The Titan Games - General Discussion

[Rickster]

I knew Cruz, Graf and Teter before the show started.

[ShortyMac]

36 minutes ago, Rickster said:

I knew Cruz, Graf and Teter before the show started.

I knew Joe Thomas, Cruz, Teter, and Woodley.

[saber5055]

On 7/15/2020 at 11:02 PM, ShortyMac said:

On 7/15/2020 at 10:18 PM, Rickster said:

I knew Cruz, Graf and Teter before the show started.

I knew Joe Thomas, Cruz, Teter, and Woodley.

I knew Jessie Graf and Dwayne Johnson.

[ClareWalks]

Not even halfway through tonight's episode and all of these competitors SUCK. Jeeez.

[Taeolas]

Considering the men's run on Mount Olympus ended with an injury, I'm surprised they didn't swap the men's and women's Mount Olympus runs so they could end on a full run. I wonder if he'll be healed up enough to handle the redemption ep in a couple of weeks? 

Otherwise, yeah nothing too memorable about last night's ep.

[slaterain]

What a pathetic episode. I liked the wrestler/announcer woman and had hoped she would have had a much better showing at Mount Olympus.

I was really bummed when the golfer was the one who advanced. I was frustratingly glaring at my screen while the other guy kept hitting the top of the tube with his feet and not moving it at all. I also really hate it when both challenges are the same muscle groups. Having both competitors fall off multiple times is not fun to watch. I assume that these all occur the same day, right?

A little cynical part of me thought the golfer just knew he wouldn't be able to come close to catching up and used his fall and a sore shoulder as an excuse to quit. I don't think he had any energy left - no endurance at all. Country strong is a bit obnoxious but I liked his "at least I can talk this time" comment at the end of it. 

Hopefully next week is better. I am looking forward to the finals. I really want Matt Chan to win - special place in my heart for him as he was one of the original Crossfit competitors back when I first was getting in to it. 

[ShortyMac]

I really liked Michelle and wish she would have made it to MO. Dasha struggled on the box flip, and the log lift, and that was it.

Ryan clearly has poor hand/forearm/grip strength; he lost his grip and fell during every event. Injuring his bicep during MO was so lame and anticlimactic. Will got to cruise to victory. I wonder if Ryan will recover in time to compete in the regional finals? If not, would Andrew get to take his place?

[Rickster]

I’d be curious to know what sort of time frame this is filmed over. I’d guess each region is filmed over a couple of days at most and the whole competition over a couple of weeks.

[lynxfx]

On 7/21/2020 at 1:08 PM, Rickster said:

I’d be curious to know what sort of time frame this is filmed over. I’d guess each region is filmed over a couple of days at most and the whole competition over a couple of weeks.

Here is a little behind the scenes stuff. https://heavy.com/entertainment/2020/07/titan-games-competitors-rest-events/

From other sources it sounds like each episode is a single days shoot (not including the bios and at home stuff). So not much rest for competitors. The events can also last much longer than what is shown. This season was shot in Georgia while last season was CA. All done just before covid-19 blew up.

Sure sounds like you don't want the early matches to be 2 out of 3. That 1 extra event could wipe out your energy reserves.

Also could they have at least locked down the relic pedestal at the end? Every time they go to twist it slides around the stage.

I'm rooting for the air force guy to win. 

[ShortyMac]

Once again, Will benefited from an injured challenger. Yawn.

I really liked Courtney, but,

Spoiler

She has "East Titan" in her bios on SM. If she turns out to be, that's a major spoiler.

https://www.instagram.com/courtney_roselle/

https://twitter.com/CourtneyRoselle

 

[Lantern7]

Well, at least the Mt. Olympus runs were interesting. Will and the other guy were neck-and-neck until Other Guy got hurt. What works better: "Other Guy" or "Vinny's Daddy"? That was a seriously cute French Bulldog.

ETA: I knew Hannah Teter because she and Johnny from The Challenge were an item for a while. I know, not the best thing for association purposes.

