I don't know which of these you're taking issue with. He went from Columbia undergrad to Harvard Law and clearly knows his Survivor history front to back.

I suppose it's possible you feel that neither of those things translates to any kind of leg up in the game, in which case, c'mon, man.

I know that when I look at the Survivor winners list, the first thing that jumps out at me is Ivy League intelligence.

"But Yul tho!"

Yul didn't tell stories of ****ting himself around camp.

He may have recognized his mistakes after they left the island but we have no information that he has actually learned from those mistakes and that he can recognize similar situations while in the moment.

If he is in a cushy spot going into this season it seems to be that everyone else thinks they use him without threat because he's such a dork. This is a good spot to be in IF he can actually use it to his advantage; something we have yet to see evidence of. Can he do it? That's why they play the game and why we watch.

i don't doubt or question that he possesses the intelligence to attend an ivy league school, or that he knows survivor history front to back. for cochran however, both of these things are bordering on meaningless imo when it comes to his ability to play the game. i hark back to the days of kk in these threads and i think my viewpoint of survivor has transitioned to something similar to him as seasons and threads go by. as dumb as "gamers" was as the term he used to describe them, a lot of these players (that the thread generally likes) just don't have good chances at winning -- i'd call marty from nicaragua an example, i recall the thread thinking he was very good. penner's like a vastly superior version of cochran if you ask me, and if i knew survivor history as well as some itt i'd probably remember more that are like cochran but aren't social ******s. maybe this season will play differently as an all-star season as kos likes to emphasize but i'll be genuinely surprised if cochran improves on his previous performance.

To the people knocking Cochran: who do you guys think has a better shot than him to win this season? I'll give you Malcolm and Andrea, but who else from the Favorites tribe are you ranking with higher EV? Everyone? Do you not agree that returning player seasons play differently than normal ones, and people like Brenda and Malcolm are going to be monster targets? Are you ignoring the potential New York alliance? Do you not think Dawn is an obvious F5/F4 target? Are you really going to pick a newbie over a vet?

The only Ivy Leaguer I can think of that went out pre-merge is Brian Corridan, who got hosed big time by the swap, though it's totally possible I'm missing people (Gabriel Cade, maybe?). Malcolm and Stephen both curbstomped their seasons and had very strong shots at winning, Alex got Dreamz'd out of a solid position with high first place equity, Marcus was at the center of the onion before getting grilled by the second swap, Yul won, and there are only like eight Ivy schools to draw from. Apart from Cochran, the only others I can think of are Nick Brown and Greg Buis, both of whom were post-merge Pagonging victims back before Survivor was anything close to it is now.
Note: entirely possible almost certain this list is incomplete.

Write down a list of your top 20 players of all time and let me know who among them you'd also consider anything but solidly above average intelligence in real life.

He may not make it to 7th place again but I'd be absolutely stunned if his performance in general isn't remarkably better this time around.

That depends on your definition of better. I thought he was pretty damn entertaining last time. He just didn't have the skills to needed to win.

Yeah jmill and others, I was never claiming Brandon played a great strategic game, but that wasn't why he was there the first time or this time. The scene between him and Cochran when Brandon assures him they'll protect him if he flips, he is absolutely outplaying him and there is no way to argue anything but that.

At *BEST* you can argue they're both equal idiots, I would differ, but you can *NEVER* argue Cochran is outplaying Brandon, or outplayed Brandon at any point during the game. Period.

I sort of wish that this was just a complete all stars season. It's just so ughhh not giving people like Fishbach another shot. It's not like there is a shortage of contestants that would do it and be entertaining.

Other tribe should have been something like:
Fishbach
Kenny
Marty
Matt Ellrod or Mike
Colton
Kat
Holly
Christine
Abi
Marisa (even up the 1st boots)

When discussing players who may not have been super memorable personalities but played a good game and got really screwed by variance, who was the girl in Fiji who was under Earl's wing until that weird tribal shuffle right before the immunity challenge when she was basically Amber-ed (if Lex had a brain, that is).

If anyone deserved another chance, it's her. Michelle, I think?

