A Look Ahead to Episode 6

A very meaty preview to this week's episode of The Challenge.   Lets get right into it.

First and foremost, they show two off the field of battle revelations.   Looks like Ty and Paula will finally do the deed.   Nothing to see here folks, other than Ty's simmering homosexuality.  Good for Paula though, I think she has about 10 years on Ty and has never been particularly lucky with love on the show.  I think last year's championship has turned her into some kind of Challenge Cougar and that role seems to suit her.

The other is a less exciting revelation.  Our hero CT appears to be at odds with Diem again.  I think we are getting a glimpse into how big of a life suck Diem can be.   I know nobody wants to say that because she was introduced to us as the cancer victim, but she appears to be healthy and sickness doesn't mean you can just be an annoying nag all the time.   Sorry to say it - but that's my 2 cents.  Major credit to her for her battle, her survival, etc... but lets call a spade a spade.   Despite what you read everyone who dies wasn't a saint and everyone who battles cancer wasn't a princess.   Lets be real.  The Sack keeps it real.

On to the game.  An interesting competition this time around.   Looks like we are going to separate the guys and girls and have individual heats.  There appears to be a hill with a slip and slide on it.   The hill has a rope that you use to get yourself to the top of it.   On the hill is a big red ball.   My guess is we are retrieving the ball and getting it to the top of the hill.   Looks like its slippery and you might be able to get a bit physical.  Will be interesting to see what they do with team Aneesa/Rachel.   Will Rachel compete against the guys?

On second thought it wouldn't SHOCK me if they make it 1 vs 1 and the team with the best time wins.  That way there is less reason to mess with the person across from you.  And then when they have the two top teams, maybe we get some physicality.  Or they could just do it completely individual and add up each person's team.   Needless to say should be interesting to see what they do.   I do like the view of someone careening down the slip n slide.   They also show what appears to be an ON THE HILL shoving match between Paula and either Rachel or Emily.   Ty is pacing nervously, which cements my above theory.

So with all that in mind - lets take a look at who might be on the block this week.

Would seem to me that Ty and Emily should be safe.  People are sufficiently scared of them.

I would certainly think that Rachel and Aneesa would have to have a target on their back.   You'd hope that they'd either perform weakly on this particular challenge or be sent in by the power couple.

CT and Diem have been safe, but again - people are frightened of CT.

Johnny and Camila have been very strong competitors, but Camila's melt down might put them in the mix.

Pretty amazing that four of our current teams have not seen the Dome.  I think that trend is going to have to end this week.

It looks like Paula and Dunbar might have finished in the top 2... but if they don't win the power couple i can definitely see them getting thrown in.

My prediction:

Rachel and Aneesa vs Johnny and Camila.

Rachel and Aneesa go home.

Perfect Mix

As we've seen the producers (and frankly this blog) struggle with this season is finding the right mix of Off The Field Shenanigans and On the Field Prowess.  Often times you give up some of the former at the expense of the latter when you bring in someone like Katie, who brings tons of drama and nothing athletically.

So I thought it could be an interesting exercise to try and find the right mix and suggest a potential dream cast.  In my humble opinion we have very little problems with the guys in the group.   Yes some are more entertaining than others and some are more athletic than others - but there is a hefty group of guys that are solid on the field and solid off it.   Take my man CT - who has blown up, gotten into fights, had plenty of hook-ups and still brings it in the game time after time.   The Miz was the WWE Champion of the World, the ultimate show of mixing athleticism and personality.  Now guys like Alton, Landon are bringing plenty athletically, but don't match it with personality.   And then you have guys like Easy E and Ryan who are pretty interesting characters, but don't really back it up athletically.   But below we are going to pick our 6 guys and 6 girls, for our Ultimate Mix and I'm going to go out and limb and say we'll have no problem finding 6 men.

The problem is going to be on the other side of the table.   Lets be fair - the best athletic girls are generally unattractive and annoying.   That my friends does not make for a happy sackapotatoes.

I think the real thing the producers should be striving for is not the ultimate athlete - but for a balanced competition level.   Yes Laurel is a beast (and pretty entertaining too), but Evelyn is probably the only girl that can compete with her.   Emily and Rachel might be able to, but they are no fun either.   And then throw in those good distance running, solid-ish athletes like Tori and they really don't bring much to the table.

So there are two ways you can go.   You can throw your six worst girls, who bring the most drama to the table and would probably make for something interesting.   But I think the frustration level it would bring from the guys would discount a lot of the good.   So I think what you shoot for is the Jenn's of the world.  Solid enough to compete, fun off the game, attractive and an overall good time.   I don't know if there are 6 of them out there sadly enough.   But there will be no Katie's or Robin's or Beth's in my game.   (well maybe if they were a little easier on the eyes)

The men:
Miz
Tyler
CT
Johnny
Evan
Kenny

** left off are the Brads, Dereks, Marks of the world.   They could easily be thrown in, but I'm going to try and get a little bit younger of a house.   Miz has to be grandfathered into this thing, no?

Put Tyler in because I think everyone likes him, he makes for some drama, he fits an MTV quota, etc.

The women:

Jenn - She is fun, spunky, good personality, solid competitor, fiesty.  She is the baseline for what I'm looking for.   Everyone needs to be on Jenn's level competition.  Can be a bit better, a bit worse.

Veronica - Absolute fire cracker.  Always seems to get into it with people and will compete some.  I don't want anyone being any worse than Veronica.

Camila - She isn't the easiest on the eyes, but she is a real good competitor - but not scary good.   She has a ton of baggage and is overall what we are looking for.

Ruthie - Friendly neighborhood alcoholic who is a pint sized beast on the competitions.   I know its been awhile since she's been on - but think a miniature female Derek.

Cara Z (RR) - Not the BEST competitor.   Probably on par with Veronica.  But after putting Veronica, Camila, Ruthie - we really needed a little something here.   She brings it.

Kina (RR) - Another girl who hasn't competed in a while, but was very solid.   Also brings a little less drama  and a little more sex appeal to even things out.

Just missed the cut - Tori and Coral.

 So thats my 12.   Where did I miss?  What didnt I bring enough of into the game?

Episode 5: Don't Rock the Boat

It was the best of times and it was the worst of times for Abram in this episode entitled "Don't Rock the Boat". My blushing bride was nice enough to commemorate this episode name by doing a very strange and awkward "Don't Rock the Boat" dance which essentially consisted of her putting her arms out and kind of swaying side to side while saying "Don't Rock the Boat... Don't Rock the Boat".

But you can't have a review of this episode with out discussing the on-again / off- again roller coaster of a relationship for Cara and Abe.   We open up at a Dominican dance floor where everyone is trying to "release some demons" (i guess that was a Vinny from Jersey Shore line, but i think Mark made a similar comment).  Cara approaches Abe and thinks it would be a great opportunity for them to move in together.  Our hero Abe is absolutely pumped.  We fast forward to the competition where Abe absolutely beasts it, but thanks to a disappointing showing from Cara Maria they come in last.  I think Abe beasted it because Cara's fear of heights once again came to the fore-front and Abe was forced to invent a strategy where he sat on the pole as Cara jumped into his arms.

We saw other teams have much more success when the female competitor was able to get themselves from pole to pole without much help from the male competitor.  Even with Cara's poor performance Abe almost lifted his team to within a few seconds of being safe.  The whole way Abe was super positive.   I think we were all surprised no team fell off the poles, but this has just been a season where the teams have performed really well.   This is two weeks in a row where TJ was really happy with everyone's performance.  Which leads to the age old question - Is everyone performing well or are the competitions too easy?

Needless to say Cara and Abe are forced to head into the Dome, where they face Ty and Emily.   We knew Cara was going to lose to Emily, so everything fell on Abe.

Rewind about 10 hours to Cara's "pep talk" with Abe.  She completely retracts her statement about them moving in and decides maybe in a year or so we can get do something like that.  Abe is floored... Cara has completely cut off Abe's nuts right before the competition.

