I have to interrupt this "broadcast" of King of the Nerds because we are days away from the premieres of The Amazing Race and Survivor. Literally, days away, like, less than a week. Let's not waste anymore time!
First up, The Amazing Race. The new All-Stars season premieres this Sunday, Sunday,
SUNDAY at 8pm eastern, 7pm central. Want to know who will be arguing, aligning
and possibly U-Turning each other this year? Let me give you the run down…
I don’t think this team needs any introduction. Unless you
don’t watch reality TV whatsoever, you know who Brenchel is and if you’re
reading this blog, most likely you do watch reality TV (or I’ve “coerced” you
into reading it). After a quick skim through their posted bios what caught my
eye the most is the fact that Rachel would love to have a “Race Baby”, which
sounds offensive, but isn’t. Rachel just wants to have a really cool conception
story to tell their kid later. I can already hear this kid in the future…
“Moooom, no! I don’t want to hear this! Na na na na na na na na”.
Next up, Bopper & Mark from season 20 (Brenchel was also
on this season). Both are excited to run the race again, but know where their
problem areas are: focus, navigation, clue reading and communication. (These
problem areas are becoming a running theme already in these bios). Family is
still important to them both and as both men are unemployed they are really
hoping to bring home the million dollar prize. Mark would also like to bring some
much needed recognition to Clay County, Kentucky where they both live. Good
luck, Mark! You’re on TV again so
you’ve got that working for you.
My neighbors to the south, the McCoy brothers are cowboying
up for another shot at the prize. You might recognize these guys from season 16
and 18. Jet and Cord are really looking forward to creating some new memories
this year and will be working on consistency and paying attention to direction.
These two might have some problems since Cord is annoyed with Jet’s promptness
and in turn, Jet is peeved by Cord’s White Rabbit Syndrome. No matter what, you
can all bet that these Oklahoma
boys will be giving 100% the entire race. Good luck, neighbors.
Dave and Conner O’Leary will also be back on our screens for
All-Stars. You remember Dave. He was injured during season twenty-two, finished
the fourth leg on crutches. How could you forget that? Part of his strategy
will be to not get injured again this season and Conner is all for that! Both
also want to slow down, take their time and never finish a leg last (yeah,
duh). Dave and Conner are ready to prove that they can race with the best and,
of course, they are looking to create some wonderful memories to share with the
family back home.
Guess who else will be scrambling for taxis… our favorite
Harlem Globetrotters, Flight Time and Big Easy from seasons fifteen and
eighteen. Both ballers agree that they need to pay more attention to details
this time around the world, but neither will be making any big, strategic
changes to their game play. Flight Time thinks bad luck will be their biggest
challenge and they are both looking forward to enjoying the experience. Flight
Time really hopes they do better than they did in previous seasons, though.
Just pay attention to those details, guys! READ YOUR CLUES!
Texas
girls Jennifer and Caroline (season 22) are also joining this All-Star cast.
They are even closer as friends now, not as boy crazy and they know they have a
lot of improvements to make in their navigational and driving skills. Jennifer
knows they can’t be as nice and open with information this time around and
Caroline knows they need maps! Both would love to see India during
this season and both ladies are looking forward to seeing more of the world,
experiencing different cultures and meeting new people. Good luck, ladies!
Joey and Meghan (also from season 22) are stepping up to the
plate for a second time. They are concerned about racing with so many people
that have done this thing twice and they are super focused on paying attention
to directions, driving directions. Both want to have fun, challenge themselves
and be more thorough. Strategically, Meghan wants to avoid alliances LIKE THE
PLAGUE and Joey plans on packing lighter. No matter what happens, they will
surely have a good time and we’ll just have to see if their map reading skills
have improved.
ALSO from season 22, John and Jessica have signed up again
for the adventure of a lifetime. Both competitors agree that they need to be
less competitive and not think too far ahead. One leg at a time is their
philosophy this season; the last leg is the most important. Jessica thinks
their biggest challenges this year will be language barriers, taxi drivers and
her tunnel vision. She’s not thrilled about any singing and dancing challenges
that might pop up either. They too want to enjoy the experience and they hope
to make it a little further to create more amazing memories.
Oh look. It’s the Afganimals…MOVING ON!
Mom and son team, Margie and Luke from seasons 14 and 18 are
back. Maybe the third time will be the charm for this duo? Mom Margie knows she
needs to be more patient with her son, he is grown man and she knows that they
need to communicate, communicate, communicate. Luke agrees, especially when
self-driving is concerned. Both would love to perform better than they did in
their second season, but they are both eager to enjoy the race and have a great
experience together. I love this team! BEST of luck to Margie and Luke!