Yes her and Aaron from China are probably the two most deserving of a return. Both ****ed over while in good positions.

TV Guide preview special this Wednesday at 8pm, hosted by Lisa Whelchel.

The only problem I really have with the Cochran hating is the extent to which people are doing it. I don't think he played well, and I'd take Malcom/Brenda and maybe Andrea over him just on the favorites side. But I think people are putting too much stock into what you saw last time, if you don't think he has the potential to be much better. Specifically because he actually identified many of his own shortcomings, and showed awareness of them.

That's a huge advantage over some of the arrogant mouth breathers that come on the show. Add in the fact that he is an intelligent guy who's knowledgeable about the game, and I think he's a good candidate for someone who could significantly improve. Does it mean he's a lock to do so because omghelovesthegame? Absolutely not, he could still suck balls. I don't think he should be near consideration for WOAT though.

I think Russell Hantz (who is one of my favorites OAT in terms of entertainment value) is a better example of someone who you wouldn't expect to adapt/improve much when returning for a 2nd season. That's someone who was very good at certain aspects of the game, but was comically arrogant and showed the self-awareness of a rock.

I would absolutely argue that Cochran outplayed Brandon at some point in the game, despite the fact that I don't think Cochran played well. Cochran had plenty of flaws that were on display on his season, but is at least a knowledgeable guy who recognized some of his own shortcomings. I think Brandon is just a ****ing moron/headcase. To each their own though, if we all agreed on everything life would be pretty boring.

I think the two bolded fit the same spot so they would likely never return unless a full all-star season. Though I would like to see them both come back. I also like choosing Holly I think she would have done favorably had she made final tribal the first time out and want to see her play again.

ivy league intelligence

loooooooool cmon man

hope>cochran

BibleLady got a gig on the TV Guide Network for a preview of Caramoan tomorrow night 8/7c.

https://www.facebook.com/TVGuideNetw...38244152913273

Anyone else disappointed BonafiedGreat turned out to be a huge troll?

So much* inside info tainted now.

*All... I should say All.

It was obv that some of BGs answers were BS but I thought he was just a low level flunky on the show that made up a few answers to make himself look like a bigshot. But yeah, I am disapoint.

What happened with Bonafied?

His world came crumbling down in this thread:

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/34...ammer-1290316/

Too bad, I liked his inside stories.

And oh hey Gary, always like you on ESPN back in the day.

Thanks for saying so, Stringer.

btw, I'm ready to eliminate Laura, Michael, Hope and Ally from contention on Caramoan.

Cliffs: Bonafied is a sad individual who lied about many things, including working for Survivor.


In response to a poster saying they congratulated her FTC speech on facebook ^^^


Apparently etong smelled a rat

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/sh...postcount=4446

I was pretty much sure he was a fraud all along. As I posted in the other thread, who is going to risk a producer job with CBS and Survivor just to be a big shot in an internet forum?

When he started posting in the Big Brother thread about being at the finale and that he was going to stay with Danielle overnight, I started catching him in some obvious lies. I just let it go though instead of getting confrontational.

i think most of us with any sense or intelligence (or a halfway decent BS-detector) caught on soon enough that the guy was an attention whore and full of it. I mean half his posts in these threads were dire warnings about how he's risking sooooo much to feed us all this juicy, "inside" information on a public forum but will absolutely be gone for good if any of his info was ever disseminated onto any other survivor forums. Which of course it eventually was, but just like clockwork he was right back here for the new season....lol, come on son.
But since I already rustle more than my fair share of jimmies around here by not being an idiot, why start more fires in the off-season and get guys like cstone, master, KOS, and co. all riled up for having the nerve to question the validity of their messiah.
That string of quotes attacking eltong is gold though, and I'm glad someone took the time to put a few of them together (and I'm sure there were more). Once again highlights the rampant lack of brain cells and gullibility ITT.


Someone please check on KOS though, he probably was exchanging PMs with BG desperately hoping to find a way to get on the show. I would hate for him to be on a ledge somewhere as the comic relief his strategy posting provides me is one of my greatest joys on here.