208 replies to this topic

[Bob Sambob]

The 2011 Survivor Hall of Fame voting is on. Only three will be inducted this year, after Parvati, Boston Rob, Russell, Hatch and Sandra made up last fall's inaugural class.

Edited by Bob Sambob, May 16, 2012 @ 9:17 PM.

[TheShowStopper]

Thanks for the link. I threw my votes in for Yul/Tom/Cesty.

I have absolutely no faith in this considering it's a huge sham. For Russell to be on the first ballot is laughable, and I'm almost certain this year we will see someone like Rupert or Ozzy and that devalues the entire notion.

Some of the best to ever play the game have never won and played a long, long time ago (in TV years) and won't get the recognition they deserve.

[Bob Sambob]

Last year, I voted for Parvati, Boston Rob, Hatch, Cirie and Brian Heidik. And I voted for Boston Rob BEFORE "Redemption Island" was even in anyone's mind.

Parvati is somewhat polarizing to certain people, but there's no doubt she's a first-ballot HOFer, based on gameplay alone (people seem to forget she lasted 36 days in Cook Islands before winning FvF and getting a very impressive second in HvV).

Hatch = the first.

And as much hate as Boston Rob seems to get for getting four shots at the title, the truth is he's the biggest pure reality TV star ever and he's directly affected every "Survivor" game he's played in, even the ones where he left early. In Marquesas, the formation of the misfit alliance that ousted the Rotu 4 was created because Rob clued Kathy in on the fact that she was at the bottom of the pecking order. Yes, he paid the price for outing the Rotu 4, but his actions directly led to the first enormous power shift in Survivor history; in one of the great "what ifs," if he had won that first solo immunity instead of Kathy, he probably makes it to the end, because the Rotus wanted Kathy out in that spot, not Rob.
And in Heroes vs. Villains, Tyson fucked up. Period. The way Russell went out in RI was exactly what would've happened to Russell/Parvati in HvV (the tie-vote and revote) if Tyson hadn't gone rogue. And it would've been even funnier because Russell would've given the idol to Parvati and then gotten booted himself in the revote. Fucking Tyson!

The only reason I didn't vote for Sandra was because I was sure everyone else would.

As for Russell, his placement in "Redemption Island" just showed how unfair it was that he got to play HvV without anyone else having seen him play before. 19 other people on that season knew who everyone else was ... not him. He goes first in HvV if everyone got to see the shit he pulled in Samoa.

Last time, I went with Cirie and Brian. This time, I did as well. I threw in Rob C. for my third. And I'm cool with all the votes for Yul, Kathy, Fairplay, Chris, Todd, Ethan, Vecepia, Tina, Tom W. and Earl.

Edited by Bob Sambob, Nov 15, 2011 @ 3:47 PM.

[TheShowStopper]

I probably should have voted for Brian instead of Tom because while they're two of the very best winners (to me at least), Tom is so much more popular and more well-known and people are eventually going to make their way down to him.

Heidik was probably the best winner from Hatch to Tom and it's like he's forgotten because his season wasn't well-received.

I would LOVE to see Kathy get voted in because I think she's by far and away the best player in Marquesas (Vecepia is probably 4th) but she might be overlooked because of the whole Lex-stigma. The show has changed so much that I'm not sure if people will remember far back enough to put someone like her or Tina or even Colby (who had a firm understanding of the game at the time in). With Russell making it (let alone on the first ballot) when he's probably not even in the Top 20 consideration for best players ever makes it so much more likely we're going to get James, Ozzy, Rupert, and Stephanie.

Edited by TheShowStopper, Nov 15, 2011 @ 7:02 PM.

[reinoe]

"‘Fourth Times a charm’ Rob Mariano"

And let's not forget that he had to have a tribe of sheep along with a "hero" edit to secure his place among the public. That award is a sham.

[TheShowStopper]

"‘Fourth Times a charm’ Rob Mariano"

And let's not forget that he had to have a tribe of sheep along with a "hero" edit to secure his place among the public. That award is a sham.

Not sure if serious... he dominated the very first all-star season (which admittedly was a guinea pig on a wheel). He could have easily made a HOF even without playing in Redemption Island, though I'm not sure if he would have gotten in on the first ballot. He's one of only 2 or 3 "complete" players to ever play the game.

Edited by TheShowStopper, Nov 16, 2011 @ 12:04 AM.

[thehepburn]

He's one of only 2 or 3 "complete" players to ever play the game.

