USA vs World - NBC ANW7 Special

Thanks everyone for being patient! I've been working hard on a few of projects that I'm planning on unveiling soon™ and I procrastinated in taking time away from that to post this blog! Without further ado I'm back to blogging about this year's American Ninja Warrior 7 Special - USA vs. World special that aired on Sunday, January 31, 2016 on NBC. I'm happy to report that many of the things that made me RAGE in last year's special has actually been addressed! Not all.. but it seems the major issues that TBS officially protested last year were fixed for this year. A few stupid things remain but I'll point them out as I do the blog.

(PART ONE)

We are now on the 2nd of 3 heats for the First Stage

Up first in this heat is Tim Champion from England.

♥♥♥ OMG SHE'S ADORABLE!!! ♥♥♥

Oh yeah.. another fluff piece..

He's a "top" gymnast because in reality.. no one is not "top" anything on ANW lol

And yes it IS an accomplishment to do an iron cross. Though he has to tuck in his butt a little but that's totally nitpicking.

And we are back!

You know.. I'm really happy NBC hasn't decided to do the evil Japan snapshot like they did the past couple of years. Seriously.. it's NICE to see them that yes they ACTUALLY watched and cheered people on like normal competitors do.

Transition to the rope

ooooooh lift those legs.. lol

Finally. Someone who got the Jumping Spider! Go 6-foot wingspan! (reference to his Fluff piece)

a bit slow through here but he's still the first to even GET through this obstacle today.

First look at the Sonic Curve

At least he doesn't Shingo™ the landing :P

He's really lucky this isn't timed..

Now for the Coin Flip

Seems the trampoline to the first Bar is new and he does it

Getting through the 3 Jumping Bars

But WOW totally misses the transition to the cargo net!

Everytime someone says you can't fail an obstacle like this.. someone has to prove them wrong.

Less crowd reactions this year (and that's a good thing) though they are hilarious when we see them.

You just need one split second of lack of commitment for it to go horribly wrong. Though I am VERY happy to see the timer clearly visible to everyone including the competitors.

Poor guy is devastated.

Tim Champion - Death by Triple Flying Swing

Going into commercials again though.. stupid things I notice™

WTF is up with that sign? LMFAO

King Kong vs. The Bull are next after the break!

HA! CALLED IT!

Yay! They used the joke! LOL LOL He always jokes with his friends that he's just one big Gorilla that eats bananas.

For those asking, HE is the one that perpetuates the joke. In fact NBC didn't show all of the antics he did while filming the B-roll for this special.

Hey I like the shots they put for the next guys so Imma going to screencap them!

Giggles.. they didn't get him running on all fours.

Yay a smile!

Btw after like 5 commercial breaks and over half hour.. and we are still at 1 point. Yep.. this is definitely an NBC production..

Sasuke Veteran Kenji Takahashi高橋賢次

He is the owner of his own delivery company called "KONG EXPRESS".

OMG they didn't call it Mount Midoriyama! YAY! For those of you at home, the Japanese call the course "The Steel Castle". Oh and Comcast owns this footage.. it's G4/M9 footage.

This however is not.. this is Sasuke 31's Third Stage. In fact I was in attendance for that. This is called the Sidewinder Rサイドワインダー・R. As for the footage itself, I did ask after I did the podcast and TBS did give them clips of all the Japan competitors from Sasuke 31. First time legit! ♥

Again I'm ignoring the commentary since I was told that's not exactly what was said. Btw Kong repping the ANW shirt he got as a gift from an American competitor (my apologies I forgot which one).

This is also from Sasuke 31. This is called the Drum Hopperドラム・ホッパー

Cool shot of the grizzled veteran (cough.. I'm older than him.. cough..)

Shut up Matt.. this is not his first international competition..

Lining up his jump

On the Propeller....

and wasn't high enough

Eeaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh...

Too high on the trampoline

And didn't get enough lift.. that said..

The trampoline itself for the Propeller Bar was not the problem but I'll go over that at the end of the event on the overview section.

Kenji Takahashi高橋賢次 - Death by Propeller Bar

Time for the running of the Bull.

Long Fluff piece

And a condition he has that renders him completely hairless.

Bull is best known for this crazy dismount...

Where instead of using his hands, he dismounted using a backflip during ANW6's Venice Finals

Needless to say everyone lost their marbles.

He made it Stage 3 last night in ANW7's Vegas Finals

He was a college athlete

Familycam™

His turn at the Propeller bar

and spins like crazy but cleared

Silk slider

And another Jumping Spider fail tonight!

Team USA in disbelief

Team Europe is stunned..

Yeah.. that trampoline is placed wrong.. They are jumping just fine.. it's just too high and unless you are absolutely perfect.. you have no hope in saving it.

Nah I disagree with his assessment.. I doubt it would have mattered honestly but still good sportsmanship.

Kevin Bull - Death by Jumping Spider

6 run and no clears

Tim got the furthest of the three so Team Europe gets the point.

So did everyone else!

Up next is a speed competition.

