ANW: Southeast Region Finals

In our Final region before we head to Mt. Midoriyama, there is stiff competition for the final 15 spots. With one veteran already gone (Ryan Stratis), the pressure is on for the other veterans to perform to a high level. The course, slightly extended from Qualifying is:

1. Quad Steps
2. Log Grip
3. Bungee Bridge
4. Jump Hang
5. Swing Circles
6. Wall Lift
7. Warped Wall
8. Salmon Ladder
9. Cycle Road
10. Cargo Climb

Let's get right into our Southeast Region Finals recap:

Toshio Sidney-Ando: Half-Japanese, half-Jewish, Toshio grew up in Mexico. He credits his athletic ability to his diverse cultural background. When his cousin was diagnosed with cancer last year, Toshio decided to start living life and his first mission was to compete in ANW. Looking relaxed through the first few obstacles, Toshio continued his smooth run to the top of the Warped Wall. Having never seen the Salmon Ladder before, Toshio's inexperience showed as his lack of timing resulted in a long fall to the water.

Kamerion Wimbley: The highly anticipated run from the NFL Defensive End started as it did yesterday -- quickly. Strong through the jump hang, Wimbley continued his form past the Swing Circle, Wall Lift and up the Warped Wall in his second attempt. A new obstacle for him, Wimbley began to fatigue on the Salmon Ladder but he powered through it (and the Cycle Road!). With only the Cargo Climb between him and the summit, Wimbley slowly made his way up, finishing the course in just under four minutes, thirty seconds. Our first finisher and an amazing run from a behemoth of a ninja!

Masterchef: Top 14 Compete

After a 4am wake up call, the chefs learn that they will be cooking breakfast service for the entire hotel at which they are staying. As mentioned in the previous post, Christine and Josh are team captains with Christine having first pick and an extra perk because of her apple pie victory. The teams, in the order that they were chosen, are:

Team Christine: Felix*, Scott, Tanya, Mike, Stacy, Ryan
Team Josh: Becky, Frank, Anna, Monti*, David, Tali

*chosen by captain as expediter

Christine's extra perk is the opportunity to trade one chef for another. Without hesitation, she gets rid of Ryan for Becky.

Gordon Ramsay makes it clear right away that the key to expediting in the kitchen is communication, and each kitchen is a polar opposite of the other. Monti is screaming out orders (in two languages), pushing dishes out of the kitchen in rapid succession. Meanwhile, Felix is silent, keeping to herself, which is creating confusion in the blue kitchen.. It is clear that this is everyone's first experience in a professional kitchen.

While both kitchens continue to get dishes out, it seems they are being returned just as quickly. Quality is suffering for the sake of quick service. After a dish is returned to the blue kitchen with a hair in it, tension is at an all-time high, but despite a few arguments between Josh and Monti it appears that, in the end, everyone appreciated one another and the blue team turned in an overall great performance in the kitchen.

Over in the red kitchen, they were drowning throughout service at the direction of a silent Felix. The worst moment for the inexperienced expediter came at the end of service when she was still trying to send dishes out after time was called, resulting in a cheating accusation by Gordon Ramsay.

Though the blue team appeared to outperform the red team, it all comes down to customer satisfaction. Surprisingly, with 60% of the votes, the winning team was the red team, meaning the blue team must face an elimination pressure challenge.

As the chefs wait to enter the kitchen, Ryan and Tali are shown talking of their "alliance" (wait...what?) and about how Monti is at blame for the loss.

Once in the pressure challenge kitchen, each judge saves one contestant from the challenge. Their selections: Joe: David; Graham: Frankie; Gordon: Josh, psych...Monti. Well deserved!

This type of pressure challenge is my favorite. Cooking a dessert, the chefs will bring what they feel is their best dish when they feel it is ready with a 60 minute limit. The challenge: Molten Lava Cake. As Gordon says, "when you slice into it, you should be rewarded with a chocolate gooey surprise. Leave it in the oven too long and you have a brownie; pull it out too soon and you have a mess." Let's see what the chefs have to present.

Ryan's test cake, when pulled out collapses in a messy heap. Graham Elliot says "diarrhea on a plate." Precious, little time remains to cook another. Josh also pulls a test cake too early and it, too, falls apart.

Tali is the first chef to present before time runs out. Cooked to perfection, there is a nice gooey center. We will wait to hear how it tastes.

Anna also serves before the time and hers appears to be even better than Tali's.

With two minutes to go, Josh's second cake is ready to serve and when cut into, a beautiful runny center gushes out.

As time expires, Ryan gets his dish to the chefs just in time, however; the cake is a mess, collapsed on the plate. In poor taste, Monti, David and Frankie audibly chuckle on the balcony.

