S11.E03: Oklahoma City Qualifiers

[Lantern7]

We're getting this five days late because the Stanley Cup Finals went the full seven games. According to American Ninja Warrior nation, we'll be getting Barclay Stockett, Daniel Gil, and Mathis “The Kid” Owhadi. Please remember that the show has moved to Mondays if you're a fan of that. Or Matt and Akbar freaking the hell out. Or Daniel Gil's beautiful, beautiful hair.

Edited June 17, 2019 by Lantern7

[Lantern7]

I think ANW is putting way too much emphasis in finding a ninja/mother to scale the Warped Wall. I mean, they're getting closer, but Matt and Akbar are trying too hard to sell the narrative.

Looking at the finisher standings at the end . . . dang, did Abel Gonzalez even get a WWWA? There's another David Wright for me to root for, after the recently retired Mets third baseman and the two-time Survivor player? And who is Matthew Day? The Kid got too eager to make some money, depriving us of a showdown with his mentor. Naturally, Daniel Gil gets the fastest time, the $10K, and the ticket to Las Vegas by beating Matthew on the Power Tower. I imagine him kneeling down before his run, all, "Hey, God? I got this. I hope You got a good seat."

Edited June 18, 2019 by Lantern7

[mtlchick]

The return of The Hair! 

[mlp]

Daniel Gil has been a favorite of mine since his first appearance so I was delighted to see him do so well.  I had mixed feelings about The Kid's run.  He's really good so I wanted him to hit a buzzer but I was apprehensive about the possibility of him making it to the tower and competing against Daniel.  He might be able to beat him and I don't want to see that.  

I am really sick of the back stories about people who fall on the third obstacle.  Why?  I'm even more sick of all the "mom" comments.  Who cares who is the first mother to make it up the wall?  I don't remember them making an issue out of the first time a father did it.

Maggie looks a lot better without all the garish makeup she usually wears.  

Edited June 18, 2019 by mlp
add something

[Chaos Theory]

Why would they make a big deal about a father completing the course?   It probably happened the first season.   As more and more women of all ages compete the show focuses on different groups finishing.  It is fun to watch women do well.  As much as I like people like Daniel Gil him coming in first was almost a given but watching Maggie Thorne come thisclose to the warped wall  is why I watch this show.  

[ClareWalks]

I was so happy to see Quest again. I love Quest. She is the very first overweight woman to be at all competitive on this show. (Note: she is only about 10 lb overweight, not at all calling her "fat" or anything bad, she is just a thick beautiful lady) It gives me hope, as a tall woman, that you don't just have to be 120 lb to go far as a woman on this show. I also love Karsten's mom.

Daniel Gil is a cyborg.

[Taeolas]

I was hoping for Quest and I was impressed she did as well as she did. She's got a hell of a lot of power for such a compact form and she showed it. Sadly she didn't have the stride for the balance obstacle. Really I'm not sure how best she could do that; maybe planning on two steps on the long parts so anticipating the board coming up? That little girl on the sidelines looked like she was on an ultimate sugar high after waiting all that time for Quest to run. 🙂

Some impressive runs by the women in any case; I suspect most of them will make it to the wall easily in the city finals. (And maybe we can finally retire the "Mom beating the warp wall" meme)

As for Gil, not much to say there other than he has to be a machine. 🙂 He did show some weakness in the interview at the end; apparently he's got a bit of a fear of heights. Not crippling but enough to give him an extra boost when he's high up.

[VartanFan]

Quote

As much as I like people like Daniel Gil him coming in first was almost a given but watching Maggie Thorne come thisclose to the warped wall  is why I watch this show.  

I haven't loved Maggi in the past, but was happy for her and the success of her run.  

Daniel Gil, however....I know I say this all the time, but I get such a phoney baloney vibe from him and his low-rent Tammy Faye wife.  I can't forget the reenacted boat ride and all that.  I get that he's amazingly good and I only would have been interested in the Tower if it HAD been him and Kid going head to head.  

[eel21788]

17 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

I think ANW is putting way too much emphasis in finding a ninja/mother to scale the Warped Wall. I mean, they're getting closer, but Matt and Akbar are trying too hard to sell the narrative.

They are running out of firsts so they can scream "history has been made," so they're really grasping at straws with this one.

