S11.E16: Las Vegas National Finals Night 4

[Lantern7]

Daniel isn't fast enough. Drew Drechel is your American Ninja Warrior. And a good chunk of that $1million had better go to support that kid. 😄

[Hellga]

I can't believe it, Daniel didn't even finish,  Drew is the new American Ninja Warrior!   Congratulations, Drew, great season and great achievement.  And hopefully he will now stop the craziness and live like a normal human being.

[Fukui San]

They also spare the ninjas that don't clear Stage 4 the indiginity of the climbing rope being released when the timeout happens.

Congrats Drew and Daniel! Huge accomplishments!

[saber5055]

4 minutes ago, Lantern7 said:

For anyone griping over the last ninjas standing . . . can you at least stay in the same room with either of them? I think I set a record for the use of the word "fuck" posting about the latest episode of The Challenge. I'm just saying . . .

I just yelled "COME ON GD IT" to Gil as he was climbing, then said a few or your favorite word when Dreschel won. The heck.

Not that he hadn't been getting the winner edit all season long.

The bright hope is, maybe he'll disappear. I won't be able to stomach all his I'm-a-father-now videos next season.

[Hellga]

4 minutes ago, Lantern7 said:

I never learned how to climb a rope. I am ashamed.

Neither did I.  We had to do it in gym class and all I could do is hang helplessly in the same spot.  Our teacher just gave up and passed me anyway...

[Lantern7]

"Who is the greatest warrior? Is it the Ninja Warrior, or is it the Titan?" Tiny voice: "What about the Spartan?" "NOBODY IS TALKING TO YOU! YOU DON'T MATTER!!!"

The future? Well, I know we've seen headliners continue being headliners while raising babies. That said, I'd understand if Drew takes a break. On the other hand, he did have to use a Safety Pass, and that might be motivation to stay in the game. Daniel is staying on.

[Ciarrai]

Super happy for Drew!

[saber5055]

4 minutes ago, Fukui San said:

They let Drew wait at the top of the tower? Good thing ANW doesn't do WWE shenanigans. LOL.

Watching Daniel climb, I was thinking if I was on the other end of his safety rope, I would be cranking it up so he "climbed" WAY faster than humanly possible. No one would have noticed that, would they?

[Lantern7]

Drew's kid six years from now: "Seriously, why is my middle name 'Akbar'?" "Well, Matt . . . "

[mtlchick]

I would have been happy with either one.  They've been two of the big names in the last few years so no complaints.  Only downer is Joe going down again near the end.  

[Fukui San]

For some perspective, even though ANW contestants are 3 for 4 in clearing Stage 4, the overall rate of success for contestants on the Japanese version is about 10%. They went 13 tournaments without an overall winner between Sasuke 4 and Sasuke 17 as 10 attempts on Stage 4 failed before Nagano cleared it on his third try.

The ANW winners have made it look automatic. It isn't. Particularly if they change it up to add different components, like Spider Climb into a Rope Climb.

[Hellga]

2 minutes ago, Lantern7 said:

Drew's kid six years from now: "Seriously, why is my middle name 'Akbar'?" "Well, Matt . . . "

As long as it's not Drew Jr!  

[ParadoxLost]

2 minutes ago, Hellga said:

As long as it's not Drew Jr!  

Eighteen years from now, they'll likely be promoting the fetal ninja.  He'll be required to wear a diaper while they espouse on how he was in uetero when his father finished stage 4.

[Fukui San]

18 minutes ago, Lantern7 said:

I never learned how to climb a rope. I am ashamed.

I'm fairly sure the number of Ninja obstacles in series history I could actually complete is in the single digits.

[m66]

Why was the Kid on Drew's sideline?

[Hellga]

4 minutes ago, ParadoxLost said:

Eighteen years from now, they'll likely be promoting the fetal ninja.  He'll be required to wear a diaper while they espouse on how he was in uetero when his father finished stage 4.

As a friend of mine once put it, "that's not evil, that's just sick".

