Favorite Survivor Players from Each Season who Never Got a Second Chance (And probably never will)

Survivor over the years has done a great job at bringing its best characters and players back for 2nd, 3rd, 4th, or even 5th times.  But unfortunately, they cannot bring everyone back.  I'm going to pick my favorite player from each season who never got to play again.  Some declined, some wanted to but couldn't, and some we may never know about.  I'll give a quick word about them as well.  Obviously, full returnee seasons will not be considered since everyone on those seasons was already playing their 2nd time at least.

Borneo: Greg Buis
Greg was a hoot.  He makes Borneo fun.  It's a shame, they brought back the Tagi 4 plus Jenna and Gervase, but not Greg.  

Australian Outback: Nick Brown
I'll even admit, Nick is one of the most boring characters on this season.  But, he's also one of the sanest members of the Kucha tribe.  Plus, him being the first contestant from Washington state meant a lot to me back then and still does.  I bet he could've done more with a second chance.

Africa: Theresa "T-Bird" Cooper
It's a shame.  She's still a huge part of the Survivor community, and I believe she was on the Second Chance ballot but didn't make it.  

Marquesas: Vecepia Towery
There's not really anyone else, except maybe Sean Rector.  The unfortunate thing is I think "V" has never been brought back because Jeff referred to as one of their most boring winners.  I don't agree.

Thailand: Jake Billingsley
He's basically the only person from this cast that's somewhat likable.  Robb is endearing in his own way, but he's kind of a douche.  Jake's one shot would've been All Stars considering his age.  I wonder if he would've replaced Rudy if Rudy couldn't have made it?

Amazon: Heidi Strobel
I've vouched for Heidi for a while.  They bring Jenna back but not her?  She's still in great shape.  It's not too late.

Pearl Islands: Burton Roberts
Burton was an interesting character and I would've liked to see him come back.  He and Fairplay formed a formidable duo.

Vanuatu: Chris Daugherty
The second winner on this list.  I would've loved to see Chris back.  He was such a good B.S.'er.  But I think he never was asked because Probst had beef with him.

Palau: Ian Rosenberger
Ian may have played the most notable game of anyone to have not played a second time.  He's up there.  I know he was asked back but declined.  Shame.

Guatemala: Judd Sergeant
Shoutout to Brian Corridan for being a pre-merge boot I'd like to see back, but Judd hasn't been back, either, and he was one of the old-school era's most notable characters.

Panama: Shane Powers
Is there any question?  Shane was on the Second Chance Ballot but didn't make it.  He should've made it over Vytas, at least.  One of the most interesting characters in Survivor history only got one chance.  And he almost had one in Heroes vs. Villains before they bumped him for Russell.  

Cook Islands: Cao Boi Bui
I almost went with Nate, but Cao Boi has to be mentioned.  Yes, he's a pre-merge boot, but he made a notable impact.  Interesting character and he came up with the split vote method to flush idols.

Fiji: James "Rocky" Reid
I almost said Earl, but then I remembered Rocky.  He was an interesting character that was screwed over by an awful twist.  Had he been on a decent tribe, he might've made a bigger impact.

China: Todd Herzog
I did say the winner here though in Todd.  His battle with alcoholism is well-documented, but he has since recovered.  He played such a great game--would love to see how he'd play nowadays, but that'll probably never happen.

Micronesia: Natalie Bolton
Shoutout to Tracy Hughes-Wolfe, but Natalie outlasted her.  Also, Natalie's the only member from the Black Widow Brigade to not have played again since this season.  They almost had the entire BWB on Heroes vs. Villains, but she just missed the cut for that.

Gabon: Matty Whitmore
I liked Matty.  He survived the terrible Fang tribe and was mostly well-liked.  His reaction to Marcus's blindside is still iconic.  

Tocantins: Taj Johnson-George
Yes, she and her husband, Eddie, have money, but she was like a Cirie 2.0, so she should've been brought back.

Samoa: Jaison Robinson
Hard to say this season.  They even brought back Monica from this season.  But I'd say Jaison.  He was an interesting dude that kinda got screwed over.

Nicaragua: Marty Piombo
I'll never get over the fact that Marty never returned.  He was the only player from the older tribe that could really play.  

Redemption Island: Ralph Kiser
I like good ol' southern boys on Survivor.  Big Tom, James from Palau, and Ralph.  They make great TV.  Ralph could've shined on a returnee season, giving us more "Krasta"s and "Ressell"s.  RIP.

South Pacific: Jim Rice
It was either Jim, Christine, or Stacey.  I'll go with Jim, who most have forgotten about by now, but I haven't.  He was a decent player screwed over by Cochran.

One World: Greg "Tarzan" Smith
He delivered some great soundbites and was the last man standing.  "The game is afoot".  I also loved how moved he was to spend the loved one's visit with his wife and how he saved his auction money because his car needed new shocks.  Haha.

Philippines: Jeff Kent
I don't think we've had any minor celebrities return to play again (ones who were celebrities before playing).  But Jeff Kent would've been a good one to bring back to see if he could get the $1 million, or 600 grand by the time Obama takes it.

Caramoan: Reynold Toepfer
The Fans tribe this season was quite lackluster, but Reynold stood out to me.  I'd have loved to see him again, but it wasn't meant to be.  

Blood vs. Water: Hayden Moss
Still boggles my mind they brought Ciera back twice but not him.  Hayden was the one who convinced Ciera to go to rocks.  

Cagayan: Brice Johnston
So many from this season have returned, so I went with Brice, a pre-merge boot.  He's still a huge part of the Survivor community, hosting events with Wendell.  He deserves another shot.

San Juan Del Sur: Jon Misch
Not the greatest cast in the world, but I'd like to see Jon Misch back.  He was fooled by Natalie a couple times, but perhaps he's learned a bit.  

Worlds Apart: Carolyn "Mama C" Rivera
She didn't align herself with the most decent people, but she was a good player.  She executed an idol play and I know she wants to play again.

Kaoh Rong: Cydney Gillon
I almost chose Julia because of my crush on her, but I'll go with Cydney, who was a decent player and kind of almost won.  She's way into bodybuilding now so I don't think she'll ever play again.

Millennials vs. Gen X: Jay Starrett
He's been on The Challenge, so you know he's cool with keeping himself busy with shows.  But would Survivor bring him back?  Hard to say at this point.  

Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers: Chrissy Hofbeck
She's owed one by the show.  She's the only player who went into her season not knowing about the F4 firemaking twist.  She did surprisingly well in challenges, too.

Ghost Island: Dominick Abate
The only player to ever lose in a tiebreaking final vote still has not returned.  Shame.  

David vs. Goliath: Christian Hubicki
I'm not sure if he even wants to play again, but I know most fans would want to see him back.

Edge of Extinction: Rick Devens
No surprise here.  Such a personable and great for TV character.  He even co-hosted the On Fire podcast, which I think is a good sign for his future chances.

Island of the Idols: Janet Carbin
Another player screwed over was Janet (Idol Nullifier--dumb twist IMO).  She was very likable and handled the Dan incident well.  Perhaps the show wants nothing to do with this season ever again, though.

And now with the New Era seasons, I'm going to pick the player from each season I'd like to see return but I don't think ever will.  So these are not the players I most want to see back; just the ones I'd most like to see back that I'd bet won't come back.

41: Sydney Segal
Yet another player screwed over, this time by the Hourglass Twist.  She's easy on the eyes, but I don't think enough people remember her gameplay.  

42: Tori Meehan
She was surprisingly adept, just got dealt a bad hand.  Imagine her with stronger allies.  She was good in challenges, so I say bring her back.  But I don't think it'll happen.

43: Owen Knight
He may return, but I have a feeling casting might stay away from Final Tribal Council losers, at least the ones who got 1 or 0 votes.  He was good all-around, and he might have much more success given a different opportunity.