Abe puts up a really valiant fight, but eventually succumbs to Ty in the rubber match of a 3 game set of X dual.   Now obviously this was not the best idea by Cara Maria to have that conversation at that point - but i honestly have a bigger issue.  Emily was screaming, ranting and raving during the ridiculous battle between Ty and Abram.  But Cara sat their silently wiggling occasionally and presumably keeping her fingers crossed, but providing no moral support.  What was she doing?  We know Abe is an emotional guy from his dragon doodlings earlier in the season.

Obviously - Cara Maria was terrible, dogged out and destroyed her team's chances of winning.  But how do we evaluate the Ty/Abe match-up.  Is this a Lee Roy esque escalation for Ty, a slide down the pecking order for Abe or an anomaly based on Abe's fragile emotional state.   The Challenge producers peppered us with images of Abe's greatest hits from Inferno 2 as well as Ty's now infamous gas out.    Always a clear sign that they are trying some kind of misdirection.

Other interesting revelations.  Mark and Robin put together a spectacular performance edging out Johnny and Camila.   Camila had an absolute melt down full of water dives, death threats and chair throws.  But if we are being fair it was exactly what we saw in the preview.   Mark and Robin when given the chance did chose the path of least resistance and threw in the team that they knew the least in Ty and Emily

I particularly enjoyed Robin's speech about how no one listens to her and everyone says they can't understand her as she gave a completely incomprehensible speech.

No one else performed particulary weakly or strongly....everyone has kind of kept up what they've been doing all season.   Amazing though that Aneesa gave us this season's "no one wants to get thrown in this close to the end".  We are like 6 days into the show! Amazing how quick they go.

And finally we got a little more romance from Paula and Ty.  I don't get what Ty is doing, but he has really made a sneakily good case for the fact that he is secretly gay.

What was everyone's thoughts on the episode?  Did I miss anything?  Does Abe go down a notch in your eyes?

A look ahead to Episode 5

Not a lot of Meat on the Bone this week on the look ahead to this week's challenge.   Basically we were inundated by a look at Camila's apparent meltdown.   Its highlighted by her screaming you're going to die at Johnny and then walking in a pool.  One of those sleep walking, doesn't brace for the impact - walking into the pool moments.

So whats a guy to do for his look ahead?   How about completely baseless predictions on who is next to go!

I think considering Rachel's vow for revenge in conjunction with the Camila melt down there is a legitimate chance Johnny and Camila will be going into the Dome.   Even if they find themselves there, I still don't think they would lose.

It wouldn't seem that Rachel and Aneesa would be thrown in for the second week in a row.   We haven't seen that kind of bullying in this year's version of the Challenge.   I think its in large part to the dynamic of the power couple.

So that doesn't leave us with a ton of teams left.

3 - Johnny and Camila - again this meltdown could have some repercussions.

2 - Abram and Cara Maria - Haven't gone in yet and haven't performed terribly well either.  

1 - Dunbar and Paula - Call it a hunch, but I despise Paula and I have to assume there is someone else who does as well.

Which leads me to the following list.   If Team A becomes the power couple - who do we think they'd throw in.

1 - Rachel and Aneesa / Johnny and Camila - Clearly if Rachel and Aneesa win the competition they are going to get their revenge on Johnny and Camila.   Rachel has made that very clear.

2 - Ty and Emily / Paula and Dunbar - Ty and Emily are good competitors and definitely have a chip on their shoulder about being thrown in by Paula.

3 - Johnny and Camila / Rachel and Aneesa - They have done it once and considering the self preservation aspect I think they'd throw Rachel and Aneesa back in the Dome.

4 - Abram and Cara Maria /  Paula and Dunbar - Abram is always a bit of a loose cannon.   I don't think they'd necessarily pick a fight with Johnny and Camila or pick on Rachel and Aneesa.  They'd be scared of CT's team and Emily's team and I think Paula and Dunbar would fall right in their wheel house.   Also Cara has had some friction with Paula in the past.... I could see it.

5 - Paula and Dunbar / Rachel and Aneesa - Its a hunch.  They are scared to death of Ty and Emily and might not have the gumption to double down.   Plus Johnny and Paula are close and she might try to save a little face by throwing Rachel and Aneesa back in.  Fairly confident it would be one of those two teams.

6 - CT and Diem / Johnny and Camila - CT has never really liked Johnny's mouth and Camila seems to rub most people the wrong way.  I don't think they'd go after Rachel's team or Emily's team because both of them are not in the power circle and CT usually tries to protect those outside the power circle.

7 - Mark and Robin / Ty and Emily - Mark fears no man and Robin would go along with whatever.  Mark has made too many friends in the house to really be able to throw anybody else in.   Either that or they'd do something completely diplomatic by throwing the team that did the second worst in.

Any disagreements?  A few of them were close.... but it would look like Mark, CT and Abram's teams are relatively safe.

Male Power Rankings

I think this exercise is a lesson in futility - but that's what this blog is all about.   We're going to look at the remaining male competitors and rank them.   Basically who would you want most as your partner for this competition. I think you could ask 10 people and get 10 different answers.

As noted in the female power rankings - Rachel will be handled as a male during this exercise.   I'm going to go least to most .... build the suspense a little bit.

7 - Dunbar -  For me Dunbar is just not a very strong competitor.  He holds himself out as fairly intelligent, but hasn't really demonstrated it too often.   When he was younger, he was a big brute of a man and he still has plenty of girth.   But he has gotten a little soft, is extremely un-agile and especially in this game where raw strength is of less importance - he is a weak competitor.

6 - Ty - I know Ty has all the physical abilities and has really surprised me so far this competition.   But his past has to come with him and has to be considered during this exercise.  He is probably the most physically put together competitor this season - but he doesn't have much of a head for the game and has shown himself to be a quitter and a dog.  The longer he goes in this game, the higher he'll climb in these rankings - but he is going to have to earn every step of the ladder.

5 - Rachel - Rachel is a really, really strong female competitor.   And we have seen that in this game they are neutralizing some of the strengths of the men.   So as we see more and more of those types of competitions Rachel could climb the rankings.   She is smart, has great endurance and is a very athletic person.  But if she is ever in a situation where she has to carry Aneesa, physically, she just isn't going to be able to do it.   This is a particularly strong set of guys, so being 5 is a pretty big compliment.

4 - Abram - I love Abram and think he is extremely underrated.   But his head hasn't been 100% in it this time around.  I think he could do everything physically, but I don't know how much he wants it.   And unlike the 3 people ahead of him, I think his mental game isn't as strong.

3 - Johnny - Johnny is a Champion.  He plays the game well, he has proven to be really athletic and my instincts tell me that there won't be a ton of really physical competitions where his size will be a detriment.  My only concern right now is that he is overplaying his hand a little bit.  He doesn't have his normal group of Kenny, Evan, etc... that he runs with and can control.  I think he is getting a bit arrogant and that is why he is 3 instead of 1.

2 - CT - 1-2-3 I think any number of rankings would be right.  I think CT is an animal, he has never won so he is hungry and he seems to be getting along with nearly everyone in the house.  People fear him and despite his past - he is actually a pretty smart and savvy competitor.   The only chink in his armor is that he has never won.  Is there a reason for that?  Is he deep down a loser?  I dont know.  But until he gets the hardware I have a tough time putting him #1.

1 - Mark - I've never been a huge Mark fan.  He is very old and I don't really care for his personality.   But with that said - he has been a really strong competitor so far this season.  He has the best mix of size and agility, outside of maybe Ty.  He is a smart guy and everyone loves him.   There aren't a lot of negatives on his resume.  If he has any other partner I think they'd be a much bigger favorite.  But if I had to have one guy to be my teammate, I think I'd go with Mark.

Everyone has to have a feeling here?  Who would you pick to be #1?  Everyone in agreement Rachel, Dunbar, Ty in the bottom 3?

Let me know.