Third heat in the First Stage

"maybe their top athlete..." Seriously Matt.. you know he's the current champion.

Grand Champion of Sasuke Yuusuke Morimoto森本裕介

So yeah.. they go to (yet) another fluff piece and Matt says he's "highly regarded among Ninjas around the world".. however.. they do NOTHING to explain WHY he is. They literally stop short in saying he's the current Sasuke champion.

Lemme fix that for you - 10-Time Ninja Warrior Veteran (He's been around since ANC1) and Sasuke 27 Veteran

They only note Morimoto being the first person ever to clear ANW's Third Stage. (No one had done it to that point)

First man to ever clear the Crazy Cliffhanger in competition - Sasuke 29.

And Drew Dreschelドリュー・ドレッシェル knows a thing or two since he was in attendance for a scene that NBC has.. but didn't use in this special.

THIS one.. THIS is the footage NBC had but didn't use..

NBC wouldn't be caught dead sharing the spotlight with the reigning Sasuke Champion. ESPECIALLY after outright robbing them last year of the chance to go up against Teams USA and Europe on that Final.

They'd rather just say that he has great potential for a college kid.. Don't even get me started on what was translated.. it wasn't even close.

Anyway.. back from raging.. Yuusuke sprinting across with his short legs

and just barely gets to the landing platform

See? Everyone knew he's the Sasuke Champ. LOL In fact everyone called him that on the lot in Vegas.

Propeller Bar

Smooth transition

Silk Slider

And safe on the landing

But not on that one

Hioki upset about that

Yuusuke Morimoto森本裕介 - Death by Jumping Spider

He's the 6th person to fail it the exact same way

Just not far enough in the chute

Trying to overcome the trampoline pitch

Okay.. this is a d*ck move by NBC saying that Morimoto can't blame his height for his failure. All you have to do is compare the trampoline from a couple days before and you see the pitch difference so to randomly put this on there after Morimoto failed to justify it is a total d*ck move.

Completely uncalled for especially since Morimoto didn't blame his height. There's a reason why they did it ONLY to Morimoto when much taller competitors (including Team USA) ALSO failed the SAME obstacle the SAME way. This was just trolling on NBC's part and it was glaringly obvious. This made me sick. Their disdain for Japan is so blatant. Height shaming was totally unnecessary.

Back to the show with our favorite Dual citizen

He legit lives in England

and apparently got into marathoning

On the Propeller Bar

Reminder of the fact that he's Vegan but NBC isn't promoting that this year apparently.

Silk Slider clear

Waiting in anticipation if he can clear just like Tim did

and he does

Sonic Curve

Flying through the course

much faster than Tim at this exact point

but missed the wall on his first try

Clear on the 2nd try

Drew up next watching

Coin Flip

Trampoline into the Jumping Bars

no problems

Taking his time to make sure he doesn't Champion it.

caught it with ease

I like the dual timers. Top is yours and bottom is the other run to beat but since he's first in his heat then the time will be his for Drew's to beat.

And notice the timer turns green as that number is now replaced as the bottom number for Drew to beat.

Europe celebrates the first clear of the First stage after Three heats!

Cool angle

That obstacle photographs well

Coin flip almost tripped him up

Ooooooh she likes him.. notice how she's totally leaning.. Giggles.

Drew totally repping Hioki's Shirt! ♥

It's ANW.. I don't care LOL Everyone showboats :P No he didn't showboat in Japan.

More commercials as they remind you that Europe won last year with the sun about to come up.

Fresh from his 3rd Stage performances in both Sasuke 31 and ANW7 is Drew Dreschelドリュー・ドレッシェル

Long Fluff piece on him. He's been around for 4 years.

Aww He looked so young here..

More flashbacks

Also in 2014 he competed and won every division in the Sasuke ASEAN Open Cup earning him a spot in Sasuke 30

He returned in 2015 (just the month before) to Sasuke 31.

In both he cleared the Crazy Cliffhanger

but for vastly different reasons he was defeated in the 3rd Stage. Still his best year in competition.

Cool shot

Girlfriendcam™

and he's off to the races!

Flying through the Propeller Bar

Seriously.. he's flying..

GERONIMO!!!!!!

Sticking the Jumping Spider in faster time than most people cleared the Silk Slider!

THAT is how you do the Spider Walk!

WHOAH BESSY!

Amazing recovery..

Every time he dismounts onto a hard surface like that I cringe.. Glad he recovered from that leg break but I still wince when I see it.

Crazy that he's that far ahead and he just about fell. That evens up considering that Tim missed his first wall clear.

Oooh his foot..

I swear he's a cat..

Team USA losing their marbles

See the green numbers? Drew knows how fast he's going and what he has to beat. THAT is a great addition to the course.

And just like that, Drew beats the stage and time.

Team USA picks up the point!

Well played.

Rebel Yell!

Aww.. she's not leaning.. maybe she knows he has a girlfriend. LOL

Awesome recovery on the Sonic Curve!

First Stage is complete with an ugly competition early on with USA and Europe scraping out a couple of points and USA emphatically wining it's 2nd point on an all out race.