44: Matt Blankinship
As you can tell, I like to pick players who were screwed over.  Matt was screwed over by the split tribal, where all of his allies were on the other team.  Shame.  

45: Emily Flippen
I pick Emily because I think she said she wouldn't play again, but she definitely would be good TV again.  

46: Tevin Davis
He certainly made for good TV, but I feel he'll get overshadowed by Q, given their similar demographics.  I wouldn't be surprised if they passed over him.  

47: Rome Cooney
Rome was an interesting player and a good villain.  I wasn't a fan of how he "bulled" Sol, but nothing was personal--it was all part of the game.  But after he leaked the boot order, he's likely not getting asked back again.

Ranking the Potential Type of Returnee Season for Survivor Season 50

 Jeff Probst recently announced that Season 50 of Survivor will be returning players, but that was not much surprise to anybody.  We had a feeling they'd have to do something special for Survivor's 50th season.  And it will not come too soon, as it's been since Season 40 that we had a season with multiple returning players.  That is the longest such stretch in Survivor history without multiple returning players.

So after this announcement, a lot of speculation has happened among Survivor fans as to what kind of cast it will be.  There are a few different ways they could go with this, and I'm going to rank them 10 to 1 based on how well each theme would work out and be received by the Survivor fanbase as a whole.  Keep in mind Jeff did not explicitly state that it would be all returning players, so there are a couple of previously used themes potentially in play.  Here are the possible themes ranked:

10. First Boots
What's so special about first boots?  I have no idea.  Could they even get 18 or 20 of them?  Are there really 18 or 20 first boots we want to see again?  I don't think there are.  There are certainly a handful, such as Zane, Jelinsky, Zach Wurtenberger, and possibly even Francesca, but the list grows short after that.  

9. Fans vs. Favorites 3
Yes, they could do a Fans vs. Favorites 3, which would only be 1/2 returnee players.  I highly doubt they will do this since fans want to see a full returning players season, and this would definitely enrage the fanbase a bit.  

8. Blood vs. Water 3
Again, it would only be 1/2 of the cast, but we could see 10 new-ish era players with their loved ones.  I highly doubt they'll do this again, but Jeff does love this theme, I know that.  Again, Jeff did not explicitly say it would be all returning players.

7. Regular All-Stars Type Season
Like All-Stars in Season 8 or Game Changers in Season 34, this would be a regular cast of All-Stars, with winners allowed and no clear theme for the division of the tribes.  One small negative I see to this is it would allow the showrunners to have three tribes of six (AGAIN), which has become a New Era staple.   But also, this theme would be so bland and generic, and while any returning player season would be fun, not having any kind of theme would instantly make it a bit lame. 

6. Rivals
A Rivals-type season has been long-talked about, but never happened.  So it would be like Blood vs. Water, but the opposite, I guess.  10 players and 10 of their rivals.  Domenick and Chris Noble?  Shan and Ricard?  Katurah and Bruce?  Liz and Q?  There are a few ideas.  The issue would be casting them so there are even number of men and women.  But I like this idea a lot, because I bet there'd be a lot of drama and there'd likely be a rival pairing or two that would actually want to work together, since no one would expect them to. But Rivals seems like a bit of a kind of lamer season, so it's here at number 6.

5. New Era vs. Old Era 
I don't think it'd be called this (New School vs. Old School?  Battle of the Ages/Eras?), but this is one I could see happening that wouldn't excite the fanbase too much, but maybe enough to keep the ratings up.  They'd have to settle on a demarcation point as to what constitutes a new era and what constitutes an old era player.  My suggestion is Season 25 as the demarcation point, since that'd be halfway at this point.  But I do see the issue with trying to find 8-10 old era players that would be willing and able to keep up with the new era players.  They key being if they're able to.  Not many would.  Alternatively, they could make this a three-tribe format, with 6 old era players (1-19), 6 "middle" era players (21-39), and 6 New Era players (41-49).  But again, I'd worry about the old era players keeping up.

4. Outwit vs. Outplay vs. Outlast
What would be a good way to culminate 50 seasons of Survivor?  By having six players that have excelled in outwitting, six players who excelled in outplaying, and six players who excelled in outlasting others.  Again, this would be another three tribe, six player start, but I would be okay with this one.  It would be interesting to see who would be on which tribe.  I would worry about the Outplay tribe possibly dominating challenges, but that's where they'd have to cast a couple of players who excelled more in finding idols rather than challenges.  One thing I'd say about this season's cast: No losing finalists.  If they truly excelled at "out"-whatevering, then they would've won their season.  

3. Heroes vs. Villains 2
I'm a huge fan of this theme, and I think the fanbase as a whole would really like it.  However, the line between hero and villain has certainly gotten blurred over the years in the game of Survivor.  Maybe they could do Heroes vs. Villains vs. Anti-Heroes?  That would be a bit easier for them to cast for.  Either way, the theme of good vs. evil is always entertaining.  A good story has a good villian to root against and a good hero to root for.

2. Legends vs. Rising Stars
This is a theme I'm putting forth, and I think it would work.  First off, a tribe of legends.  Who wouldn't want that?  No restrictions on how much they've played or if they've won or not.  Just 8-10 legends of the game--some of the biggest names in Survivor history.  We certainly have plenty of those.  Then, on the other tribe, you have 8-10 up-and-comers.  Rising stars, if you will.  These would be players who made a big name for themselves their first time playing and are determined to do so again.  It would be like having a baseball game of future Hall of Famers against future All-Stars.  Wouldn't that be fun to watch?

1. Second Chances 2
Let the fans decide again.  Why not?  There are a lot of ways to run the voting, and who wouldn't love to have a say in the cast again?  Potential players could run campaigns, trying to establish trending hashtags for their support.  The previous time we had the fans vote, social media was not the thing it is today.  Yes, this would only be players who have played once before, but that's fine--we've got plenty of those.  I do worry that the showrunners/producers would find a way to force a minimum number of New Era (41+) players in the game, but even if that happened, there are plenty of those who we'd love to see again as well.  Also, I must add, it'd be hard to enforce the diversity mandate.  They couldn't split them up into whites vs. minorities.  But I'm sure they could find a way.  Perhaps fans could pick their favorites from a list of 100, and the producers choose from there.  Just an idea.

Casting Survivor, New Era All-Stars

As the new era seasons go on, more and more the fans clamor for an All-Stars type season.  It's got to be inevitable.  Perhaps Season 50?  But with that in mind, I thought I'd cast for that season.  

For now, I'm going to stick with the same 18-player, three-tribe format.  I thought about changing it to two tribes of ten, or upping the tribes to seven players, but it just gets too messy then.  I'll be doing my best to keep players on separate tribes if they were on the same season, but especially if they were on the same starting tribe on that season.  I'll also try to keep the tribes equal in terms of entertainment value but also in terms of challenge strength, and try to keep the diversity mandate which states half the cast needs to be a minority race.  And for this, I'm not going to include any winners.  They just clog it up too much, anyway. 

Also, I may update in this in the future when new seasons come out, but for now, here are my All-Star teams through Season 45:

BLUE TRIBE:
Ricard Foye, 41
Jonathan Young, 42
Jake O'Kane, 45
Emily Flippen, 45
Lauren Harpe, 44
Karla Cruz Godoy, 43

RED TRIBE:
Jesse Lopez, 43
Kaleb Gebrewold, 45
Matt Blankinship, 44
Carolyn Wiger, 44
Liana Wallace, 41
Lindsay Dolashewich, 42

GREEN TRIBE:
Cody Assenmacher, 43
Q Burdette, 46
Omar Zaheer, 42
Sydney Segal, 41
Heidi Lagares-Greenblatt, 44
Jenny Kim, 42


These tribes may seem lopsided.  But I think they are strong in their own ways.  Blue clearly has physical strength.  Red tribe has savviness and some all-around players.  Green tribe has some good puzzle solvers and thinkers.  I'd like to think with this cast, we'd see the Blue tribe jump out to an early lead but have the Green tribe catch up and possibly win thanks to the puzzle.

