S10.E08: Dallas City Finals: 2018.07.23

[Lantern7]

Reminder . . . this is Dallas, and they film the qualifiers and finals back-to-back, so we’re probably going to see Kacy again.

[VartanFan]

I appreciate the warning.  ??

[ams1001]

Why does Matt tell Akbar how many obstacles are left, like he doesn't know?

Tremayne's kids are freakin' adorable. 

Hey, did you know that Mathis Owhadi is 19?

Edited July 24, 2018 by ams1001

[mtlchick]

I need to know the secret to Daniel Gil's hair.   As a woman, I severely envy it. 

[Lantern7]

Fun episode. Between Jeremiah Morgan and Kid Owhadi, Matt and Akbar had to have ruined at least one pair of dress pants. One of the top runs of the night was from Jeremiah . . . who was a ninja . . . until he got electrocuted and almost died . . . and had to learn to walk all over again. Holy crap, that was a story worth telling.

[VartanFan]

2 hours ago, ams1001 said:

Hey, did you know that Mathis Owhadi is 19?

And that Kacy is the only woman to ever finish a finals course.  Even with proper warning from Lantern, I’m still annoyed.

Barclay continues to impress!  

Mission impossible tie-in was also eyeroll-y. 

[enoughcats]

Someone needs to do a stop watch to see the time given to 

Daniel Gil, who I understand was going to run Monday night.

The kid named Atticus, who did scream his lungs out for at least two different competitors while wearing shirts appropriate for each.  There may have been a third, but I dozed off. Too many kids on sugar highs....

The very visible six pack looks great from the front.  From the side it looked a lot looser than I would expect it to, not that that kind of six pack has ever come into my life without a lot of gentle padding on top of it.

Lesson for people wanting to be seen on camera: stand next to the mighty Kacy and smile directly at the camera.  You must FACE the camera to be seen, and that is why you're there, once your personal interest story has run its course/ been beaten to death like a southern biscuit/ taken you in and out of a ninja romance so now all you can do is embrace the other women participants. 

[suebee12]

3 hours ago, mtlchick said:

I need to know the secret to Daniel Gil's hair.   As a woman, I severely envy it. 

My first thought when I saw Daniel and his wife standing together was, wow, what great hair their kids are going to have!

[Chaos Theory]

It’s odd.  I remember in the past it was no name ninjas being on the bubble so you really didn’t care when the last big name final guy you just know would blast through the course knock them out.  Now with the influx of young and otherwise strong ninjas it has been twice in a row popular long time ninjas who have been knocked out.  It says something about the news guys and gals and the new courses.  Giving the “old timers” a run for their money.

Edited July 24, 2018 by Chaos Theory

[DEL901]

On 7/23/2018 at 8:30 AM, Lantern7 said:

Reminder . . . this is Dallas, and they film the qualifiers and finals back-to-back, so we’re probably going to see Kacy again.

I LOLed when Matt mentioned something about one of the ninjas doing something after the city qualifiers a few weeks ago.  Um, Matt.  We know the city qualifier and final is filmed over the same weekend.

[Taeolas]

Ugh, looks like the "Advertising while running" is going to be a 'feature' of the city final courses. Blah! What's worse is it's a normally edited run, just shrunk to the corner, so even while the run is going on, you get cutaways to spectators even though you can't hear a thing. I eventually just FFed through it. :(

 

Nailclipper is still a deadly obstacle for ninjas. More seemed to almost get it this time, but endurance and strength just ran out by the end. 

 

That's why Dallas was bumped a week; so the themed obstacle would be closer to MI's release date. At least it had a good showing with about 10 Ninjas attempting it (going off memory, not looking it up). And it did seem like a real obstacle too that was sufficiently tricky to get by. Catching the ledges on opposite sides is an angle I'm sure we'll see on other obstacles in the future. 

 

"Sparkles" (can't remember her name, Becky?) put on a great show. Her time was only about 15 seconds off the 15th male ninja, so she had a good chance of making it in naturally. 

[ClareWalks]

That shot of Daniel Gil after the Fallout obstacle with his hair blowing in the wind was nothing short of FUCKING MAJESTIC.

We've had so many Ninjas With Near-Death Experiences that it could be a category on Jeopardy.

Barclay continues to impress. And based on Instagram "evidence" from another top lady ninja 

Spoiler

Jessie Graf, who seemed to be unable to go to Vegas for schedule reasons, Barclay might be the best shot for a woman at getting past stage 2.

[CrazyDog]

3 hours ago, ClareWalks said:

That shot of Daniel Gil after the Fallout obstacle with his hair blowing in the wind was nothing short of FUCKING MAJESTIC.

I LOLed at that, and loved that Matt or Akbar commented on it too. He is not my favorite, but I think this could be his year. He's absolutely killing it.

I love Barclay, and I just love what Abel Gonzalez is doing for his community.