Female Power Rankings

As we mentioned yesterday today will be Female Power Rankings day.  Frankly, the Male power rankings are just to difficult to get my head around right now - so lets bang out some FPRs.  

**Please keep in mind that I'll consider Rachel a male for this purpose.  She'd be #1 if she was on this list with her track record.  She is essentially the Ice Box of the Challenge**

1) Emily - This was really difficult for me, but i think you have to put Emily #1.  She has performed really well every time she has been on the show.   I think Camila is a close second, but if we got to a matchup of pure physicality I can't see Emily losing with her size.   I don't know for sure how Emily would do on the mental portion of the game, but we also know that Camila leaves a little bit to be desired in that avenue as well.

2) Camila - The fiery Brazilian has proven time and time again that she is not someone to be underestimated.  She is plucky, smart enough and has enough physical ability to do any activity.  I think being from South America she has been less pampered in her life and kind of has an up for anything attitude.  In the words of Johnny Bananas, "I think you're pissing off the rest of the girls in the house by being so good".  High Praise.

3) Cara Maria - Major drop off here.  I think the next three are pretty interchangeable, but gun to my head I'm taking Cara Maria.  She is by far the most athletic girl on the challenge outside of Emily and in the last few challenges hasn't been as paralyzed by certain competitions.  It helps that she has someone she trusts in Abram by her side.  She can easily be picked on, but frankly there aren't that many bullys in the game this year.

4) Diem - Another toss up.  Personally I've always just appreciated Diem's athleticism.  She is also a really smart girl, who isn't going to embarrass you on a puzzle or spelling bee.   I think she doesn't have a ton of confidence, but she always tries hard and has never been a real big detriment to her team.   She also seems to get along with most people.

5) Paula - My hatred for Paula has been expressed at length.  I think she is a notch below Cara and Diem on the athleticism, but she has proven to be a fairly valuable competitor when it comes to puzzles.  She also has for better or worse made it to a ton of finals and happens to have a Championship.   And look at the impact her feminine guile's have had on Ty.

6) Aneesa - Aneesa used to be a well respected competitor, but she has really let herself go.  I also think that its ironic that her biggest strength is her physicality - but it has been neutralized in this game.  If she got in a tug of war with Cara, Diem or Paula I think she'd absolutely dominate.  But because her partner is another female she will never get a chance to go up against them in that kind of competition.   She isn't the dumbest girl in the game, but she also isn't terribly intelligent.  Considering she is 2nd to last - its a pretty decent mix of girls this time around.

7) Robin - Not intelligent, athletic or rational.  Brings virtually nothing to the table.

Any thoughts on the FPRs?  Emily over Camila an issue?  Any argument with the mid table?

Let me know.

2/16 Power Rankings

We are about halfway home, so this is as good a time as any to do some good old fashioned power rankings.

1) Johnny and Camila - I think right now its a two horse race.  Johnny and Camila and Ty and Emily seem to be the two favorites in the competition.   They are largely powered by the strength of their girls.  I think Johnny has proven to be an upper echelon guy, but Camila has come out of the wood-works to be a top 3 girl.   But most of all the two of them really seem to like each other.   They work well together, Camila is a fire cracker and Johnny plays the game as well as anyone else.   Plus this team has the hardware to back it up, never underestimate a champion.

2) Ty and Emily - The young up-starts.   Every girl in the game appears to be scared out of their boots of Emily.  She is a big and athletic girl, but I could use everyone to calm down for a second.   Ty and Emily have performed well in the Dome and in the Challenges.  They haven't won anything yet, but people seem to be impressed by their raw athletic ability.  The biggest issue is that neither knows how to win and play the game and Ty is an absolute dog.  But the boy CAN swim!

3) CT and Diem - Never count out CT.   The guy needs a win and Diem is not a complete 0.   Their relationship appears to be improving, which should help going forward.   I also think Diem is probably a pretty good runner, which should help in the long run.  They haven't won anything, they haven't performed terribly well, but I still wouldn't want to face this team in a final challenge.

4) Abram and Cara Maria - Another team with a girl who should be able to compete and a proven male who has won before.   Their relationship is fiery, but seems to be on the mend.   Cara Maria being so timid and so scared of heights probably hurts them a little bit.   But she proved to be a solid competitor in Rivals and Cut Throat coming in second in both competitions.  And I know I've beaten it to death, but her combine numbers in FM2 were off the charts.   I think everyone is comfortable with what Abe brings to the table.   He has come along way since he got kicked off a season for punching that annoying fat kid Donnell and has really stabilized into a fairly normal human being.

5) Dunbar and Paula - They have won one of the competitions so I have to put them ahead of the team with Robin - but I really don't want to.   Paula has won before and they do seem to be getting along famously well as of late.   Maybe the team is better than the sum of its parts - but the parts themselves should be sold for scrap metal.  ZING!

6) Mark and Robin - Mark is an elite male who still brings it in a big time way despite his advanced age.   But unfortunately Robin is an absolute loose cannon and train wreck.  I think she is without the shadow of a doubt the weakest competitor left on the show.  There is no way she has the mental capacity to survive a final challenge.  I for one hope she doesn't get there.

7) Aneesa and Rachel - Rachel is great, but if we are being fair she wouldn't stack up physically with the rest of the males.  Unfortunately,  MTV is catering to this team by completely altering the spirit of the game. Thanks MTV.   So maybe this team does have a chance.   Aneesa is a mid level girl and if they keep making the challenges all endurance and mind - we'll have to reconsider the 7th place distinction.  Unfortunately, this team may have put a target on its back this week.

Give me your thoughts?  Am I crazy?  Emily and Ty too high?  Mark and Robin too low?  Chime in below.

We'll have Male and Female power rankings coming tomorrow.  

Episode 4 : Rolling in the Deep

As TJ put it a few times during the episode - we are halfway home.   Another team bites the dust in the form of Jasmine and Tyrie.   It was an inevitable end for this dynamic duo, highlighted by each's exit interview that really underscored the relationship.  Tyrie, clearly still attracted to Jasmine, spoke of his happiness that they had bridged the gap in their friendship and would leave this game friends.  Jasmine on the other hand was thrilled she never had to deal with Tyrie again.

But lets not bury the lead here, lets talk Animal party.  In one of the opening scenes of this episode that was chocked full of in-house shenanigans we were treated to a theme party thought up by the girls to have every contender dress up as an animal.   There were too many highlights to name, but lets focus here on a few.   First and foremost, I want to say that Cara unsurprisingly was a frightening Zebra and Paula non-ironically a cowardly lion.   But my personal favorite was Dunbar's Dunbar costume.   I think he may have painted on a black dot on his nose, but he was unmistakably a Dunbar.   The other highlight for me was Ty's dancing.   Its impossible to talk about Jasmine and Ty's dancing without referencing African tribes.  I wish it was possible, but its not.    Jasmine was frightening sashaying across the table.

Once again a complete 180 from last episode where the episode was 75% game - this episode was 75% house politics and game play.   A nice balance when we look at the two episodes as a whole.   Before the competition we also got a little Diem/CT interlude.   The trailer for the episode played it up a bit more than it needed to, but it was nice to see Diem and CT be a bit more cordial.  I think "glasses" CT from Rivals came out a little bit in his talks with Diem, but clearly he still has strong feelings for her.  I think he came off much better than Diem and tried to be completely rational.  Also worth nothing that it appears CT might be playing himself into shape while at the house.   He looked a little bit more ripped in these beach scenes.

Onto the Challenge.   It was a pretty standard deal where they are suspended on a log way above the water.  You try to hold on as long as you can as the log moves towards the finish line.  The earlier you fall off the longer you have to swim.   The only caveat was that the log moved without spinning half the way, then it stopped and started spinning at a much slower pace.   I think Johnny, Mark and CT were all kind of onto it - but I thought it was a major mistake for no one to just jump off once the log stopped.   Once it started spinning it was at a much slower pace that you'd think someone could swim faster than.   This was highlighted by Dunbar and Paula.  Dunbar hung on much longer, but when he fell wound up in the same place as Paula.