Five Biggest Needs for the Mariners for 2024

 The Mariners finished 2023 88-74, missing the playoffs by 1 game and the division by 2 games.  They failed to follow up their magical 2022 season with a successful step forward.  At best, they took a step sideways.  General Manager Justin Hollander has even admitted their moves this past off-season were not adequate enough.  They acquired Teoscar Hernandez and Kolten Wong in trades, and signed AJ Pollock, Tommy LaStella, and Cooper Hummel.  Only one of those players, Hernandez, was on the big league team at season's end.  It's safe to say they need to do better this off-season.  So I have compiled the five biggest needs for this team, and some possible names who could fill that role.  Ranked, in order from least to most important, here are the five biggest needs this Mariners team needs to address this off-season:

5) Rotation depth
Possible candidates: Vince Velasquez, Jordan Montgomery
It'll be hard to say how the back end of the rotation will look come 2024, but I think one thing the Mariners need is depth at the rotation.  Someone who would potentially be okay signing a minor league deal with an option to make the big league club.  I wouldn't be opposed to either Woo or Miller starting 2024 in the minors, especially if they have a rocky spring.  But one thing that hurt the Mariners this past season was the lack of rotation depth.  They need to sign someone to bolster the rotation.  
Result: No one?  I can't think of anyone the Mariners acquired for rotation depth.  They briefly had Anthony DeSclafani before shipping him out for Jorge Polanco.  Grade: INC.

4) Right-handed/switch-hitting outfielder with range, contact
Possible candidates: Harrison Bader, Jurickson Profar
We absolutely should not be starting Dylan Moore or Sam Haggerty in the outfield while on a playoff run again.  They are bench guys.  Jerry and Justin tried to address this with Pollock and LaStella last off-season but to no avail.  I like Bader, and while he struggled in Cincy, I love his effort on defense.  And Profar is a switch-hitter, but hits better historically right-handed, and he would add even more culture to our locker room, being from Curacao.  
Result: We got Mitch back... yay?  I like Mitch, I just hope he can stay healthy.  But he does not have much range or contact.  We also got Luke Raley, but he's a lefty and he too does not have much range.  Grade: D

3) Infielder that can hit
Possible candidates: Rhys Hoskins, Amed Rosario
Our infield just seemed to be filled with black holes this year, not counting JP.  But it seemed someone was always struggling, whether it was Ty, Geno, or whoever was at second base.  Rhys Hoskins was out all of 2023, but if we shipped Ty for a prospect or in a package, I'd love to have Hoskins instead.  And Rosario still can hit around .250 with solid D.  Our infield just needs to improve.  We still haven't found our answer at second base since trading Cano.
Result: We got Jorge Polanco, and if you want to count him, Mitch Garver, but he's counted more for #1 (see below).  We also got the aforementioned Luke Raley.  Our infield should hit better next season.  But we did have to give up a lot to get Polanco.  Grade: B-

2) Veteran closer/bullpen help
Possible candidates: Will Smith, Craig Kimbrel, Ryne Stanek
With the trade of Sewald and the loss of Penn Murfee to the Mets, our bullpen is in need of help.  Brash was overworked, guys like Topa, Campbell, and Thornton were used in higher-leverage situations than they should be, and it showed.  I would love it if we could bring in a veteran guy to add a presence and help mentor some younger guys.  
Result: We got Gregory Santos, he'd be the closest thing to a "veteran" guy that we acquired.  Hopefully he'll fit right in, but he might take a while to do so since he came to us hurt.  Lovely.  Update: We also signed Ryne Stanek late, a guy who I really like, so I'll raise this a tad.  Grade: B+

1) Full-time legit Designated Hitter
Possible candidates: Shohei Ohtani, Jorge Soler, JD Martinez
The last good full-time DH the Mariners had was Nelson Cruz, in 2018.  Before that, it was Edgar.  This team absolutely should not go into the season with guys like LaStella, Hummel, or Haggerty DH'ing.  Obviously, Shohei would be the ideal choice, with him joining the rotation in 2025 due to injury.  Soler would be a nice substitute if his player option falls through.  And I wanted us to acquire JD Martinez last off-season, but of course, he goes to LA.  I doubt he'd come here, but you never know.  We just need SOMEONE at DH we can count on, someone we can put at 3 or 4 in the order and never have to worry about.  
Result: We got Mitch Garver, our one lone significant free agent signing.  Would it be too much to ask for another Nelson Cruz type hitter?  I guess so.  We'll have to see what Mitch does.  I'm more excited for his bat than Polanco's or Raley's, for what it's worth.  Grade: B

Well, that is my list of the top 5 needs the Mariners have this coming off-season.  Let's hope they address most, if not all, of these.  I feel like if they address most of these adequately, a return to the playoffs in 2024 will be in the cards.  I'm going to come back, perhaps around spring training time, and comment on what they did to address these needs, and if it was good enough.  

Ten Survivor Season Ideas

With Survivor 44 just around the corner, I thought it'd be fun to do another Survivor blog post.  I know Survivor is in a new era, and so far, it seems like they're solely focusing on newbie casts only with no themes.  I think they're going to have to return to either returnee or themed seasons (or both) again someday, just to increase intrigue for seasons.  Constantly continuing with newbie casts and numbered seasons is not going to keep Survivor fresh, and fans are going to tire of it quickly.  So, here are five returnee player seasons and five themed casts for newbie seasons that I'd suggest they use.  I won't do any "sequels" to a returnee player season, such as "Second Chances 2", because that would be too easy.


Returnee Player Seasons

1. Old School vs. New School
It would be interesting to see a New School vs. Old School season.  The Old School Survivors wouldn't have to all be from older seasons, because we've had some Old School type players in fairly recent seasons.  Same applies for some New School players from some older seasons.  Or alternatively, they could have this be players from seasons before Season 40 vs. players from seasons after Season 40.

2. One Last Chance
All of these players playing this season would verbally commit to saying this is their final season, whether it be their 2nd time playing or their 3rd or 4th.  Like Winners at War, it would give a lot of legends (Cirie?  Ozzy?  Russell Hantz?) a chance to bid farewell to the show.  I'd much prefer this over a season simply titled "Legends".  At least with this, we can get some closure on some Survivor legends for sure.

3. Pre-Merge vs. Post-Merge
If they want to stick to picking returning players from just the 40s, one idea they could do is to have a tribe of pre-merge boots against a tribe of post-merge boots.  Just two seasons into this new format and we already have a handful of possible pre-merge boot returnee players such as Brad, JD, Daniel, Jenny, and Zach.  Two more seasons, and we'll have enough for an entire tribe.  Also, this would be titled something else (such as Second Chance 2), but the tribes would be divided based on where people got voted out their first time playing.

4. Social vs. Strategy
This is kind of a lame idea and needs some help with regards to marketing, but my idea is to put one tribe of players that relied on social games--Michele Fitzgerald, Cirie, Tommy, etc. against a tribe of players that focused on advantages and strategy, such as Drea, Jesse, and Devens.  It would be interesting to see the strategy tribe fight for advantages and see how well the social tribe gets along.  And of course, it would be interesting which "strategy" would come out on top.

5. Rivals
This has been talked about for a long time, but a rivals season is definitely a possibility.  Rather than split the rivals up on separate tribes, I think you put them on the same tribe.  Putting them on separate tribes only increases the chance that we won't have many rival pairs left come the merge.  Also, these rivalries would have to have some sort of requirement, such as one player had to have voted out the other.  Think Chris and Dom, Jay and Michaela, etc.  It would be interesting to see if the rival pairs would set aside their differences and work together or if they would target each other immediately. 


