Readers of this blog (yes, both of you—you know who you are) will be familiar by now with my usual Tuesday evening routine of finishing work and then heading over to my local Irish bar to watch Top Shot. The reason I watch there with friends, rather than secluded in my man cave is twofold. First, the service is a lot better. Second, it's really entertaining to look around the bar during the show and see how many non-shooters become sucked into the drama that unfolds onscreen. Last night's episode was definitely a winner in that respect. I know that some of the shooters watching will have been turned off by the fact that the contest revolved around primitive weapons, but given what the show has done to bring the shooting sports into living rooms across the country, I'm OK with that.

I watched the table next to me during the team challenge and saw three couples in their late 50's who, by their reactions, had very limited exposure to what we as shooters do. They had however watched John Wayne movies growing up and instantly related to the practice and the players, listening intently to the expert and nodding in agreement with his assessment of their performance. Jack Dagger was one of our favorite tutors in Season 1. The guy is a natural communicator and a very talented performer in his own field, appearing in Australia this month with his own show.

Watching Chris Reed make his own 'hawk' out of a weight lashed to a stick brought back memories of improvised practice sessions where the competitors used whatever came to hand to gain an incremental advantage during down time. It obviously worked for him as he stuck every axe he threw. Joe Serafini had a huge amount of pressure placed on him to make the high-risk final shot. Believe me, although you're conscious of the 150 or so people on set watching you perform, you're really cognizant that about 2.5 million of your fellow citizens are looking over your shoulder. All credit to him, he didn't choke and delivered the win.

If the blue team's intent was to eliminate one of their strongest players, they really couldn't have done any better than the choice they collectively made to send Daryl and Chris to the elimination range. I have a feeling that we've just heard the death rattle of the blues this season. During the elimination challenge we saw the incredible mental tenacity that Chris Tilley has used in the past to win world championships—after Daryl opened up an impressive six-point lead right out of the gate, Chris pulled himself together and relentlessly closed the gap to a nailbiting finish. When the result was announced, you could hear the wailing and gnashing of teeth all the way from the Brian Enos Forum as the last USPSA champion was sent home.

Next week sees a trickshot redux, with an appearance by 3 gun phenomenon Taran Butler as one of the experts. Should be a good one.