S09.E13: Las Vegas Finals - Night 1

[Guest]

14 hours ago, piequinn35 said:

Did Chris Wilczewski retire? I'm only watching the finals this year.

You didn't see this ep?  He ran.  Sort of.  If he mentioned retiring after, I didn't hear it.  Or maybe I'm confusing him with someone else with a similar name.  I'm new here.

15 hours ago, eel2178 said:

He looked really good for someone who was "near death several times" just 3 months previously.

Ha.  That line did make me roll my eyes.  

[piequinn35]

^that was Brian W

[Chaos Theory]

If only three people make it to stage 2 that would be boring as all hell.  Having everyone work so hard and then flame out on Stage 1 is annoying and stupid and not why I watch the show.   Personally I like seeing half the 100 make it to stage 2 and then having only the top 1% make it from there.  

That is a good season ender for me.

Edited September 7, 2017 by Chaos Theory

[tessaforever]

On 9/5/2017 at 9:20 AM, Chaos Theory said:

I'm actually curious about Maggie Thornes divorce.  Then again I really like her.  She may have been one of the weaker women to qualify but she is always there on the sidelines to cheer for her friends and it is damn fun to watch.  

So...I had too much time on my hands and scrolled through Maggie's twitter. As recently as a little over a year ago, there was a picture of her and her husband walking up the steps to their church with their Bibles in hand, with a caption along the lines of "We love going to church together!" I've always gotten the vibe, from when she first started telling her story, that she did not want the divorce. I think that's why it's a bigger deal in her backstory than when two people mutually decide to go different ways. 

[saber5055]

I read about Isaac Caldiero a while back, that he was hired by Pom to be its spokesperson, although he's never appeared on ANW talking about Pom Wonderful. Maybe he's on commercials that play on cable. He apparently is still traveling around, living in his old RV/van with his girlfriend, and said even though he won the $$, all he wants to do is rock climb. He has appeared at some Ninja events not associated with NBC, private groups and associations. He was at one in Michigan, and has done some speaking. He was always a favorite of him, I can relate to the rock-climber mentality, so I'm glad he continues to do well and the $ hasn't changed his life or focus. Except he doesn't have to bus tables anymore to put gas in the RV!

Because people "get divorced all the time" doesn't mean Maggie wanted to do it, just like because people die all the time doesn't mean I want to do that, either. I totally understand her heartbreak over a broken marriage, and she can cry on my shoulder any time she wants. She rocks.

[Guest]

1 hour ago, saber5055 said:

He was always a favorite of him,

Heh.

I'm glad they do the human interest stories.  But some of them are low on my interest scale, like divorce, deployments and dead parents.   

When they're showing video of a mother putting food on a table for her kids and playing sad music like it's some tragedy that a man isn't physically behind her to help, it just seems very forced and silly to me.  

I think it's more interesting that Maggi does marketing for this thingy, or did pageants.

[Fukui San]

The most forced backstory ever was a few seasons back when a guy ran because his wife's sister had breast cancer. Really? You can't just run because you want to win?

[simplyme]

3 hours ago, saber5055 said:

Because people "get divorced all the time" doesn't mean Maggie wanted to do it, just like because people die all the time doesn't mean I want to do that, either. I totally understand her heartbreak over a broken marriage, and she can cry on my shoulder any time she wants. She rocks.

I agree with this, and wanted to add that since Maggie's husband competed on ANW last year, too, with both of them cheering each other on, I imagine there was additional pressure for the divorce to be Maggie's back-story focus this year. 

[SophiaD]

Overall, I think this season is really well put together.  They have the City Qualifiers, so we can see quirky new contestants and (hopefully) see our old favorites, although they need to keep better track of who they're snubbing with the WWWA segments (Nicholas Coolridge and Abel Gonzalez for example).  They have the City Finals, so those who like to see the contestants struggle against impossible odds can do so (although I still think that was a bit overboard this year).  They have the new rule about women, so those of us (like me!) who like to see women competitors get to, and the women get more practice on the course, and more opportunities to improve.  

Stage 1 of the National Finals let a healthy number of competitors through, at least so far, so we don't have only six people on Stage 2 and two people on Stage 3 (and endless filler).

Kristine has gotten a lot better at interviewing this year.  

I also like Maggie.  I thought she was great on Spartan (I hope that's okay to mention it here) and I love watching her jump up and down and cheer for Jessie.  It's really sweet.

Overall, nice job, show. :)

[Destiny74]

Was Caldero the guy who proudly dumpster dove for food in his backstory a few years ago?  I can't remember

[mlp]

Quote

Was Caldero the guy who proudly dumpster dove for food in his backstory a few years ago?  I can't remember

No, that was Nicholas Coolridge.  Hard to believe I know.  Isaac lived like a hippie in a broken down version of a chartreuse microbus with his girlfriend and worked as a busboy for pocket money.  I always thought he was a jerk.

[Quilt Fairy]

IIRC, the final show is 3 hours long (it was last year, at least), so there's more than enough time for all the stage 2 competitors plus however few make it to stage 3 and beyond. And they can still WWWA stage 2 folks if need be.  However, I did notice something in the teaser for next week that makes me think

Spoiler

Jessie Graf

does well.

[Destiny74]

1 hour ago, mlp said:

No, that was Nicholas Coolridge.  Hard to believe I know.  Isaac lived like a hippie in a broken down version of a chartreuse microbus with his girlfriend and worked as a busboy for pocket money.  I always thought he was a jerk.

Thank you.  

