MTV The Challenge "BOTS" FINALE Podcast | Derrick Kosinski w/ Kenny Santucci & Mark Long

December 28, 2012
Derrick Kosinski's "Ultimate Challenge Radio" Powered by Talent Network
Hosted By: Derrick Kosinski
Ultimate Love to: MTV.com
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A Safe and Happy Holiday season to you all. We end the 2012 podcast season with a recap of the MTV Challenge: Battle of the Seasons. Who better to close out the year and Challenge than two MTV Reality Legends in Kenny 'Claus' Santucci and Mark 'Heat Miser' Long. Boom! That's How We Do it!

MTV The Challenge "Battle of the Seasons Podcast | Derrick Kosinski w/ Ashley & Derek

December 3, 2012
Derrick Kosinski's "Ultimate Challenge Radio" Powered by Talent Network
Hosted By: Derrick Kosinski
Ultimate Love to: MTV.com
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ASHLEY and the Other Differently Spelled DEREK join Derrick Kosinski on the podcast today to talk all things 'Battle of the Seasons' with the finale just ahead.

* All guests of todays podcast receive a gift card compliments GNC the largest global specialty retailer of nutritional products.

Week 12 Power Rankings | MTV The Challenge: Battle of the Seasons - Finals Edition

December 17, 2012
Contributed By: Bishop and Company (Sports, pop culture.. nothings off the table.) 
Written By: Dr. David Bloom
Follow David Bloom on Twitter (@davidbloom7) 
Follow The Challenge: BOTS on MTV.com

THE CHALLENGE: BATTLE OF THE SEASONS WEEKLY POWER RANKINGS

 - FINALS EDITION -

Almost four months ago, eight teams of four embarked on an incredible journey in Turkey to reach the point at which we now find ourselves.  Teams Austin (an unfortunate early exit), Fresh Meat (troubled from the start), New Orleans (Knight and Jemmye had a valiant showing), St. Thomas (an amazing rookie season), and Cancun (deserved to be in the finals) are no longer with us.  The three remaining teams, Brooklyn, San Diego, and Las Vegas (minus Nany and Alton) all deserve to be at this point and all have worked hard, played hard, and persevered amidst various obstructions, blowups, and internal combustions.  There is one obstacle left: the final challenge, an unknown and potentially dangerous sojourn in the Namib Desert.  These are the last weekly power rankings before the finals.  I hope you enjoy.

NOTE: Check out the retro-running diary of the penultimate episode here.

THE WEEKLY CHALLENGE INDIVIDUAL POWER RANKINGS - FINALS EDITION

The rankings will be based on an un-Hollinger (recently hired to work in the Memphis Grizzlies front office!)/sabermetrics method known as “My experience and observations” (See: Marc Stein's great NBA weekly power rankings).  Weight will be given to how well teams and individuals do on competitions, in the social game, and whether he or she is a “good competitor.”

THE MEN

MTV The Challenge: Battle of the Seasons PENULTIMATE RETRO RUNNING DIARY

December 14, 2012
Contributed By: Bishop and Company (Sports, pop culture.. nothings off the table.) 
Written By: Dr. David Bloom
Follow David Bloom on Twitter (@davidbloom7) 
Follow The Challenge: BOTS on MTV.com


Guest Writer David Bloom has decided to split up his column this week in preparation for the final.  Here is his retro running diary.  He will have a power rankings and finals preview sometime on Monday! Enjoy! - Derrick

The Challenge: Battle of the Seasons remaining competitors are literally on the verge of jumping out of a plane into the Namib desert to embark on a final challenge that even TJ thinks is undoable.  In order to best encapsulate the awesome and incredible season this has been, I have decided to split up the column this week.  First, is the retro running diary of the penultimate and final elimination episode.  Early next week, I will release my pre-final power rankings and some further analysis of the remaining teams and their chances in the Namib Desert experience.  Here we go...

Week 11 Power Rankings | MTV The Challenge: Battle of the Seasons

December 12, 2012
Contributed By: Bishop and Company (Sports, pop culture.. nothings off the table.) 
Written By: Dr. David Bloom
Follow David Bloom on Twitter (@davidbloom7) 
Follow The Challenge: BOTS on MTV.com



Can you feel it?  The momentum of The Challenge: Battle of the Seasons has picked up like the volatility in Frank’s personality while drinking.  Each moment of each episode now feels like an essential window into the potentiality of the final challenge.  This past week, the Challenge cast journeyed from near and far to New York to film the reunion special, a sign that the end is near.  With only one episode left before the final, I have decided to keep on the retro running diary train to make sure that every important moment (and as you will soon find out if you actually read through all of this prose before hitting the rankings) gets mentioned.  On to our last night spent in the confines of Turkey before a major location change in preparation for the final...