Only 2 or 3? That's like less than 1% of all who ever played. BRob, Parv, Tom Westman, Yul, and maybe Brian-Thailand (altho I vaguely remember that season as being very unathletic group so who knows). Also, tho his star has dropped, JT could argueably be still considered the complete package. He is a strategic player altho he obviously needs a partner to steady him.

I'll be voting for Cirie, Tom West, and Yul for the HOF.

[Bob Sambob]

Boston Rob has cast his vote for the Survivor Hall of Fame. Unbelievably, he didn't vote for Amber. Maybe all the idiots who keep voting for him, even though he's already in, will stop.

Edited by Bob Sambob, May 16, 2012 @ 9:40 PM.

[enlightenedbum]

That's an interesting three votes from Rob.

[Lantern7]

Indeed . . . it's a douchebag-free ballot from Rob. Maybe Amber submitted the ballot for him?

[thehepburn]

I don't understand what is so surprising about BRob's ballot? He's smart, knows Survivor inside and out, and has shown in the past that he doesn't take friendship into account when naming who played the best.

[TheShowStopper]

I wouldn't expect him to vote for Amber. I actually would be surprised if anyone voted for her to be honest.

That's a pretty solid submission from him. Tom will make it in regardless and Cirie should make it in if this thing longs run enough or if people finally wake up and respect her game.

Rudy, I don't know about that one though. He's one of my favorite people to ever see on the show but I'm not sure about him making it into a Hall of Fame.

[Bob Sambob]

New executive committee ballot - Producer Jesse Jensen. Pretty clear this guy was focused on the casual fans.

Edited by Bob Sambob, May 16, 2012 @ 9:40 PM.

[TheShowStopper]

Yes, that ballot is absolute shit. That's exactly what I was talking about when I said that this is a sham. One thing I will question in particular is him saying that Rupert was never good in challenges. He was awesome in Pearl Islands and decent in ASS, so I'm not sure where he's getting that unless he's purely basing it off the broken-toe woes of HvV.

I'm not even a fan of Rupert but even I can acknowledge that he was far above average in terms of challenge ability. You would think that would hold some merit for a guy that nominated Steph and Ozzy in addition to Rupert.

Edited by TheShowStopper, Nov 22, 2011 @ 8:59 PM.

[thehepburn]

I got the sense that the producer meant individual immunity challenges. Rupert hasn't been nearly as good in them as he has been on the team challenges which makes more use of his brute strength and swimming abilities. Still, a weird thing to say but he doesn't seem very bright.

[Bob Sambob]

Russell's ballot is up. Jesus.

Edited by Bob Sambob, May 16, 2012 @ 9:41 PM.

[BearPaw25]

Jesus indeed.

If anyone took Russell's opinion seriously prior to this, I hope that effectively killed it dead.

Amanda(who should have been in the HOF before Russell imo although neither first balloters) and Ozzy are not inherently bad but then Stephanie V.?

And in a turn about way insulting himself and claiming she could be better than Parv? Oy!

[TheShowStopper]

We've got a new leader for "biggest joke of a voter." That was shameful. I like how his judgments are thinly-veiled compliments to himself, or at least attempts to make himself look better but fail miserably. "Oh Amanda went to the end twice in a row for a reason, a-har-har-har."

Yeah idiot, she didn't get goated by two superior players twice in a row like you did. I'm indifferent towards Amanda because there's as much good as there is bad with her, but Ozzy is sort of an inherently flawed player and the other girl is completely forgettable and entirely irrelevant. "She just aligned with the wrong people." Who? You?

Yeah, I'd say that was a pretty dumb idea. What is his basis for thinking that she's even remotely comparable to Parvati? Steph was a miserable bitch for days to a huge majority in her tribe and really didn't make any inroads until it was far too late. So someone that had a terrible, terrible attitude that constituted a poor social game could be 10x better than the woman that both carried you and stomped the shit out of you for 39 days and made you look like a rookie yourself? What does that say about you, Russell?

Russell in the Survivor Hall of Fame is like putting Jamarcus Russell (NFL Quarberback for the Oakland Raiders, extremely high-paid as a #1 overall draft pick and was one of the biggest busts in the history of the NFL draft) into the Hall of Fame and then allowing him to vote for or against other people to join the Hall. Both of them share something in common which is the total lack of understanding of several pillars of their craft. It's nonsense.

Edited by TheShowStopper, Nov 26, 2011 @ 4:46 AM.

[Bob Sambob]

OK, we're back to reality after a trip to Russell's dementia ... Sandra's ballot is up.

Edited by Bob Sambob, May 16, 2012 @ 9:42 PM.