My personal highlight was Tyrie falling on Jasmine.  Jas had already fallen into the water, when Tyrie slammed into her.  I really think the underwater shot of Tyrie slamming into her was Emmy worthy.  Would be nice for MTV to get off the Emmy schneid with the Challenge- this could be the moment.

I thought competitively everyone performed as we would expect.  But the three highlights were how big of a train wreck Robin is competitively and the surprisingly solid performances of Ty and Camila.  Both really solidified themselves as people to be feared.  Right now those two teams are probably your prohibitive favorites.  TJ gave a pretty rare "Everyone Killed It:", so the group should be really proud of themselves.

The bottom two performers were Mark/Robin - Tyrie/Jasmine, with Tyrie and Jasmine going in.
The two top performers were Ty/Emily and Camila/Johnny.   Camila/Johnny win their 2nd week in the run-off and are our power couple.

After the game we have a little more focus on some house politics.   Johnny talks about the MASSIVE grudge he is holding from The Island four years ago.  Really gives a nice insight into Johnny.  Four years ago, Rachel wronged him.   It had no impact on the final result of the game, he was not voted off the Island and yet he is still holding that grudge.  Say what you will - thats what drives Johnny to be the best.   Johnny discusses it with Mark and Mark backs up his girl Rachel - refuses to throw her under the bus and talks of their long standing relationship, which we've seen time and time again on these shows.

Interestingly enough, Camila tells Johnny that Rachel tried to get her to throw in Mark and Robin.   There was a bit of he-said / she - said when Rachel was approached, but she never explicitly denied it.  Clearly, Rachel/Aneesa need to step up their game - even eliciting that comment from TJ later in the episode.

We have a bit of an interlude with a Club Night.  The always exciting club night gave us very little drama this time around.   The biggest development beyond the Diem dick tease and CT's jerk-off dance move was Ty and Paula getting a little frisky.  I wouldn't have sex with Paula with Ty's dick.   What is he thinking?  For those of you who did not watch RW DC, Ty can NOT hold his liquor.  I bet that makes an appearance before we are all done here.

We go into the Gulag and its Ty/Jasmine vs Aneesa/Rachel.   Terrible job by MTV, already repeating one of the DOME games.  Really boring one too - is it me or is MTV completely mailing it in this season?  Just seems like everything has been hastily thrown together.   Aneesa is the first to go, followed by Tyrie taking a comedic prat fall out of the competition.   We are left with Jasmine against Rachel and of course Rachel wins out.   I give credit to Jasmine for lasting 23 minutes.  She is a solid competitor.

And away we go.  Solid if unspectacular effort from MTV.  Disappointing games, but solid in-house hijinks.

What did everyone think? We'll do a power rankings later today or tomorrow.... so save your thoughts on that for later.

Do you enjoy the house stuff?  Did you feel for Tyrie at the end?  Did anyone else notice Dunbar's Dunbar costume?  Scared of Emily and Ty?

Episode Numbers

A big focus of the blog so far this season has been the fact that with multiple eliminations in the first two episodes that we are on pace for a troubling small number of episodes.

A look at the last few seasons reveals that there have really only been 10 episodes the last few years.   Right now we are on pace for 9.   Not that huge of a deal.   And if they split the final elimination into a 2 parter, we could easily be at that magical number of 10.

But for me 10 episodes just isn't enough.   Can you believe that after tonight we'll be 2/5's done with this season?  Battle of the Exes we barely knew ye.

So I thought it might be a fun talking point to discuss possible ways to increase that number using unconventional methods.

Obviously - we could just have more groups of competitors.  It could cause some chaos, but I wouldn't be totally against it.

1) Scouting Combine - If you've been reading the blog long enough, I think everyone knows how I feel about the scouting combine.  Its gold.  Have a scouting combine before every season, who isn't watching that?

2) Last Chance Kitchen - Top Chef has used it this season with great success.   Why can't we have each eliminated competitor face off in a challenge against the team that was sent off the episode before.   Bringing back a couple means one extra episode.  Yes please.

3) Challenge split - I was never a fan of it when they did it during earlier seasons, but there is an argument that could be made that they could split up the actual challenge activity and the elimination challenge into 2 separate episodes.   Its less exciting, but does allow for us to focus more on the house.

4) Parallel Competition - I know the Challenge has never gone down this road, but it could be exciting to have 4 parallel competitions.   It would essentially quadruple the amount of episodes we could have.   Have 4 groups of 5 teams and each week we'd eliminate one of the teams from one of the groups.   The last team standing from each group would face off in a final challenge.

We have a creative group out there - can anyone else think of some good ideas for expanding the amount of episodes?  I think Last Chance Kitchen is extremely viable, creates another internet platform (or we could move to a 2nd half hour episode each week) and would be massively successful.

A Look Ahead to Episode 4

Not a ton of meat on the bone for this week's trailer, but lets take a look anyway.

First and foremost, the trailer really seemed to be focused on the non-challenge aspect of the show.   Last week I complained that there really wasn't any house antics, but it looks like this week we are going to get much more.

The crux of the preview revolved around CT and Diem and a potential hook-up.   Jasmine says, "I really want to see them hook up again".   CT has never really seemed to be against it and Diem broke up with him for alleged professional reasons.   Diem says that its like old times, so it would seem that a hook up is in the cards.

Less focused on is the Abram attempted kiss of Cara Maria.   Abram is clearly melting down - so it might be in Cara Maria's best interest game-wise to get his mind back in the right place.   There is also a scene of Abram giving her a piggy-back ride while wearing a helmet.  Would appear to be somewhat Challenge related.

Finally - we see Johnny Bananas get into it with Rachel.  "You are throwing the whole challenge under the bus".  Aneesa watches with a shit eating grin on her face.  Kind of makes it seem that Rachel and Aneesa could be our power couple.

If thats the case JB could be upset that he is being considered or that Rachel/Aneesa refuse to follow what he thinks is the right strategy.   Perhaps not throwing Emily and Ty back in the Gulag.

Which gets us the most important part of this discussion - The Challenge.   Looks like we are getting each contestant suspended over water while a giant cylindrical object spins at a fevered pace as they try to hold on.   That would seem like a pretty standard Challenge activity - but we see Paula fall off and then swimming as fast as she can towards something.   And then the aforementioned CaraMaria piggy-back and there is clearly a second component to the activity.

Seems like it could be a reasonable challenge for Rachel and Aneesa to excel at.   There are only 7 teams left (how depressing is that!) so giving my list of the three favorites would be the half contestants.  We know its not Johnny and Camila that win and i don't have a ton of faith in Tyrie swimming - so lets take them out of the mix.  And you'll never see me pick Paula or Dunbar - although Dunbar's reach could give him an advantage.

So:
1) Aneesa and Rachel
2) CT and Diem - perhaps getting funky celebrating that win.
3) Ty and Emily

And then I think Tyrie and Jasmine are going to have to find their way into the Gulag.   I'd imagine they'll be the sacrificial lambs if they don't come in last on their own.   Wouldn't shock me if they come in last and then Johnny gets his panties in a bunch because the obvious team to go into the Gulag is already there.

Any thoughts?  Did I miss anything?  Who do you want to see go?

Off to Austin

KIWTJ will take its first day off on Friday as the blog heads to Austin.   That leaves Seattle, London, Paris, Sydney and Key West as the only ones left on my Real World Bucket list.

In honor of Austin I will leave you with a picture of my personal favorite from that season.  

Anyone besides Mallory, Cara from Road Rules and Mallory in the mix for best looking female Challenge contestant?

Male side - can anyone compete with Vinny's love-handles?  I couldn't even wager a guess Ty? Alton? CT?  Really curious on this front - ladies please chime in.

My pick.... Ace.

Alternative Exes

With us seeing so many contestants sent off for questionable reasons I figured it would be a good time to take a look and see if there were any other Ex combinations we could bring in to supplement this group.