THE WEEK 10 RETRO-RUNNING DIARY (power rankings to follow)

The times are EST on the night the original episode aired, so feel free 

to follow along while viewing for the first time or while re-watching.

MTV The Challenge "Battle of the Seasons | Derrick w/ Jaz & Marie Podcast

December 3, 2012
Derrick Kosinski's "Ultimate Challenge Radio" Powered by Talent Network
Hosted By: Derrick Kosinski
Ultimate Love to: MTV.com
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Jaz and Marie join Derrick Kosinski on the podcast today to talk all things 'Battle of the Seasons' 9 weeks into the challenge.

* All guests of todays podcast receive a gift card compliments GNC the largest global specialty retailer of nutritional products.

Week 10 Power Rankings | MTV The Challenge: Battle of the Seasons

December 3, 2012
Contributed By: Bishop and Company (Sports, pop culture.. nothings off the table.) 
Written By: Dr. David Bloom
Follow David Bloom on Twitter (@davidbloom7) 
Follow The Challenge: BOTS on MTV.com

UCR guest analyst David Bloom is back with his week 10 MTV The Challenge:'Battle of the Seasons' Power Rankings. As always great in-depth work here by David. Cheers!...Derrick

THE CHALLENGE: BATTLE OF THE SEASON Week 9 Power Rankings

In my last The Challenge: Battle of the Seasons weekly rankings column, I went all retro-running diary because the action of the episode was just too much to effectively account for any other way.  This week’s episode may have even pushed the scale of awesomeness a few steps higher (the weekly challenge and especially the night time drama raised these stakes), so until something changes (and with the final challenge coming up later this month), I am going to keep rocking the retro-running diary until it loses its potency.  As established last week, the times are EST on the night the original episode aired, so feel free to follow along while viewing for the first time or while re-watching.

THE WEEK 10 RETRO-RUNNING DIARY (power rankings to follow)

Week 9 Power Rankings | MTV The Challenge: Battle of the Seasons

November 19, 2012
Contributed By: Bishop and Company (Sports, pop culture.. nothings off the table.) 
Written By: Dr. David Bloom
Follow David Bloom on Twitter (@davidbloom7) 
Follow The Challenge: BOTS on MTV.com

UCR guest analyst David Bloom is back with his week 9 MTV The Challenge:'Battle of the Seasons' Power Rankings. As always David digs deep and in-depth like 'Jaws' and 'Gruden' breaking down game-tape until all house of the morning. Can't thank him enough for his great work. -...Derrick

THE CHALLENGE: BATTLE OF THE SEASON Week 9 Power Rankings

I was going to save my first The Challenge: Battle of the Seasons running diary for a season finale recap (epic, groundbreaking, and one of a kind athletic competitions demand such attention), but this week’s episode arena battle between Team Cancun’s CJ and Team San Diego’s Zach (both one-time NFL aspiring uber-athletes) was so phenomenal (and according Sarah on twitter: “that elimination between @ZachMTV & @CJKoegelMTV was a MILLION times more intense in real life vs how it looked on TV”) that a running retro diary is the only way to appropriately depict the glory in prose.  If you re-watch or have not watched yet, I am indicating the time on the EST telecast that each moment went down if you want to follow along.

Let the games begin!

MTV The Challenge "Battle of the Seasons | Derrick w/ C.J. & Zach Podcast

November 16, 2012
Derrick Kosinski's "Ultimate Challenge Radio" Powered by Talent Network
Hosted By: Derrick Kosinski
Ultimate Love to: MTV.com
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C.J. and Zach join Derrick Kosinski on the podcast today to talk all things 'Battle of the Seasons' 8 weeks into the challenge.

* All guests of todays podcast receive a gift card compliments GNC the largest global specialty retailer of nutritional products.

Week 8 Power Rankings | MTV The Challenge: Battle of the Seasons

November 12, 2012
Contributed By: Bishop and Company (Sports, pop culture.. nothings off the table.) 
Written By: Dr. David Bloom
Follow David Bloom on Twitter (@davidbloom7) 
Follow The Challenge: BOTS on MTV.com

We are now somewhere close to the halfway point of this (the 23rd!) season of MTV’s The Challenge.  Last week’s unnecessary hiatus for Halloween programming (You are telling me that the prospect of a Frank meltdown is not ghoulish enough for viewers?) gave me some time for a reflection on a television show/fifth professional sport that’s first airing dates back to the middle of President Clinton’s second term.  For any television show to last 23 seasons and 14 years is an accomplishment in itself, but this season’s influx of new blood and talent accentuates a main reason for the (and dare I say continuing) success of the franchise.  The Challenge has always been in a malleable state that continues to strive for reinvention, reinvigoration, reformatting, and rethinking.  Bunim-Murray producer land has always been driven to make each new show more interesting and more compelling than the one previous.  This approach is not always successful and there have been some off seasons, but this sprint away from complacency is one of the primary root causes of longevity.