Themed Cast for Newbie Seasons

1. Teachers vs. Students
Survivor loves it's "_____ vs. ____" type-seasons, such as "David vs. Goliath" and "Millennials vs. Gen X".  Those two have been two of their more successful seasons in the past 10 years.  I'd suggest a Teachers vs. Students season.  The Teachers tribe wouldn't have to be fully comprised of people that are in a teaching profession (Although I'd recommend about half).  They could also be comprised of people that train others for a living (managers, bosses, etc.).  The Students tribe also wouldn't be fully comprised of actual students currently enrolled in school, but it could be people learning a profession or people who are apprentices or new to their occupation.  Yes, the Teachers tribe would generally be older, but I'm sure they could find some older students and younger teachers to help even things out.

2. Salute to Armed Forces
Survivor should do a season comprised entirely of veterans from various branches of the military.  I think it would add some intrigue, and maybe some alliances of people from the same branch.  They've cast many veterans throughout the years.  My one concern is whether they would have enough female veteran applicants.  They might have to do a bit of recruiting.  One idea I had is this could be a captain-type season, with maybe Ben Driebergen leading one tribe, and Angela from Ghost Island leading the other tribe.

3. Celebrity Edition
I've wanted a Celebrity Edition of Survivor for so long.  I'd be okay if they were given a decent amount of food and habitable living conditions, especially if each celebrity was playing for charity.  Who wouldn't want to see celebrities lie, scheme, and betray each other?  I know they did "Beyond the Edge," which had celebrities, but that wasn't Survivor.  There are plenty of celebrity Survivor fans that would be willing to do this.

4. Kids vs. Parents
I know Survivor loves to lean into the Blood vs. Water storylines, so why not fully?  Why not have a season where one tribe is a tribe of parents and the other tribe is their kids?  This could maybe even be where they lower the age restriction a bit (to 16 or 17).  But the kids' tribe would have to have some older "kids". Otherwise, they would struggle to build a camp and get food.

5. Connections to the Past
Think Blood vs. Water, but without returning players.  Each player cast is someone related to a former Survivor player.  I would love it if they did this but then didn't tell the players that anyone else is related to a Survivor player.  The hard part would be getting 16-20 players who don't recognize each other, as former players often hang out, share photos, etc.  But imagine someone letting slip they're related to a former Survivor player, and then someone else confessing to them, etc.  Bonds or rivalries could form over this.  It would be very interesting to see how and when players would reveal their connections.  

Well, those are the 10 theme suggestions I have for Survivor; hopefully they use one of these someday!  I might come back and comment on it if they do.  

2022 Seattle Mariner Regular Season Grades - Hitters

 The 2022 MLB season is almost finished, and with that, I thought I'd hand out some grades to some Mariner players.  They have clinched a playoff spot for the first time in 21 years.  So for that, I will tend to grade a bit on the kinder side.  However, I must take expectations into account, so if they played great last year but not this year (even if they were on another team), I will have to take that into account.  Here we go:

Starters

Cal Raleigh: A-
Cal has been a godsend for manger Scott Servais.  After his slow start, boy did he pick it up.  Imagine after Raleigh's slow start that someone told you that he would set the record that very year for home runs by a Mariners catcher.  I certainly wouldn't have believed it.  He's also handled the pitching staff like a 10-year vet.  His average still leaves a bit to be desired. So hopefully, that rises next season.

Ty France: B+
Ty had a slightly healthier season and earned his first All-Star nod.  Unfortunately, he battled injuries shortly after the break and his average plummeted.  His defense has been very good, even when he had to play a few games at third with Suarez's injury.  Hopefully, he can stay healthy all of next season.

Adam Frazier: C-
I felt a D+ grade was too harsh, but would it be?  Frazier's average has hovered around .230, .240 for the second half.  He had one small hot spurt for a few weeks, but that's about it.  Not that he was expected to have any power, but that certainly didn't show much.  His defense has been average at best.  Frazier did not do enough to secure 2nd base for the future, leaving the Mariners' front office to possibly look again for a 2nd baseman in the offseason.

JP Crawford: C+
JP's season was quite the mixed bag.  He started out very hot, hitting .300 and even showing power.  He then cooled off considerably, and his defense seems to have regressed.  But I'll give JP this: He works counts and is one of the best "battlers" on the team.  Meaning he fights and works counts as well as anyone on the team.

Eugenio Suarez: A
In the Winker/Suarez trade, Suarez was almost considered an afterthought, a salary dump.  But boy, are Mariners fans glad we got him.  He hasn't hit for the highest average and strikes out a TON, but his home runs have been the most clutch on the team, and he has provided gold glove defense at third base.  The Mariners wouldn't be in the playoffs without him.

Jesse Winker: D
Jesse gets a D for Disappointing.  He hit over .300 last season and was an All-Star.  He's not even close this season (.220 or so).  He avoids a failing grade for his clubhouse leadership and his ability to draw walks.  That's it.  I can't forget to mention his defense, which has been way below average and has definitely cost the Mariners runs.  

Julio Rodriguez: A+
Based on what we expected (or didn't expect) at the start of this season, how can I not give Julio an A+?  A 25-25 season, amazing defense, and likely will lead the team in batting average at the season's end.  I wouldn't have believed it if I had said that to myself in April.  Julio has been everything this team needed and more.  

Carlos Santana: C+
His batting average has been less than ideal, to put it nicely.  But Carlos has hit some extremely clutch home runs and played some surprisingly good defense at first base.  We also cannot forget his clubhouse leadership and his being a role model to young players like Julio.  

Mitch Haniger: D+
It may seem harsh, but I expected a lot from Mitch when he got back.  Unfortunately, he suffered a severe ankle sprain after his first at-bat back and missed several months afterward.  Mitch did hit well immediately after returning but has since cooled off.  His defense has been solid for the most part.  We needed hot Mitch for more of this season.

Bench Players/Role Players

Dylan Moore: B-
I can't give him higher than that, I'm afraid.  Dylan somehow inexplicably leads the Mariners in on-base percentage.  But his average around .210, .220 leaves a lot to be desired.  He strikes out a lot for a speedy contact guy.  However, he has played above-average defense at six positions and has gotten some clutch steals.  

Sam Haggerty: B+
"Swags," or "Swaggerty," as he's called; it's hard to believe that he was a fringe AAA early in the season.  He has played some amazing outfield and was hitting near .300 for a few months.  He's been a player Servais could plug into either corner OF spot, centerfield, or even 2nd base if need be.  

Abraham Toro: D-
Toro could just not get his average above .200.  He did provide some clutch hits, but that's about the only thing keeping him from a failing grade.  His place on the roster is in jeopardy for the future.

Jarred Kelenic: D+
Kelenic also couldn't get his average above .200.  He had three separate stints up, and it wasn't until the 3rd time that he started hitting.  Unfortunately, it was too little too late.  But Kelenic has played some solid outfield and drawn his share of walks.

Luis Torrens: C-
He had some clutch hits, and I do believe his defense has improved.  He could get a lot better at framing pitches, I will say.  But for a guy who is supposedly a "hitting" catcher, he doesn't hit well enough.  We'll see if he'll do enough to earn the job of Raleigh's backup next year.

Everyone else: INCOMPLETE
Guys like Kyle Lewis, Taylor Trammell, Curt Casali, and guys that are no longer in the organization like Jake Lamb, Justin Upton, Steven Souza, and Mike Ford just didn't have enough time for me to grade them.  

That's all for the hitters, look out for grades on the pitchers soon!

My initial thoughts of the Survivor 43 and 44 casts

 With the casts of Survivor's 43 and 44 leaking, I thought I'd give about a one or two sentence thought on each player.  It'll be interesting to come back after each of these seasons and see how close my first impressions were.

43:

Cassidy Clark - Definitely a bombshell, I think someone or a group of people will find her intimidating.  Mid-merge boot at best.  