Last,but not least… TWINNIES! Natalie and Nadiya from season
21 will be giving this year’s race the one, two punch. Strategically, Natalie
thinks they are well-rounded as a team, but both agree that they need to be
more focused and make smart racing decisions. Following directions, and going
in the right direction, is what Nadiya will be concentrating on and they are
both, of course, looking forward to making great memories and enjoying the race
together again and both are hoping to keep it cool, calm and collected this
year.
There
you have it, folks, those are our All-Star teams!
Once again, The Amazing Race
premieres on Sunday, February 23rd at 8pm eastern, 7pm central on
CBS. If you want to check out the full bios of our racers go to http://www.cbs.com/shows/amazing_race/cast/.
Now let's talk about Survivor!
First of all, let’s not kid ourselves. We all know that the
next season of Survivor will be known as Survivor: Brains vs. Beauty vs. Brawn,
not Survivor: Cagayan. We all know this. Survivor: BBB is way easier to
remember, and spell. Now that we've got that out of the way... Survivor: Brains vs. Beauty vs. Brawn premieres on Wednesday, February 26th at 8pm eastern, 7pm central on CBS and instead of one hour, we get two! Survivors ready... let's go!
THE BRAINS
J’Tia, David, Kassandra (Kass), Latasha (Tasha),
Spencer & Garrett
David Sampson is 45 years old and he is President of the
Miami Marlins. BOO! I actually like the vibe I get from looking at this guy’s
picture, but… BOO! No more “rich” and/or “famous” people on Survivor please,
CBS. I liked Survivor more when casting gave this opportunity of winning a
million dollars, (and the amazing experience) to everyday citizens like me. I’m
really sick and tired of all of these people who can afford to recreate the
experience for themselves given the opportunity that my friends who have tried
to be on the show since season one are denied. Don’t like it. Not rooting for
him, even if he seems like a great guy.
Garrett Adelstein is 27 years old and he is a Pro Poker
Player from California.
Garrett is hoping to win some money to impress L.A. girls… I guess if that’s that kind of
girl you want, Garret, that’s cool. I would think a brainy, straight guy would
be more interested in girls that are more impressed with his mind and
personality, but if you want a high-maintenance, shallow woman, Garrett – have
fun with all that drama. And good luck with your mission of self-growth, I
think you are going to need a lot of luck in that department. Not loving the
vibe I get from Garrett, but maybe that’s just his p-p-p-poker face. Ba dum
ching!
J’Tia Taylor is 31 years old
and she is a Nuclear Engineer in Chicago,
Illinois. Finally! A player
deserving of being on the Brains tribe! I definitely dig the vibe I get from
this girl. From reading her bio she seems very level-headed and if we see any
cattiness from her, like we do a lot of women on Survivor and Big Brother, I’ll
be very surprised. J’Tia could easily be on the Beauty tribe, but she confesses
that she is ¾’s more brainy; I hope she doesn’t come off too brainy with the
dudes on her tribe, though, because based on the two guys I’ve already talked
about, they are totally going “bros before ho’s” if they have to go to Tribal
Council first.
Kassandra “Kass” McQuillen is 41 years old and she is an
Attorney from Tehachapi, California. I think J’Tia will be okay if
the brainy boys decide to team up against the brainy girls in a first episode
Tribal Council situation. Kass is “old” (David is older, though!) and a lot of
times the older players are eliminated early on because of the young guns and
their misconception that their elders aren’t as able as they are to compete in
challenges. BAH on that! Hopefully this won’t happen to Kass because I like
her. She’s a rabble rouser, I’m a boat rocker – we’d get along just fine. I
just hope she can keep it together and be social with her tribe to avoid the
outsider stigma because I can totally envision her not fitting in with the
“kids”.
