PhantomStranger

Kacy knows most of the obstacles inside and out, her boyfriend was basically a professional obstacle athlete and has extensive experience training on them. She makes it look very smooth but most people are awkward on them the first few go-arounds.

RichC2

Considering that Kacy clip got so much coverage, I'm curious to see what kind of ratings ANW gets next week.

JCWBobC

Pretty good show last night with a bunch of guys making it. Did anyone else think this course seemed longer than last weeks?

After the second Wilczewski brother finished he threw his coat or shirt off and I thought he had fallen from the top.

OldBoy

amazing!! and so damn cute!!!

PhantomStranger

At least Travis Rosen qualified for Vegas, though he failed sooner than usual. Elet Hall had an electrifying run.

GoldenJCJ

She's awesome and I take nothing away from her accomplishments on the course but if she was an ugly chick she wouldn't be getting half the attention that she is.

Oh and look at that thigh gap!

Nausicaa

Never watched this show, but Kacy's run was inspiring.

What is the show like? Do they always do the same obstacle course?

PhantomStranger

The course varies over time and location, this season each course has had one obstacle completely new to all competitors. The majority of obstacles have been around for years and some dedicated athletes have built versions of them to practice on at home. The Warped Wall has always been the final obstacle of the first stage as an example.

PhantomStranger

Someone on the staff must have read my complaint, they totally tweaked the Miami course for tonight's second stage and made it possibly the toughest one of the season. Almost every obstacle was made more difficult and many were failing to pass more than a handful of obstacles.

A big surprise...

JCWBobC

As he started his run I said to my son that if he goes to fast he's going to make a mistake and right then he fell. So 3 of the biggest names in the competition, Drew, Flip, and Brent, are out.

Good to see Brett Sims back after a couple of years away. He went to Japan a while back but fell on the Spider Jump, I think it was the first year they introduced the Spider Jump to the competition.

What happened to Brian Orosco? He was the first guy I ever saw profiled as a Parkour specialist years ago and now he can't seem to get past the first round.

PhantomStranger

Orosco was a freerunner that always had problems with the obstacles requiring upper body strength. I think he fell on the salmon ladder a couple of times. He really hasn't been a serious contender in the past three years. He was great though at clearing the first stage.

Brent Steffensen looked out of shape for someone with his experience and ability. He wasn't blowing through the course like the others, his arms simply gave out on the devil steps. Probably the most shocking thing of the season considering he's one of only two Americans to ever pass the cliffhanger.

DRG

They'll probably all be back as "wild cards", a practice I have mixed feelings about. On one hand, it adds more experienced players to the finals. But it also sort of undermines the whole point of the qualifying rounds.

PhantomStranger

What the show should do is have a run-off contest between a handful of the top people that didn't qualify. Make it a contest by pitting the failed stars against each other where only one will advance to Nationals.

DRG

I like that idea. Sort of a 'Last Chance Gauntlet'.

lwhy?

I'm surprised Levi Meeuwenberg hasn't competed since he fell on the first obstacle in American Ninja Warrior 4. He's just 28 and he was once the top American before the show started airing on NBC.

PhantomStranger

I think he became a top-paid stuntman. The best athlete I ever saw compete on American Ninja Warrior, he was more cat than man. He did suffer an incredibly nasty ankle break during a parkour stunt.

lwhy?

I looked him up on imdb and the last movie he did stunts for was The Bourne Legacy in 2012. It also looks like he's a farmer now realeyeshomestead.com That's his farm's website. Anyways, I would love to see him take on the course again.

philo

Just watching my recording of tonight's Denver finals and holy cow, the 52 year old Jon Stewart! What an unbelievable run that was. Incredible. When moments like this happen on the show it just makes it so edge of your seat thrilling. Now to finish the ep.

RichC2

He did all the parkour for Captain America in Avengers as well.

PhantomStranger

That was an amazing moment, considering how tough they made the Denver finals with that door knob obstacle. It looked like a poorly designed challenge to me, the bigger competitors had no room to even land on the platform from the door knobs. You have to love NBC, completely skipping the second-fastest run of the night in top ANW veteran Paul Kasemir.

I realized tonight the competitors were hamming it up for the crowd so their run would get aired on NBC. Unless you are a woman or have some terrible tragedy in your background, good luck getting your entire run aired.

DRG

Even more ironic considering how much they milked the story of his dead girlfriend a few seasons ago.

PhantomStranger

I had completely forgotten that background but it is ironic. NBC milked it when she passed away, right before the contest.

PhantomStranger

Round one of the National Finals on Monday were American Ninja Warrior's highest ever ratings, at over six million viewers.

Nothing too shocking happened, though I wish another network would set up an obstacle course competition and poach the best talent from ANW.

JCWBobC

Shocked James McGrath didn't make it.

Bill Needle

It's still a fun show, but by the 1 hour mark I start ff'ing through the first minute or so of each run because it gets both very repetitive and you know no one in the second half of the show goes down that early.