I Run in Heels

American Gladiators Finale

American Gladiator Tryouts Take 2

You wouldn't know it from this blog lately, but my life really does involve more than American Gladiators. I'm a full-time student, I have a part-time job, and I do have other hobbies and interests that don't include the Hulk, muscles, or spandex. That being said, I did make it down to Venice Beach this Saturday to watch another round of tryouts for the show. Mayhem, Militia, Titan, and Justice were all in attendance, politely agreeing to pose for pictures with fans and basking in the limelight from the show's overwhelming success. The tryouts this time around were tougher: (1) as many pull-ups as you could do in 30 seconds, (2) as many up & downs as you could do in 30 seconds (rather than 10), (3) karaoke run across a rope ladder, and (4) ten sprints down and back (rather than 5), and no 40-yd. dash. The interviews took place across a table with one of 3 guys (rather than on camera). And, no surprise here, there were probably 5 times as many contestants in line as last time...I'd guess 500-600 people showed up. The line didn't move any faster either, but they were gracious enough to stay until everyone had a chance to try out.

My friend Gia (an alternate on the show in '93 and '95) was the first of my friends to go. She was actually the first one to try out the Pyramid event to see if it could actually work as an event. She got to do dress rehearsals with the Gladiators, so they could get a feel for the various events.

My other friend Melody waited from 11-7 (I hung out with them from 12-5, but when it started raining I took that as my cue to leave). She got 5 pull-ups, which was really impressive!            

              Gia                                             Gia and Melody

 

Twins auditioning (Calvin & Melvin?), Mayhem, and me

Only in California

A few months ago, I wrote about trying out for American Gladiators with my friend Andy Konigsmark. The exciting update is that Andy made it on the show! We had such a fun time going to Sony Studios and cheering him on as he competed in the joust, rock wall climbing, etc.  If you haven't caught the show yet, Hulk Hogan and Laila Ali are the cohosts. (We even ran into the Hulk backstage and got to shake his hand!) Each contender competes against the Gladiators in a variety of events, earning points based on how they do. At the end of the round, the contenders race each other in a crazy obstacle course called the Eliminator. His episode will air this Monday on NBC at 8/7 central. You don't want to miss it! You can locate our fan club in the crowd by our red shirts that say "Rev It Up" in honor of Andy's nickname on the show, "The Ripped Reverend." 

 

American Gladiators Tryouts

  Friday afternoon my friend Andy Konigsmark asked if I'd like to go along to American Gladiators tryouts the next morning. I was picturing sitting in an audience watching freakishly strong individuals jousting or  swinging around on the rings. (See here if you missed the show in the 80's and 90's: http://youtube.com/watch?v=TLfACqLDeTM). I did a quick google search and discovered it was an open casting call for the show. And then it hit me. Andy (and 2 other friends of ours) were intending to actually try out to be contestants. So now my vision of the day was me as the supportive friend cheering them on to victory. That was not to be.

Saturday morning Andy knocked on my door bright and early, took one look at me, and said "You might want to change your shoes." (I was wearing flip flops). "Why?" I queried back. "For the tryouts!" I had not had any intention of trying out, but I decided to grab some shoes and a change of clothes in case the crazy powder I added to my smoothie that morning started to kick in. The other 2 guys bailed out because they wanted to sleep in, so we headed to Gold's Gym in Venice Beach for what would turn out to be quite the experience. To give you a glimpse, here are a couple of pics of the people waiting in line:

I started to get a little worried when I heard rumblings about having to do pull ups. I cannot do a pull up to save my life. I thought about backing out, but we had waited in line for a few hours, and I decided to just suck it up and go for it. When it was my turn, a nice guy walked me back to the "stations." Station 1: Do as many pull ups as you can in 30 seconds. I turned to my evaluator: "I'm just doing this for fun. I can't do any pull ups." He asked if I wanted to try one, and that bedazzling display of strength essentially consisted of me hanging from the bar. Competitors beware! Station 2: 10 "up and downs" (Go down into a push up position and then jump right up), a karaoke run down and back across a rope ladder laid out on the ground, and 5 sprints down and back.

While we were still trying to catch our breath, they had us do an on-camera interview. They asked a few generic questions: "Tell us your name, where you're from, why you want to do this. How would your friends describe you?" And my personal favorite: "Lindsey, you didn't get any pull ups. Do you really think you can compete?" Heck no I can't compete! Maybe if I could swing from the rings by my legs, but otherwise not so much. Station 3: A 40 yard dash.To give you an idea of what some of the other female competitors looked like (there weren't too many of us), here is one of them doing the 40 yd. dash (photo from flickr.com/photos/bradherman):   

It was quite the experience. I'm feeling really confident of making it on the show...I mean someone has to be in the blooper reels. I've never been so motivated to start lifting weights for my arms!

P.S. NPR did a piece on the tryouts that you can listen to at http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14290822&ft=1&f=1051