Cody Assenmacher - He seems like he'll be one of the more interesting characters.  I could easily see him getting blindsided and having an all-time great reaction.

Dwight Moore - Could be a finale goat or a forgettable boot.  I'm not sure if we're supposed to get too attached to him.

Elie Scott - Likely targeted for being the next Parvati, as many women have before her.  Can she lower her threat level?  

Geo Bustamante - He looks like he says "Bro" a lot.  I cannot see him winning.  

Jay Jones - Will he be more Rocksroy or more Deshawn?  If he's more Deshawn I could see him doing well.

Jeanine Zheng - My dark horse for the season, she looks smart and mature for her age and I could see a deep run, if she can survive the pre-merge.

Jesse Lopez - My pre-pre-season winner pick.  He got a great confessional in the preview for the season and no pure Latino man has ever won Survivor.  About time to change that.

Justine Brennan - Anything from a very early boot to a possible finale player.  Hard to tell.

Karla Godoy - Her confessional about her willingness to do anything I think is a bad sign... I think she'll do something that'll bite her in the butt.

Lindsay Carmine - Early boot or finale loser.  She's the Chrissy of this season.

Mike Gabler - He'll either be like Mike from 42 or Brad from 41.  For his sake, hopefully the former.

Morriah Young - I love her colorful personality and I can't see anyone disliking her.  She should get fairly far.

Noelle Lambert - We haven't had contestant missing a limb since 21, so it'll be interesting to see how she is viewed.  So that makes predicting her finish very difficult.

Nneka Ejere - Can't see her gelling too well.  Even if she gets in a sizable alliance, I think she'll be towards the bottom.

Owen Knight - I think he'll be a fan favorite, like a smarter Woo.  

Ryan Medrano - This season's Jonathan, likely a mid-merge boot.

Sami Layadi - Early boot or finale goat.  Nineteen-year-olds cannot win.


My EARLY final 3 prediction is Jesse, Janine, and Dwight.  


Now for 44:

Brandon Cottom - I remember when he played for the Seahawks (he never made a final 53-man roster, but was in training camp three straight years).  I'll be rooting for him, and I do think he'll do pretty well, based on his application video I watched.

Bruce Perreault - Another Eric Abraham?  He's not quite as old, but he's definitely a longshot to win.

Carolyn Wiger - Her personality will determine everything, if she survives the pre-merge, and how well she'll fit in an alliance.

Carson Garrett - He should do better than Zach in 42, but his age will work against him.

Claire Rafson - Not much to say, I'd have to see her more, but she could do well.

Danny Massa - Reminds me of Voce from 41, appearance-wise.  If he can survive the merge, he's got a shot.

Frannie Marin - She reminds me of Kelyn from Ghost Island.  Hopefully she won't be as emotional.

Heidi Lagares-Greenblatt - She looks like she's going to want things her way, and that's not a good thing.  

Helen Li - Erika 2.0?  She'll likely be a social/strategic threat at some point.

Jaime Lynne Ruiz - I followed her on TikTok; she has good content.  I hope she does well, too.  I think she could.

Dr. Joshua Wilder - Hard to say how well he'll do... don't have much of a read on him.

Kane Fritzler - No exact age, from Saskatchewan... I have a feeling he'll have a tough time fitting in.

Lauren Harpe - I get Shan vibes from her, but not as assertive, which is a good thing.  She could do well.

Maddy Pomilla - Either a great player or early boot.  No in between.

Matthew Grinstead-Mayle - He will rub someone the wrong way.  Or multiple people.  I can't see him doing too well.

Matt ??? - No picture, age, or occupation, just his name and location of San Francisco.  I get the feeling we're not supposed to get too attached to him (like Rocksroy).

Sarah Wade - She'll be an early merge boot, following in the steps of Sydney, Tori, and Lydia.

Yamil "Yam Yam" Arocho - He's like Ricard, Naseer, and Omar rolled into one person.  Could he have all of their good qualities?  Hopefully.  But if he does, he'll be a huge threat.


It looks like Survivor cast very well again, and I'm looking forward to these seasons.  I might come back after these seasons have aired and see how my first impressions were.  

Survivor Best Players by Season

This is part 3 of 3 of my Survivor posts.

Throughout my rewatch of every season of Survivor, I am picking out who I think played the best overall game that season.  This player isn’t always the person who ended up winning that season, but they often are.  For me, my best player is (if not the best) one of the best at strategizing and doing their best to make sure they were never a target of a vote.  I am looking for solid, all-around players with very few weak spots in their game, so people who were a liability in challenges won’t be on here much, and I considered players more if they were great at challenges.  Basically, based on what I saw, these are the people who I think most deserved the million dollars because I felt they exemplified a true survivor best.  Sometimes that person did not even make it to Day 39 and the Final Tribal Council, due to bad luck, losing the final immunity challenge, a betrayal, or a matter out of their control.  Here they are:

Borneo: Richard Hatch
Survivor was a lot different in its first season, and from what they showed, Rich was the only one who schemed or seemed to plan anything.  Heck, Sean even had his “alphabet strategy” because he didn’t know how else to vote.  Anyway, the producers didn't want Richard to win (instead they wanted Rudy) as Rudy was more likable.  Rich courageously and smartly knew he did not have to win Final 3 immunity as either Kelly or Rudy would take him to the end, so he stepped down and saved his energy.  That’s a ballsy move and one that I have not seen matched since.

Australian Outback: Tina Wesson
I would love to have given this to Colby, but at the final tribal council, it did not sound like Colby wanted to win.  He didn't fight for himself much at all.  I don’t know why he did this, but not having a killer instinct or a strong desire to win will make me not choose someone, and in this case that is Colby.  He was just too honorable to try to make Tina look bad, I guess.  Tina, meanwhile, didn't really get on anyone's bad side, and in a season without a true scheming player, she was able to be the first "nice" player to win.  Keith was close, but he didn’t do enough to justify me picking him over the actual winner, Tina.  Tina was always on the right side of the vote, and once they got Jeff Varner out via a tiebreaker of past votes, they had the numbers advantage and it was smooth sailing for Tina.

Africa: Lex van den Berghe
The first non-winner that was the best player was Lex.  He was easily the biggest challenge threat of the season.  He was such a force in the game that there was a rumor that Kelly had thrown a vote his way (when in fact it was Theresa), and he was able to get Kelly voted out as a result.  His only downfall was the final immunity challenge in which he had a stomach bug that kept him up all night the previous night, costing him immunity, because he physically could not go on further.  But if he had somehow gone to the Final 2 against either Kim or Ethan, he definitely would have won.  Kim knew she had a better shot against Ethan in the Final 2, despite Ethan’s likability.  She knew the jury would’ve respected Lex’s gameplay too much. 

Marquesas: Kathy Vavrick O'Brien
Kathy was definitely the most well-respected player in Marquesas.  Neleh always had Paschal to protect her and Vecepia just scooted by without drawing too much attention to herself or even doing much.  Kathy also was the challenge "beast" of the season, because everyone else was only mediocre.  Just like with Lex, the final immunity challenge cost her.  In this case, it was wearing a low cut top.  We know she would've beaten Vecepia or Neleh if she made Final 2.  Vecepia and Neleh had made a deal behind Kathy’s back to take the other if either won immunity (because each knew they couldn’t have beaten Kathy), so Kathy had to have won that challenge to win the game.

Thailand: Brian Heidik
Brian straight-up lied to people's faces, most notably Ted and Helen.  He told them they weren't going at the next vote, yet they did.  He also was the challenge beast of the season.  This season wasn't known for its great players; in fact, only one player (Shii-Ann) returned to play again that was from this season, and she didn't even make the jury this season.  But Brian was in control pretty much the entire game and was never in danger of being voted out.  Much like with Richard Hatch in Borneo, Brian seemed to be the only real strategist of the season.

Amazon: Rob Cesternino
So far, the best players have either been 1st or 3rd.  Trust me, that will change.  Rob was the one true hard player this season.  Unfortunately for him, turning on Jenna and Heidi (and voting out Alex) cost him.  Also, not winning final three immunity just like Lex and Kathy couldn't, either.  But he basically controlled Matthew in the game and was the first true mastermind of the game.  What would've happened had he stuck with Jenna, Heidi, and Alex?  We'll never know.  But I don't blame him for picking Matthew and Butch; they were much more easily manipulated, and Rob had a VERY good shot at beating either of them in the Final 2. 

Pearl Islands: Sandra Diaz-Twine
Up until this season, no one had played the "as long as it's not me" game better than Sandra.  She always made sure was on the right side of the vote, and it helped that the opposite tribe struggled to win challenges.  However, she did not excel in challenges herself (at all).  In fact, she is still to this date the only Survivor winner not to win a single individual challenge, reward or immunity.  And she did it twice!  She excelled at the final tribal council, giving excellent answers to each of the juror's questions.  My favorite moment of hers was giving Burton and Jon a false sense of security by moping at camp.  She told Jon that she and the other two women did not form a pact to vote one of the guys out, when in fact they did, and she got the biggest threat left in the game in Burton voted out.  She also survived the horrible “outcasts” twist which saw Burton and Lil reintroduced into the game.

All-Stars: Amber Brkich
Now, I so badly wanted to go with Rob on this one.  Rob was the most manipulative player this season by far.  But I have to penalize players who backstab and betray people to the extent that it hurts their chances in the end.  Amber knew what she was doing.  She knew Rob would take all the bullets for her while still making all the decisions together.  She won the Final 4 immunity and I think would've won Final 3 immunity if not for a brain fart in hers in touching the idol with her other hand.  Rob betrayed Lex, Kathy, and Tom, and in some instances, such as with Lex, Rob did not handle it well at all and made Lex look like a fool.  You have to know where to draw the line, and Rob went too far.  Amber did not.  Sometimes the best move is to align with a bad guy, so you look better by comparison.

Vanuatu: Chris Daugherty
Yet again I pick the winner.  Chris went from challenge goat in the very first episode to winning the game.  He formed the "Fat Five" alliance, but once they picked off too many guys, the guys themselves started getting picked off by the women.  Chris then scraped and clawed and lied and deceived his way to the final two.  After that first vote where a woman finally got voted out (Leigh Ann), he was confident the rest of the way.  Sure, he betrayed Julie and Eliza, but they understood it was part of the game and voted for him to win anyway.  He also won the final two immunity challenges.  I think Ami was more of a challenge beast, but towards the end Chris really was in every single one of them, so he greatly improved his game in challenges.  Chris's game reminded me a bit of Brian Heidik's, in that once they got kinda near the end, they were confident in every vote and won the immunity challenges they needed to. 

Palau: Tom Westman
I'm sorry, but we're just in a stretch where the best player wins all the time.  This season wasn't known for its strategists.  Ian seemed to be the one doing the most talking and move-making, but he got caught in too many deals and lies, and ultimately to save face, he had to bow out of the Final 3 Immunity challenge.  Tom, meanwhile, was a beast at challenges, and I bet he set a record for the amount of times he was safe during an episode, whether it be tribal or individual immunity.  He did of course make moves and said things people didn't like, most notably Caryn and Coby, but he won by a margin of 6 votes to 1.  Many will describe him as one of the game's most deserving and likable winners.  Hard to go against that.

Guatemala: Rafe Judkins
I like to pick the challenge beasts, but not just because they do well at challenges.  Rafe had the most immunity wins, but he also did the best to set himself up to win the game.  He and Steph blindsided Jamie, Judd, Lydia and Cindy, yet Steph got all the blame.  Rafe was able to use her as a shield (Like how Amber used Rob).  In a final act of trying to win a jury vote (Steph), he told Danni she didn't HAVE to keep her word and take him to the end.  He did this because he felt bad for Stephanie and the way she fell out of the final immunity challenge.  He also did this in hopes Danni still would take him to the end.  She did not.  Had she taken him to the end, I think Rafe wins 5-2 or even 6-1.  He was well-liked and played the best all-around game, and Danni knew Rafe would have beaten her in the end.

Panama/Exile Island: Cirie Fields
I surprised even myself with this one.  Cirie, to me, played the best strategic and social game.  She engineered getting Courtney and Shane out.  That to me proved she deserved my choice for best of the season.  Aras, the eventual winner, didn't do too much, as I saw Cirie doing more game-planning than him.  It's just a shame she lost the Final 4 firemaking challenge to Danielle.  Had she won that, Cirie probably would have gone to the end and won the whole game.  Aras and Terry had a heated rivalry, and as Aras won the final three immunity he probably would've taken Cirie as he was in an alliance with her as well.  And I honestly think she would've beaten him, not just because of her better strategizing, but because she was more well-liked by everyone, even the people she engineered in voting out.

Cook Islands: Yul Kwon
Was there any question?  Yul found the idol and was able to sway Jonathan over to his side in the most crucial vote of the game.  He went from a tribe down in numbers (just four people) and got them to the Final 4.  He played a very diplomatic and calculated game.  He almost always knew exactly what to say to make the person he's talking to happiest, or in other words, the least upset.  He always talked very politically you might say.  Before the change where the idol could be played after the votes, it was extremely powerful and nobody in two seasons even attempted to flush the idol out, and so they never got played.  He used that to his advantage perfectly. 

Fiji: Yau-Man Chan
It was a close call between Yau-Man and Earl.  What made me choose Yau-Man as best player of the season was that Jeff polled the jury at the reunion show, asking them who they would've voted for if both Earl and Yau-Man were in the final.  Yau-Man got at least 6 of the votes.  Besides that, he was actually better in challenges than Earl and found the idol first.  He was the first person in Survivor history to play an idol successfully, and nobody else this season nor the next played an idol successfully, either.  Yau-Man's downfall was trusting Dreamz, but he was smart to make that deal.  Dreamz should have realized by reneging on that deal he wouldn't get much love from the jury, and Yau-Man was banking on Dreamz realizing that. 

China: Todd Herzog
Todd was in control from the get-go.  It helped to be on the tribe that won more challenges, because if he was on Zhan Hu, he might've been an early boot.  Todd made alliances with almost everyone on his tribe and they all believed he was genuine.  He wasn't particularly good at challenges, with Amanda winning the bulk of the late challenges.  But he was a target from Final 7 on, and he never had an idol in his possession, yet made it by.  He somehow was able to convince Courtney and Amanda and Denise to go to the end with him even though they didn't have a shot against him.  I think he was able to convince the girls they had a shot against him, when actually, they didn’t.

Micronesia/Fans vs. Favorites: Parvati Shallow
Parvati smartly got a lot of people on her side, and she was never pointed out as a threat.  She made alliances with her fellow female Favorites in Cirie and Amanda as well as two female Fans Natalie and Alexis.  She got Ozzy out before he could use the Idol.  She was willing to betray James, but didn't have to because he was medically evacuated.  She spearheaded the Black Widow Alliance and led it all the way to the title of Sole Survivor.  Cirie may have been my first two time pick as best player in a season, but she lost the final immunity challenge.  Also, had this been a Final 3, Cirie may have won, but I still don't think she played the absolute best game.  Parvati did.

Gabon: Kenny Hoang
This is the player who (so far) has placed the worst of all my best players of their season, which is 5th.  In watching the Final Tribal Council, it's evident that none of the best players in the game got to the end.  Sugar didn't get any votes, Susie flip-flopped and did very little strategizing, usually relying on other players to tell her what to do.  And then there's Bob.  Bob was very good in challenges and very good around camp, but did almost no strategizing.  His moves of giving fake idols were other people's ideas.  So to me, Kenny was the best player.  He strategized as well as anyone, executing multiple blindsides, most notably Marcus.  To be able to do that despite Kota dominating in challenges was impressive, although the tribe switches helped.  Kenny's one bad move was getting sure of himself and not realizing he was as big of a threat as he was, but also trying to make Bob out to be the bad guy at the tribal council before he got voted out.  He made a deal with Bob to get his immunity necklace, but Bob reneged on that deal. 