Latasha “Tasha” Fox is 37 years old and she is an accountant
from St. Louis, Missouri. Good job with these brainy gals,
CBS! If they do have to go to Tribal Council first, I hope these three
intellectual ladies will be able to sway the final male member of their tribe
to join their side and vote out one of those other boys. Hopefully, they won’t
have to toss someone off the island first, though, and maybe Tasha’s athletic
abilities will help them accomplish the goal of avoid the torch-snuffing
ceremony in episode one. Combined with J’Tia’s self-proclaimed puzzle-solving
skills, they stand a good chance of sending the Beauties or Brawns to Tribal
Council instead. (I guess other boys are pretty athletic too…)
Spencer Bledsoe is 21 years old and he is an Economics
student at the University
of Chicago. Finally! A
male deserving of being on the Brains tribe! I’m not really feeling a lot of
love for Spencer, though. Maybe it’s because he’s super focused on money and I
know there are more important things in life on which to focus. More likely,
though, is that he doesn’t smile with his eyes, at least not in that picture,
and if I can’t get a good read on someone from their eyes they usually aren’t
the kind of person I like to include in my circles of friends. Spencer is smart
though, I think, and if he plays his cards right, he could go pretty far in the
game. He also respects Todd Herzog, winner of Survivor: China; I love
Todd, even more so after being blessed and lucky enough to meet him, so Spencer
gets a little respect from me for that.
THE BEAUTIES
Brice, Jefra, Morgan, Alexis, Jeremiah & LJ
Alexis Maxwell is 21 years old and is a student at Northwestern University. Miss Alexis is hoping to immolate
Parvati’s sex appeal and strategy and will be using her background in
psychology to manipulate the group dynamics in the game. This beauty could
definitely double as a brain; she seems smart enough in her bio. She thinks the
beauties have the advantage, though because no one will view them as a
strategic threat nor will they view the pretty people as a threat in
challenges. This brain wouldn’t undervalue the beauties! They would be my first
target because of the fact that girls like Alexis can, and will use their sex
appeal on all the boys. We’ll see just how sharp she really is when the game
begins.
Brice Johnston is 27 years old and is a social worker from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Brice has a nice smile and kind eyes so I like him. He also says he’s most like
Cirie, Ozzy and… Colton?
I sure hope he’s not too much like Colton!
I don’t know how anyone could him into a group with Cirie and Ozzy, but I’m not
seeing anything remotely in the area of “I’m a whiny brat and a quitter” in his
eyes, so, I guess we’ll find out if his self-proclamation is on point. Really,
though, who wants to brag about being like Colton? Brice also thinks he’s a triple
threat; beauty, brains and brawn. Like I said, though, we’ll see. He says he’s
good at reading people, but, we’ll see.
Jefra Bland is 23 years old, she is from Campbellsville, Kentucky
and she lists her occupation as being “Miss Kentucky Teen USA”. This title is
also her personal “claim to fame”. No offense or anything, but “Miss Kentucky
Teen USA” is not an occupation, especially when you are twenty-three years old.
If she had listed “unemployed college student” as her occupation and “recovering
addict” as her personal claim to fame, I would have a lot more respect for this
girl and her strategy going into the game. I mean, come on, Jefra, you’re
selling yourself short! I think there is more to your life than a pageant crown
you won in 2009. You survived cervical cancer for crying out loud!
Jeremiah Wood is 34 years old and he is a Male Model from
Dobson, North Carolina.
I was wondering how many people I would get through on this Beauty tribe to get
to the model. Not to demean what he does. I know some fine-lookin’ cowboys in Kansas (all married w/
kids…) and I know a nice country boy when I see one and Jeremiah seems the
kind-hearted type. So I like Jeremiah. I had a crush on a bright-blue eyed country
boy in high school named Jeremiah so how could I not? My only problem with
Jeremiah is that he says he’s most like JT, but then says he wants to prove
that a country boy can survive and win. JT already did that, though, so has he
never really watched Survivor? He probably meant to put “again” at the end of
that statement.
LJ McKanas is 34 years old and he is a Horse Trainer in Boston, Massachusetts.
Oh, really, LJ, you think you’re most like Boston Rob? Hmmm… Wonder why you
think that? I actually get a really nice vibe from LJ and I actually like
Boston Rob. BR may be cut throat, but keep in mind it took him four tries to
win Survivor so he’s not that good. Sandra has only played twice and how many
times has she won the game? Twice. I think LJ is definitely a formidable foe to
the other players, but if he plays up the Boston Rob role too much, he might
have trouble getting to the end. We’re in a phase of the games of Survivor and
Big Brother when it’s better to be a floater, which has always been a legitimate
strategy to winning either game.
Morgan McLeod is 21 years old and she is an Ex-NFL
Cheerleader from San Jose, California. Here we go again with these
beautiful girls not knowing what the word “occupation” means. Not impressed with
the rest of her bio either. I can read between the lines really well and she
clearly used her fine manipulation skills when filling out the form. Read it.