The judges' takes: Josh and Anna both produced a Molten Lava Cake of "pure perfection" according to Ramsay. They nailed the pressure test, and received big compliments from all three judges. The self proclaimed "Dream Team" is left standing in front of the panel in disbelief that one of them will be leaving. Tali's was stable but floury, while Ryan's was tasty but a complete mess. Gordon Ramsay turns the table and asks the chef "who knows he didn't make the better Molten Lava Cake" to turn in his apron. After a moment's hesitation, Ryan the "Flavor Elevator" removes his apron and hands it to Chef Ramsay -- a noble move in the end for a very arrogant chef.

And like that, we're down to 13 chefs. Who will be the next to go? Who impressed you this week? Share your comments below.

ANW: Southeast Region Qualifying Round

To find the final fifteen ninjas who will compete to become the first American Ninja Warrior we head back to FIU's campus in Miami, Florida for the Southeast Region's Qualfying Round. Tonight we will find the top 30 ninjas who will advance to the Region Finals. The course, unique to the region just as we've seen in the previous 5 regions, consists of...

1. Quad Steps
2. Log Grip
3. Bungee Bridge
4. Jump Hang
5. Swing Circles
6. Wall Lift
7. Warped Wall

Some memorable competitors from the Qualifying Round:

Kamerion Wimbley: The second NFL player we’ve seen tryout for ANW in two years, Wimbley is a Defensive End for the Tennessee Titans. His stature gives him a big disadvantage on the course – but someone forgot to tell Kamerion that. He cruised through the first part of the course, becoming the first athlete to get past the Swing Circles. And then on his first attempt, the BIG man got up the Warped Wall. This will be a fun one to watch in the Regional Finals. Note: His day job did not define him in his competitor profile as he was shown with his wife and kids, looking the part of all-around family man.

Christian “C.J.” Koegel: For all the Real World fans out there, this is the aspiring NFL punter from the Cancun cast. Though he looked the part through the first two obstacles, a terrible tramp bounce left the cargo net just out of reach.

Ryan Stratis: This Mt. Midoriyama veteran is a heavy favorite and one of Jonny’s picks.  Having just been promoted to Captain in the Georgia National Guard, Stratis approaches the course with a military attitude – focused and cautious. Unfortunately, he stumbled on the obstacle he’s never seen as one of this feet slipped through the Bungee Bridge and hit the ground for a disqualification.

Drew Drechsel: A devastating knee injury at Mt. Midoriyama last year left him off his leg for over three months. Unbelievably, he was able to get through rehab stronger than before the injury. One of Jonny Moseley’s favorites (for good reason), Drew was clinical through each obstacle and blew through the course in just over a minute.

ANW: Mid-South Finals Recap

In a very strong Mid-South Region, you half-expected to see a Brian Orosco-like upset, but it would not be. All competitors (with reputations) lived up to their reputations - most especially Paul Kasemir (pictured left) and Brandon Douglass. Kasemir looks to be an even stronger competitor than last year which spells trouble if your name is Mount Midoriyama.

The one ninja who might be disappointed in his Finals run is Jake Smith. A newcomer to the scene last year, Smith burst into the picture with excellent performances throughout camp and a strong effort in Japan. This year his competitive side has shown through and he seemed a little too focused on beating his Colorado brethren, Paul and Brandon. With time on his mind, he lost focus and had a couple slip ups (most notably on the Salmon Ladder) that led to an exhausting run for 10th place. 

I will never understand why time is so important in these rounds to some ninjas, aside from the friendly competition of it. There is definitely something to be said for slowing down and focusing on each obstacle. Just take a look at Tremayne Dortch. He knew he could beat the course and didn't let time affect his strategy as he climbed the cargo net in just over five minutes, over double the time that Paul Kasemir used. To each his own, I suppose.

As mentioned above, the Mid-South Region is very strong with veterans (Kasemir, Douglass, Smith) and rookies (Khalsa, Toure, Pondrom), alike. I would not be surprised to see the first American Ninja Warrior to come out of this group:

Masterchef: Top 15 Compete

Another interesting night in the Masterchef kitchen kicked off with one of the more bizarre mystery box challenges we've seen in 3 years. When it was time to reveal the task at hand, the chefs lifted the lids to find sheep's head, bull testicles, cow tongue and a mess of other disgusting ingredients. All the chefs were left gagging at the sight in front of them...except Christine. As she said, this was probably the first time her blindness gave her an advantage over the competition.

Once they were able to gain their composure, they had just sixty minutes to prepare their best dish for the judges. In the end, 3 dishes were chosen for the taste test. The chefs at the head of the class: Christine, Ryan and Becky. Ryan ended up taking the challenge, much to the dismay of most of the other chefs.

