the psychics in the tub made their report. The opponents in the final heat will wipe out early." "So . . . ?" "You gotta take a knee and let Kacy get the points at her own pace." "You mean Jessie." "What did I say?"

ETA: I don't believe ANW and all things related are rigged for maximum drama. However, if it turns out that is the case, Brian Arnold's fall would be at the top of the evidence pile. He friggin' had it!!!!

[slf]

Wow. I don't like Arnold but even I kind of felt bad for the guy.

[Taeolas]

I admit, I almost thought there was some production shenanigans there, with Europe and Latin going out so early on Jessie's run, giving her an easy win chance.  And honestly, knowing she only had to basically make it to the salmon ladder probably took a lot of pressure off. But she was likely still a bit shaken from going out on Obstacle 1 in Stage 1. 

That said, seeing her get to the Salmon ladder, then go through the rest of it so easily was very impressive. 

Still, Josh's stage 3 run was probably equally impressive as Jessie's Stage 2 run. He did Stage 3 so easily and smoothly, it was incredible. Drew did beat his time ultimately, but ti didn't seem as smooth as Josh did it.  

The Latin guys seemed to give everyone inspiration for doing the hanging boards, by basically skipping the first board. 

McCall was doing the body prop strangely (I didn't know they could grip the top of the prop) but it ultimately didn't help him in the end. 

 

All in all, a fun event, and overall good balanced obstacles. The Latin team seemed at a major disadvantage, but they did a good showing in the end. I wonder who they'll bring in next year? Probably give the Latin crew another chance at least; they had some great showing. 

[Guest]

18 minutes ago, Taeolas said:

I admit, I almost thought there was some production shenanigans there, with Europe and Latin going out so early on Jessie's run, giving her an easy win chance.  And honestly, knowing she only had to basically make it to the salmon ladder probably took a lot of pressure off. But she was likely still a bit shaken from going out on Obstacle 1 in Stage 1. 

The whole show was way too convenient in maintaining the "suspense" that made for "good" television.

I have to admit that I was wondering if they were airing interviews and runs out of order so it came down to the last run "three years in  a row".

I do wonder if the timing of Drew's announcement that Jessie was subbing for him on stage 2 was really before his two competitors went out so early in the course.  That or they knew the other teams had basically "conceded" the run against Drew to strategically win the other two and Drew knew that.

[JenMD]

I am so glad I was spoiled on Jessie's runs.  I would have been having heart palpitations.  I knew she'd be going out early on Stage 1, but I wasn't expecting that, wow.  You could definitely see she had her focus face back on for Stage 2.  That was so incredible to watch, I'm so happy for her.  I don't think there were shenanigans afoot.  I think Drew was smart to swap out with Jessie since she'd be fresh (since she barely got anywhere in Stage 1) and he knows her and how hard she trains.  She may not have finished Stage 2 in the Vegas finals, but she had this awesome habit of improving each time she tries something.  Also, he'd be fresh for Stage 3 and that worked out pretty well for him.   

Some really awesome runs (and wipeouts- Brian Arnold, yikes!) from all the teams.  USA has the advantage, of course, since they all would have just run the course for the Vegas finals.  That was a lot of fun, though.  And I think they only joined one or two in progress, which is really low for them.

57 minutes ago, Taeolas said:

 McCall was doing the body prop strangely (I didn't know they could grip the top of the prop) but it ultimately didn't help him in the end. 

Yeah, I noticed that, too.  Such a strange placement, I kept waiting for him to get buzzed.  While he wasn't gripping it, exactly, I would have thought your hands had to stay below the top of the wall. 

It was interesting to see how the other two teams approached some of the obstacles in a completely different way than the USA competitors.

Edited June 5, 2017 by JenMD

[Lantern7]

I'm thinking that the individual heats might have been rearranged, and that's all that happened because I like these guys.

Did the Latin Americans ever watch the series? I don't know . . . I get them not having their own version of the show, but I figured it would take 3-4 months to watch and engineer the appropriate obstacles. Speaking of which . . . do the Europeans have those on their respective shows? I dunno . . . I'm thinking that a third party could create a course, and nobody would have a perceived advantage. Shit, how about a four-way battle between the US/Canada, Europe, Japan/Asia and Latin America held in Australia?

I feel so bad for Japan in general. They had good runs in this competition, but they didn't score a single point. Meanwhile, a team with no direct "ninja" experience actually scores one.

[Eliza422]

I too questioned that guy who seemed to be hanging his fingers over the edge. I thought he would be disqualified for that.

