Appropriate because Russell carried this entire season.
Sorry for the non-MMA blog on my MMA site but I couldn’t remain quiet.
I consider Survivor my favorite TV show of all-time (Seinfeld is a close second). I have sat through Survivor Finales where I haven’t agreed with the juries decision before but this is the first time I was embarrassed to be a fan. I blogged two months ago on how I believed Russell Hantz was going to prove to be the greatest Survivor contestant of all time. When I first wrote that blog the comments from Russell haters poured in. I stood my ground professing his Survivor prowess and week by week he won fans. Eventually, the hard core haters even came around.
As the finale approached it became obvious to me that the only way Russell could lose this season is if Brett pulled off an amazing run of winning 4 straight immunity challenges. The entire jury were his former tribe members so he was pretty much a lock to win the whole thing if he made it to the finale. It came down to one of the most stressful immunity challenges (and silliest) in Survivor history, balancing a wood statue on a pole. Stupid, I know but stressful none the less. In true dramatic fashion it was a Russell versus Brett showdown. Brett’s statue finally falls to the ground and Russell wins the final immunity challenge and in the majority of America’s mind solidifies his Survivor genius and wins season 19.
Then the finale tribal council. Russell the mastermind versus Nick (no chance to win) and Natalie, the gal who absolutely did nothing other than ride Russell’s coattails. Side bar…for all those that think Natalie deserved it. When Russell told her that if Brett won the immunity challenge they would vote Natalie off, she didn’t even try to talk him out of it. She just accepted that potential outcome. She was even OK with it. She did not play Survivor. Nick and Natalie were horrible in front of the jury. They said nothing that could have swayed even the weakest minded person. They had clearly given up and accepted their defeat at the hands of Russell. The only worse jury performance might have been Amanda Kimmel’s in Survivor China. She had the lead heading into the final tribal council but performed so poorly she lost the vote. (She deserved it.) Russell clearly dominated the finale tribal council too. It was looking like he might win in a landslide until….
Erik spoke last. It was obvious to me at that moment that a bitter jury had been discussing this at Ponderosa and had decided to choose Natalie if Brett didn’t make it to the finale. The decision to choose Natalie over Russell will be seen as the biggest mistake by any Survivor jury in history. Fans of the show didn’t even vote Natalie one of the top 3 players for the season! They, of course, voted Russell as the best. I have a theory on why Russell got robbed by this jury.
This season had half of its contestants recruited by CBS. They were not long time Survivor fans like Shambo or Russell. They hadn’t applied a dozen times and finally made it on the show. Many of them had barely seen the show. This frustrated several of my friends who have been on Survivor before. They pointed this out to me in my blog about Russell’s dominance. They explained that the reason Russell was so dominant was because of the number of players that didn’t know Survivor. This jury was made up of recruited players, Erik in particular. No jury with hard core fans would be able to live with Natalie winning. They couldn’t give the title of Sole Survivor to a player who had shown minimal skill in the game. Their pride would not allow them to pick her. Even if they hated Russell and were bitter with him they would have chosen him over Natalie. Natalie won because she was facing a jury of people who DID NOT know that Survivor is game. Erik’s comments at the finale proved that to me. Russell was by far the superior player. Some reputable spoilers have him on Season 20: Heroes versus Villians and making it VERY far. Don’t click this link if you don’t want the surprise to be ruined.
Season 19 will go down in Survivor history as the season a bitter, ignorant jury robbed Russell of his victory. Unfortunately for Natalie she won’t be remembered at all. Russell was this season of Survivor. (Imagine how boring the season would have been without him.)
Immediately after the finale vote was announced, Russell who I am proud to say is a friend of mine on Facebook 
launched a website www.russellgotscrewed.com. He is selling Russell got robbed t-shirts and giving the proceeds to charity. I am a shameless Russell fan and will be buying the t-shirt. You should too!
8 Comments
I think your opinion is interesting. I’ve been a Survivor fan for many seasons, but am still not a Russell “fan”. I think he is smart and definitely gifted at reading and “outwitting” people, but his cocky attitude still drives me nuts. Was he robbed of winning? You said yourself it’s a game.