With a victory in a mystery box challenge comes an advantage over the competition in the elimination challenge. Ryan's rewards were: 1) a free pass to the next stage, and 2) the ability to determine what each chef's main ingredient would be. Obviously, he accepted #1. For the ingredients, he had to choose between tuna, ham or crab. For whichever one he chose, he would get to decide which half of the field cooked with the actual product and which half had to cook with an inferior version of it. He went with crab. Notable decision included Ryan rewarding his "partner in crime" Tali (huh?) with the biggest $60 dungeness crab while giving his nemesis Monti canned crab. He also gave Christine live crab -- the one chef that was hoping for the canned substitute. As Monti put it, "what kind of d*** gives live crab to the blind chick?"

Masterchef Round of 16

In the first team challenge, the chefs are driven out to the middle of desert-like training base where they had 2 hours to prep and cook for 201 hungry Marines who have been flying helicopter training missions all day. Because they were the strongest in the Round of 18, Frank and David were chosen captains..

Team David (Red team): Kansas City-style Pork Chops with Cheesy Potatoes

1. Becky
2. Helene
3. Mike
4. Josh
5. Ryan
6. Monti

Team Frank (Blue team): Grilled Chicken Breast with Pasta Salad

1. Stacy
2. Felix
3. Scott
4. Tanya
5. Tali
6. Christine
7. Michael

Seconds before the Marines arrived, Gordon noticed that the pork was raw, sending the Red team scrambling the save their dish. Then, during service, the Red team quickly ran out of food which led to Marines having to stand around waiting to eat. The service took a big turn for the worse when Joe noticed a Marine about to take a bite out of a raw pork chop. Unable to cook the chops all the way through quickly enough, the backup grew by the minute. Monti and Becky stepped up to speed the process while captain David stood back helplessly.

Frank got a little generous with his pasta servings and they too began to run low on food. Though the portions were a bit tight, they did not get into as sticky a situation as the Red team did. The one thing the Blue team had going for it was the fact they were able to cook their food properly. However, the menu did not seem to resonate with the Marines which didn’t do the Blue team any favors.

After service, the Marines were asked to step behind the team that they felt was the strongest. It was a pretty even split so the judges had to count the two sides. In the end, the winners of the first team challenge was the…Red team. Winning by just 16 votes, this win can be credited to the girls on the team who really stepped up when the odds were stacked against them.

ANW: Mid-South Regional Qualifying Round

Hosts Matt Iseman (L) and Jonny "Just Out of Bed" Moseley (R)

...And we're back with the next round of American Ninja Warrior -- the Mid-South Regional Qualifying Round brought to us from, once again, Dallas, Texas With 60 athletes already headed to Mt. Midoriyama in Las Vegas, the bar has been set high for this year's hopefuls.

Tonight's obstacles include:

1. The Quad Steps
2. The Log Grip
3. The Bridge of Blades
4. The Jump Hang
5. The Rope Junction, seen for the first time this year
6. The Warped Wall

Some memorable moments from the Qualifying Round:

Paul Kasemir: The returning veteran (and Jonny Moseley favorite) is very confident about this Qualifying course. “It doesn’t look too difficult today.” If you’re new to ANW, Kasemir had a crazy story from last year. Two weeks before he set off for Japan, his girlfriend (and her father) fell off a cliff while hiking and died instantly. He honored her with a great run at Mt. Midoriyama, falling just short on Stage 3. Wearing his trademark jeans, Paul dominated the course, finishing in under 54 seconds.

Erin Flowers: Former collegiate tennis player from Grapevine, TX stripped clothes with each obstacle she passed until a poor jump on the trampoline failed her on The Jump Hang.

Angel Flores: This 25-year old gymnastics coach had an inspiring story. A day before he was set to leave for boot camp, some up-to-no-gooders threw  a brick through his window, striking him in the abdomen destroying his liver. He spent some time in a coma and, while he was recovering, trained with a colostomy bag. He is the first to conquer the Rope Junction but came short on the Warped Wall. His quick time through the first five obstacles ended up being quick enough to earn a trip to the Regional Finals.

Risa Scott: One of the best female parkour athletes in the country, Scott is a longtime ANW enthusiast. High hopes for her run; Smooth thru the Quad Steps, Log Grip and Bridge of Blades; got her hands on the cargo net, but as Moseley said, “gravity got the best of her…”

Miguel Gonzalez: From Fort Worth, this gymnast left behind gangs and drugs to train disabled kids. At 5’4”, Gonzalez made great time, despite a few early errors. A great foot grab helped him through the Rope Junction and he got up the Warped Wall on his second attempt capping a run dedicated to his students. A great story.

Click below for a recap of tonight's best ninja warriors: