yeah i agree kos. i think Dr. Will would be the perfect person to give russel some strategy help.

Being athletic and coordinated is completely different than being nice to people. That is a very bad comparison.

Russell won the fan favorite because he is good TV, not likable as a person.

It is very funny that someone can NOT be nice. The fact that he doesn't care shows how much of a moron he is when it comes to actually winning.

maybe russel knows he would come off like sash if he tried to be fake nice to people. if thats the case then his best shot would be to do what he did and hope the jury respects how aggro he is.

I haven't finished watching all the videos yet, but Francesca gives me the best vibes so far. I'm gonna finish watching and give my preseason pick. Let's see if I can go back to back

Survivor: Redemption Island - Meet The Cast
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2yCWQLYIoI

Okay, but I think you get my point. Russell is never going to be that "nice" person in the same way that Colby could never be villainous. If Russell tries to be Colby-level-nice, you don't think it comes across as being phony? Some people just do not have the ability to be overly nice.

Coach is great TV and was hated. Boston Rob is a villain, he was evil/douchey at times, and people loved him. It's not just about being great TV. If it was, how do you explain someone like Bob winning fan favorite? People LIKE Russell, and it's not just because of what he does on TV.

EDIT: Also, I know he has changed a lot between ASS and HvsV, but I do think it's funny that the guy arguing how inept Russell is socially is the same guy sporting a Boston Rob avatar. Do you consider Rob 2.0 (or really just pre-marriage Rob in general) to be an inept social player?

i dont know about your last sentence kos. i dont think people like Russel. i think he is amazingly entertaining tv. i dont think id ever want to hang out with him though. i guess id want to meet him, but not really. i wouldnt walk across the street to talk to him.

Just finished watching the videos.

Blah - same exact casting every season:

Eye Candy - young lazy model/actor wanna-bes. (How many times did Angela say she grew up on a farm - lol!! And did you know, girls who are in pageants need to be mentally tough!!)

Middle-aged Determined Athletic Women

Attorneys who are both smart and good looking

Farmer Dude with southern accent

Big dudes/challenge beasts (although I will say the bug dudes on this season seem a little sharper than usual)

The intriguing ones to me are Mike - the former marine, Phillip - the black defense investigator dude, David - the really cocky lawyer, Kristina - the milf with the autistic son, and Stephanie - who seems very enamored with Russell as she named him in both her interview and her bio.

I think Russell's best chance - if he's on Zapatera - is to form an evil alliance with the cocky lawyer dude and Stephanie. If he's on Ometepe, perhaps he can get Kristina and Phillip.

Looking forward to this season merely due to the presence of BR and Russell. Hope they both stick around for a while.

Ok, I'm locking in Francesca as my preseason pick. Her arrogance could be her downfall for sure, but she seems like the smartest of the 18, not counting Rob, and pretty aware of her surroundings. I also think Philip is likely to be extremely good at the game given his background.

I guess they are pushing hard for a minority to win b/c no one else really stood out as overly sharp, though luckily no dummies either.

It will depend on whether enough of the other players find him personally threatening in the beginning. As usual, I was only semi-kidding when I ranted that it was rigged if Russell had more men on his team as that cuts down on the type of people he generally prefers to allign with. If there is another alpha dog or two that finds Russell a threat, it will be a scramble to see who can gain enough early supporters. Even so, he's Russell, so I wouldn't feel great about betting against him.

Boston Rob got 3 of 7 jury votes. Russell got 2 of 18. Boston Rob won a wife on Survivor. I think he is an inept Social player. Besides Parvati he was #2 to make the HOF, even with the Russell, the America's Favorite. Rob dominated a game with no idols. Russell needs idols to win. Now it is a huge skill to find them, but I think pre idol game is much better better than post idol game.

BTW, America is full of morons. Anyone who is offended by this is one of the morons. (Kos your not a moron btw. i think you would be good at the game and i respect most of your thoughts about Survivor.) Rupert gets tons of votes and Jane wins the fan favorite so they must somehow be on a similar level as Russell.

Boston Rob is miles above Russell when it comes to Survivor and life in general. People actually like Rob.

Regarding the "Survivor contestant you are most like" question, 6 of the 16 people did not give an answer. Additionally, one woman said she was a Cirie/Boston Rob combo (which makes absolutely no sense), and another compared herself to Ashley from China (who was a terrible player).

Ugh.

you would pick the black woman!

At least you kno the names of the cast members

That many? I thought the Ashley from China reference was lol. Hopefully these people don't understand what Rob and Russell are capable of. 6of 16 might be a good thing for them

So are most of the people they cast on the show, which is kinda my point. There are obviously scenarios where the jury could be comprised of people who respect Russell's game and/or don't hate him. Why does Rob get two free passes for twice not making the jury, yet Russell gets no free passes for two angry juries?

I don't disagree with your point, but 2011 Boston Rob is a lot different from 2004 Boston Rob. A lot of the things you knock Russell for are things Boston Rob struggled with before he met Amber. The other two times he's played, he didn't even make the jury, so I don't see how you can make the argument that Russell is terrible and Boston Rob is great. They're each other's best comparisons, so it's weird (and probably incorrect) to think one is good and one is bad. I think they're both excellent players.

(And some people do actually like Russell.)

I think the person who comes back via Redemption Island is drawing dead to win: people won't view their still being in the game as legitimate.

David is also drawing dead, but I predict great entertainment from him. As far as people who might actually win I'll go with Phillip/Francesca (rewatched her vid after reading Kart's post)

i disagree savage. i think with the correct player and proper speech they could win.

New Thread! New Thread! {jumping up and down} Is this Andrea person for real? She sounds like Delta Delta Delta, but is claiming to be a non-girly girl deer hunter. I know a non girly-girl deer hunter and her demeanor is nothing like this Andrea character. The deer hunter I know could easily be mistaken for a boy.

Steve is funny. Though I don't think he is trying to be. I think 'bad Steve' will be harder to keep under wraps than he imagines. He reminds me of Tom Westman a little. I don't think he's going to be as good a player though. But why not this guy and guys more like him for the old tribe last season? It's not like these studly older fellas aren't out there.

ya steve reminded me of a worse tom also.

It hasn't been stated as to when that person comes back, so depending they will still have a chance to win. My guess is that it will be at the merge.

I think he compared himself to Tom. I think Tom is a very underrated player. IMO he played well in HvV just got unlucky with the numbers, but did all he could.

More or less, yes.

Rob + Amber is a much better player than just Rob. She kept him focused. I doubt his ability to do it by himself.

edit: not to mention he needed her to win the votes for him.

Im not being results oriented in game play. If I was, Sandra is the best player ainec. I also think that Boston Rob did what he needed to do in AS and Russell didn't need to be that abrasive.

Russell was the lucky player in HvV when Tyson switched his vote and JT gave him an Idol. If the former doesn't happen Russell wins the dumbest survivor move ever.

I think the only person that likes Russell is Shambo and maybe Parvati.