S06.E04: Miami Qualifiers

[Lantern7]

I should be taking notes because I'm bad at names. To review:

 

1. No women completed the course.
2. Over 30 people completed the course, including a dude dressed as a "ninja baby." His wife was cheering him on while wearing a bonnet.
3. A father/son team walked onto the course. Dad wrecked his leg on the Warped Wall, while Junior couldn't make it up there.
4. The guy in the promos with the prosthetic foot? Fell in the second obstacle.
5. Flip Rodriguez wound up getting his butt wet climbing down the cargo net. "Devastating" just about covers it. Meanwhile, his rival (whose name escapes me) wound up finishing the course in under a minute.

[turnitwayup]

I think it's Drew the rival. Plus Preston, the Olympic luger who made it thru cause he mentioned Kate the dancing luge athlete who didn't make it thru the Venice qualification.

[lilabennet]

Is it just me or is this course easier than the other qualifying courses so far?

[Taeolas]

It felt easier for some reason; maybe the toadstool steps weren't has hard as they expected? 45 seconds at the fastest, and a lot of 1 minute completions it seemed. How does that compare to other runs? 

 

That father who snapped his tendon, Ye-OUCH! You could hear it snap (assuming the FX monkeys weren't playing tricks) 

 

Flip going out so early was a shocker; but he should be an easy Wildcard. Still, waiting for wildcard announcements are sure to eat at him.

 

I suspect any woman who makes it to the Warped wall (both here and in St Louis last week) are auto Wildcards as well.

[recurring dream]

Every year there's always one course that seems significantly easier than the others.  Seems like it's Miami this year (none of the other courses have had 30 finishers, let alone multiple sub-minute runs).

 

 

[backgroundnoise]

Weren't there 40-some people who finished the course?  Do they all get to advance or just the top 30?

 

I also thought the course looked much easier, without any prolonged upper-body obstacles like the peg board.

[Kromm]

I am NOT a Flip Rodriguez fan.  In previous years he's always struck me as kind of a poseur--talented enough for sure but more concerned with building a brand--and this year the way we heard him refer to himself a number of times in the third person... reinforced that impression.

 

Frankly I don't buy the shtick with ANY of these guys who try the course at that speed.  It just seems like ego (as opposed to some kind of "personal best" thing).  The moment that behavior should have stopped was the moment they changed the rules so that every Qualifying finisher goes to the Regional Finals.  BEFORE that there was an excuse to go fast.  No more.

BTW:  One bit of bogus I noticed in this episode was Matt talking about Drew Drechel's time being the best of any qualifier ever.  I know Matt's supposed to talk about superlatives to boost the drama but that one's a bit of an eye roller, given the vast variety in the courses--not only from city to city but also between seasons.  So "fastest time ever" means... I won't say nothing, but a lot less than it would if the course was consistent.  It's a record that means very little.

[omophagia]

I am NOT a Flip Rodriguez fan.  In previous years he's always struck me as kind of a poseur--talented enough for sure but more concerned with building a brand--and this year the way we heard him refer to himself a number of times in the third person... reinforced that impression.

 

Glad I'm not the only one who's felt that way. Flip always struck me as one who was in the same vein as Frosti from Survivor: China. A terrific athlete? Sure. But one whose braggadocio and attempts at branding have far outstripped their actual on-course performances.

 

The curtain slider obstacle accounted for the must faster run-times in Miami: Compared to other 5th obstacles we've seen, those who were able to complete this obstacle at all did so far more quickly than did the athletes who cleared, say, the tilt ladder or the modified monkey peg.

 

And I'm hoping against hope that the show's foley artists provided that sickening "pop" when Ninja Dad blew his Achilles' tendon on the warped wall. If not, that was seriously disturbing.

[Taeolas]

Makes sense the curtain slider would account for the ease of this course. It's an all or nothing challenge. You either blow through it within a few seconds, or you're left hanging until you drop. Most other 5th obstacles are grindier as pointed out above. The Curtain slide is more of a 2nd obstacle which are usually of the "Hang on and don't fall off" types. 

 

As for Daddy, when he blew his ankle, I was worried he might still qualify for the Top 30 based on time, and wondered if he would withdraw himself (or be medically eliminated) if that came up. Luckily, that wasn't needed by far, so it was a moot point. 

[Richness]

As much as I'd like to hope that pop sound was added in later, I don't think that it was if the two hosts heard it over the background noise from their tower perch. That's provided their commentary isn't dubbed in later anyway. I was really rooting for the Dad and son ninjas to make it (though the son's hair style was working my nerves).

I was waiting for disaster to happen with the two final competitors competing for the best time. The same was true last year as well. Glad to see it happen to Flip instead of Drew to be honest since his mask just irks me for some reason. I was waiting for some of the untucked shirts to dangle in the water as well, especially after it nearly took out Dad Ninja mentioned above. Glad Mr. Spartan took off the pleated skirt to avoid that fate.

Sorry to see the Broken Ninja (His support choice of terms; not mine) taken out so soon. The irony is that it wasn't on a obstacle that his prosthetic couldn't handle. My dad had two prosthetics starting at the mid-calf. Since inclines always gave him trouble, I was surprised by how well the guy made it past the quintuple steps. However, I think it would be just about impossible for him to make it up the warp wall. Maybe if it's one of those flexing ankle joint prosthetics, or maybe one of those running flex blades with some rubber coating the ends.

Otherwise, this was apparently the easiest course they've ever had. There were so many qualifying by completing the course. Too bad those past 40 (?)  won't make it to the city finals, though I could be misunderstanding how it works.

[Kromm]

Because I've seen it described otherwise in a few posts, I thought I'd point out (hopefully nicely and not sounding assholey about it) that the name of the obstacle is actually The Warped Wall.

 

I'm assuming the name refers to the curve being a warping of the straight up and down version.

 

Here's how to build one!!!:

 

[Etta Place]

I've never liked Flip either, but I felt for him this time out.

 

 

My dad had two prosthetics starting at the mid-calf. Since inclines always gave him trouble, I was surprised by how well the guy made it past the quintuple steps. However, I think it would be just about impossible for him to make it up the warp wall. Maybe if it's one of those flexing ankle joint prosthetics, or maybe one of those running flex blades with some rubber coating the ends.

For the steps on the side with his remaining foot, he was able to land one-footed. The other side was a little trickier and he seemed to land with both feet there. It looked like he was using one of the flex blades, which probably gave him the best chance at most of the obstacles, had he made it past the rope.

[theatremouse]

I was waiting for some of the untucked shirts to dangle in the water as well, especially after it nearly took out Dad Ninja mentioned above.

I was actually expecting them to go to the video after he finished his run to double-check his shirt didn't touch the water; it looked that close to me. But I'm guessing when he was injured it made it unnecessary (or they did check it and they just didn't need to mention any of that in the narrative since stretcher is more interesting.)

[dubbel zout]

My dentist once snapped his Achilles tendon, and he said it sounded like a gunshot. So it can be very loud.

[SmithW6079]

Flip going out so early was a shocker; but he should be an easy Wildcard.

 

Didn't he go out on one of the first few obstacles? There were many other contestants who made it farther. I don't care for him, mostly because of his masks.

[Richness]

I recently read an "Ask Me Anything" thread topic on Reddit by an ANW competitor, though I can't find it now. He explained that the finisher with the fastest time gets a little bit of money. That might explain why some would risk making a mistake to be the fastest other than for bragging rights.