Edited July 28, 2020 by Lantern7

[realdancemom]

This week was a little more exciting since Mount Olympus matches were close.  I was actually rooting for the other guy since I'm getting tired of Will.  OTOH, the army nurse was kind of dull so I'm glad Courtney won.  She's really strong.

[ClareWalks]

That firefighter lady was the least impressive competitor we've had, and that includes last week's pathetic lot. It's not that Courtney was that dominant, it's that the firefighter was THAT BAD. She couldn't even get any plates removed in the first challenge, FFS. Courtney is truly Amazonian, though, so I'm not surprised she was so good moving that 200-lb rock. I'd probably be good at it, too, even though I'm not as physically remarkable as these ladies, I am tall and muscular.

I've gotta say, Will is growing on me like a majestic mullet grows on a redneck. When he came tearing down those falling domino things after the cage crawl I had to rewind it and watch again. YOWZA.

[lynxfx]

The "other guy" was a spaz which ultimately lead to his downfall. Good technique on the rope pull but I think he mildly hurt himself when jumping off that platform. Then totally did it in chucking himself off the tunnels on Mt Olympus. Better than the guy that built his own Titan Games training course. I expected more from him. 

The fire fighter was definitely weak for this show. Outmatched at upper body and lower body. No chance. 

I am getting a little bored of the same challenges now. I hope they modify Mt Olympus for the finale but I doubt they will. 

[Rickster]

The firefighter was disadvantaged by being too short to properly do the first challenge. She had to reach too high to push the upper discs, which angled them in a way that it was hard to slide them. In the second challenge, Courtney had too much momentum and mass.

[Ciarrai]

I wanted Josh to win, just for Vinny the Frenchie. I rewound multiple times to see the pup.

[slaterain]

On 7/28/2020 at 10:36 PM, Rickster said:

The firefighter was disadvantaged by being too short to properly do the first challenge. She had to reach too high to push the upper discs, which angled them in a way that it was hard to slide them. In the second challenge, Courtney had too much momentum and mass.

This!!! I was so frustrated watching that. It was definitely not the challenge for her. She couldn't get any leverage due to her height. Then that little slip at the ladder on the next challenge meant she had no chance. I wonder how she would have done on the climbing fence one or a couple of the other challenges. 

[saber5055]

On 7/28/2020 at 9:57 PM, Ciarrai said:

I wanted Josh to win, just for Vinny the Frenchie.

I wanted him to lose for not being keyed into the obvious fact that the dog was distressed and highly stressed being there, you could see it in his eyes, plus the hyper panting and ears flat to his head reinforced the dog was fearful. To bring the dog into the arena because dog is "his best friend" was selfish, just so he could have a "hook" and photo op. The dog was fine in the dressing room; that's where the dog should have stayed. I was surprised DJ didn't get bitten when he put his face up to the dog's face as the dog's eyes said dog was melting down.

Reigning Tie-an Will Suh-un keeps his title. Thank goodness DJ can pronounce Will's name correctly as well as the name of his show.

[questionfear]

I'm weirdly excited for next week! I think it comes down to Noah Palicia and Matt Chan on the men's side-Will Sutton has gotten damn lucky on Mt Olympus but I just don't see him winning against both of those guys in the preliminary challenges to get back to Mt Olympus. 

Courtney is a beast. I can't even begin to handicap the women's side, except that I will be shocked if Courtney isn't one of the two competitors on Mt Olympus. 

I wonder what the elimination challenges will look like for the finale. They can't eliminate one person each round, though they could assign a points system and the two highest pointholders at the end of 2-3 rounds goes to Mt Olympus? Like first is worth 3 pts, second is worth 2, third is 1, and it is best of 3 to determine who competes at the end?

And will they change Mt Olympus for the finale? 

(With the lack of Ninja Warrior in my life, this has been my summer show!)

[ClareWalks]

Will Sutton is so fast. I don't think he can beat Noah Palicia though. This is Noah's to lose.