[srpturtle80]

Well this episode was fairly anticlimactic since the ANW Facebook page accidentally spoiled the top two finishers earlier today. I obviously knew no one else made it through on stage 3. Knowing that was a big fat bummer and took so much joy out of it for me. 😩

My Ninja boyfriend, Adam Rayl, was SO freaking close. I just wanted to watch him run the course as long as possible lol. 

I’ve always liked Drew, but he got a little too intense for me this season. At the end I was really pulling for Daniel (who I’ve always liked as well, and who doesn’t seem to take it nearly as seriously). But that wasn’t even close. I believe Daniel will be working on his rope climbing skills in the offseason, lol. Also, part of me is glad Drew won because I feared for his mental health if he did not.

Goodbye until next year, show. I will miss you!! 

[saber5055]

19 minutes ago, srpturtle80 said:

Also, part of me is glad Drew won because I feared for his mental health if he did not.

The Evil Me was hoping for that breakdown. It could have been The Most Dramatic ANW Finale EVAH!

[mlp]

Congratulations to Drew.  I really, really wanted Daniel to win but I have to admit that I softened toward Drew when I saw him in tears after Stage 3.  Now Daniel knows he can do it so maybe he'll get there next year.  Alone.  

Someone told me that a winner has to sit out the next season.  I have no idea if that's true.  Does anyone know for sure?

[EllenB]

Hey, will Gill get the Geoff Britten invisibility cloak runner-up award?  The show acted like he never existed after that season.

[ClareWalks]

Drew did amazing. It was a long time coming for him! I just wish his edit had been a LITTLE more subtle. After his video package it was super obvious he would win the whole thing. 

I knew he definitely won, though, when his state-of-the-art, brand new ninja gym opened a couple weeks ago. That takes big money.

[Rosenrot]

Please, god, does this mean Drew can RETIRE NOW?

2 hours ago, EllenB said:

Hey, will Gill get the Geoff Britten invisibility cloak runner-up award?

LOL one can only hope! 

9 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

Drew's kid six years from now: "Seriously, why is my middle name 'Akbar'?" "Well, Matt . . . "

[chokes on tea]

I'm so depressed I can't even bring myself to watch the episode. 😑 The only bright side (aside from Drew maybe retiring, which I frankly don't believe in one bit) is that it seems Stage 3 wasn't, after all, so ridiculously easy I thought it was going to be.  Stage 2 was absolutely laughable, and at least S3 redeemed some of that.

Edited September 17, 2019 by Rosenrot

[Conotocarious]

For anyone wishing Drew to retire, on the ANW podcast he makes it absolutely certain he is not. 

[ams1001]

12 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

Chris Digangi WWWA and done.

Dammit. I haven't watched yet but this makes me sad. (Had to choose between Dancing with the Stars premiere and this; Dancing won because I get to live-snark-chat with a friend.) But Google knows I watch ANW so I got a headline in my tablet notifications this morning that said something about winning not being enough; the winner wants to win twice in a row...and I knew it had to be Drew. (I'm not at all surprised, though.)

[Fukui San]

11 hours ago, EllenB said:

If they're all coaches, at some point they'll run out of Ninja wannabees.

My daughter went to a Ninja Warrior birthday party at a Ninja gym last week. I think being part of the Birthday Entertainment Industrial Complex and the afterschool activity ecosystem is a large part of the Ninja gym business model.

[questionfear]

46 minutes ago, Fukui San said:

My daughter went to a Ninja Warrior birthday party at a Ninja gym last week. I think being part of the Birthday Entertainment Industrial Complex and the afterschool activity ecosystem is a large part of the Ninja gym business model.

No doubt, plus there's a huge movement of more local/National Ninja League type events as well.

FWIW my kid is 6 and he's DYING to try the ninja gym when he turns 7.

Sometimes Drew comes across as a little too intense, but I honestly got a little choked up last night. It was an exciting finale. And I think as much as it sucks for Gil that he timed out, I think that's almost better-like, he knows he failed, full stop, not "finished but .01s too late to win money", which has got to be more painful. 

[VartanFan]

Well that was like picking between STDs...Just relieved it wasn't Gil that won it all.  Not a huge Drew fan but would prefer him over Gil.  I'm now officially a Rayl Roadie. 