There must have been a large blow black during Rivals last year when Mike stepped in for Adam who was kicked off because Mike and Lee were good friends.   It seems they are taking the theme of the Challenge more seriously this year so substituting in someone who wasn't an "Ex" clearly wasn't an option.   TJ pretty much laid that out for us last episode.  I'm not a HUGE fan of these In-Challenge meaningless hook up relationships like Tyrie/Jasmine - but I'd imagine they couldn't get SERIOUS exes to agree to be on the show.   Lets assume everyone is in play - who would you like to see.

Melinda/Danny - Real World Austin - I feel like any one of these lists has to begin with the divorced couple that is Danny and Melinda.  Inseparable in Austin, these two would be a no-brainer.  Good looking group, challenge veterans.... perfect.

Adam/Nanny - Real World Las Vegas 2 - Another good looking couple with some Challenge experience.  The Challenge audience got to see a little bit of Adam's lunacy last season.  Nany really took on the role of battered wife pretty comfortably in this Ike/Tina relationship.   I think Nany would actually be a pretty solid competitor.

Katelynn and Her Penis - Real World Brooklyn - Veteran Challenger, I'd love to get to see how her unit feels about her after their separation.   Am I the only one who thinks she kind of looks like the girlfriend in How to Make it in America?

Cohutta and KellyAnn - Real World Sydney - Another athletic, moderately attractive couple that has a long history on Real World and The Challenge.   Cohutta might be too busy managing his lucrative nightclub in Georgia.  But they'd add some spice and youth to this competition.

Johanna and Wes - Real World Austin - I really wouldn't mind getting that couple back together.  I'm sure they tried getting Johanna who has been a part of more love triangles than anyone and she rejected.  Ya know she has a very serious career as a TV presenter going!

Miz and Coral - Real World Brooklyn - I know this is a pipe dream considering Mike is a former WWE Champion, but I'd love to see them get the gang back together.   Last time we saw Miz he was overweight and out of shape - but something tells me the two of them could make some hay.

Any other couples I'm forgetting?  Any other old schoolers you'd want to see?

Episode 3: Mental Connection

Disappointing episode for me last night on the Challenge front.   You can read many of my thoughts from the Live Blog last night, but lets take a look at it with a little bit of time to let everything set in.

First and foremost, Dustin and Heather were forced to leave us after Dustin slipped on some wet stairs.  Couldn't be more of a fitting ending for DZ.   Looked like a pretty serious cut.... but it was a cut! Come on.  This is the Challenge, we can't have people being forced to leave based on a cut.  Before they left it appeared that Heather and Dustin may have rekindled the romance.  Hopefully we get some more on that on the reunion. Pretty disappointing that Dustin never snapped under the weight of the non-stop Frat Pad jokes that were definitely being made.   All in all - we could have done so much more with Dustin.

But once again, we have an episode where 2 groups of heroes are forced to leave.  And we all know that means less challenges and less episodes.  We are all losers.

The Challenge itself had so much promise, but I feel like it failed to deliver.  There was too much pop culture and challenge related trivia and not enough basic arithmetic.   The best moment was when Paula said that JFK was killed by John Wilkes Booth.  And please keep in mind Paula won the damn competition.  Paula was the smartest of the group and still thought JFK was killed by JWB.  Missed opportunities left and right.

Paula and Dunbar won, LeeRoy and Naomi lost.  Really feel like those questions were racially biased.  And I'm pretty sure Coach Pete Bell would have my back on that one.  (2 Blue Chips references....2 days.... match that internet!)

Paula and Dunbar decided to send in Ty and Emily, who all of a sudden everyone is so scared of.  I know Emily has been a decent competitor, but can we calm down before we crown 'em?  Ty and Emily easily vanquished Lee and Naomi in a competition that greatly favored the team with the stronger girl.  Lee was completely neutralized and hopefully people remember that when looking back at his historical measurements.

I think beating Wes takes Lee up a level, but getting bounced by Ty and Emily does hurt him a little bit.  Its unfair, but we do judge people in W's and L's.  His strategy seemed sound, but could he have done more?  I dont know the answer to that - but i do know he couldn't have done less.

I like Naomi a lot - but hopefully her time on The Challenge is behind us.  Its just really difficult when you are saddled with a girl that simply can't compete.

What were your thoughts on this episode?  How will history look back on Lee?  Is Emily a beast?  Will Emily join the holy triumvirate of Rachel, Ev and Laurel as the best girls in the biz?  Will you miss Heather who while mousey was probably the best looking girl in the competition?

Live Blog

We'll be Live Bloggin' Episode 3 here tonight.  Feel like if you're going to start a blog - you've got to live blog.

Check back here periodically for updates.  We aren't terribly fancy here at KIWTJ so just keep hitting that refresh button and new commentary will be added.

Feel free to play along in the comments.

67 minutes until game time.

9:58 - We are live here at the Big Sack in the City..... anxiously awaiting the beginning of the show.

10:00- Previously seen on The Challenge being reviewed.  Curious to see if they show Jasmine/Tyrie fight as a clue to who might be getting voted off.   Doesnt look like it.... interesting - could be a new incident.

10:01 - Opening montage.  This is my first time watching it.  Not MTV's finest work.  Would probably prefer another round of the Haka.

10:03 - Brooding Abram makes me sad.   I do however REALLY enjoy that a brooding Abram draws pictures of monsters hanging on poles.

10:05 - Dustin has a bad cut.  I really hope this doesnt send Dustin/Heather home.  I mean what will his bros on Frat Pad think.

10:06 - Romantic kisses from Heather - are they back together?  Is there any way this MTV double standard policy is going to let Dustin compete... this guy says no way.

10:06 - Another team goes! Wow, this is a disgrace.  MTV needs to get a substitute team in her ASAP.  We have like 4 teams left.  Slipped on stairs.... and now has to go home.   There is a frat pad joke there.... I'll try and think of it during the commercial.

10:07 - Trivia competition.  The team with the highest combined answered questions will win.  So your dumbest person will drag you down.  Paula's team is screwed.  Robin's too.

10:09 - First to be launched - Abram misses on K-Fed.   Paula and Dunbar each get their pop culture question right and we go to commercial.

10:11 - Caramaria 0/1  as well... who saw that coming. Guy Ritchie?

10:!2 - Dunbar AMAZED that Paula spelled calculator!!! Paula launched on John Wilkes Booth assassinating JFK.  4 pts for Dunbar and paula.

10:14 - Ty forgets the A in significance.  And then Emily misses an MJ question.  2 pts for them.  Tyrie says Picasso cut off his own ear.  2 for them as wll.  HE KNEW IT!!!

10:!7 - Diem spells etiquette ... ED... but was doing well before that.  Abram and Cara Maria headed to the Dome unless someone else gets a goose-egg.  Naomi needs to get sonny bono for the win and can not.  Them and Abram are tied.   Could we see a trivia off?

10:18 - Uh oh appears Aneesa has contracted consumption on her fall to the water.  She is coughing up blood.  If only she knew Billy Joel's ex wife.

10:20 - A little disappointed with the challenge.  Would have liked less pop culture and challenge related questions.  Clearly they didnt want to embarrass the contestants.  I thought that was the point.  Sidenote - where are Robin and Mark?  Have we seen them at all?

10:22 - Aneesa getting gum stitches.   You'd think those big ole' lips would have cushioned the blow.  Rachel rattling off some answers.  Pretty easy questions if we're being fair.  TJ " Rachel... she is doing it".  Has to spell auditorium for the win.... She can not! Tied with Paula and Dunbar.  Clearly spelling is not for this group.

10:24 - Here are Mark and Robin.  Robin out after 1 question.... didnt even give a guess.  I didnt know that one either in fairness.  Mark needs to start getting after it.  He can not.

10:25 - TJ says its a gnarly challenge.  G-N-A-R-L-Y.  Paula and Dunbar vs Aneesa and Rachel for power couple.  Rachel down a man without Aneesa.  Then Abram/Cara vs Leroy/Naomi for bottom.  Abe is not happy that Cara is crying.... little overdramatic by Abe.