[frogzapper]

I can't believe they WWWA'ed Thomas Stillings again! He's one of my favorites to watch run the courses :(

And I continue to be impressed by Joe Moravsky's deceptively fast runs! 

I'm glad Lance Pekus change out of his usual jeans - they always looked like they'd be so uncomfortable to run in to me.

Disappointed Jesse Labreck didn't complete the course but she sure put in a valiant effort at the end. Really impressed that Allyssa Beird finished the course - she's getting better all the time. I'm really looking forward to seeing Jesse Graff next week! And I agree that it's fun to see Maggie Thorne so enthusiastically cheering on her fellow Ninjas :)

Other than some surprising WWWA choices, I'm really enjoying this season and seeing more strong women going farther than ever!

[Chyna]

My 5th grade daughter on Alyssa Beird: "It has to be weird to see your teacher in a sports bra and booty shorts."

[Chaos Theory]

The funny thing is I wouldn't have even noticed Her clothing except that people insist on pointing it out and a couple of friends of mine got pissed at me for mentioning it.    Then again I kinda like her clothing.  I think she looks nice.  

Edited September 8, 2017 by Chaos Theory

[Guest]

...especially compared to boyfriend James McGrath.  I understand adult braces do nothing for anyone but his hairstyle this ep... ugh.  It's like he had a ponytail coming out of the side of his forehead or something.

[Chaos Theory]

For the record I am not a teacher myself but I come from a family of them and I am just curious if people expect teachers to dress conservatively all the time.  My sister who is a teacher has been known to go to the beach and dress in a two piece bikini.  Well before she had two kids of her own.  If Allyssa dresses like that at work that is one thing but this is her own time and her own thing.  People should actually use this as a way to get her students and maybe even her school to exercise more.  Be like Ms Beird.  Who really cares what she is wearing?  Does  it really matter if she can get one kid who normally wouldn't to exercise more then I call her a great success. That is the lesson that should be taught by Ms Beird.

 

I will  get off my soapbox now.  

Edited September 8, 2017 by Chaos Theory

[Remlab]

My issue with people commenting on Alyssa Beird's clothing is that's what she wants to wear on her run. I remember one poster commented during her city finals that she was "prancing about" as opposed to running the course like everyone else. Why does her clothing even matter, or dictate your opinion of her abilities? She's awesome, and that's all I really care about.

[ClareWalks]

It's hardly out of bounds to have a negative opinion about what a Ninja is wearing. They're athletes, yes, but they're also on national television. Having to pull her panties out of her butt after every obstacle is distracting not just for her, but for everyone watching. The fact is that Allyssa IS the most scantily-clad Ninja, male or female, that I have seen in the last few seasons. Her outfit would be totally normal and not noteworthy at all on a beach or something. For an endeavor such as American Ninja Warrior, it is not an appropriate outfit, mostly because it rides up so much that her buttocks are showing half the time she's out there. Noah Kaufman's commando gold number and Jamie Rahn's speedo are other outfits that have gotten the side-eye over the years.

[Guest]

I don't think I'd go so far as to call her outfit inappropriate but I think it's worthy of comment here, given that's what we're here for is commenting on the tv minutiae.  

I also don't think that commenting on one's outfit or hairstyle or backstory is necessarily an insult to the person.  I think Alyssa is great but I think her shorts were a strange choice, in city finals especially.  I think Maggi is great but I don't care to watch footage about her divorce.   

[slf]

2 hours ago, ClareWalks said:

It's hardly out of bounds to have a negative opinion about what a Ninja is wearing. They're athletes, yes, but they're also on national television. Having to pull her panties out of her butt after every obstacle is distracting not just for her, but for everyone watching. The fact is that Allyssa IS the most scantily-clad Ninja, male or female, that I have seen in the last few seasons. Her outfit would be totally normal and not noteworthy at all on a beach or something. For an endeavor such as American Ninja Warrior, it is not an appropriate outfit, mostly because it rides up so much that her buttocks are showing half the time she's out there. Noah Kaufman's commando gold number and Jamie Rahn's speedo are other outfits that have gotten the side-eye over the years.

I don't think it's out of bounds but I think there's a difference in how it's discussed. I remember posting about Rahn's speedo but my post wasn't about it distracting the entire audience or upsetting children; I made a few jokey comments and one not-so-jokey comment about being grateful that he now wears more. The guys' outfits tend to get eyerolls and/or laughs. But Allyssa is unprofessional and a bad influence on children and her butt apparently blinds the audience to anything else happening. 

[Destiny74]

I am one who doesn't care what the competitors are wearing (unless butt nekid) but they should be comfortable when running.   Lance is obviously comfy running in jeans.  Some ladies are comfy in sports bras, some tank tops.  I don't care.  But, if someone is always readjusting their outfit, it shows they are not comfortable in what they are wearing. If their wedgie is comfortable, or normal for them to feel...great.  Beird is not comfortable in her outfits because she picks all the time.  She should either reevaluate her outfits or practice in them more so they don't bother her.

That being said, since Beird finished Stage 1...hell, wear whatever.  It is annoying to watch her digging but it didn't seem to hamper her performance.

[ClareWalks]

1 hour ago, Destiny74 said:

Beird is not comfortable in her outfits because she picks all the time.  She should either reevaluate her outfits or practice in them more so they don't bother her.

Right, I think it'd be one thing if she seemed to feel great in that outfit, but she just seems uncomfortable.

I somehow totally accidentally saw Jessie Graf and Meghan Martin on some sort of Access Hollywood show or something, and they showed a couple of clips of both of them next week 

Spoiler

making it through the Double Dipper.