Quote

Well this episode was fairly anticlimactic since the ANW Facebook page accidentally spoiled the top two finishers earlier today.

SERIOUSLY?  Unbelievable.  

Quote

Hey, will Gill get the Geoff Britten invisibility cloak runner-up award?  The show acted like he never existed after that season.

Well, Gil didn't even finish in under 30 seconds.  Britten did.  [#StillBitter].  So I think it's even worse treatment of GB.  You know they won't overlook this for Gil.

[Necromancer]

12 hours ago, saber5055 said:

I just yelled "COME ON GD IT" to Gil as he was climbing, then said a few or your favorite word when Dreschel won. The heck.

Not that he hadn't been getting the winner edit all season long.

The bright hope is, maybe he'll disappear. I won't be able to stomach all his I'm-a-father-now videos next season.

Drew has said in an interview that he wants to win again next year and become the first back to back winner of American Ninja Warrior.

[Lantern7]

In regard to Daniel Gil potentially turning invisible . . . y'all kidding, right? Geoff ran the year after completing the course, but I reckon he said something about spending time with his family. If he had kept competing, he wouldn't have been treated as an afterthought.

Anyone surprised we got Geoff's climb, and Akbar wasn't dubbed in, shouting "BRITTEN'S GOT TALENT!!!!!"? He lived to do that, man.

Edited September 17, 2019 by Lantern7

[Chaos Theory]

Although he has never been my favorite, I am not particularly surprised Drew Dreschel was the one to complete  the course.  My thought at the end was that the Real Life Ninja finally earned his name.  

Edited September 17, 2019 by Chaos Theory

[srpturtle80]

1 hour ago, VartanFan said:

Quote

Well this episode was fairly anticlimactic since the ANW Facebook page accidentally spoiled the top two finishers earlier today.

SERIOUSLY?  Unbelievable.  

Oh yes. There was a post that showed a pic of stage 4 with a headline about it being Drew vs Daniel for the final stage. Every single comment on said post was an irate fan! The post then disappeared shortly after and was replaced with a similar one which just said something like “who will win?” Someone screwed up big time!! 

I was really bummed that I saw it. I didn’t know who won, but I knew every single runner on stage 2 failed other than Drew and Daniel. Kinda took the fun out of it.

I also have to say that I forgot to mention when I posted last night how much I love the tall redhead kid (whose name is currently escaping me). Doesn’t look like a typical ninja but just goes out there and competes with the best of them! He’s awesome. 

[Evie]

Congratulations to Drew. He's too intense to be one of my favorites but has never bothered me much. I'm kind of glad Gil timed out instead of losing by seconds. 

[VartanFan]

Just wanted to add (at the risk of sounding like a broken record this season) - I hope there was also shampoo in that water last night.  Maybe that means 'the swan' will have finally cleaned his hair. 

[Me from ME]

I never got the Drew hate until the most recent ANW packages on him, and his day sleeping, night training, girl friend, baby on the way... However, I am glad he won. His performance on stage 3 was simply beautiful. He was fast, accurate and efficient. I also think it was remarkable that he had spent a lot of time planning the climb by studying Geoff and Isaac's past performance.

That being said, I wish he would take a break or just quit while he is on top so he can be remembered for an almost perfect season (tire run being an obvious exception.)

[ams1001]

20 minutes ago, Me from ME said:

I never got the Drew hate until the most recent ANW packages on him, and his day sleeping, night training, girl friend, baby on the way... However, I am glad he won. His performance on stage 3 was simply beautiful. He was fast, accurate and efficient. I also think it was remarkable that he had spent a lot of time planning the climb by studying Geoff and Isaac's past performance.

That being said, I wish he would take a break or just quit while he is on top so he can be remembered for an almost perfect season (tire run being an obvious exception.)

I always liked Drew. Maybe it's just the editing but he came off a little full of himself this season. I was rooting for someone who generally gets less attention (Chris D, specifically, but I wouldn't have minded anyone else) but I'm not mad he won or anything.

[Rickster]

So I guess Joe Moravsky’s Reddit AMA comment about Stage 3 being too easy must have been a friendly poke at Drew winning the million. (I live near Drew’s new CT gym and saw a notice that Joe was making a special appearance there this week).