Tocantins: J.T. Thomas
Hard to pick against a guy who played a perfect game, which is to say, never receiving any votes against and receiving every vote at the final tribal council.  He was in danger shortly after the merge, but he made “allies” with Coach and Tyson and Debbie and exploited the fractured Timbira tribe.  It’s amazing that while he was definitely considered a threat to win challenges and the game his entire time there, he never received a single vote against him.  And it’s not like he never went to tribal council vulnerable; his Jalapao tribe lost more than Timbira and he went into the merge down in numbers, and he didn’t win that many immunity challenges (at least not until late in the game).  It’s more impressive to win a game down in numbers after the merge than it is up in numbers.  If it was a close vote at the final TC, I might consider Stephen for this, but Stephen was the Robin to J.T.’s Batman.  Sometimes, just being a really likable person is all it takes to win the game.

Samoa: Russell Hantz
Survivor is a game where it benefits you to lie and deceive people and try to manipulate them, and perhaps no one in the game’s history has done it better than Russell Hantz.  From day one, Russell worked all the women on his tribe and was able to convince the rest of his tribe (Mick, Jaison, Natalie) to vote anyone out that borderline threatened him.  He also was the first person in Survivor history to find a Hidden Immunity Idol without a single clue, and he did it twice.  Nowadays, that’s a common occurrence, but Russell started it.  He entered the merge with a target on his back and greatly down in numbers, but thanks to idols and his manipulating and getting Shambo on his side, he was able to get all the way to the end.  The jury should have swallowed their pride and recognized Russell’s dominating game and voted for him.  His game was a bit like Rob’s from All-Stars, except Russell wasn’t really working with anybody closely.  And Russell didn’t “betray” people quite like Rob did.

Heroes vs. Villains: Parvati Shallow
I couldn’t pick Russell again, because I don’t think he played as good of a game as he did in Samoa, and I can’t pick someone who gets ZERO votes at the final tribal council (if they make it that far).  He played a game that not one person on the jury could respect.  As for Sandra, I just don’t think she did enough in the game.  Sure, she tried exposing Russell for who he is, but she basically lucked herself into the win.  Had the Villains gone to another tribal before the merge, she would’ve been gone.  As for Parvati, she made one of the biggest moves in Survivor history by giving Jerri and Sandra her idols to swing the numbers in the Villains’ favor.  Had she not done that, none of the three of them make the final 3.  And she was challenge beast throughout the season, being in every individual challenge and winning two of the last three.  She should’ve won, but too many of the jury members didn’t like how close she was to Russell.  But like she said, she did what she had to to survive, which at the beginning of the game was aligning with Russell.  All of the Heroes on the jury voted for Sandra because they felt she was the closest thing to a Hero in the Final 3, not because she played the best game.  The only villain to vote for Sandra to win was Courtney who was close to her in the game.  We also can’t forget how Parvati was a target almost all game long, from early on in the game to late in the game, and never got voted out.  To me, Parvati should have been the first two-time winner and not Sandra.

Nicaragua: Holly Hoffman
This was a hard one.  The best strategists of the season, Brenda and Marty, were picked off early.  Chase and Sash both lost to Fabio, but Fabio was just “along for the ride” and was in the finals thanks to some timely immunity challenge wins.  Holly, however, I believe played the very best social game.  She was betrayed by Chase big time and paid the price.  There is no doubt Holly would have won if she had just made it one vote further.  Her story was very inspiring: she went from thinking of quitting to having the desire to win, and she almost did. 

Redemption Island: Rob Mariano
I don’t think one player has ever had this much control for this long in one season.  Boston Rob’s only “lack of control” came early on when his tribe lost some challenges and they had to vote out a few tribe mates.  But the other Zapatera tribe foolishly decided to throw a challenge to get out Russell Hantz, and Rob gained control from there by getting the numbers and controlling his tribe.  He almost treated it like some sort of dictatorship, where Rob did not allow his alliance members  to eat the other tribe’s portions of food or even talk to them alone.  Rob received votes, but only ever from the former Zapatera tribe members.  He even found an Idol that he never needed, and won immunities at crucial times, especially the Final 4 challenge in which I’ve never seen someone so relieved.  I would have to say that you really can’t play a better game of Survivor than Rob did in Redemption Island. 

South Pacific: Sophie Clarke
I seem to be always picking the winner now, but I think the jury got it right this season.  When I first watched this season, I thought the members of the jury were morons.  Now,  I think they chose correctly.  Obviously I had to choose someone in the five alliance as the best.  Rick did no strategizing and was generally poor in challenges.  Brandon was just off his rocker, but he should have gotten more respect from his family.  Albert was too wishy-washy and didn’t play a good social game.  Coach was my next choice, but he made the fatal move of making too many final three deals with people.  I look at Sophie’s game as a cross between Natalie’s of Samoa and Amber’s in All-Stars.  Her intelligence was vastly underrated, and she used a male player as a shield.  You get all the benefit of making the same moves without any of the blame.  And I didn’t even mention Sophie being the best at individual challenges, most notably defeating Ozzy at the Final Four immunity challenge. 

One World: Kim Spradlin
Kim dominated this game, and I think she played one of the best games we have ever seen.  She always put herself in a good position, and then won immunities when it mattered.  Her game was so dominant that she found an idol fairly early on and never came that close to playing it.  Troyzan was the only one who tried to take her out, but she took him out first.  And the biggest thing she did was convincing the other women that she wasn’t a threat to take out.  I would even argue Kim’s game was the most dominant game by a female in the history of Survivor. 

Philippines: Malcolm Freberg
Malcolm was often talked about being the biggest threat or the best player, and rightfully so.  He survived one of the worst tribes of all time, he integrated himself into the Tandang tribe with ease, and he formed a final four alliance with Skupin, Lisa, and Denise, that carried him to the final four.  Unfortunately, he got a F4 challenge that did him in.  I always think if one can find an idol, but they’re always so safe that they never need to play it, that they played a tremendous game, and that was the case for Malcolm.  He played a great social and strategic game, and came one challenge away from winning the million dollars. 

Caramoan: John Cochran
Cochran was never not in control.  Sure, he ceded “actual” control to Philip while Philip was in the game, but that was also a strategy of Cochran’s so that Philip would be the target before he was.  Who knows if or when Cochran would have taken Philip out if the “Three Amigos” didn’t idol him out of the game.  Just when Cochran was starting to be in danger, he won a couple immunities to help guide him to the end.  Cochran also played a perfect game, meaning he didn’t receive any votes against him, and he received all the votes at the Final Tribal Council.  Hard to go against that. 

Blood vs. Water: Tyson Apostol
Tyson was really in control most of the game.  He found two idols before other people, despite them having the same or more clues than him.  He always made sure he had at least two other people with him, usually Gervase and Monica.  He turned on Aras, Vytas, Tina, and Katie at the exact right time.  And then, just when he needed to most, he won individual immunities.  I think I would still have picked him for best player here had he drawn the white rock or if Monica had turned on him.  But it takes a bit of luck to win Survivor as well.

Cagayan: Tony Vlachos
I really could not go with anyone else.  Spencer would be 2nd best, if it’s any consolation.  Tony found a total of three (!) idols throughout his time there.  The funny thing is that he never had to use one to negate votes and save himself.  It was the way Tony talked them up and his “bag of tricks” which scared the other players into not voting for him.  Tony never won an individual immunity challenge, so he was eligible to get votes at every tribal council after the merge.  Yet, he never got the majority of votes.  I don’t like how he broke promises he made on his wife, child, and dead father, but that’s the way he plays, I guess, and it works.  But we have not, and probably will never see again, someone using Idols as a scare tactic better than Tony. 

