Recapping The Challenge: Johnny Bananas v. Jordan - Greatest Sports Rivalry in May

Adam Hatlak, one of our writers here is as big of a Challenge fans as I am. We want to expand our coverage a bit so we are doing a recap blog post on Friday. He will basically have three to five takeaways each week talking about things that happened on The Challenge.

Mario Kart: I know it's not a common analogy, and it may not make sense to some of you, but growing up I played a lot of Mario Kart, sometimes with my friends, but then when I got older, I'd play it with younger family members to entertain them at family gatherings. There were two specific younger family members who were not great at the game, so in the four player mode, the two older players would finish very early, and the two last players would have to keep racing. Mario Kart had a great feature that if everyone but the last place person had finished the race, the race would be over, but it didn't work in these scenarios, because there were two people still racing. It would take what seemed like years for the game to be over, as it got so bad. I was really, really, really worried that we were in for that scenario with this week's challenge. Luckily, the divide was clear enough that the people whom were bad were eliminated, but I thought we were in for hours of watching not great people try to finish that course (Ed. note: While I enjoyed this Challenge more so than the typical ones, I really wanted to see them eat gross shit instead - CT) .

The Draw: I think it's one of the greatest additions to the modern challenge, but the loopholes are starting to show. Leroy is generally one of my favorites, but he figured out that Laurel would likely to vote him in either way, so he threw the mission going into the draw to lower his chances of going in. I don't know if this is good strategy, or a potential imminent loophole. I think this concept should stay for future shows, but expect some tweaks to try to keep the players from manipulating the game.

Jordan/Bananas: There is so much to say on this, so I'll try to keep it brief. First off, neither guy is coming off great in this rivalry, but it is very entertaining to watch. Bananas has got to lay off the hand jokes, it's below the belt, and too easy, and there is more than enough material for Johnny to hate on Jordan with. Jordan severely underestimated Bananas, and should have tossed a bit more respect out there as well. For a change of pace, CT provided the best perspective of the whole feud, Jordan's biggest issue in the challenge isn't his hand, it's his pride/ego. I respect Jordan for living up to his word and going at Johnny in a challenge, and even though it didn't work out, you got to go down swinging. I'm not a conspiracy theorist, but any chance you think production heard Jordan's plan to flip all of the cards and wanted to throw the wall climbing challenge to make him think twice, so they could get more run out of the rivalry? This rivalry has been great, and both guys will definitely be back to rehash it, maybe even a Rivals 3, but I think this is an important crossroads, 'Bananas used to be the top villain on these shows, and if Jordan hangs around late in challenges, he'll take that spot. Bananas will become the respect vet. Jordan looks to be taking the place we assumed Frank would before the show humanized him. (Ed. Note: Exactly what's going to happen, and I said it last week too, I would have loved to see this season with full Frank. Best rivalry The Challenge has produced in a long time - CT)  

Elimination Rounds: For anybody complaining about Jordan throwing himself in, or the randomness of the elimination as a whole, please stop. The biggest issue with this show in previous years was the predictability of the elimination rounds. The first two or three would be rookies, followed by a few low potential vets, then a few key competitors. Season after season until they had to change it to add the drama. Jordan's right, you want to beat someone, you have to send them home yourself, you're going to have to do it sooner or later.

Charlie.