[saber5055]

49 minutes ago, Me from ME said:

I never got the Drew hate until the most recent ANW packages on him, and his day sleeping, night training, girl friend, baby on the way...

This. I was fine with Drew until the video package on his girlfriend ... who came out of nowhere, never mentioned before, never seen, never existed as far as viewers knew ... and now she's pregnant? And we see Drew being so cute shopping for baby clothes? I'm sure he's all into that. So girlfriend, good luck raising that kid on your own while your "boyfriend" spends all his time training for the next season. I hope you have some legal agreement, signed and sealed.

Isaac had a long-time girlfriend who lived with him in that van and traveled with him and was at every event rooting him on. After he won, the next time we saw Isaac the girlfriend had disappeared, never to be mentioned again. Welcome to Real Life.

[Ilovepie]

17 minutes ago, Rickster said:

So I guess Joe Moravsky’s Reddit AMA comment about Stage 3 being too easy must have been a friendly poke at Drew winning the million. (I live near Drew’s new CT gym and saw a notice that Joe was making a special appearance there this week).

Maybe it's because I knew someone was winning, but Stage 3 did seem way easier than in prior years. Those doors they have to climb around, the body prop, and the upside down rock climbing thing (apologies for not knowing the names of these things) all seemed way more difficult than the obstacles that replaced them this year.

And now the rant........I completely HATE that they spoiled it, and I mean HATE. The fans of this show keep watching over MANY seasons where NOBODY wins. The excitement of the entire show is seeing people do the impossible. When they tell me someone does just that without letting me experience the nail biting joy of watching it happen, the experience of the overall show is diminished. They ruined it. By the time Drew hit the buzzer I didn't even care: All of the suspense was gone. What a disappointment. Imagine how you would have felt watching last night if they hadn't been advertising for weeks that someone "WILL WIN A MILLION DOLLARS!" Imaging seeing Drew or Daniel hit that buzzer without knowing they were going to do it. Last night I was looking at my phone. And the fact that it seemed not as hard as prior years made it even more disappointing.

I am happy Drew finally won because he is arguably the best Ninja, but I am probably not as excited about someone conquering all 4 stages as I would have been if there was no safety pass, the feeling they dumbed down the course, and the fact that they spoiled it.

I was more heartbroken for Joe. So close AGAIN!!!!! And Adam Rayl: Please keep running the course shirtless. That is all.

[ams1001]

40 minutes ago, saber5055 said:

This. I was fine with Drew until the video package on his girlfriend ... who came out of nowhere, never mentioned before, never seen, never existed as far as viewers knew ... and now she's pregnant? And we see Drew being so cute shopping for baby clothes? I'm sure he's all into that. So girlfriend, good luck raising that kid on your own while your "boyfriend" spends all his time training for the next season. I hope you have some legal agreement, signed and sealed.

We've seen her before; they didn't focus as much on her in his packages, though.

On the other hand, with his shifted schedule, he shouldn't have any trouble with the "up in the middle of the night with new baby" part of parenthood. 😉

[Tachi Rocinante]

If that humongous angled button was there for Geoff and Isaac, Britten wins it.

[Pepperclove]

Yeah April and Drew have been together for quite a while, and she has been on the sidelines watching more often than not. I’m not sure we’ve heard her interviewed in a package before though. And the point about Isaac and his girlfriend is well-taken. 

Overall I’m happy Drew won. I’ve always liked him, and he’s been the top ninja for a few years - I wouldn’t have liked a fluky winner since then it would be easy to blame the nerfed course. Stage 3 seemed a bit easier than past years but still very challenging. Hopefully they ramp it up next year though because the ninjas are getting better and better.