San Juan Del Sur: Natalie Anderson
I hate always going with the actual winner, but I do think Survivor got better about the best player actually winning.  I was very tempted to award this to Jon, but he got too comfortable in his alliance and also got voted out with an idol in his pocket.  Natalie pulled off several brilliant moves, from “mistakenly” writing Alec’s name down, to blindsiding Baylor with her idol, to convincing Jacqueline that Missy and Keith were the threats she had to choose from.  She won a timely immunity challenge and of course, found an idol.  I was also surprised to learn she didn’t get a single vote against her all game, which is very tough to do.  She didn’t particularly get a winner’s edit, but she was the one player that kept on gaming and strategizing until the end. 

Worlds Apart: Carolyn Rivera
The fact that “Mama C” had to share 2nd place with Will is a travesty.  She smartly used Tyler as a shield until she could not any longer.  She found an idol on Day 1, despite not having the clue.  She knew Joaquin and So were looking for it and followed their footsteps.  She then joined the “Axis of Evil” alliance with the blue collars (minus Mike) and Will.  She won immunities when she needed it, and she played her idol perfectly, negating votes against her which included Dan’s extra vote.  She wasn’t overly impressive at the firemaking challenge against Rodney, which probably hurt her chances.  But she played a superior game to Mike, who made a horrible move to put himself on the outs and had to rely upon winning immunities to stay alive.  Carolyn never seemed to have to scramble, she always seemed like she was in control, and the one time we saw her in trouble, she remained calm.

Cambodia (Second Chance): Jeremy Collins
It’s hard to pick against someone who won unanimously at the final tribal council.  Jeremy played a very smart game.  One smart thing he did was not tell everyone his wife was expecting, as he may have been seen as a jury threat.  He also found two idols.  What always impresses me is when people are so sure of themselves in the game that they can play their idols for other players, and Jeremy did that for Stephen Fischbach.  Jeremy also smartly played his final idol at the “null votes” tribal council, and then won final immunity.  I’d say there was a chance he might have been turned on by Spencer and Tasha if he didn’t win that challenge, but he assured himself a spot at the final tribal council, where he gave some of the best answers I’ve seen there.  Somehow, Jeremy was never seen as a huge threat to win until it was too late, mostly because he aligned himself with people he knew wouldn’t turn on him (at least until it was too late).   

Kaoh Rong: Michele Fitzgerald
This was a very tough one to choose.  The one who outplayed the best was Tai, as he found an idol, won an advantage, and won multiple challenges.  But I went with the actual winner Michele.  I would argue she played one of the best social games in Survivor history.  She was never the backstabber of a vote.  She perfectly skirted between alliances.  The one time she was a target of someone (Tai), no one else wanted to vote for her because she had integrated herself so well.  She was talked about being a social threat late in the game, but she won the final four immunity to ensure her safety.  She then won the advantage to vote out a jury member.  She won challenges when it mattered, and she topped it off with a great final tribal council.  She deserved to win Kaoh Rong. 

Millennials vs. Gen X: Adam Klein
I was so tempted to pick David, but Adam won, and David didn’t.  David played too hard too soon and established himself as a threat.  Adam had about the same level of “outplay” as David, but Adam successfully used people as shields and took them out at the exact right times.  He also smartly didn’t tell anyone (except for Jay) about his mom’s cancer, which would have labeled him as a threat to win.  I mean, Adam did get every single jury vote, and it’s so hard to pick against that. 

Game Changers: Sarah Lacina
Yet again I chose the winner, but I just had to.  Sarah played a very sound strategic and social game.  She had a surprisingly little amount of blood on her hands by the end.  Her best move was getting the legacy advantage from Sierra even after she voted Sierra out.  She went into the game wanting to play like a criminal and not a cop, and boy did she.  She outed Tai, and she made Cirie look like a fool when Cirie tried to play Sarah’s advantage she had given Cirie to hold on to.  Very savvy and impressive game. 

Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers: Devon Pinto
Boy, this was a tough one.  I feel like the final four each had their strengths.  Ben relied too much on idols and that last minute twist, because without it, he was a goner.  Chrissy relied too much on winning immunity.  Ryan couldn’t keep a dang secret, and I think he only made one good move all game, finding the idol advantage and giving it to Chrissy.  But Devon did a good job of ingratiating himself into alliances.  He formed bonds with Healers, Ryan, Chrissy, and Ashley.  Ben saw him as a target, and at Final 5, Devon would have been gone had he not cast his vote for Dr. Mike.  Devon had the best social game, and I’m almost positive if he made it to the end, he would have won. 

Ghost Island: Wendell Holland
I had to go back to picking the winner again.  Wendell played a great social game, used Dominick as a shield, found an important idol, and won timely immunity challenges.  Wendell won the final 6 and 5 immunities.  Little did he know then, that him giving his idol to Laurel at final 5 probably ensured she voted for him in the tie-breaking vote.  That was huge.  He didn’t win the final 4 immunity, but he knew how to make fire so he didn’t have to win it.  Wendell didn’t really piss anyone off, and helped build shelters to help build a very strong social game. 

David vs. Goliath: Nick Wilson
Nick earned this win.  He flew under the radar for the most part, although he had to rely on Pat’s injury (possibly) to survive the first vote.  But after that, he smartly made little alliances with people, even giving them nicknames, like Mason-Dixon with Christian and the Rockstar Alliance with Mike.  What I always think makes a great player late is their ability to come in clutch and win a lot of the final immunity challenges, and Nick did just that.  But perhaps the best thing Nick did was boding with Angelina and Mike, making it very hard for them to turn on him. 

Edge of Extinction: Rick Devens
It’s too bad that everyone saw Devens as the huge threat he was to win.  He was like the Ben Driebergen of his season, finding idols and having a huge target on his back post-merge.  Unfortunately for him, unlike Ben, he did not win the fire-making challenge.  Chris took the opportunity to take him out, and he did just that.  Sure, Rick did get voted out, but he wasn’t out of the game too long.  I also want to add he wouldn’t have been voted out the first time if his tribe wasn’t so awful at challenges.

Island of the Idols: Janet Corbin
I’m not going to go into much detail, because I stopped rewatching at IOI, so  I’m going off my memory of what I remember watching over a year ago.  Janet was extremely likable and did surprisingly well in challenges, I remember.  It’s just unfortunate that in the game of Survivor, if you’re likable, you’re a target.  If Janet gets to the end, I think she beats anyone who finished ahead of her. 

Winners at War: Tony Vlachos
It would have been a travesty if Tony didn’t win.  He won numerous immunity challenges, especially when he needed them most.  He made a core alliance that he stuck with, and he eliminated anyone that opposed him (Kim) or anyone that was flaky (Jeremy, Nick).  He was given so little help in the game that, as he stated at the Final Tribal Council, he got more hurt by advantages than helped by them.  He found an idol, which he didn’t have to play, but after Natalie played hers at Final 6, he realized he better play it safe.  To top it off, he didn’t receive a single vote against him, and he won in a 12-4-0 landslide victory.  Tony is the king of Survivor.
To finish this off, some stats about the players I picked as the best player their season:

- 25 out of 40 times, I conceded that the winner was the best player that season.
- Three of these players received an amount of votes in the double digits: Lex, Carolyn, and Devens (who led the way with 12). Both Devens and Carolyn negated some votes with an Idol. Lex played when there were no idols. - Malcolm and Devens tied for seven individual challenge wins - Of the 40 players, so far 28 have gone on to play after the season I picked them as the best. That's largely thanks to Winners at War. - The lowest my best player ranked is 5th, shared by Kenny (Gabon) and Janet (Island of the Idols).