Dear Kid,
Wow.
You read that right. Wow. Just wow.
By not watching TV last night (I’m assuming you didn’t) you missed American Ninja Warrior. And by missing this episode of ANW, you missed Wow.
Like some of the incredible athletes (incrediletes) in past seasons (read here and here and here), this episode featured someone we’ve never heard of and now will not stop talking about: Zach Gowan.
When Zach was 8 he was diagnosed with cancer and had his leg amputated. He became a professional wrestler for a while, and last night he competed on American Ninja Warrior.
Think about this for a moment—most people can’t get through the course with two legs. Zach attempted it with only one.
He made it through the first several obstacles, including the floating steps (are you kidding me???!) but his hands slipped on the third challenge.
Not completing the qualifying course isn’t relevant (I’m sure it is to him on some level); competing is. That he gets up and trains and put himself out there to try this crazy sport is amazing.
To put this in perspective, several of the Indianapolis 500 drivers competed and didn’t get as far as Zach did.
In other Wow news, Megan Martin became the first woman to qualify three years in a row. She is a rock star, and not just because she’s a professional rock climber IRL.
Spartan: Ultimate Team Challenge premiered last night (it was a heck of a night for non-traditional sports). The coverage left something to be desired (what did the team have to do when the log thing dropped before it was supposed to?), but I have to say I’m not sure I see the “fun” in the sport. I get that the competitors are crazy athletic, but I don’t see the fun in crawling through freezing cold mud under barbed wire. Almost as much fun as having someone step on your head make it to the top of a wall. But that’s me.
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