I just finished watching another episode of “The Gauntlet.”; Tonight was musical chairs, but with big rubber balls in a mud pit. It’s a lot more fun to watch the show because you don’t have to deal with the stress of reality. I think the show came out well. The editing has been balanced, which is an answered prayer.

:::

Here’s a summary I wrote for another section of the website.

Mission 3: Mud Bath
Voting was getting difficult. The past couple challenges didn’t make it clear who was doing well and who was doing poorly. The more difficult it was to vote, the more it fractured out team because no one feels like they should go.

ER:

  • A few weeks before we started filming, Trishelle and I met on an airplane. We were both on our way through Pittsburg. I was speaking at a Steubenville Conference in Ohio, and she was on her way to be at a night club in Los Angeles.
  • It was good to get to know her, because I hadn’t seen any of her season. We found out that both of us were going to be on The Gauntlet. It felt good to not go into this thing alone.
  • It was the most awful news to hear Trishelle got hurt in a mountain bike accident. It was terrible. I prayed hard. We all did.
  • The good thing that came out of the accident was it brought out the best in each of us. It wasn’t a game anymore, or about money. We were fragile friends who needed to take care of each other. I saw so much goodness that afternoon. I knew it wasn’t always going to be like that, but it was a joy to come together and help each other out.

Of Mud and Balls:

  • I wore my Life Teen shirt because I figured it would get noticed more since everyone else didn’t have on a shirt. Plus, it would get more traction than mud on skin. You can get it here.
  • It took a good half hour before we got started because everyone wanted to make sure the rules were fair etc. It’s funny to watch Johnny get irritated. He’s the host, but he also has to deal with us. It’s not like he says his bit then the director runs up to answer questions.
  • We got these old school aqua socks to help give us traction in the pit. They were loose so we had to tighten them up with tape from the cameramen.
  • You don’t want to be the first person out, so we charged in like mad bulls. It was the closest thing to one of those fights like you see on cartoons. It’s a cloud of mud with arms and legs jutting out, people yelling and swatting. I got popped in the eye by some body/thing. I grabbed a ball and ran to the edge. To be honest, I was pretty excited about my black eye because it’s tough.
  • When I got to the edge, someone on my team told me that they held back and waited for a ball to pop out. They grabbed it and walked away. So I tried that the next time.
  • Every time I did the same thing and I got a ball. A few more people would go get called out. I’d look around at the mountains and say a quick prayer. Since it was a pasture area, it also smelled like crap.
  • Eventually I was the last one on our team. I listened to the three guys on their team and they were working together to make sure I didn’t get the ball. Even if I got one, they would come together to knock me out. I only had a few seconds to think about it, so I decided to stick with my strategy: wait for a ball to get knocked out, and grab it. It didn’t work.
  • Aside from the injuries, this challenge was the most fun. It was messy and aggressive, but you still felt like a kid.

Insult and Injury:

  • Trischelle was injured and could not compete. That was a compassionate decision because she was injured. But it became a problem because a lot of people saw it as, “Proceed to Go and Collect $200.” Norm was pretty gashed up and so was Adam on the other team, so they needed to go in the hospital. Soon a half-dozen people were piling in to get checked up. It’s hard to tell who was injured and who wasn’t but it was apparent that people wanted to go to the hospital. When the band of brothers showed back up at the house it was pretty hopeless.
  • I was shocked that even after kicking butt at the challenge, I was up again to get voted off. I guess since I was on the chopping block the first time, I was going to continue to be a candidate for The Gauntlet. I don’t think it was fair, but I understand this is a game. If I got sent to The Gauntlet, then that means someone else didn’t have to go. So sacrifice me and stay a day.
  • Voting was a mess. Some people were not interested in building an objectively strong team, because they knew they wouldn’t be a part of it. I wanted to vote strictly on performance and how a person works as a part of the team. If I did poorly, then I should go. If they win The Gauntlet, then you’ve proven you are a strong player.
  • ;I don’t harbor any ill feelings, because it’s a game. If the game were logical and clean, then people probably wouldn’t watch the show, they’d watch the Olympics instead.
  • I can’t remember who was going to get voted off, but then out of no where Nathan reminded everyone that Tonya was injured and would not do well. I was proud of him for being logical. Up until that point everyone voted out of fear. Then he comes along and is objective. It wasn’t fair that Tonya was injured in the competition, but injuries are an injured team can’t win.
  • So it was good to have an injury, then it was bad. The tables turned and things got messy.
  • People flipped out because the cast felt cheated because they had injuries that the production should have prevented. There were rocks in the mud that caused scrapes and cuts. It was difficult to decide which injuries could’ve been prevented, and we all just got frustrated and couldn’t vote.
  • The production warned us we had met for too long, and then some cast started yelling at the directors and producer. I can understand being upset with the production, but yelling about it wasn’t going to accomplish anything. But, if they didn’t have the capacity to overreact, then they wouldn’t be on the show to begin with. Production forced us to vote, but gave The Gauntlet goers a night to rest and heal. This put both teams in an awkward situation, because we had a whole night to spend with a person we just sent to the Gauntlet.
  • So that night our team spent time nursing Tonya and hyping her up for the Gauntlet the next morning. Meanwhile…
  • ;Steve is a cool guy. He’s smart and has done some cool things with his life. I don’t like that he could get voted off. He was older than most of his team, and I don’t think he connected with them. That doesn’t say much about him or his team. The collective conscious of scared competitors is rarely compassionate or logical.

The Gauntlet:

  • We shot this in the early morning before our next competition. You can tell because we are all in long sleeves and beanies. Most days in Colorado started off cool and got real hot by the afternoon.
  • We hadn’t seen many of the competitions, so “Perfect Fit” was a mystery. The water had still only been in the pool for a week. It was still chilly, but not as cold as “Snake Soup.”
  • ;You’ll notice Tonya has white tape on her visor over the Adidas symbol. Later they don’t blur it out once the tape comes off. I guess they got permission to show the logo.
  • It was maybe a couple minutes before Steve figured out the puzzle. He’s a real bright guy. It was tough to see Tonya lose because you really do root for your team. Tonya and I had our disagreements, but we reconciled. I wanted her to stay.
  • You don’t see us saying goodbye to her at the house because we had to immediately go off to the next competition, the ice cream eating contest. It was an impersonal way to see her off, but there was nothing we could do about it. It was a hug and we hopped in a van.
  • That night someone found an online game that was similar to the puzzle that Steve won that morning. Cast members took turns playing the games so we’d be ready. That went on for days.