USA vs World - NBC ANW6 Special - Part 3

This is my Part Three Blog of the USA vs The World - ANW 6 Special that aired on Monday, September 15, 2014.  For those who are confused when this happened.. it was the Final day (Sunday) of the Las Vegas taping of American Ninja Warrior 6 back in June 15, 2014.
 

Thanks everyone for your patience. As I've been saying on Twitter my PC monitor died last week and had to wait for a replacement that I ordered online. Finally got it after a missed Fedex delivery.. groan.. So, trying to catch up from not having my computer for that long, has delayed this even more. Besides.. I get so frustrated with this stage .. uuuuuuuugh.. happy thoughts happy thoughts.. in my happy place... gah that doesn't work..

Anyway, doing Stage 3 in two parts.  They start off with each team discussing their strategies for each obstacle. Luckily they didn't change the obstacles before they went on (like they did with Stage 2). LOL  This is obviously Team USA who did this stage just the night before in ANW6.

Here's Team Japan with their Stage 3 specialists.

And again I'm still surprised they sent out Vadym instead of Miska for team "Europe".

So, with the teams set, the virtual scoreboard updates us at home. For the record, there was no scoreboard at the event. No visible timer either. That becomes important as this third stage starts.

A quick rundown of the obstacles in this stage.

And even with a week break between blogs.. this still looks like some shack in Florida lost their roof. Oh and looking at the video they ran of this, seems they locked the knobs to the closed position.  Japan's were set to open so they spun as you moved.

The return of the Floating boards.

And.. giggles.. I was told by the Japanese that when they found out that this was a 5 cm ledge they openly cackled.  Sasuke's are 3 cm ledges (much harder) so this should be a piece of cake. They even joked amongst themselves that if anyone (Japanese) failed this should be kicked off the team permanently. LOL (and yes that also included Shingo which I found doubly amusing)

er.. never seen this before but I'm sure I can figure out what it does.

Giggles. There's the rest of the roof...

Viking's Heartbreaker Spider Flip

Flying Bar as the last obstacle again but Jenn Brown is wrong..  FOUR Americans completed the Flying Bar in competition. All in Sasuke 27/ANW3. They were Ryan Stratis, Paul Kasemir, James McGrath and David Campbell.  Sasuke 27 had this as their 2nd obstacle in the 3rd stage so they had to go through that to get to the Ultimate Cliffhanger.

Relevant in this event since Paul Kasemir actually did successfully complete it once before. And relevant again since NBC AIRED this in the USA in Prime Time AS "AMERICAN Ninja Warrior" even before the TBS broadcast in Japan.

Right off the bat I'm told this wasn't the match up.  Joe Morofsky was in this group instead of Paul Kasemir.

New Generation member Kazuma Asa朝一眞

Okay.. where do I start.. Okay I'll start with the core of the problem.  The rules.  The rules for this stage and specifically the first obstacle were not evenly applied.  This is especially important with Asa coming up.  The rules were harped on and even told seconds before Asa was getting onto the platform.  DO NOT SKIP balls.  DO NOT GRAB CHAIN.  Simple right?  Here we go.

Before this happened they had a chance to try out the obstacles individually twice. In practice you had everyone grabbing chains and skipping balls.   The night before you also saw that in ANW6.  So he figured why not as it seems the rules that supposedly were in ANW6 don't apply here.  Then seconds before he gets on he hears the rules are enforced yelled in his ear.

So Asa already is rattled by the yelling in his ear that he cannot skip anything despite the fact that he already organized in his mind that he was going to do exactly that...

and do not under any circumstances touch the chains

He's already in trouble at this point because the balls were quite different than the night before and he already prepared to not even BE on this 2nd ball.

So he did a mental error by not adjusting to the rules that suddenly were in place seconds before he got on the course.

He still legit failed. Nothing changes this fact.

And nothing changes the fact that he is beyond frustrated for failing to adjust.

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So his disappointment is expected. However, what happens AFTER this is what made everyone talk and why TBS protested to the deaf ears of NBC.

Replay of him not getting a good grip on the last ball

Asa in a bad place. He had a horrible tournament. Again.

Plausible

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Still don't understand why they sent a rookie here instead of Miska the 3rd stage specialist.  As a gymnast I expected him to know his strength is not this stage.

He's already proven he's never been to the 3rd stage here and he didn't try out to get on this team.. so why is he here?  I blame Captain Tim Shieff for this one.

at least I can't bitch he broke the rules because he didn't.

Now for the door knobs that don't spin on a hot tin roof.

Sasuke's knobs spun so I'm curious how this competition would be if they had those knobs instead of the ones in the locked position.

Cleared on the Knobs

First time on the Floating Boards (which I can't call Hanging Doors anymore.. LOL)

Pinching with knees are working

Clear on Floating Boards

No one should fail this. Absolutely no one should fail this.

Stop showing Paul.. he's not in this heat..

Good on the transition to small ledge

Seriously.. 5 cm's.. no one should fail this.

That's not even including how thick this landing ledge is either. LOL

Taking his time before getting on the propeller

Catches and spins around once

Grabs rope

And onward to the Hang Climb

And already I see his inexperience on this.