[AuntieDiane6]

Quote

 I feel so bad for Japan in general. They had good runs i

One of their problems is that they don't have any tall guys.  There are some obstacles where height is a clear advantage.  

[saber5055]

What a fun evening watching and rooting for these great athletes. I wanted all of them to do well. I liked meeting some greats from other countries, especially the Latin team. That took gumption to compete on obstacles they have never trained on while USA (and maybe Europe, I don't know) school on them regularly. I don't think any of the runs are faked, it's not easy to complete any of these final courses and even the top guys get tripped up (or there would be way more million-dollar season winners). I'm sure editing is done to increase suspense and keep viewers guessing. Example: One guy who fell in the water was shown with his team with a big boofy DRY hairdo after his fall. Meanwhile ... Jesse. I am so totally in love. What more can I say? She ROCKS. And is Drew's MP3 player waterproof?

[Quilt Fairy]

4 hours ago, AuntieDiane6 said:

One of their problems is that they don't have any tall guys.  There are some obstacles where height is a clear advantage.  

I think Japan also sent some of it's classic players who were brilliant in their prime but were a little past it by the time they competed here. Or they were out of practice. 

I  hope this is going to get re-aired because I forgot about it and missed the first 1 3/4 hours.

Edited June 5, 2017 by Quilt Fairy

[Chaos Theory]

I would be greatly disappointed if this turns out to be fake.  I knew WWE was fake when it was WWF and I was 8 but then that was obvious.   This if anything looks well produced but that doesn't make it fake.  Maybe the producers fudge the rules a bit so they can control the order the athletes run and whoever builds the course's sadism comes and goes depending on the year and whether NBC wants anyone to do well.  Again none of this makes it fake.  It just stops it from being legitimate sport.    

[Destiny74]

I was impressed by that rookie Levin.  He made the cliffhanger seem totally effortless.  I was in awe.  Dreschel may have been faster but that kid is awesome!

[piequinn35]

Yes Josh, Jessie and Drew were awesome! Drew finished the stage when he couldn't last national finals, where was my other fave Flip Rodriguez? 

[Hanahope]

It was so great seeing Jessie conquer stage 2, especially after she flubbed stage 1.  I can't wait to see her this season. 

[srpturtle80]

I want to be Jessie Graff when I grow up. That is all.

[mlp]

I didn't have a chance to watch this until tonight and now I think I'm exhausted from the tension and excitement.  Jessie's run was just great.  Even all the guys on the other two teams were on their feet cheering her on.  She's terrific and modest about it too which makes her very likable.  Josh Levin was great and I was happy for Drew.  

I also wondered about the way McCall had his hands on the body prop.  I kept expecting a disqualification but neither Matt nor Akbar even mentioned it so I guess it must have been OK.

I read one time, can't recall where, that the producers do show runs out of order to increase suspense and so on but I personally don't believe they "fix" the show.  For one thing, I don't believe so many people would put in the work and dedication to training year after year if they didn't believe their own prowess would be the thing that pulled them through.  After all the years the show has been on, competitors would have found out by now if things weren't on the level.  For another, I think Matt and Akbar's excitement is genuine.  They'd have to be faking it if they knew what was going to happen and I don't believe for a minute that they are.

I'm really looking forward to the start of the new season next week.

[majormama]

I attended a city qualifier filming last year, and they're definitely shown out of order. The "first run of the night" was filmed around 3:00am. The "final" run was over before we got on set, and at least one big name ninja's qualifying run was filmed the second night before the city final, after the course was closed due to lightning around 5:00. Aside from that, the only thing remotely like manipulation between what we saw in person vs on air was that much of the recovery time between obstacles was edited out. But even that is obvious if you watch the timer and see someone get off the rolling log totally dizzy at :38 and start the fly wheel no longer dizzy at 1:42. Other than that, it all seems above board from what I witnessed. 

(That's majorpapa and me in the red circle, ha!)

[saber5055]

Too cool, majormama, I'd love to attend an ANW event. I wondered how ninjas could do one run after another with no rest time, it seems pretty unfair. So I'm glad they do get more time to rest. I was positive runs were shown out-of-order since the best ones are shown at the end of the hour, with maybe one or two tossed in the middle. The first few ninjas always mess up, that's just SOP. I think since McColl fell, nothing was said about his hands on the Body Prop. Another ninja hooked his leg over the top of the platform before he started the upside-down wall climb, but since he fell, nothing was said about that, either. And I love Matt and Akbar's commentary and enthusiasm. I keep waking my dogs up when I watch this show, I'm shouting and yelling when ninjas make/don't make each obstacle.

