The First American Ninja Warrior

[cole77000]

Now this Isaac/Geoff topic is a bit of a can of worms. If it's appropriate, I'd like to see people's opinions on this one question only. Given that this is how it went down, which of the two do you consider to be the first ANW and why?

I wanted to see data of people's opinions on this along with their reasoning. The 5 I've listed are the 5 main answers I've heard to this question. Each opinion I've heard can be marked under one of these 5.

Note that I do aknowledge that:
1. It doesn't really matter.
2. I may be missing an answer or two. Let me know if this is the case.
3. There is no right answer, really.

Try to keep discussion on this particular question. Try to keep opinions on the competitors themselves out of it.

[blah123]

I think there should be an option for "Geoff - Because he hit all 6 buzzers that season, where Isaac only hit 5". I wouldn't necessarily vote for that option, but it at least deserves mention.

[Deleted]

The answer is BOTH are the first ANWs. They completed it on the same exact night therefore they are both deserving of the title equally.

[penguincatfish]

For me, it's either both of them or it's Geoff, or Geoff in a sense and both of them in a sense, like the moon landing. That aside, Geoff is still the first and only to have a perfect season.

[gt4dom]

The First American Ninja Warrior is Isaac Caldiero whether we like it or not because he is an idiot. But Geoff is also a champion of ANW and that's all that matters, he's completed Kanzenseiha and is a worthy champion. Ultimately Nagano is more liked and well known than Akiyama so I don't think it matters who was first. But yes from NBC's point of view, it was Isaac.

[TCM]

Geoff Britten was credited in the premiere episode as an ANW Champion. The official winner of the prize money is Issac.

[OwlRTA]

As I see it, both Geoff and Issac are ANW Champions, but Issac is ANW Winner.

[arsenette]

To me Geoff is because unless you somehow changed the definition of "first" then the rest is just a political answer.

[dlee]

First placed in sports isnt just given to the person who competes first tho. if the person who runs last (in order) get the best time, they win FIRST place.

[OwlRTA]

Jun 11, 2016 22:29:36 GMT -5 dlee said:

First placed in sports isnt just given to the person who competes first tho. if the person who runs last (in order) get the best time, they win FIRST place.

That isn't good reasoning, you don't say that Uruguay was the first team the play soccer just because they won the first World Cup, that belongs to England and Scotland (officially)

[Ben Baker]

Jun 11, 2016 22:29:36 GMT -5 dlee said:

First placed in sports isnt just given to the person who competes first tho. if the person who runs last (in order) get the best time, they win FIRST place.

No he has a point. If Issac would have climbed first then it wouldn't had made a difference. Geoff is not "The First"either because he climbed first.They couldn't both climb at the same time so someone had to be first. The show is, your racing against the clock, not each other. Even though NBC's rules give the prize money to the quickest finisher. IMO They are both the the 1St Americans to beat the course, cause they beat the 4th stage in the alloted time. Let's get back to some Sasuke roots Haha

[arsenette]

Jun 12, 2016 4:44:52 GMT -5 Ben Baker said:

Jun 11, 2016 22:29:36 GMT -5 dlee said:

First placed in sports isnt just given to the person who competes first tho. if the person who runs last (in order) get the best time, they win FIRST place.

No he has a point. If Issac would have climbed first then it wouldn't had made a difference. Geoff is not "The First"either because he climbed first.They couldn't both climb at the same time so someone had to be first. The show is, your racing against the clock, not each other. Even though NBC's rules give the prize money to the quickest finisher. IMO They are both the the 1St Americans to beat the course, cause they beat the 4th stage in the alloted time. Let's get back to some Sasuke roots Haha

LOL don't drag Sasuke into the American construct of "First". It's obvious NBC had no idea they would crown 2 champions in the same tournament. This would never have happened in Sasuke so please don't drag them into it. We wouldn't have this controversy there. (We wouldn't have the million dollars either. LOL!)

[Ben Baker]

I know I didn't want to drag them into this either cause they are different shows. A little off topic, but Arsenette pwhat are the rules for more than two finishers in Sasuke?

[Deleted]

Jun 12, 2016 5:47:34 GMT -5 Ben Baker said:

I know I didn't want to drag them into this either cause they are different shows. A little off topic, but what are the rules for more than two finishers in Sasuke?

They all share the victory. It doesn't matter who is faster, if they all beat the course in the time allowed, they all win.

[Ben Baker]

They both win honor, prize money, etc?

[cole77000]

Jun 12, 2016 5:47:34 GMT -5 Ben Baker said:

I know I didn't want to drag them into this either cause they are different shows. A little off topic, but Arsenette pwhat are the rules for more than two finishers in Sasuke?

I believe both winners would get the same amount of promised cash prize. I believe this is more doable my TBS as the cash prize for Sasuke is something two orders of magnitude less than that of ANW.

[Deleted]

Jun 12, 2016 10:33:16 GMT -5 cole77000 said:

Jun 12, 2016 5:47:34 GMT -5 Ben Baker said:

I know I didn't want to drag them into this either cause they are different shows. A little off topic, but Arsenette pwhat are the rules for more than two finishers in Sasuke?

I believe both winners would get the same amount of promised cash prize. I believe this is more doable my TBS as the cash prize for Sasuke is something two orders of magnitude less than that of ANW.

I believe Nagano won 2 Million Yen for winning in 2006, right?

[TCM]

Nagano won ¥2,000,000 (which in 2006 seems to have been around $16,000 USD average) in 2006. I believe that's still the prize for now (don't know where it started that the prize doubled), which as of today would be about $18,000 USD). So Issac got about 55 times that. And in the future, ANW co-champions split the pot.  ANW's prize used to be $500,000 but the same rules applied (so yes, when the show's main section was Japan, if two Americans got to the Final in SASUKE, ANW would have done the 'fastest clear wins' format.  We presume if both Americans cleared for Sasuke's format they share the glory.

Then they raised it to $1,000,000 arbitrarily for a pop that season and then the worst case scenario occurred.

Our reference point for this should be KUNOICHI, as the last competition they had two people won (should have been three).  They both were considered co-champions.

[GlobalNinjaFan]

Quite frankly this is a dumb question, and one I'm still amazed is being discussed. Whilst Technically speaking on NBC's terms, Geoff is the first while Isaac is the "grand champion", in all honesty both are equal.


In an ideal world, both would have won equal prize money and both recognised as equally skilled American Ninja Warriors. We obviously can't have the first one, but we can have the second. Why do people feel the need to be exclusive. Both did what no-one else had done before. Before season 7, no one expected ONE person to clear stage 4, let alone TWO. In terms of skill, I consider them equal, regardless of what NBC says. Geoff is the first, but considering there were literally MINUTES between the two clears, does it really matter in the grand scheme of things? Yeah it was impressive, but it doesn't actually mean anything in terms of the actual runs. Isaac could've chose to go first or second. Geoff went first and became the first ANW. It could've gone either way.


I've said it before and I'll say it again. The problem with the fiasco is that Geoff didn't get paid, not that Isaac got paid. But now that has faded, the fairest thing we can do is give both ninjas the respect they deserve.

[Ben Baker]

I agree. They both are champions. No one first, no one second.