17 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

 Naturally, Daniel Gil gets the fastest time, the $10K, and the ticket to Las Vegas by beating Matthew on the Power Tower. 

Was there really any other outcome? On the regular course, he beat the guy he was running against by over a minute. There was really no contest.

[eel21788]

14 hours ago, mlp said:

 I am really sick of the back stories about people who fall on the third obstacle. 

Either I've learned to tune it out, or it seems as though they have toned down the sob stories a lot this year. It is still more than I want to see; however, there have been a lot fewer "I have to dedicate this run to someone who is dying/already dead because there is no other reason I would participate."

Edited June 18, 2019 by eel21788

[eel21788]

3 hours ago, VartanFan said:

Daniel Gil, however....I know I say this all the time, but I get such a phoney baloney vibe from him and his low-rent Tammy Faye wife. 

I wonder why his wife didn't run this year. It seems they either invited back a lot of the marginal contestants, or they made it through the lottery to run as  walk-ons.

[Lantern7]

37 minutes ago, eel21788 said:

Was there really any other outcome? On the regular course, he beat the guy he was running against by over a minute. There was really no contest.

We would've had a real battle had Kid not gone for the $10K. Even with the prize "merely" being a bye to Vegas, the match between mentor and student would have been "must-see."

Is it possible that Matt and Akbar keep pushing mothers because a mother wound up clearing the Warped Wall? I mean, a lot could be edited out. If a mom didn't do that at either stage of qualifications, any talk they'd have about that would more than likely have been edited out.

[Quilt Fairy]

I find the Power Tower challenge boring.  I just don't care for head to head match-ups.

[Richness]

I'm totally over the first mom BS. As I said last episode, I'll never be able to understand the stress and trauma that pregnancy puts a woman's body through. But it can be overcome with training, perhaps more easily than a physical injury like a broken ankle. Now, the first I want to see is the first person with an artificial leg/foot make it up the wall. Now that will be historic!

Don't get me wrong, I was totally devastated that Maggie didn't make it to the wall, especially after hanging on for so long and recovering multiple times. And I get totally excited rooting for the women to go further than the men. In fact, I may have exclaimed "You got beat by girls!" to the Navy guy that went one obstacle further than last year to make it to... wait for it... the second obstacle. That's humiliating.

Hated that the Kid failed to make it up the Mega-Wall, but I'm beginning to wonder at what age does he cease to be "the Kid." On the other hand, I was glad to see Matthew Day make it even if he didn't win the Finals pass. Otherwise, it was mostly forgettable night.

[SophiaD]

I love the balance obstacle in the middle of the course.  It was the great leveler and really wonderful to see so many women do well.  I so wanted Barclay and Maggie to hit a buzzer.

I'm also annoyed that past fan favorites Tremayne Dortsch and Abel Gonzalez didn't even get WWYA treatment.  

All in all, though, I really liked that episode.  I hope they keep using balance obstacles.

[TimothyQ]

I’ve always liked Karsten and I think that his mom on the sidelines is hilarious and cool, but dude that pre-run footage of them together was sooo cringy. 

[Necromancer]

9 hours ago, SophiaD said:

I love the balance obstacle in the middle of the course.  It was the great leveler and really wonderful to see so many women do well.  I so wanted Barclay and Maggie to hit a buzzer.

I'm also annoyed that past fan favorites Tremayne Dortsch and Abel Gonzalez didn't even get WWYA treatment.  

All in all, though, I really liked that episode.  I hope they keep using balance obstacles.

I never saw Abel Gonzalez at the Oklahoma Qualifiers. Until I saw your post, I didn't even know he ran.  He is another long time competing American Ninja Warrior who really got short-shrifted. 

[healthnut]

I was really pulling for Maggi to make it to the wall, she was so close. I really didn’t love the coconut obstacle construction, that swing thing at the end was really weird. So we still haven’t seen Jesse, Flex, Alyssa, Michelle, Megan, Rachel Goldstein, or Casey Rothschild, seems like the first three qualifiers didn’t have a lot historically strong women so some of these ladies are going to get the short end of the stick. 

