babbling blue

So I just started watching American Gladiators this season (after watching the original series for years growing up). In this week’s episode (the 3rd) the fourth set of contestants competed. One of them was old Brick Reilly (below).

From NBC.com:

Brick Reilly is a 27-year-old tree climber from Springfield, New Jersey. He was born deaf and has always deemed athletics an important escape from the realities of life. Though Reilly recently had a cochlear implant which gave him the ability to hear, he never used his disability as an excuse in his life. He works as a mentor for deaf children in the New Jersey area.

He has already fought a congenital problem and come out on top. For that reason (and well. . . because he’s sexy) I was rooting for him. And he did not disappoint. He swung across Vertigo like he was a monkey, yanked Toa from Tilt and flew through Skytrack, becoming the first person to win that relatively new event.

Brick went into the Eliminator with a 12.5 second head start against his opponent. He breezed up the rope ladder and across the tightrope and zipped over on the hand bike like he uses one every day. Then he went down the rolling pin and dislocated his shoulder. . . and climbed the Pyramid and popped his motherfucking shoulder back into joint when he grabbed the zip line! You da fuckin’ man, Brick! He struggled a bit with the Travelator but came out victorious in the end.

You’ve got a fan in me, Brick. Go all the way!