BY DC CUEVA
■ @DC408Dxtr @ TW / IG / YT
With the busy blog week ahead to conclude 2017, we're gonna be saving our recaps of the rest of Champs vs. Stars for next month after the finale, and our AYTO reunion WRAP will come your way here in a couple days. But coming up, we'll have more on the latest chapter of that rivalry, plus our first installment in our Power Rankings, and a flashback to when a SoCal icon made his way to The Challenge before he ascended into pure NBA greatness. That's all ahead.
BANANAS VS. WES
THE LATEST CHAPTER
The subject of an In-Depth story we did earlier this year, the rivalry between Johnny Bananas and Wes Bergmann, once again reared its head off in Episode 5. For a small reprise of things, their rivalry began for real back on The Ruins when an argument inside the deliberation room and then in the Champions bedroom set off this rivalry that has seen these two go through so much. One has won more titles than any other player ever and was part of a renowned Real World cast, while the other has just two titles but has won more eliminations than anyone else and who began on a memorable RW season. Both have been Challenge villains over the years, have faced off in two finals with each exchanging titles, and of course there's that elimination battle during Champs vs. Pros.
Last week, the two comprised all the scoring in each scoring two goals and had it not been for Justina Valentine's great goalkeeping, that match would've been yet another Champions clinic and it took for golden goal extra time for that to be determined. But for this latest rift, it's the Champions having to deliberate who to give their MVP award for that week's challenge without Bananas, who was busy enjoying time with his Special Olympics friend Matt. Without Johnny being in that huddle, they opted to hand Wes the MVP honors, and that set off some friction within the Blue camp and led to words with these two guys who just can't seem to overcome this long-standing rivalry that has become one of the most fascinating stories this show has ever seen.
This all led to Bananas volunteering himself into elimination and the Stars voting in Riff Raff, but it became no contest in the Champ taking down the one-time From G's to Gents contestant in a hybrid of miniature golf like the one I go to sometimes, with a super-sized Connect Four. Johnny being able to dominate a guy who was just there for entertainment made the win more impressive, and most especially the case when the charity he was supporting offered one of his biggest fans a chance to meet and root him and the Champs on, but again proving that he, Special Olympics and the charities are the reason they've come together for this season.
So, with Bananas, Wes, CT and Zach all still left for the guys along with Emily, Aneesa and Tori, if the format of the final that we had earlier this summer is an indication we may again be heading towards an eventual matchup between the two biggest rivals in the final. This won't obviously count in the actual records these two men have had in the regular shows as it was in that elimination, but it sure looks like we'll get a third finals battle between Bananas and Wes, though this one will be both a 1-day affair and charities will benefit from their performances. It will take, of course, the efforts of the other two guys or perhaps the Stars from preventing this from happening, but for now all eyes look towards another epic showdown between the champ and the ginger.
STRATEGY ROOM
POWER RANKINGS
And that leads us to our first Power Rankings for the players left on Champs vs. Stars, starting with the champions.
CHAMPS GUYS
1. ZACH
2. CT
3. WES
4. BANANAS
CHAMPS LADIES
1. EMILY
2. TORI
3. ANEESA
STARS GUYS
1. MATT
2. JOSH
STARS LADIES
1. JUSTINA
2. KIM
3. MICHELLE
4. ARIANE
On the strength of being the only one being voted Most Valuable Player two times all season and despite all the focus being on the Bananas/Wes rivalry, Zach is clearly at the top of the Champion Guys' standings though it's a tight race among the elder statesmen with CT gaining just the slight edge. Emily leads for the Ladies in proving that being off for a few years hasn't hurt her at all and it's as if she hasn't left... Tori's awesome week two weeks ago gives her the edge for #2.
For the Stars, what we've seen from him in the dailies and him being the only reason why the Champs do not have a perfect elimination record sees Matt lead Josh among the Guys. And for the ladies, the great goalkeeping efforts of Justina that kept last week's match from becoming that German rout of Brazil in the 2014 World Cup sees her at the top of the Ladies' rankings, and it's hard to differentate the rest of the women on the Stars after just one elimination battle here.
▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪
#DCExtraTime FLASHBACK
KOBE MEETS THE CHALLENGE
That nightcap offers the backdrop to this flashback, where last Monday saw the curtain officially come down on one of the greatest eras in the 70-year history of the NBA when the Lakers and those who had the chance to wear the purple & gold got to honor one of the biggest players of his generation. Twenty-one years ago, Kobe Bryant brought Brandy to his senior prom at high school in Ardmore, PA outside Philadelphia and months later was drafted into one of the NBA's most-heralded draft classes - the Class of 1996 - and joined one of sports' most-iconic franchises.
A rarity in the free agency-dominated modern era, he spent his entire career in the City of Angels playing for a franchise used to both the LA limelight and success that includes Jerry West, Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. And with five NBA titles, MVP's, scoring titles, an Olympic gold medal and more, Kobe has established himself among the icons of both the league in the post-Michael Jordan era and of sports in Southern California. And on Monday, he had the two numbers he wore during his career, 8 and 24, retired in front of Magic Johnson, West and Shaquille O'Neal.
The winter of 1998 saw the first of five showdowns between Teams Real World and Road Rules on The Challenge. Six years after her original RW Los Angeles season, Beth Stolarcyak made the first of her seven Challenge appearances here, as did Road Rules original Mark Long in the first of his six starts. A lot of you might not know the others of that cast, but they're notable in their own way too: Janet Choi of the Seattle season became a journalist, Jason Cornwell from RW Boston worked with casting later on, Neil Forrester from London is best known for having his tongue bit on his season, and Noah Rickun from RR Northern Trail is now a well-known Milwaukee salesman.
They all had the opportunity to be part of that first full-fledged Challenge after Real World alums went on a Road Rules trip that saw Rachel Campos and Sean Duffy fall in love for the first time. And on that second official Challenge season, the competitors of that season had a chance to take part in a basketball-themed mission featuring Kobe himself. And on the night of Kobe's jerseys being retired, Jason's Boston roommate Syrus Yarborough -- a diehard basketball fan and Lakers fanatic, had a chance to share his photo of Kobe and the Challenge II cast when Kobe's two numbers, 8 and 24, were perched above the Staples Center floor never to be worn again by another Lakers player.
Sy's captions of the Instagram photo below read, "Today is #KobeBryant #Day. Congrats on Retiring 2 numbers. I was fortunate enough to work w/ this #Amazing #Talent on #MTV #TheChallenge He actually said to me that he & his sister were fans!"
▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪
And on that nostalgic note, that will wrap it up for now here. Before we go, a reminder for diehard Challenge fans to check out Challenge Mania with Derrick K. and Scott Yeger, and where this past week the attention turned to the fans as they went to social media to ask D anything on all things Challenge. Check out that podcast at Podbean and iTunes, and watch for podcasts coming up with four-time champion & Champs vs. Pros winner Darrell and a girl tabbed for big things coming in Kailah to join them as Vendettas approaches, plus all of their past interviews as well.
As for us, we'll be wrapping up the Are You The One? reunion here tomorrow, and watch for Part 1 of the 2017 Reality Debrief as Andrew Kirk and I discuss the year in The Challenge coming up on Thursday, episode posts on Friday and our Vendettas coverage begins on Saturday with our season preview and traditional introduction to the newbies of this season. Quite a big finish to what's already been an exciting 2017 and will end in a furious way here as we enter 2018... see you tomorrow.
- I AM DC
No comments:
Post a Comment
Got something on your mind? Let us know! But please be mindful and do not post spam or negative comments (due to that, all comments are subject to blogger approval... and we reserve the right to disable these sections if things get way out of hand).