[ClareWalks]

The Coconut obstacle was strange because the competitors had to have gotten a laundry list of rules re: completion that the audience wasn't privy to. Obviously they'd been told that they couldn't wrap their legs around the "tree trunk." They must have been told that they had to hold onto that metal piece at the end until they grabbed the rope, otherwise it would have made much more sense to drop it, grab the trunk, and work their way around. But since we had no idea, as the audience, what the rules were, it was kind of frustrating to watch.

[enoughcats]

On 6/18/2019 at 4:19 PM, Lantern7 said:

Is it possible that Matt and Akbar keep pushing mothers because a mother wound up clearing the Warped Wall?

Cynic that I am, I expect that the 'mother push' was added after filming because they had one go up the wall and all of a sudden, the editors said "Story arch" let's go back and add some comments.

16 hours ago, SophiaD said:

I'm also annoyed that past fan favorites Tremayne Dortsch and Abel Gonzalez didn't even get WWYA treatment. 

I may be getting his name wrong, but wasn't Bret Stephenson really good a few years ago and now, exaggerated sigh, he's gotten the WWYA treatment. 

We need to talk about women's bodies.  Specifically women poll vaulters.  Not only was our favorite stunt woman a poll vaulter, but one of the most fun to watch ladies from last night, has the long lean, stretches like a rubber band bodied contestant...another poll vaulter.  The talking heads even commented that she was using a vaulting twist to work to her advantage. 

Which makes 5'3" Quest a phenomenal athlete because her reach is so much less than a vaulters.  I know just how far a 5'3" body can reach, and how far apart two legs can go.  Quest ....I'd like to design something for the tall and reachy types that would mean long reaches are so long that they run into obstacles and get tangled up with themselves.  

[TiredMe]

Someone correct me if I’m wrong, but was one of the contestants a YouTube star that has a half millions followers that watch him open packs of Pokémon cards?!? Wtf?

I was enraged that they show some poor child having a seizure. So exploitive. You can talk about your cause without all those terrible shots. I almost turned off the episode. 

[ams1001]

1 hour ago, TiredMe said:

Someone correct me if I’m wrong, but was one of the contestants a YouTube star that has a half millions followers that watch him open packs of Pokémon cards?!? Wtf?

I was enraged that they show some poor child having a seizure. So exploitive. You can talk about your cause without all those terrible shots. I almost turned off the episode. 

Yes, yes he was.

I was also bothered by the epilepsy backstory. I hope they at least asked the kid before putting that on TV (though I wouldn't do it even if the kid said yes). That issue aside, it was too long and I don't need to see them getting all teary and unable to speak.

[DEL901]

12 hours ago, ams1001 said:

Yes, yes he was.

I was also bothered by the epilepsy backstory. I hope they at least asked the kid before putting that on TV (though I wouldn't do it even if the kid said yes). That issue aside, it was too long and I don't need to see them getting all teary and unable to speak.

I also hated how they made it seem like this poor kid was broken / less than.  

[Taeolas]

14 hours ago, TiredMe said:

Someone correct me if I’m wrong, but was one of the contestants a YouTube star that has a half millions followers that watch him open packs of Pokémon cards?!? Wtf?

Yeah that's apparently a thing with the various collectible card games (like Magic, Pokemon, YuGiOh, etc....). While I play Magic the Gathering, I don't see the appeal of it myself. (For me, I have watched a few Transformers toy reviews, but in that case it's a way to see hwo the toy compares to similar toys and how it transforms easier than trying to decipher the black and white instructions. 🙂 )

The Coconut challenge rules seemed pretty obvious. "Only feet can  touch the obstacle, anything else goes for the rings as usual. Feet must touch the rope ring before attempting the exit rope." The design was such that as the contestant spun the ring around to go for the rope, it would fall off the block that caught it, and usually drop down unless the Ninja kept the weight on it (or moved fast enough) The overall obstacle design does make sense when you think out the hows and whys of all the components. 

[little black cloud]

16 hours ago, TiredMe said:

I was enraged that they show some poor child having a seizure. So exploitive. You can talk about your cause without all those terrible shots. I almost turned off the episode. 

I had that same reaction. I was appalled. You don't sell out your child's privacy for air time, famewhores.

[Rosenrot]

Are they seriously still trying to sell the "first mother up the warped wall" narrative? Is it like this season's theme? Please stop it. I'm absolutely a feminist and all for women empowerment, plus I know being a mother is hard work - but I don't understand why I should be extra hyped just because someone is a mother and is running the course. I respect everybody, every man and woman, who finishes the course, because I know I could never do it in a million years.  