It’s ridiculous. I think Morgan is going to have a real problem meshing well
with the other ladies because she’s used to getting what she wants and when she
wants an alliance or a showmance with a dude and doesn’t get it, she’s going to
implode. Girls who think they are pretty and spoiled because of it, freak out
when they don’t get what the want. I think we all know that.
THE BRAWN
Sarah, Yung (Woo), Tony, Lindsey, Cliff & Trish
Cliff Robinson is 46 years old and he is a Former NBA
All-Star living in Buffalo,
New York. UGH! This again. Not
only is “Former NBA All-Star” NOT an occupation, but ugh! Another former sports
star? Is he broke and not relevant to basketball anymore or did CBS call him
immediately upon learning he was interested because he would be perfect for
this season of Survivor? Or did CBS just call him because they had some kind of
quota to fill? I’m not going to hold this against Cliff on a personal level, I
actually like the vibe I get from him too. He says he has experience and
knowledge of camping and fishing, knows how to cook, so he could do really
well. Cliff will might be fun to watch and get to know so I don’t like that he’s
on the show, but that’s just because I don’t like this method of casting.
Lindsey Olge is 29 years old and she is a hairstylist from Kokomo, Indiana.
I usually like the tattooed girls with crazy hair and I like Lindsey. She’s
confident, but doesn’t come off overly so and we both like Jack Daniels.
Lindsey seems pretty laid back, but I’m wondering how well she’s going to do
with the other ladies in the game, especially if she ends up with some of the Beauties
during a tribe switch. Those girls aren’t going to like Lindsey because her
confidence is real. I also think Lindsey is going to get along much better with
the boys and wouldn’t be surprised if she forms alliances with just men. Not
sure why, it’s just the vibe I get. Us guy’s girls always know it when we see
each other.
Sarah Lacina is 29 years old and she is a Police Officer
from Cedar Rapids, Iowa. I like Sarah too! I do have a problem
with authority, I’m a boat-rocker like I said before, but Sarah is cool. She’s
from the Midwest and usually us Midwesterners are
pretty laid back, so as long as she can leave the badge at home, she’ll
probably mesh well with the rest of the Brawn tribe. We’ll just have to see
what happens, though, because she says she will destroy this game.
Over-confidence is often ones undoing in the game of Survivor and if she’s
aiming to destroy, she could come out guns blazing, which isn’t good. In
Survivor, your tribe is your alliance until you have to go to Tribal Council.
Until you lose an Immunity Challenge, you shouldn’t actively seek alliances –
just relationships.
Tony Vlachos is 39 years old and he is a Police Officer from
Jersey City, New Jersey. Now, you all just know that Tony
and Sarah will be forming an alliance and I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s made
on day one. If this is what happens, they will need to keep it on the d/l and I’d
even suggest they play off that they don’t get along well. I don’t even need to
read this guy’s bio, by the way, I can see his personality very clearly in his
picture. Tony might show the same “I’m a cop” mentality that most cops do when
they are on Survivor, but he also seems pretty laid back as well. As I’m
skimming the bio, these vibes are confirmed. Mentions of Boston Rob and Russell
Hantz – pretty standard for his type of casting choice – lots of exclamation
points; yup, this guy is pretty standard for this type of casting choice.
Trish Hegarty is 48 years old and she is Pilates Trainer
from Needham,
Massacusetts. She likes Danni Boatwright – In. I’m probably biased because she’s
from Kansas,
but I love Danni Boatwright. She is super sweet in person so anyone that likes
Danni I will probably like them too. From reading her bio, Trish seems like a
very “Dawnesque” player, not exactly like her, but I think her game play will
be in the style of Dawn. She says she has great intuition; she’s a team player,
not a control freak, positive… Yup, sounds like Danni. Trish could do really
well, especially if the Brawn team wins lots of challenges. This group seems to
be the most cohesive (I really love that word if you haven’t noticed from
reading my blogs) of all the tribes.
Yung “Woo” Hwang is 29 years old and he is a Martial Arts
Instructor from Newport Beach,
California. Yup, definitely think
this Brawn tribe is going to get along really well. Tony might have some
trouble if he’s one of those hot-headed cops, but if he’s not, I’m going for
Brawn to be the tribe that gets along this season. Woo, I guess we’ll be
calling him “Woo”, gives me another “nice guy” vibe. He’s in to surfing and you
know those dudes are always laid back, man. Woo is an Ozzy fan who says he can
adapt to his surroundings; he should do well when the tribes are shuffled, if
they are shuffled. I think Woo definitely has a chance at the million dollars
and I wouldn’t be surprised if he wins the game. In fact, I think he’s my pick
for winner.
