G.U.T.S. & Gladiators

Two of my favorite semi-sports related shows as a child were Nickelodeon’s GUTS and American Gladiators. Both programs provided physical engagements in enthralling, exaggerated and emphatic exercise. GUTS showcased kids individually challenging one another in a variety of obstacle-course like situations. The American Gladiators were a group of faux superhero athletes with creative names like Nitro and Thunder. Gladiators competed against real people who hoped to beat the actors at their own game.
I remember coming home from school and propping myself in front of the television, tuning into Nickelodeon. The network had the best game shows back in the 90’s. GUTS was my favorite because I loved obstacle courses. In gym, whenever we had to do the obstacle course, I was in 7th heaven. As an athlete, I loved the idea of different events set up. The same could be said for when our school held “Field Days”. I usually won at least two events in the categories I entered each year. Enough tooting my own horn though. What made GUTS an awesome show was the simple concept. The events varied each show, but it always ended in the same fashion, with the climbing of the gigantic wall/crag. The winner would stand holding his or her trophy in the end. I admired the winner and secretly pictured myself wearing one of those strange outfits.
American Gladiators aired on the USA network, usually during the day. I have memories of sick days and snow days staying at home watching back-to-back-to-back episodes. It never got old to me. If I was home ill from school, my mother would make me a slushy to sip as I stretched in an unstylish manner on her bed. I’d watch wondrously and the contestants collided in rolling oval globes or threw objects from behind walls as objects were being thrown at them. Multi-tasking was important for all competing. My favorite part of the show was the climatic finish, where once again, there was an obstacle course. It began with running up a treadmill track and ended with gambling on which “door” to run through. A Gladiator was behind one of the doors and was the last heap before the finish line. On snow days, all the kids in the house would gather gazing at the gigantic Gladiators on the TV. We all had our favorites and rooted with proud, piping pleasure.
It would be great to see these shows again. I know they tried to revive the American Gladiators and GUTS can now be seen on the Old School Nick Network. My innuendo is there should be more sports type TV shows. I would tune in to watch real people try to play sports. The human element is often lost when we watch professional athletes play their games. It is sometimes nice to see everyday people compete against each other and challenge themselves to accomplish simple goals.

Parting points: I get to catch two of my teams in actions tonight. The Devils play the Kings out on the ice in L.A. and the Knicks face off against the Rockets on the court.
Song of the day: Mariah Carey’s “Emotions”.