[EVS]

I watched it with my 21 year old son and we were both really into it, yelling and cheering. Then I sent my basketball obsessed son a you tube link to Jesse's stage 2 run with this text, "(his favorite NBA player) is a wimp. Talk to me when he can do this".  Of course, last February, when he was totally into the NBA all-star game/weekend, I told him I wasn't impressed and that the ANW all-star competition (the next day) was where the actual exciting skills were.

No offense meant to any basketball players or NBA fans.  :)

Edited June 6, 2017 by EVS

[slf]

I gave Drew a hard time last season for taking the show too seriously but I was genuinely happy for him when he completed stage 3. I'm sure it meant just as much to him this year as it did last year but it felt like he was having more fun with it, like he was going to go out there and lay down his best and whatever happened happened. I don't know if it was his attitude or his training that worked for him this time but his run was great.

[ClareWalks]

Loved Drew's reveal that he was listening to "I'll Make a Man Outta You" from Mulan. That is an amazing song, performed to perfection by the inimitable Donny Osmond.

[piequinn35]

I just found out that Sean McColl is a Canadian born in North Vancouver (where I live), has been living in France on and off since 2011, that's why he is in team europe, but c'mon, in the future years, have a Team Canada ANW! :->

[saber5055]

I wondered why Sean McColl didn't have an accent, so being Canadian explains that. Now I'll have to listen for his subtle CANADA speak. LOL!

[JenMD]

I'm not surprised to read that the editors will move runs around; like it was mentioned upthread, the most exciting runs can't always coincidentally happen at the end of taping.  But in regards to Jessie and whether or not the order of her heat was moved around, I rewatched it and I'm leaning towards not.  I think if she had actually run 1st or 2nd in her heat she'd have had more urgency.  She just didn't seem to me to be someone on the clock, after the 1st obstacle, and if she was running 1st or 2nd, she would have wanted to get done as soon as possible.  It's neither here nor there and we'll probably never know, but the thought struck me while watching.

[slf]

On 6/7/2017 at 0:05 PM, ClareWalks said:

Loved Drew's reveal that he was listening to "I'll Make a Man Outta You" from Mulan. That is an amazing song, performed to perfection by the inimitable Donny Osmond.

I'd been wondering what he was listening to and missed him saying that. That song choice is....cute, actually. I'd been expecting some macho pump-up song, not a Disney number.

[ClareWalks]

20 minutes ago, slf said:

I'd been wondering what he was listening to and missed him saying that. That song choice is....cute, actually. I'd been expecting some macho pump-up song, not a Disney number.

He said that in the victory interview and Jessie was like "ohhh I LOVE that song!" It was adorbs.

[jhlipton]

On 6/4/2017 at 10:07 PM, Lantern7 said:

"Drew, the psychics in the tub made their report. The opponents in the final heat will wipe out early." "So . . . ?" "You gotta take a knee and let Kacy get the points at her own pace." "You mean Jessie." "What did I say?"

Do not, I repeat DO NOT, conflate Kacy and Jessie.  Kacy is awesome, but Jessie is a GODDESS!

On 6/4/2017 at 10:44 PM, Taeolas said:

McCall was doing the body prop strangely (I didn't know they could grip the top of the prop) but it ultimately didn't help him in the end.

I was surprised to see that as well but I think it works better than planting the hands going down, but is much worse going up.  Since it's a negative in total, they allow it.

On 6/8/2017 at 8:08 PM, JenMD said:

But in regards to Jessie and whether or not the order of her heat was moved around, I rewatched it and I'm leaning towards not.  I think if she had actually run 1st or 2nd in her heat she'd have had more urgency. 

From what I understood, she wasn't supposed to run Stage 2 at all.  Drew was going to do both Stage 2 and Stage 3, but (a) he wanted Jessie to have some redemption, (b) he figured she could compete on the course and (c) he wanted to be fresh for Stage 3.  They may have moved her run once the decision was made (or, quite possibly, Drew was never going to have run Stage 2 and they made that up for "story" purposes.

They mention Josh flipping the wall that was a few more pounds than he was, but OMG! watching Jessie flip that last wall?  That was legendary!!!

[saber5055]

I loved Drew listening to Mulan, too. I was expecting something more like what Michael Phelps listens to, Lil Wayne. So Drew went up in my opinion, not that IMO matters.

[Taeolas]

Remember, US vs the World is a different setup from the normal ANW events. 

ANW, everyone is fighting everyone else for slots in the finals, so moving when someone competes around won't change anything for the most part.

 

But US vs the World is explicitly putting 3 sets of contestants together. Now I could see them moving a trio around in the ordering, but I can't see them changing the order of a trio, nor can I see them changing the Trios after editing. That would affect the actual results after all. 