10:26 - Dunbar does not know the capital of Alabama.  0/1.  It was Montgomery - he is FROM alabama.  Paula gets porridge.  Rachel does not get doe being a female deer and away we go!! Dunbar and Paula are the power couple.  Unreal that Paula carried her team.  Wine and Spirits specialist in da house!!

10:27 - Battle for the loser.  Race to 2 I think.  Actually leroy and naomi couldnt answer what their partner's name is.  No way they win.

10:28 - Abe and Cara both get their first.  Leroy gets thermometer! Stretched for that one.  Naomi does not know that a female fox is a vixen.  Come on that was not a fair question.....

Abe gets the Wright brothers! Wow.  And Cara guesses pasta as the main ingredient in risotto.  3 should do it.  Lee needs to get back to backers.  Nursery rhyme question for Roy Lee.... right in his wheelhouse.... commercial break.

10:29 - Fix was in here.  Vixen and Sleeping Beauty.... come on.  In the words of the immortal Neon Boudeaux, this challenge was racially biased.

10:32 - Leroy didnt get it.  They'll be heading into the Dome.  Great job by Abram.

10:33 - No one wants to see Leroy in the dome.  Heather and Dustin would've been perfect cannon fodder.  Who will be the sacrificial lamb here?  Tough call.... i'd guess Ty or Tyrie.

10:34 - Dunbar and paula appear to be looking at Ty and Emily.  I dont understand what Ty and Emily are saying as to why they shouldnt be in the Challenge.  That was legitimately jibberish.   Now they're talking to Abe/Cara, thats a mild surprise.  Abe and Cara would tear up Naomi/Lee.  Cara tries to convince Paula that you throw Emily in because she is an animal and you hope she gets eliminated.  Still thinking this has Emily/Ty written all over it.  Clearly Tyrie/Jasmine aren't being targeted because they are sitting ducks and they want to keep the weak teams in the game.

10:36 - Check out I just want my pants back - solid show.

10:38 - Diem talks about her cancer....CT brought her back from a dark place.  Abram is crying.  More monster doodles!!

10:40 - Leroy and Naomi vs...... Paula and Dunbar step up and decree that the other couple will be.....another commercial break...

10:42- Really nothing going on so far besides The Challenge, always could use more house hi-jinx.  Would actually prefer a separate show of just what is going on in the house.

10:43 - Love love love that Lee is cleaning CT up.  They've really developed a nice bond.  That was a nice interlude into yet another commercial break.  MTV really needs to learn how to space them out.  I haven't watched a TV in live time since 1987.  Now I remember why.

10:45 - Really pleased with the live blog turn out.  Couldn't believe how many fans the blog actually had.

10:47 - Emily and Ty go into the DOME.  I know everyone likes to suck Emily off.... but lets see how she really does.  Ty certainly has the physicality to compete with Leroy, just a matter of if he can hang in there mentally.   Jasmine complimenting paula.  Where does she get that authority?! Shut up Rookie.

10:48 - Lee pumping up Naomi.  Naomi is intimidated.  She wants to spit in Paula's face.  I want to as well. Lee is looking to run wild over these foooos.

10:49 - Love the Ty flashback.... very relevant.  Can't see Ty gassing out again.  Ty says he has nothing to prove.  He really, really does.  He might just be a dog with that mindset.

10:50 - I dont know what to think,. Its all about what the game is and which Ty shows up..... lets see.  Both teams enter into the Dome.  F it - enter the gulag.

10:50 - Never a good sign when Ty is trying to convince us he isnt going to just ride Emily's coattails.  He is a dog.

10:52 - Literally an unexplainable game.  We have a rubber band connecting the team mates.  First to cross the finish line wins.... huh?  Ty talking strategy.  They want to sprint... because Ty is going to burn out.

10:53- One more commercial.  Looks like this might actually be more about strategy than brute strength.  Thats the beauty of Naomi....she can fail at any number of activities.

10:55 - Lee and Naomi's plan is to have Naomi dig to the finish line and then Lee will have to work his ass off to get across the line.  Emily and Ty don't appear to have a strategy.   The more one person pushes the  tougher it is on the other.

10:56 - Naomi isnt really getting it done here.  Needs to do more.  Em/Ty are really getting into each other.  That kind of friction could be beneficial if Naomi wasnt the worst!!!

10:57 - Looks like Em and Ty are seconds away from being done.  This is a wrap says Lee.  I think he is delusional.

10:58 - Ty and Em win in a route.  Emily did a great job - but really hard to tell what a competent person would've done on the other side.

10:58 - We lose both Las Vegas teams.  Very sad day for me.  That was a great season.  TJ says goodbye, we know he loved Lee.

10:59 - Mark thinks its going to be a different game now.  Paula is scared of Emily, she thinks they are coming for vengeance.  I hope they do.

10:59 - Good call by Centrum.... something is up here between Abe and Cara.  Abe might be on the verge of a meltdown.  I'd love to analyze his doodles a bit more.

11:00 - And thats a wrap.  Look ahead to next week we'll analyze in way more detail come next week.

Not a great effort by MTV.  Disappointed that we lost 2 teams.  And sorry to see Lee go.  We'll have more to say tomorrow.  Thanks to all who followed along.

Best of Linked In

So in my immortal quest to find the finest pictures and up to date information on the Challenge,  I’ve found myself scouring the Linked In profiles of some our Challenge heroes.  

I don’t really know why, but I find it absolutely fascinating.    We have plenty of actors and plenty of motivational speakers  - but like Janice Ian seeing a teacher out of school there is something just not right about seeing a Challenge contender selling insurance.

We also have some Challenge contestants shredding it in real life.   Mike "The Miz" Mizzanti has become famous as the former WWE Champion.   Jacinda Barrett has had a nice run, including as the love interest in the Zack Braff vehicle "The Last Kiss".   And of course Jamie Chung just had a career highlight when she played the wife in Hangover 2.  

I don’t know exactly where this journey will take us, but I wanted to take a look around and try and find some of our favorite Challenge members on Linked In.

Kenny– Naturally, Mr. Beautiful is an actor, but he also has a fledgling clothing line called “Suck Yeah”.  http://suckyeah.com/store/

Brad – Insurance agent at Farmer’s Insurance.    Apparently he worked at another agency starting in 2006.  So to be clear – while he was in New Zealand in a male bikini sliding over a block of ice he was also someone’s insurance agent. 

Tori - Now Mrs. Brad she is a recruiter for Abercrombie and Fitch and appears to be with child.  That seems like something she could really excel at.  Always liked Tori, a little moody, but capable.

Evan – Currently getting his MA at Tel Aviv University.   Explains why he couldn’t participate in Battle of the Exes, but  how did he find himself at Tel Aviv University.

Wes – Investor at Beta Blox Seed Accelerator.  “Currently I am mentoring and investing in start-ups around Kansas City”.  Could you imagine being mentored by Wes on your start up!?

Shauvon – Has an extremely racy picture on her Linked IN profile and is only identified as an “Entertainment Professional”.   Are there escorts on linked in?

Landon – Equipment specialist at Henry Schein.  Apparently he is a Dentist office consultant, making Dental practice dreams a reality since 2010.   Before that he was a landscape designer.  He also spent 8 years at the University of Wisconsin.

Tyler - Personal trainer and wellness consultant for the Boston Celtics and others.  This can't be right.  It just can't.   Did they see him on the last challenge?  Wasn't everyone making fun of how fat he was and how much he ate?  What did the Celtics see when CT was complaining about lifting his Fat Ass that they were like - thats our wellness consultant. 

Paula – There is an unconfirmed Paula listed as a wine and spirits specialist.  On her facebook page she lists herself as a bartender at The Rogue Bar in Manhattan.  I love that.