[Rickster]

1 hour ago, Ilovepie said:

And now the rant........I completely HATE that they spoiled it, and I mean HATE. The fans of this show keep watching over MANY seasons where NOBODY wins. The excitement of the entire show is seeing people do the impossible. When they tell me someone does just that without letting me experience the nail biting joy of watching it happen, the experience of the overall show is diminished. They ruined it. By the time Drew hit the buzzer I didn't even care: All of the suspense was gone. What a disappointment. Imagine how you would have felt watching last night if they hadn't been advertising for weeks that someone "WILL WIN A MILLION DOLLARS!" Imaging seeing Drew or Daniel hit that buzzer without knowing they were going to do it. Last night I was looking at my phone. And the fact that it seemed not as hard as prior years made it even more disappointing.

For example, when Daniel Gil was announced as the last competitor on Stage 3, I said to my girlfriend, “of course he's going to finish it, because they wouldn’t have spoiled the $1 million if Drew is the only person on Stage 4. There will be no suspense.” Of course I was right, and I felt bad about it.

[realdancemom]

19 minutes ago, Pepperclove said:

Overall I’m happy Drew won. I’ve always liked him, and he’s been the top ninja for a few years - I wouldn’t have liked a fluky winner since then it would be easy to blame the nerfed course. Stage 3 seemed a bit easier than past years but still very challenging. Hopefully they ramp it up next year though because the ninjas are getting better and better.

I haven't watched the show yet but I'm glad that Drew won.  Also, would have been happy if Joe or Daniel won.  After I read that Joe said that Stage 3 was also easy, I was afraid that there would be too many Stage 3 finishers.  Then somebody that normally is not one of the top ninjas could have won just by doing Stage 4 faster.  Glad that wasn't the case.

Also, if Drew did use some of the money to update his Ninja gym, then it not only benefits him but other Ninjas that train in his gym.

[Taeolas]

I notice in some of the crowd scenes, Drew was wearing darkened goggles. I wonder if he was napping during resets and only woke up when certain ninjas ran to show support and what not?

I also wonder how much time was really between Drew and Daniel's run; if Drew was really that early, he would have had a lot of time to rest before the climb. 

Just think, if it wasn't for injuries, we could've had 4 Ninjas on Stage 4. Joe and Flip were both very strong contenders, but injured out. I guess that's why the Weatherman was WWWA'ed so much through the season; they already knew he wouldn't make it to the top. 

Stage 3 did feel noticeably easier than in past years. I think it's because there wasn't really an endurance aspect to it. Everything was basically a hang or lache swing/jumps obstacles. There weren't any draining obstacles like circuit board or body prop to make you work upside down or to wear  you out like there has been in the past. 

Northwest Passage made a return of sorts, but didn't feel as dangerous as it did in Seattle. I think it's because it was early (so Ninjas had more energy) and it looked like they only had to move the handles one slot each time before they could move to a solid grip. 

[Hellga]

3 hours ago, srpturtle80 said:

I also have to say that I forgot to mention when I posted last night how much I love the tall redhead kid (whose name is currently escaping me). Doesn’t look like a typical ninja but just goes out there and competes with the best of them! He’s awesome. 

Seth Rogers, I think.  I liked him too.

1 hour ago, Pepperclove said:

Yeah April and Drew have been together for quite a while, and she has been on the sidelines watching more often than not. 

I definitely remember hearing about her in the past seasons, many times... 

[Chaos Theory]

Honestly if one of the 19 year olds won (Especially The Kid who I hope falls every tie I see him....don’t judge me.   Something about him really annoys me) I might have given up on this show for good.   

[Aliconehead]

5 minutes ago, Chaos Theory said:

(Especially The Kid who I hope falls every tie I see him....don’t judge me.   Something about him really annoys me)

Same!

[Iguana]

Well, while I'm fairly meh about Drew as a contestant, you can't say his win was a fluke (safety pass issue excepted).  He trained hard, prepared properly, and gave the course maximum effort.   And, for me, I'd rather see him win than one of the kids or rookies, so congrats to Drew.

And I laughed a bit at the compilation cut of Island Ninja's many failures at the salmon ladder.  

[Ilovepie]

7 minutes ago, Iguana said:

And I laughed a bit at the compilation cut of Island Ninja's many failures at the salmon ladder. 

Seriously. It's his kryptonite!

[mertensia]

Drew wins.

Me: Congrats. Go away now.

Edited September 17, 2019 by mertensia