[enlightenedbum]

As the founder and President of the Todd Herzog Is Overrated and Actually One of the Worst Winners Club: boooooooooo.

Edited by enlightenedbum, Nov 28, 2011 @ 7:51 PM.

[Bob Sambob]

But you can at least make an argument for him instead of Stephanie Valencia, right?

[enlightenedbum]

It's not utterly stupid, no. I just strongly disagree.

[TheShowStopper]

I love the votes for Tom and Cesty, it would be awesome if they both made it in this year. Are they only adding 3? I thought it was 5 last year? Or are they only allowing people three votes and then will just go with the top 5 vote-getters.

I'm not in love with the Todd vote either. He's somewhere at the bottom of the Top 10 or just outside of it in my mind, but he probably does deserve to be in the Hall of Fame. If they're going to put Russell in there, then everyone that's head and shoulders better than him should also be there also. Not a first-ballot by any means but an inevitability I'm sure.

I would have hoped that Sandra would have voted for Heidik being as old-school as she is. It seems like he's been virtually shunned by the show since the season he was on was so unlikeable. It's not like that's his fault or anything, he was masterful.

And yeah, the argument for Todd instead of some Random that went out pre-merge is a pretty easy one to make. The only evidence you need to consider is the fact that the woman will never be mentioned on another ballot for as long as she lives, other than the one(s) made by Russell.

Edited by TheShowStopper, Nov 29, 2011 @ 7:24 AM.

[Isuzu]

I would have hoped that Sandra would have voted for Heidik being as old-school as she is. It seems like he's been virtually shunned by the show since the season he was on was so unlikeable. It's not like that's his fault or anything, he was masterful.

Probst notoriously hates the F4 of that season, but I think Heidik has been shunned more for the whole former porn star, wife beating (IIRC), puppy shooting controversies than for the questionable entertainment of his season.

And yeah, the argument for Todd instead of some Random that went out pre-merge is a pretty easy one to make. The only evidence you need to consider is the fact that the woman will never be mentioned on another ballot for as long as she lives, other than the one(s) made by Russell.

I actually liked Stephanie a lot, but she has no place on the hall of fame as long as she doesn't come back impressively in the future.

[TheShowStopper]

His demand for an appearance fee to play in ASS shouldn't still upset them given that they've been doing that for seasons now. If they're going to punish people for their post-show endeavors then it should be the exact same case for their golden troll.

The stuff he's done outside of the show (both pertaining to the show with the spoilers and the unrelated criminal offenses) is shameful and I don't see how they could punish Heidik for what he did before being on the show and not punish Russell for what he's done after it, especially after becoming such a well-known cast member. I'm sure 50% of the people that watch Survivor now probably have no idea who Brian Heidik even is.

Edited by TheShowStopper, Nov 29, 2011 @ 12:36 PM.

[Bob Sambob]

I'm sure 50% of the people that watch Survivor now probably have no idea who Brian Heidik even is.

And that makes me more sad than anything else as a die-hard Survivor fan. Brian was so locked in, ice cold and ruthless that you have to say he was a downright sociopath. He's everything that Russell WISHES he could be (and delusionally actually thinks he is).

[Hanahope]

And that makes me more sad than anything else as a die-hard Survivor fan. Brian was so locked in, ice cold and ruthless that you have to say he was a downright sociopath. He's everything that Russell WISHES he could be (and delusionally actually thinks he is).

I'm sure Brian wouldn't have cried after being voted out. I always remember Brian saying to his wife during the family visit that Survivor was a "business trip" and he certainly did what it took to get the right outcome. He certainly was the first to correctly employ the "goat" strategy.

[TheShowStopper]

And that makes me more sad than anything else as a die-hard Survivor fan. Brian was so locked in, ice cold and ruthless that you have to say he was a downright sociopath. He's everything that Russell WISHES he could be (and delusionally actually thinks he is).

This is why I would have liked Sandra to vote for him. He is certifiably one of the best players to ever play. Not that I expected any different, but the idea that the production people are throwing out votes to a bunch of non-entities and people that don't even have a full understanding of how the game is played disappoints me.

[Bob Sambob]

Jeff's ballot is up. This class is not going to be as obvious as last year's ... it was locked in after about three votes who it was going to be last year. And it looks like we know who Jeff would replace Russell with if he had the chance to go back.

Edited by Bob Sambob, May 16, 2012 @ 9:42 PM.

[MarkHB]

Do we know if Hatch and Parvati will get to vote? They aren't listed in the "Executive Committee," or is that just the list of HoF members who have already voted?

For that matter, is Hatch currently a free man?