21 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

Fun episode. Between Jeremiah Morgan and Kid Owhadi, Matt and Akbar had to have ruined at least one pair of dress pants. One of the top runs of the night was from Jeremiah . . . who was a ninja . . . until he got electrocuted and almost died . . . and had to learn to walk all over again. Holy crap, that was a story worth telling.

That was a very dramatic story, so glad he was OK. What a recovery.

I like the Kid.

Can we get another woman to complete a finals course??

[srpturtle80]

11 hours ago, DEL901 said:

I LOLed when Matt mentioned something about one of the ninjas doing something after the city qualifiers a few weeks ago.  Um, Matt.  We know the city qualifier and final is filmed over the same weekend.

I know, the Kid also said something like that. He said he had been training every day since the city qualifier and getting better and better. They need to just end that charade. 

While I found the Kid a little cocky at the beginning (and on Ninja vs Ninja) he is growing on me a bit. No denying he’s killing it though. So I guess the cockiness is backed up.

Barclay was awesome, I just love her. 

Daniel seems unstoppable at this point. He is insane! 

[enoughcats]

29 minutes ago, srpturtle80 said:

12 hours ago, DEL901 said:

I LOLed when Matt mentioned something about one of the ninjas doing something after the city qualifiers a few weeks ago.  Um, Matt.  We know the city qualifier and final is filmed over the same weekend.

I know, the Kid also said something like that. He said he had been training every day since the city qualifier and getting better and better.

Because nobody is going to say:

Hey Dudes, youse guys ought to be really tired from moving the qualifying stuff from city to city and THEN moving it back to the original city oh so many weeks later.  Guess you forgot you didn't have to reconstruct the 10K wall because it wasn't going to be used so many,many weeks later.  

[Chaos Theory]

The Kid is....well a kid.  He is 18 for Hod sake still a teen aged and teens are cocky as hell plus they think they are invincible.  On his case he can at least back it all up.

[SophiaD]

I liked Kacy's presence this time a lot more than in the qualifiers.  She and Barclay are friends and used to train together.  At least it made sense.  And, yes, Barclay is an absolute beast.  I'm so glad she's going to Vegas.

My money is on Flex to be the second woman to finish a Final's course.  Last year, i would have said Jessie Graff, but it sounds like her mysterious secret project is keeping her from doing as much training as she wanted - and now it sounds as if she might not be in Vegas, either?  Bummer.   Allyssa Beird also has finished Stage One in Vegas - she might be able to finish a Finals course.

[enoughcats]

I worry for the women who are short and who were gymnasts. The obstacles ( to my eye, as someone who is physically short) are not as easy for someone who is under 5'5".  Legs only spread so far apart.  
Monday night a talking head said that two things that someone had to move from were three feet apart.  OK, I sew. and I know how far apart my hands are at one yard (for estimating fabric) and I have a lot less leverage to work with at three feet than some of the long lean guys who may have wing spans of six feet.  Gill is long and lean and it takes him fewer steps to cover territory that some of the women who are short.  He also swings a lot farther, faster.  Again fulcrums and levers.   The fastest times this week (and they were wonderous fast times) went to guys who looked like a different species that short more muscular contestants. 

Jessie Graff was a pole vaulter.  Long and lean and stong upper body strength. She's good, naturally, but her body type helps her more. 

I mentally try to design an obstacle that gives a major advantage to someone under 5'4".  So far, I've got nothing. But maybe I need to watch the Japanese version to see how their contestants do with physical dimensions not identical to ours.

[ClareWalks]

Here's the thing about height - it helps male ninjas, but not female ninjas as much. I am 5'11" and can't really get below maybe 150 lb without becoming weak and gaunt. Kacy, meanwhile, can easily weigh under 100 lb. If I were under 100 lb I could do a billion pullups, but I can't even do one at my current weight (160) and I am strong AF. The former gymnasts may be short but they are also experienced with laches and can cross longer gaps. Not to say that being short is a huge advantage because you have to be stronger through the entire range of motion, but having a low center of gravity like a short woman does is an advantage on balance obstacles for sure.

[Destiny74]

I love Daniel Gil.  I just do.

Please don't take this the wrong way but I am disappointed that no woman besides Barclay passed the balance obstacle.  I was shocked.  From my comfy couch, the Broken Bridge looks slightly easier to complete than the Tuning Forks.  Those forks forked (!) up people because they were already turned before the ninja started on them.  At least the Broken Bridge was set in position to start.  Anyway, a finalist who only got through three obstacles?  Sounds wrong.

Matthew Day doesn't look 19.  He looks 25 with that beard.  He's a cutie but doesn't look his age.  Then again, he can probably buy beer.

All the vet WWWA still aggrivate me.

Sad that Jon Stewart won't be advancing.  

Matt and Akbar going nuts over all the finishers trying to be the fastest.  Yeah, until Daniel Gil comes up and kicks all butt.  Knew he would get the fastest time, no problem.

Edited July 25, 2018 by Destiny74

[CrazyDog]

52 minutes ago, Destiny74 said:

I love Daniel Gil.  I just do.