Timmy – While listed as an entertainer – Timmy has also applied for a patent!  It appears to be a poll based system for finding friends.  You answer a bunch of questions and then compares your answers to others and identifies your most compatible mates! Can’t MISS!!!!!!

Syrus – Casting Director who once shared the stage with Hillary Clinton.  Wish I was at that event!

Beth – Owner and President of Planet Beth, LLC.   Unfortunately, it only has 5 fans on facebook, but it has produced a “Sexiest Women in Reality” calendar.  

Yes – An architecture and designer at David Baker and Partners.   Still looks handsome as ever to boot.

Tina – After being a student advisor with Kaplan, Tina has moved on to opening her own makeup and skincare shop where she is the head Esthetician.

Frank – Not only does Frank from RW Las Vegas look exactly like the dad from Modern Family, but he also went into real estate.   

Colie - Real World Denver's own is now a director of brand strategy at Bowlmoore Lanes in NYC.   What is the strategy there?  Bowling for people that aren't cool enough to be hipsters and the homeless!

Cohutta - Everyone's favorite country bumpkin now owns a nighclub at the University of Georgia.   Would love to get a list of investors.

Ty - After having a brief internship with the Washington Capitals, Ty is now a business manager with Frontier Wealth.  Have they seen his season of Real World, or his pathetic give up in Cutthroat!? This hire alone would give me enough reason to never invest with Frontier Wealth.

Katelynn - Sex change recipient katelynn is a system engineer for Intel.  Probably the most impressive one on the list for me.  An actual skill, who knew!

Trischelle – Marketing assistant in LA for an SEC filing newswire.   That seems like it will end well.  This is the only one I can't confirm 100%, but it looked legit to me.

Unfortunately a lot of the newer members are still trying to ride their fame and are doing the Real World bar circuit.  But hopefully in a few years we'll be able to add to this esteemed list!

Any thoughts?  Was this a fun exercise?  Who is your favorite? 

Programming note

My apologies to all looking for their morning KIWTJ fix.

Plan is to live blog Episode 3 tonight and then there will be at least one post mid day.  Requires a fair bit of research so hopefully will be up shortly after lunch time.

Until then.... keep killin it.

Dream Team

Whether it be Vince Young or Michael Jordan - everyone loves a dream team.  With the structure of The Challenge constantly changing we'll have an opportunity to come up with a few different ones.   You'd think that the majority of these teams will come from the same player pool, but in a game like The Challenge personalities and intangibles often come into play.

Mixed Sex Tag Team


Evelyn and Landon.

I think its going to be hard to keep Evelyn off any one of these teams.   She has become a dynamic force on and off the field.   But when trying to come up with a male compatriot I thought Landon would make a really nice partner.   He has a knack for getting along with anyone, even so much as carrying his partner Carley to a win in Fresh Meat 2.   He has the physicality to keep up with Evelyn and will allow her to play her game.  But if anything ever gets in their way they'll have the physical skill to beat nearly any team.

Same Sex Tag Team:  Male


Kenny and Evan.

This is a tough one because there are so many good male competitors.   Wes, CT, Johnny were eliminated because of their inability to get along with others.   Landon and Alton were also very closely considered.  I'd just like to point that this would be Evan circa 2009, not Evan 2011.   The chemistry between the two would be really tough to beat and everyone would get along with them.    Do you think they could beat an Alton / Landon team?  I don't know, but that's a matchup any challenge fan would be happy to see.

Same Sex Tag Team: Female


Evelyn and Rachel

Once again - I think Evelyn has to be considered and it was pretty much a toss-up between Laurel, Rachel and Ev.   I gave the nod to Rachel and Evelyn because Laurel has had a few too many problems getting along with others.

Group Team (7)


Landon, Alton, CT, Laurel, Evelyn, Johnny, Dorrell

When in a group setting I think personal dynamics matter just a little bit less.   With a big team like that my number one goal is to have the most talent I can possibly have.  I chose Dorrell over some others because he is a winner.  I chose Johnny because I like his ability to scheme and get his team in a position to win.   CT is on this squad because I want everyone to fear my team - and no one is doing that better than CT.

Then I chose Alton, Landon, Ev and Laurel because I think they are the 2 best male competitors and the 2 best female competitors around.

Let the debate begin - did anyone get forgotten?  Too much love for Evelyn?  Not enough sex appeal on the roster.  Let me know what you think.

Fresh Meat 2

Before we continue on our search for the best Real World season of all time, I wanted to tackle Fresh Meat 2.  Believe it or not we've only had 3 seasons of The Challenge since the second version of Fresh Meat.

The best thing that Fresh Meat 2 brought to the table was the combine.  I think there is a really strong argument to be made that they should do a scouting combine before every version of The Challenge.

A quick look at the Fresh Meat 2 roster reveals 7 of the 12 have appeared in a season since, 5 have appeared in multiple seasons since and 2 have appeared in every season since.

The numbers strictly in that plane look pretty impressive, a nice infusion of talent.   But if you look a little bit deeper it will reveal that not only is the FM2 cast far inferior to FM1, but also will pale in comparison to some of the Road Rules rosters.

 
(**editors note :  It is simply earth shattering how often MTV producers have people pose together back to back.  I've never in my days seen so many ridiculous shots of two people as I have while searching for images for KIWTJ)

In my opinion the two best competitors to emerge from FM2 are Laurel and Caramaria.   CaraMaria is one of two people to appear in every challenge since its airing and has developed quite a bond with Abram.  Despite being the first female taken in the Draft, her exploits have paled in comparison to Laurel.

Laurel has been an absolute beast on and off the field.  Be it her shouting match with Easy E, her romance with CT or her evisceration of Paula - she has really added some spice to the house.   She also has emerged along with Evelyn and Rachel as the holy triumvirate of female competitors.  Clearly FM2's biggest export.

There have only been 3 males that have appeared on future seasons from Fresh Meat.  Luke pictured above and Brandon probably have the strongest resumes, but that really is not saying much.   Luke appeared in a final challenge as a part of a larger team, but proved to be one of their weaker competitors.   The third is Vinny who probably has appeared in his last challenge in Battle of the Exes.  Lets just hope he doesnt have a heartache before next season.

The missing link is Noor.  Noor was the top male performer from FM2, but for whatever reason is yet to appear on another season.   His linkedin profile reveals that he is working for SBE Entertainment, so maybe he has decided to pursue career over challenge.

The last 2 competitors to discuss are Theresa pictured above and Mandi.   Mandi has been on every season since and is yet to really make her mark.   She has had romantic relationships and gotten into a few sloppy second debates.   Also she has proven to be a pretty chippy competitor, but really only has a pathetic 3rd place finish with Jenn in last season's Rivals.

Theresa has appeared in one other challenge and has shown a fair bit of athleticism, but has not made a real lasting impact.

In conclusion, a very disappointing cast when compared to the original Fresh Meat and I'm sure the MTV producers have been very disappointed.

Let me know what you think.  Is it too early to write the eulogy on this cast?  Will time show some more diamonds in the rough?  Do you think history has proven unfair to Brandon who got paired up with Transexual Kaitlin?  Are you amazed that we are this far into the blog and this is the first mention of TS Kaitlin?

Look ahead

We are only 3 days away from the next episode of The Challenge.   After taking a look ahead to the preview for this week's episode, there appears to be a major stunner in store.   Another team is going to be escorted out of the competition for seemingly un-Challenge related activities.   It appears to happen before the challenge, so we know that anyone featured on the commercial participating in the activity can't be the ones kicked off.   No real clues are provided although we know it can't be Paula, Diem or Caramaria.  

Here is my three best guesses as to who will be kicked off:

1) Tyrie and Jasmine - After Jasmine decked Tyrie last week they have to be the HEAVY favorites to be kicked off.  It never really made sense as to why she wasn't kicked off in the first place, so maybe they spread it over two episodes so we didn't send 3 teams home in one episode.

2) Heather and Dustin - Perhaps another "Dust-Up" with Frat Pad???  We can only hope.