[JenMD]

4 hours ago, jhlipton said:

From what I understood, she wasn't supposed to run Stage 2 at all.  Drew was going to do both Stage 2 and Stage 3, but (a) he wanted Jessie to have some redemption, (b) he figured she could compete on the course and (c) he wanted to be fresh for Stage 3.  They may have moved her run once the decision was made (or, quite possibly, Drew was never going to have run Stage 2 and they made that up for "story" purposes.

 

Oh, I definitely got that.  I was referring to the idea that they moved the order of her run around for better tv, that maybe she had run 1st or 2nd in her heat instead of last.  I think it was just coincidental that her spot was last and it ended up being such a big moment.  They did seem to be moving the order around of which team went 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in each heat.

I just read a really interesting article on Jessie that I'm posting here instead of the Media topic because it's mostly about this particular show.  She confirms they taped it the day after Vegas finals.  I knew it had to be close because everyone was there and it was all set up, but I thought they'd have at least some kind of downtime.  I love hearing from her.  I just find her so thoughtful about how she approaches the whole thing. 

Kind of random, but I realized belatedly that the points for Team USA came from 5 different team members, which I thought was pretty cool.  1 each from Jake and Daniel, 2 from Jessie and 3 each from Josh and Drew.   Nice teamwork, there.

[jhlipton]

2 hours ago, JenMD said:

I just read a really interesting article on Jessie that I'm posting here instead of the Media topic because it's mostly about this particular show.  She confirms they taped it the day after Vegas finals.  I knew it had to be close because everyone was there and it was all set up, but I thought they'd have at least some kind of downtime.  I love hearing from her.  I just find her so thoughtful about how she approaches the whole thing.

Really cool article -- thanks!

[sweetandsour]

On 6/5/2017 at 2:45 PM, piequinn35 said:

Yes Josh, Jessie and Drew were awesome! Drew finished the stage when he couldn't last national finals, where was my other fave Flip Rodriguez? 

I think they chose the team based on a few different considerations that I wouldn't have remembered except for the commentary from Matt and Akbar.  It does seem to be a matter of "what have you done for me lately?"(recent performance), but I'm not sure if they would do that, period, or if that was a function of the USA vs. the World course being just like the US finals, so of course it makes sense to run the people who just showed they did well.  Jake Murray was one of the six because he turned in the fastest Stage 1 time in the Vegas finals.  Daniel Gil turned in the second fastest, I think, and then he obviously also was one of the two who made it to Stage 3 (along with Drew).  I'm sure Jessie didn't turn in the third best Stage 1 time, but she was really impressive and a ratings draw (though I don't mean that second part as her not being deserving, not at all).  They're your three Stage 1 runners.

It made sense to run Daniel again and Drew for Stage 2 since they were the only two who made it through Stage 2 in finals.  I think they mostly put Brian on the team for Stage 3, which he has completed in the past.  On paper, in choosing a third Stage 2 runner besides Daniel and Drew (out of Josh, Jake, Jessie, and Brian), Brian did make the most sense since he's the only one who's completed Stage 2 before (albeit different obstacles).  With his amazing climbing prowess, Josh Levin basically is on par with Isaac, so he's a natural choice for the team to contest Stage 3, even though he didn't make it there in the finals.  And then Drew was the third to run Stage 3 - I think he made it farther than Daniel did in the Vegas finals, plus they weren't going to run Daniel in all three stages.

So as far as why other great veterans like Joe Moravsky, Kevin Bull, Ian Dory, Flip Rodriguez, etc. didn't get put on the team, it's because others had just eclipsed them on the exact same stages with the exact same obstacles.  Even though there are others, like Geoff Britten, who have done amazingly in the past (beating all four stages, even), his finals outcome that year didn't come close to that, so it really did seem like they mostly went by that year's performance (Stage 1 isn't "that hard," so pick the fastest to rival the other teams; Stage 3, pick the people who stand a real fighting chance against the course, Stage 2, pick who makes the most sense out of the people you put on the team for the other two stages).

[jhlipton]

7 hours ago, sweetandsour said:

it really did seem like they mostly went by that year's performance (Stage 1 isn't "that hard," so pick the fastest to rival the other teams; Stage 3, pick the people who stand a real fighting chance against the course, Stage 2, pick who makes the most sense out of the people you put on the team for the other two stages).

It makes sense to go by current performance.  We've seen some impressive Ninjas fall by the wayside and "rookies" take their place, so overall record isn't as important as the current one.

Of course, that has a problem -- since this was right after the Vegas finals, any aches and pains, like Jessie had, are going to affect performance.