I won’t be buying the t-shirt. I think I can find better uses for my money.
Dalton Ross from Entertainment Weekly, who is seen as the foremost Survivor expert agrees with me. His write up came out this morning.
http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20332130,00.html
It is clear the vote was for “anyone but Russell.” You call the jury “bitter and ignorant.” They probably know more about it than we do, being just outside observers. I’d take the judgment of a group of people who spent a few weeks with the guy over the opinion of the Survivor fan mob any day. This post seems to justify Russell’s arrogance and harsh treatment of the other contestants (burning socks, dumping water, letting out the chicken) as good game play. Everyone who treats others poorly on reality shows always stands by some variation of “it’s a game – I’m here to win, not be nice.” Game or no game, how you treat people reveals who you really are. Throw in a million dollar prize, a national TV show, and harsh conditions and you’ll see true character revealed. To me, it is good Russell lost, not because anyone else deserved to win, but because he deserved to lose. As the Fight Pastor, I hope you value character over winning – would be a good value to teach the boys in your MMA chaplaincy.
How much of Russel being “the greatest player in Survivor history” is due to the competition being particularly weak this season?
I have to disagree on the “Russel Got Screwed” thing. While he might have played the game incredibly well up to the finale, apparently he forgot that “wooing” the jury is a part of the game too. It’s like the Seahawks getting all the way to the end zone, and not only don’t they get the touchdown, but they fumble the snap for the field goal, too. (grumble) It doesn’t matter if you can’t convert.
Sounds like he’ll get another chance next season, but it sounds like he’ll have some actual competition this time around.
Every jury member who didn’t vote for Russell besides Laura and Dave have no come out publicly and admitted they made a mistake.
http://popwatch.ew.com/2009/12/21/survivor-talk-russell/
Click that link to hear Russell’s latest comments.
To post 3, while I appreciate your opinion Survivor is a game show. It has always been a game show. When you play games some times you bluff. Sometimes you deceive. Ethics within a game are defined by the rules of that game. Inappropriate behavior within the confines of a competition is stepping outside of the rules. It is illegal to use elbows on a grounded opponent in Strikeforce. If you do it you are gonna get disqualified. If you elbow someone on the ground in the UFC it is seen as effective offense because IT IS within their rules.
I never said I liked Russell’s personality. I said I thought he played a great game. If I was on Survivor I wouldn’t have probably been able to play the game that way. Russell played a better game than any other competitor this season. That is my point. A fair one at that.
Nice pot shot at me by the way. Russell would have been proud.
Now Jeff Probst has come out in support of Russell:
http://popwatch.ew.com/2009/12/21/jeff-probst-survivor-russell/
As a former player and Jesus fearing, bible believing Christian the ‘ethics’ issues on Survivor have long been debated. I fell into a fire before before I ever had the opportunity to get into ‘that’ part of the game. My tribe was dominant. We didn’t have to start playing hard yet.
Here’s my stance, most games are about bluffing, trickery, deceit, etc.
In football a QB is considered legendary if he fakes well, uses trick snap counts, pretends it’s a pass when its a run. In fact, the team that fools the other the most usually wins.
That’s true in cards, monopoly, sports, etc.
In real life I’d never bankrupt my kids or my friends. In monopoly, I would.
We see tghese characters being ‘themselves’ or that’s what we percieve but in reality, it is ‘just a game’.
#3 … your comment which I took as an integrity shot at the fight pastor was undeserved. This world would be a lot better off if more ‘church leaders’ got more involved in the main stream of life and tried to make a difference with the ‘unchurched’ like he does.
While I respect the person, the exclusionary theme of many church leaders “preaching to the choir” may not be as effective to reach ‘lost souls’ than the fight pastors.
As Christians, we should all be in this battle against darkness together and I know for a fact he is…
Lastly, I agree Russell played the best game up unitl the final jury. His speech would have landed him the crown with a different group. An adjustment was necessary and his ego got in the way
Mike