And that’s our cast for Survivor: Brains vs. Beauty vs.
Brawn. I love that we have all new players this season and I think we’re in for
a lot of drama and fun. Once again, Survivor premieres on Wednesday, February
26
th at 8pm eastern, 7pm central. You can read the player’s bios for
yourself at
http://www.cbs.com/shows/survivor/cast/
There are lots of other goodies at the CBS site so be sure to click on over
there after you read all of my King of the Nerds blog posts. Then come back and
read the rest as I write them, even if you don’t watch the show; you’ll feel
like you have. Thanks!
Chris of the Titans is pumped for this Nerd War because he a
master debater, but Kayla is nervous. She hates debate and even though she’s
got the most Star Trek knowledge of all of her team mates, Kayla is worried
that instead of being an asset she will be a liability. One member of the team
must sit out and Xander happily agrees to wear his red shirt proudly from the
bench because he knows less about Star Trek than he knows about… … Ya know
what? I’m not going to make the joke I was going to make here, but I want you
to know that it was very inappropriate and involved another word for “cat”.
Oops! Guess that pretty much gives it away! Love you, Xander!
Katie is also confident in her debating skills and Zack’s
not feeling too bad about his abilities either then Jack drops a bomb: Jack
doesn’t watch either Star Wars or Star Trek and has less knowledge about both
than Xander does about… Well, you know. So what’s the most logical thing for
Midas Touch Attack to do? Why not give Jack the most important topic of the
debate! Yeah, that seems like a great idea! He doesn’t know anything about
either universe so he will be able to tackle the topic from a completely
objective view point! I’m actually only being half sarcastic here. In theory, Jack
would be the best person for the final topic because he’s unbiased, but he’s
supposed to be arguing in favor of Star Wars – this isn’t an outlet to voice
opinions based on statistics, it's about the passion. The third round is the most important round and
the best choice for the final leg of the debate would have been Katie since she
loves Star Wars, but I’m getting ahead of myself…Oh well, let’s just go there.
To the “not an empty seat in the house” auditorium! 
Kayla and Katie will be taking a stand behind the podiums in
the first round; Kayla is defending the argument that the Enterprise would beat the Millennium Falcon
in a dogfight and she will face the judges first. Kayla will be using the
Enterprise D, a lot of fictional technical terms that confuse Kumail and a good
dose of humor in her presentation. Katie counters with an equal dose of humor
while delivering sound logic and statistics at warp speed. After a little back
and forth with the judges, Kumail announces that Katie is the winner, giving
Midas Touch Attack the first point. Kayla is certain that she will be kicked
out of all her Star Trek clubs when she gets home. 
Next up, Chris and Zack will be discussing the dangers of
the Empire and the Borg. Zack begins the round and completely fails to mention
that in addition to being a villainous group that people all over the universe
actually want to be a part of, and that they have a lot more fire power, they
also have support of the force-wielding power of Sith Lords! Come on, Zack!
You’re in the Star Wars universe and you forget to use the Force?! Blowing up
Alderaan pales in comparison to how dangerous Sith Force powers are! Do I even
need to recap what Chris said in his rebuttal for anyone? Was his defining of
the word “dangerous” even relevant? Maybe I do for Jack, but I would think that
most people reading this blog know that you don’t mess with Darth Vader because he'll get cha! This
point goes to the Titans of Rigel in my books and in the judge’s books as well. 
In the final round Brian and Jack are taking on the topic of
which universe is better and Jack still doesn’t know what an Ewok is… And Jack
is up first! What Jack does right in his argument to support that Star Wars is
a better universe is use the gifts his momma gave him. Jack uses statistics;
Curtis and Bobby approve and the judges are equally impressed with his numbers, but...
Brian will be using… <sigh>… I don’t know who this guy is that he
mentions (some nerd I am, huh - I'll google it and provide a footnote at the end), but
his argument is based on that guy’s idea that science fiction should be
a “realistic speculation about possible future events”. Star Trek definitely has that!
Even Xander agrees. From future gadgets to modern day social ethics questions,
Star Trek has it all as far as speculation on future events is concerned. And
George Lucas only made Star Wars to make money. Then Jack does exactly what
Zack told him not to do, during the question and answer period with the judges;
he tells everyone that he hasn’t seen Stars Wars or Star Trek. <cue Pacman
game over music>
