I've always enjoyed the various strongman competitions since I was a kid. They would show up at odd times on ESPN, and they were almost always repeats (in other words--very different from watching a live world championship . . . . sometimes you'd be watching a competition from 10 years ago!). But they were still captivating, especially when Americans began showing up in the top ten. Hard not to root for the homeboys and hang on for the final event to see who'd come out on top.
Brian Shaw is from nearby Colorado, and it's hard not to like the guy. He is like this 6'8" 450 pound 5 year old. Not arrogant (and a 4 time world champion has earned the right to arrogance!), but gentle and thoughtful. I began watching occasional "Shaw Strength" YouTube clips a few months ago--which often feature him going back and forth with Eddie Hall (England's strongman and one time world champion) like two brothers with a great sense of humor.
So this show has added two more giants to the roster and follows them through a series of well scripted on location competitions which are tied to some old school legendary feat of strength. You get this mix of giants throwing around objects the rest of us can only stare at, and the kind of humor that makes a lot of us recall from playing high school or college ball -- so it's very funny and very watchable.
The thing I like--the real world strongman competitions are not making any of these guys rich. Training is clearly a full time, 365 day a year occupation requiring significant investments in training equipment, coaches, and diet. Even at the elite level, the prize amounts are a fraction of what American professional football and basketball players get. Bravo to the History Channel for finding a way to leverage entertainment and helping to support someone like Brian Shaw financially. I hope this series makes it for a few years and helps these guys out!