[realdancemom]

2 hours ago, ClareWalks said:

Will Sutton is so fast. I don't think he can beat Noah Palicia though. This is Noah's to lose.

I'm rooting for Noah.  I do think Will is deceptively fast and agile.  I figured that he would be strong because of all the farm work.  Noah is the opposite.  I didn't know how strong he would be since he looks so lean.  He's deceptively strong.

Hannah did better this time around.  It's too bad that Haley fell during the first challenge because I think she would have been the best one among the three to be close to Courtney during Mt. Olympus.

For women, I'm cheering for Margaux or Courtney next week.

[Ciarrai]

Perhaps irrational but I hate that they call Will Country Strong. My familiarity with _____ Strong is Boston Strong and Vegas Strong, both coming up in the wake of acts of extreme violence.

So calling him Country Strong drives me crazy.

[lynxfx]

4 hours ago, Ciarrai said:

Perhaps irrational but I hate that they call Will Country Strong. My familiarity with _____ Strong is Boston Strong and Vegas Strong, both coming up in the wake of acts of extreme violence.

So calling him Country Strong drives me crazy.

In modern context it is a little strange but I've heard "country strong" over 30 years ago with classmates. You use it a lot on a ranch or farm because while the people might not look ripped like a body builder they can chuck a bail of hay like it was nothing. 

[ShortyMac]

It was Margaux vs Dani for the women, Dani won. Ugh. Just didn't like her. It was so lame how Margaux got hung up on breaking through to the Cage Crawl. How did she not think to get down and use both legs?

Will vs Matt, Matt won. Will's "Country Strong" shtick would have been even more insufferable if he came out on top. Cool for Matt. Will is 26, and got beaten by a 42 year-old. lol 

[Taeolas]

All in all, I'm fine with the setup for the final. 

Using the pillars to find the first finalist works well; it's an individual challenge with multiple part, and it looked like both men and women sides were relatively close finishes. 

The Herculean Pull is a good final challenge; it has a solid individual component so it's all on what you can do; but the gold pole can be a good Titan vs Titan challenge if the contestants are balanced. A better final challenge than Resistance I think. The men's side was close; if he'd grabbed the gold pole it probably would've gone long. But he couldn't quite get the grip and Will pulled it off. 

As for Mount Olympus, there were 3 changes; two walls to punch through (heavy foam I think?) and a chain pull to release the hammer and weight. The women's challenge also had to flip the box at the start twice before they could start climbing. (Most of the times they just had to climb the box or give it one flip)

The wall breaks were a surprising challenge. Three of the Titans did break through ultimately but they clearly had to think on their feet about how to use their feet. A 1 foot kick clearly didn't work; you needed to get some momentum as Dani showed. Treat it like Kickout, where you use most of your body weight to try and break through. 

Anyways, it was a good season, and I'm hopeful/eager for Season 3 next summer. (or sooner)

[questionfear]

12 hours ago, ShortyMac said:

It was Margaux vs Dani for the women, Dani won. Ugh. Just didn't like her. It was so lame how Margaux got hung up on breaking through to the Cage Crawl. How did she not think to get down and use both legs?

Will vs Matt, Matt won. Will's "Country Strong" shtick would have been even more insufferable if he came out on top. Cool for Matt. Will is 26, and got beaten by a 42 year-old. lol 

I think Margaux had the wind knocked out of her by that shoulder tackle at the wall. And then she just lost all her energy...you could see it in her kicks that she was losing power. 

Dani wasn't my top choice, but she did an amazing job of kicking butt on Mount Olympus.

Matt Chan's run was amazing to watch. 

I did wonder how long the competitors got to rest between finishing the challenges and hitting Mount Olympus. If it's several hours there's not much of an advantage to the first winner, but if it's "finish herculean pull, take 40 minutes to reset, onto Mount O" it's probably a slight advantage to the winner of the first round since they'd be considerably more well rested. I wonder if that's part of why Margaux had issues and faded out-she really had to burn her legs on Herculean Pull, that might have accounted for why she just didn't have anything left to break the walls on Cage Crawl.