Not using his legs at all and barely hanging on to the hand holds

He had no hope of clearing this obstacle

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Not sure why he's celebrating unless he thought it was enough to beat Morovsky's time.

Familycam™

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Paul Kasemirポール・キャゼミア

Actually he started 1st in the 2nd Heat but I'm digressing.

On to the 2nd ball

and almost pulled an Asa but instead grabbed the chain to save himself...

quickly changed to the correct hand hold on this but is stuck in no man's land.

He tried to grab the knob with the little momentum he managed to get from swinging back and forth.  Unable to recover, Paul goes down.

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Europe got the 3 points to tie it.. This.. is important from now on.  6 points are available in the next two heats.

Replay showing Paul panicking and breaking the rule that you can't grab the chain.  He failed though so ultimately he wasn't rewarded for it.

NBC doesn't mix results.  Nope. Never..

That's right.. NBC NEVER mixes results. It's only my imagination right? riiiiiiiiight.

And again Paul Kasemir was in this group and Morimoto actually went 2nd after him.

 Yuusuke Morimoto森本 裕介

Reminder.  Morimoto was not first in this group. He just saw Paul fail just before him.

mmmm.. roll that beautiful pirated video.. This is actually from the Sasuke 29 broadcast where they did a compilation of all of the Sasuke 28 fails on the Crazy Cliffhanger. You know.. the real one. LOL.  This is the 2 Time Champion Yuuji failing.

Followed by two New Generation guys Asa

and Kanno failing the Crazy Cliffhanger in Sasuke 28. In fact Asa and Kanno BOTH have failed it 3 times in a row by this point.

NBC explaining Morimoto's claim to fame

again with the pirated video (which NBC hasn't paid for, even now...) and look at that beautiful 3 cm ledge with no obnoxious bolts across the face. LOL

Where Yuusuke had become the first man ever to defeat the Crazy Cliffhanger.

This is what the CCH looks like.. none of this weird transition between where you can cheat around the edge instead of jumping.

Morimoto pimping that Sasuke merchandise while we hear the racist dub in the background I'm trying to ignore. I hope more people get to know him.  He's a great guy.

Ingenious.  Using just a small tap to get the ball moving to get IT to come to him instead of him trying to grab it and risk falling in the water because he's short.

He also was reminded that you don't grab the chain.. yes.. after Morovsky.. and Kasemir...

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Using the Globe grasp technique to get a hold on the balls to stabilize them.

methodically going through the obstacle without making mistakes he could be called for.

The realization that the door knobs are not unlocked.. LOL

Flying through this part because it's easy

He can't contain his smile. This is nothing like the one in Japan that spins on every grip.

Relieved he cleared it given that he saw someone fail it just before him.

Time for the floating boards

Smooth transitions between going at an even pace

Time for the FrankenUCH™ with the visible bolts because they haven't figure out how to hide them underneath like they do in Japan. LOL

Again, the team already talked to each other (joking around obviously) saying that if any of them fail this they should be ashamed of themselves and kicked off the team.

Flying through this as this is a piece of cake for them.

Nor on the airport runway landing they have to catch the last ledge.

This is the most emotion we've ever seen from Morimoto!

Crowd going nuts chanting his name and he's responding (ignore the sounds you hear they loop at that later. They were calling his name by this point)

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Nice high jump off the mini-tramp and swing around (missing the rope with his feet)

catches the rope on the turn

and swings to get across to the Hang Climb

Safe arrival

carefully going through

almost there

And easy transition to the Spider Flip

He's so relaxed he's actually smiling through this

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Shaking out his arms as he gets under the spider flip

and into position to get the jump

Plausible!

Get set

and Go!

And quickly into place as he can't contain his smile

Cheering to the crowd

Plausible!

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So NBC wants us to believe that Elet WANTED Yuusuke to fail?

YUUS'KEH!  YUUS'KEH! is being chanted loudly still

another 30 seconds randomly thrown in as if NBC wants you to think he celebrated for that long..

Pipe Slider Grip™

I honestly didn't think that grip would work here.

but as he went obstacle by obstacle that grip gave him the control he needed.

lol distracted by the cables running under the pool liner :p

As he gets to the dismount bar

Totally plausible because this is exactly what Morimoto said he saw.  His team going nuts.

Barely able to contain his euphoria he jumps off the final bar

and hits the timer.

At this point he doesn't care what happened with his result overall, he passed the stage that everyone told him he would never pass - the AMERICAN version of this stage.

Morimoto harped on the fact that it was a magical moment for him and his team.

And the fact that he didn't let his team down. That was the utmost importance to him. He knew he would be denied the win. He was warned before he even left Japan.  The whole team knew.

The crowd was something that he thought was the highlight of the event. They were so supportive to everyone, including him, calling his name, that he said he will never forget that for as long as he lives.

First guy ever to complete ANW's 3rd stage, and him being Japanese, I call sweet irony.

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And a bow to a crowd he will never forget.

I'm happy that the crowd doesn't have the NBC politics in their minds and cheer everyone. Afterall, THAT is the spirit of Sasuke that makes the show great.