3) Rachel and Aneesa - I don't know why I'm putting them 3rd.  Couldn't decide between them and Johnny/Camila.  But I could see either Aneesa or Camila getting into some kind of  fisticuffs.  Camila is clearly a loose cannon who is an emotional wreck and maybe Aneesa's precipitous drop in skill finally gets to her and she lashes out against Rachel's haircut.

Needless to say - we all lose because one less team, means one less episode or one more To Be Continued episode.   Bottom line - unhappy Sackapotatoes.

Then they reveal the challenge for the next episode.  Pictured above its a trivia game where each contestant lies on a piece of metal on a cliff.  If you miss a question you go careening off the side of the cliff.  Fun for all.  

The closest challenge we've seen to this one is from the Dual 2 - where we had a spelling bee.  Rachel won that challenge along with Evan, but Diem, Mark and Aneesa also participated.   Maybe that experience gives them an edge .... probably not.

The biggest unanswered question is if there is a team dynamic to this or if its each competitor for themselves.  It appears to be an individual competition - so lets go ahead and rank the three favorites.  

1) Rachel.   She won the spelling bee so is one of the few Challenge members to display any kind of IQ above 60.

2) Heather - Call me crazy, but Heather has demonstrated herself to be a fairly intelligent human being.  She has a pretty stable family that is able to use the internet as evidenced by them checking out Frat Pad on-line.  I'm guessing she is one of the few that can tout that.

3) Mark - I dont think he was awful in the spelling bee and he is 50 years old.  The question Paula got wrong on the preview was who killed JFK (she answered John Wilkes Booth), Mark would have a distinct advantage answering that question because he lived through it.

Who do you think wins the Challenge and who gets voted off??  Curious to hear your thoughts.

Heavyweight vs Middleweight

A look ahead to this week's challenge is hopefully coming later today.  For some reason MTV.com only has a wack sneak preview up about Abram's inability to blend in with the house.  Hoping to catch the more detailed trailer on MTV sometime today, keep your fingers crossed.

I thought  interesting talking point for today would be the Middleweight competitors vs the Heavyweight competitors.

Think Landon vs MJ from Real World Philadelphia.   MJ was a former college football player (WR at Vandy ) and an absolute monster.  And yes he won a Challenge, but he was vastly overshadowed by his running mate.   Landon was significantly smaller and lighter, but also faster - able to climb more - and frankly seemed stronger.

Now this example is obviously just an example.   We can't look at one group of competitors and glean an absolutely certainty.

But if you look at a group of people that I would deem heavyweights and you can begin to see a trend emerge.  Tyrie, Easy E, Cyrus, Vinny - have proven themselves to be inferior competitors.   Now we can't compare high BMI guys like that to some of the more chiseled lightweight competitors.

But lets also be fair and include Evan, CT, Dunbar as big strong guys who haven't been terribly effective on the challenge.   Clearly they've been overshadowed by guys with less bulk, but more maneuverability.   Alton, Abram, Derek, Wes, Johnny and even Dorrell.

For me the ultimate case is CT.  CT is a raging monster.  He is probably the biggest guy in the Challenge, yet time after time he has been unable to reach the apex.

Is this a coincidence?  Is there an actual advantage to being more sprightly?

Champions

So as we've gone through the exercise of looking at some of the best sources of Challenge talent, some interesting trends have come up.

First off - there is definitely a little inequity between winning a title when you were a single or a 2-3 man team.   9 of our 21 seasons there were teams of more than 6 people that each got a ring.   Its unfair to compare that to doing it on your own.

Second off - I think there is some difference between when you won your title.   Back in the days when Miz and Coral were running the game it seemed that seasons were a little more spread out then they are today.   So a guy like Miz had less seasons during his run at the top.  

Lastly - when talking about The Challenge I generally disregard the first 3 seasons.   Those seasons didnt share a ton with the next 18. 

So with that said - I wanted to take a look at the most potent champions, then compare them to a group of players with multiple championships and then compare them to power players without the hardware.  

There are 8 players with more than 3 Championships.   Lets call them Team A.

Team A

Kenny 

Johnny Bananas

Evelyn 

Darrell

Veronica

Derrick

Landon

Jamie M

Amazingly enough Darrell has the most Championships ever with 4.  The rest of them come in with 3.   Veronica, not surprisingly, carries an asterisk as her 3 combined wins came with a ridiculous 20 other competitors.  

Team B is going to be compromised of players with 2 Championships.    Unfortunately, there are 9 of them and we're trying to come up with Teams of 8.   So in order to find the most prolific Champions the ones who have the least amount of teammates during their wins will go through.   Both Rachel and Tori had the same amount of teammates during their wins, so there is no way to do this scientifically.  I'll give the nod to Rachel based on pedigree.

Team B

Theo V

Tyler

Jodi

Rachel R

Evan

The Miz

Mark Long

Abram

Thats again a pretty strong team.  Some of the newer fans of the Challenge might not remember Theo, pictured above - but the guy was a supreme athlete.

Team C will be an interesting amalgamation of talent.  The goal here is to find the 8 best competitors not on Team A or Team B.   This is completely subjective, but bear with me.

Team C

Alton

CT

Laurel

Brad

Coral

Wes

MJ 

Timmy

Got pretty thin there at the end.  I like the Team C top end talent with Alton, CT, Laurel, Wes.... and I really think Timmy showed himself to be a good competitor back in the day.   But Coral, MJ and if we're being fair Brad - start to drag down that team. 

Then it really comes down to the 2 Championship teams.  I think Veronica really holds back Team A, but its close.

Which team would you want to go to war with?  Have the results proved out to reward the best competitors?  Was this a pointless and completely meaningless exercise?  (let me answer that for you - yes it was).

Road Rules Xtreme

Road Rules X-Treme


Welcome back KIWTJers.  Arguably one of the biggest sporting events of the year is this week and its only 5 days away..... episode 3 of Return of the Exes.

So I wanted to start out by continuing our look at the biggest talent sources of the The Challenge.   And after the original Fresh Meat it would be unfair to not take a look at Road Rules X-Treme.  This was unbelievably the 13th season of the program and the last that brought us fresh cast members.   But MTV went out with a bang providing us 5 Challenge contenders from a 6 person cast and 4... count 'em 4! Champions.

Obviously this season has to begin with first ballot hall of famer Derek Kosinksi.   He is the first and only competitor to appear in 9 Challenges and compliments that with 3 Championships.   Early in his career he battled with some alcohol issues, but he was always renowned as a scrapper and a fighter.  Often giving up 50+ pounds to some of his bigger competitors Derek earned his respect the hard way.

Jodi Weatherton is a relatively forgotten competitor, but was prolific in 2 of her 3 competitions.   The sole Champion of the Duel 2 - Jodi had 9 challenge wins and went on to win the show on her own as a female competitor alongside a young Wes.    You look at her competition from that season and it was certainly a weak crop of competitors.    Those were the days when Aneesa was the baddest girl on the block.

The other two champions from this season were Kina and Ibis.   Both won their championships alongside Jodi in the Gauntlet 2.   There was a resounding 9 people who got their rings that day, so there certainly needs to be an asterisk next to some of these earlier era rings.    That was a season of Veterans vs Rookies where the Rookies were clearly the more talented side.   Also known as the season of Alton.   That rookie team had Alton, MJ and Landon (from RW Philly) leading the way and eviscerating the veterans. With that said both Ibis and Kina have been known to be solid competitors.  Ibis continues to fight on being one of the favorites a few seasons ago on The Ruins.   Unfortunately she petered out halfway through the competition without making a huge mark.

In closing - 2 LEGITIMATE champions in Jodi and Derek.   1 Hall of famer and 2 other asterisk champions with pretty solid pedigree.   Obviously can't compete with Fresh Meat, but has a nice stable of competitors.

Where does this season rank for you?  Feel like Ibis is a little over rated?  Did you forget about Jodi?  Are you surprised that Road Rules still provides more Stars than Real World?