I know I'm easy, but Nigel the Classroom Skeleton made me laugh.  

Cake Ninja. Oh lawd. The nicknames crack me up, and not in a good way. (Although despite his name, I was glad the Cake Ninja finished.)

Barclay is so cute (and talented, which goes without saying). I could just put her in my pocket and walk around and feed her cookies.  One of my faves in the women department. 

I've decided I like the Power Tower. What I didn't like was Gil winning, but I like the concept. 

[ClareWalks]

12 minutes ago, Rosenrot said:

Are they seriously still trying to sell the "first mother up the warped wall" narrative? Is it like this season's theme? Please stop it. I'm absolutely a feminist and all for women empowerment, plus I know being a mother is hard work - but I don't understand why I should be extra hyped just because someone is a mother and is running the course.

Amen. I'm a mom, and I surely cannot make it up a 14.5' warped wall. That's not because I've given birth, it's because I am TERRIFIED of that huge wall. There is nothing about being a mother or about going through pregnancy/childbirth that makes Ninja a more difficult sport. It's more than a little patronizing that they go on and on about it. I'll bet the first dad up the warped wall did so with ZERO pomp and circumstance.

[TimothyQ]

On 6/18/2019 at 3:19 PM, Lantern7 said:

Is it possible that Matt and Akbar keep pushing mothers because a mother wound up clearing the Warped Wall?

I think you're exactly right. Expect a mother to get up this season. Only question is, who would it be? Not sure any of the remaining, notable female ninjas are moms. Could be an unknown rookie, maybe?

[eel21788]

7 minutes ago, TimothyQ said:

I think you're exactly right. Expect a mother to get up this season. Only question is, who would it be? Not sure any of the remaining, notable female ninjas are moms. Could be an unknown rookie, maybe?

It will probably happen at one of the city finals, and most likely be one of the two they're been lamenting over. Next year it will become, "Will she be the first grandmother to make it up the wall?" As I said before, they are running out of "firsts." 

I'm also wondering why the wall is such a big deal. A lot of the other obstacles are a lot harder than the warped wall, but there is no, "she's the first mom to get through the bouncing spider."

[ClareWalks]

52 minutes ago, TimothyQ said:

I think you're exactly right. Expect a mother to get up this season. Only question is, who would it be? Not sure any of the remaining, notable female ninjas are moms. Could be an unknown rookie, maybe?

Maybe Zhanique Lovett?

[ams1001]

4 hours ago, Rosenrot said:

I know I'm easy, but Nigel the Classroom Skeleton made me laugh.  

Haha, I'm easy too, then. 😛 

[TimothyQ]

3 hours ago, eel21788 said:

It will probably happen at one of the city finals, and most likely be one of the two they're been lamenting over. Next year it will become, "Will she be the first grandmother to make it up the wall?" As I said before, they are running out of "firsts." 

Yes, I didn't think of that. Could definitely be one of the women we've seen run, but in the city finals. 

3 hours ago, ClareWalks said:

Maybe Zhanique Lovett?

Didn't think her! That would be awesome. I've always liked her and have been impressed by her runs.

[Nonja]

The Mom thing doesnt really bug me, I agree they are probably just running out of "firsts". What has been irritating me is the upswing in people doing some sort of pose/gimmick/display just before the start of their run. I dont even know why it bugs me so much, but it does. 

[little black cloud]

Me, too, @Nonja. The ones that have irritated me the most were Doctor Noah Kaufman with his stethoscope and whichever firefighter would come out onto the course wearing his helmet and coat. Lose the props, you tools.

[Ilovepie]

2 hours ago, little black cloud said:

Lose the props, you tools.

And take the stupid nicknames with you. Cake Ninja? Please.......

Plus one here absolutely SICK of the mom angle. It's used on so many shows like it's something special. Give me a break. I wish there was just one mom who doesn't use that as the angle - maybe instead just says I am a kick ass athlete, or I just decided to do this (for myself, not my children), and oh by the way, there are my kids over there........

[ClareWalks]

Thought of another mom possibility for the wall: Rose Wetzel. I suppose we shall see. Agree that they wouldn't be bringing it up so much if it wasn't going anywhere this season.