Kanno in tears

Everything is a blur to him at this point.

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.. I hate the dub.. I hate the dub.. I hate the dub.

Replay of the transition from the Propeller bar

Yuusuke can't contain his euphoria for clearing Stage 3.

PDA bro!  Get with the program! LOL

Up next is the (someone told me he went to school for this so he's a scientist) Meteorologist

Incoming Fluffpiece about last night.

So he blamed his friends for his failure? Classy..

He also failed in the 3rd the previous year

back to the present

Rules? What rules? Straight for the chain. Japan actually complained about this because the chains were used while Asa wasn't allowed to use them.  As the night wore on and more and more people were brazen enough to grab the chain, the more TBS was pissed off.  Had Asa known he could use the chain he wouldn't have failed.  The rules were only enforced on the Japanese.

weakly reaches over..

but missed it and swings back.

This is probably why they moved Morovsky and Kasemir on the television broadcast to gloss over that fact. Morovsky should have been stopped for DQ'ing himself.

recovers and back on the hunt

Getting through the Door Knobs

And onto the floating boards

taking no chances and never breaking his form

on the FrankenUCH™

onto the low transition

and through.

Tries to grab the rope with his feet as well

but misses

tries again

but misses again and gets stuck in no man's land.

Finally, after pushing himself around in the air he manages to grab the rope with his feet

and recovers to get on the Hang Climb

interesting use of his foot

Still relying on his arms

So is he going to blame THIS fail on his support squad?

So even with the switch in order for the television, USA had no hope of winning either of the heats.  For the record Joe lost to Vadym on time since they both lost the same obstacle. I guess it looks less dramatic this way. I don't know.. looks weird to me but whatever. I still think they used it to cover the rules violation on the first obstacle. Ultimately it had no impact on the results in the end since USA never won any of the first two heats.

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This one makes me angry.  They made the Japanese looks like asses for cheering. They NEVER cheer someone's fail.  For the record, neither would USA or EU either.  Totally d**k move NBC.

replay of the fail for the 2nd night in a row on the Hang Climb.

wtf... that's his girl.. wait they are married now? married during the summer.. so girlfriend at this stage.

Soooooooo why is she here?

Outside of it looking stupid, it's a breach of security that they allowed a non-competitor to jump into the pool during a taping.

Jenn surprised to see her there while Joe looks mortified.

LOL  He asked "what are you doing?"

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Back to Heat 2 and 3rd competitor.

Proud Papa!

He just saw Morimoto do this so he tries the technique and it works perfectly.

(btw there's no audible beep at the event.  No clocks.  No scoreboards)

Rules? What rules? Straight skip with no penalties. Another that should have gotten the violation.

that didn't work anyway as he's right back where he started.

Now goes for the middle one since the first plan failed.

recovers and gets to the third ball

And onto the Door Knobs

No issues on the Door Knobs

Now for the floating boards

and sliding all over the place..

Taking forever on the boards but slowly getting through. I was curious how they were going to hide the time discrepancy and it'' all about the cut away to the fake crowd shots with no timer to hide it.

Finally survives this

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on to the FrankenUCH™

No issues since the ledges are so damn wide.

never seen this before.

And nice way to show how wide this ledge really is if you can hold on to it sideways with both hands.

and this ledge of course you can land a Boeing 747 on

Clock actually went back in time there for a moment. LOL

nice jump

and totally sweet transition

to the Hang Climb in one smooth motion

Impressive look at the mind of a rock climber on this tin roof.

quick transition on spider flip

shaking off his hands

Plausible!

Set up for the jump

and clear to the other side

Just sitting there recovering.  Shame he's not feeding off the crowd. Most likely focusing and ignoring everything. Frankly he looks overwhelmed.

And off he goes!

Squeaking through but still upright!

Final ledges!

Plausible!

Likely!

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LOL this was hilarious how bad this was.  These two shots were literally back to back within half a second of each other.

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How as Ryo standing next to Asa and simultaneously sitting next to Morimoto?  I mean Ryo's talented but now he can warp space and time! LOL

So the official word on this is that Morimoto actually won. The margin of victory though was reaaaaaaaaaaaally friggin close. As little as 3 seconds between them.  So the general thought was simple, Ryo was next.. if both Ryo AND Morimoto won you would have a 3-way tie going into the final.  Yeah.. you know what the outcome of that would be.   NBC wasn't having any of it.

So while this was close it was easier to accept that Stefano was faster so they gave him he win.  Morimoto had no idea he won either.  There was no timer, no scoreboard so they just announced afterward that Stefano was faster by 3 seconds. (even the actual result was Morimoto by 3).   So much for that as you see the atrocious timer they put for the television broadcast making it looked like Morimoto was crushed by over 30.

Even with that fix nothing changes the fact that you had two legit back to back clears by rookies to ANW on Stage 3. It was phenomenal to watch even if NBC decided to fudge the results.

And he's still a really cool Dad.

Awwwwww he looks so embarrassed to be bear hugged, totally PDA'ed on National television. LOL Glad to see him smile finally.  He has a really nice smile.