Please don't take this the wrong way but I am disappointed that no woman besides Barclay passed the balance obstacle.  I was shocked.  From my comfy couch, the Broken Bridge looks slightly easier to complete than the Tuning Forks.  Those forks forked (!) up people because they were already turned before the ninja started on them.  At least the Broken Bridge was set in position to start.  Anyway, a finalist who only got through three obstacles?  Sounds wrong.

Matthew Day doesn't look 19.  He looks 25 with that beard.  He's a cutie but doesn't look his age.  Then again, he can probably buy beer.

All the vet WWWA still aggrivate me.

Sad that Jon Stewart won't be advancing.  

Matt and Akbar going nuts over all the finishers trying to be the fastest.  Yeah, until Daniel Gil comes up and kicks all butt.  Knew he would get the fastest time, no problem.

I forgot about Jon Stewart! I love him and I was so sad he didn't move on. I don't know how much longer he'll do ANW, but he is awesome. 

[sweetandsour]

5 hours ago, Destiny74 said:

Please don't take this the wrong way but I am disappointed that no woman besides Barclay passed the balance obstacle.  I was shocked.  From my comfy couch, the Broken Bridge looks slightly easier to complete than the Tuning Forks.  Those forks forked (!) up people because they were already turned before the ninja started on them.  At least the Broken Bridge was set in position to start.  Anyway, a finalist who only got through three obstacles?  Sounds wrong.

I think only three of the women even got to the Broken Bridge, so if it is in fact easier than Tuning Forks (and I agree it is, but I'm not on the course so I can't say as a fact), the number who could advance through it was even lower to begin with.  (But if you ran numbers, I'm sure way more than 33% of the men who got to the bridge were able to successfully get passed it.)  I don't know if the low completion rate was a fluke, or maybe women don't train balance as much as one would think?  Because they spend so much of their time training their upper bodies and their grip strength, knowing those obstacles are going to be really hard for them?  Pure speculation.

I felt bad for the lady who didn't get past the Archer Steps - it sucks to be a city finalist and go out like that. I don't think it validates the idea that top five women advancing from qualifiers might mean that some of them aren't very good, but it can't feel nice when it happens to you. That said, it did give me a little more perspective on what could even be challenging about the Archer Steps in the first place.

I laughed to myself that not much of Brent Steffensen's run was shown, plus at the end when they showed the list of qualifiers to Vegas, they didn't highlight him.  I don't think they should, based on relative performance, but he's just another veteran ninja now.

[TiredMe]

On 7/25/2018 at 2:07 PM, Destiny74 said:

Matthew Day doesn't look 19.  He looks 25 with that beard.  He's a cutie but doesn't look his age.  Then again, he can probably buy beer.

 

I was watching thinking how the heck we have one 19 year old that looks like a 35 year old and one that looks like he barely hit puberty. Lol

count me as one who laughed at Steffenson get the WYWA treatment. 

Edited July 26, 2018 by TiredMe

[Chaos Theory]

It looks like the Archer Steps you have to go fast and the jump and grab a rope and swing.  The original one you could take your time if you wanted to.  This is more of a run and jump obstacle.  I can see someone making a miscalculation or a misstep.  

[healthnut]

23 hours ago, Destiny74 said:

Please don't take this the wrong way but I am disappointed that no woman besides Barclay passed the balance obstacle.  I was shocked.  From my comfy couch, the Broken Bridge looks slightly easier to complete than the Tuning Forks.  Those forks forked (!) up people because they were already turned before the ninja started on them.  At least the Broken Bridge was set in position to start.  Anyway, a finalist who only got through three obstacles?  Sounds wrong.

Agree. Two of the ladies didn't make it as far as they did in qualifying. It will really suck if Michelle, Alyssa, and Casey R make it the back half and one of them doesn't make it to Vegas. It even sucks for Janique, who made it to the fifth obstacle last week.

[MelinaBallerina]

On 7/24/2018 at 7:19 AM, Chaos Theory said:

It’s odd.  I remember in the past it was no name ninjas being on the bubble so you really didn’t care when the last big name final guy you just know would blast through the course knock them out.  Now with the influx of young and otherwise strong ninjas it has been twice in a row popular long time ninjas who have been knocked out.  It says something about the news guys and gals and the new courses.  Giving the “old timers” a run for their money.

That makes me sad, for some reason

[MelinaBallerina]

On 7/25/2018 at 6:19 PM, sweetandsour said:

 or maybe women don't train balance as much as one would think?  Because they spend so much of their time training their upper bodies and their grip strength, knowing those obstacles are going to be really hard for them?  Pure speculation.

This would be my main training goal.  I have no balance.  Not sure if it's because of my hearing loss or just natural, but, I can't even roller skate.  I'd be focusing most of my training on balance, even though they only show up on the qualifiers and city finals.  My other focus would be bopping around a hanging obstacle for 30 minutes or more.  If I could handle moving around a gym hanging from my hands for 30 minutes comfortably, then the 6+ minutes of an obstacle would be no issue.