For all its loud n' flashy television wrapping, the obstacle course spectacle of "American Ninja Warrior" is a simple thing at its core. This is jumping from the recliner to the couch because the floor is lava, but with that fundamental principle rendered huge and awesome and so damn difficult. At a primal level, "American Ninja Warrior" is about every time anyone ever slid down a banister when they could have used the stairs. It's doing a wheelie in your wheelchair. It's wedging the toe of your shoe into the diamonds of the chain link and climbing over instead of walking around. It is doing something difficult for no good reason beyond that it is 1) difficult and 2) fun, in that way.

Fairly or unfairly, I often give Vice magazine a serious side-eye when it comes to their stories and journalism. That said, I definitely enjoyed this article when it popped up in my twitter feed.

thenewgreen who was it that was working on getting on to American Ninja Warrior? I totally forget.

edit: it surprises me that I have contributed several times to the #sports tag, even though I don't follow it.