The Terry Fator Award- Male Reality Contestant

Named For: Terry Fator (America's Got Talent)
Awarded To: The best male reality competition contestant
2009 Winner: Dan Gheesling (Big Brother)
2010 Winner: Russell Hantz (Survivor)

Place. Nominee (Series) Points (My Vote)

10. Flight Time and Big Easy (Amazing Race) 0 points

9. Morgan Wilson (Top Chef) 0 points

8. Zev and Justin (Amazing Race) 2 points (5th)

7. Lane Elenburg (Big Brother) 4 points

6. Hayden Moss (Big Brother) 6 points

5. Richard Blais (Top Chef) 9 points

4. Enzo Palumbo (Big Brother) 11 points (3rd)

3. Paul McDonald (American Idol) 12 points (4th)

2. Phil Sheppard (Survivor) 21 points (2nd)

and the Poolie goes to...

1. Rob Mariano (Survivor) 31 points (1st)

This is Rob Mariano's second Poolie nomination for best male reality competition contestant, and first ever win of the Terry Fator Award.

It took Boston Rob Mariano four seasons, but he finally won the coveted honor of Sole Survivor.  He did it with class.  He did it with style.  And he did it by completely controlling everyone on the island from start to finish.  Not only did he lie, steal, and back stab his way to the final tribal, but he brought with him two contestants that were not going to have a prayer of beating him at the jury vote.  He out Russelled Russell Hantz in a season that was dubbed "Rob vs. Russell" and we all were better for it.  Not only was he a fantastic player, but he was a joy to watch.  I wasn't in the Survivor game way back when this guy got started, but it's hard to imagine he was ever more entertaining than he was here, on Redemption Island.

Survivor Week 7- I Think I'd Go With Boston

Coach Wade- "I came here to win this game...not at all costs."

So we lost Boston Rob Mariano this week. Was he one my favorites on the show? Yes. Am I that upset that he's gone? No. That's just the nature of the beast. I respect the game play done by the Villains this week. They can smell the merge coming and realize that it is now about getting rid of some big time players. Who cares if Courtney stays or goes at this point? If you're Russell or Coach, you want Rob gone. If you're with Russell or Coach, you also want him gone.

I'm not surprised that it was Boston Rob and not Russell who left the Villains. For as big of an egomaniac Russell is, the rest of the players haven't gotten a chance to witness it on television. Boston Rob had a built in reputation of being a good challenge player and a good strategic player form past seasons. Jerri and Coach haven't really seen what Russell is doing behind the scenes so they're much more likely to fall for his lies than they would be for Rob's lies.

So we ended up with Russell, Parvati and Danielle vs. Rob, Courtney and Sandra. Jerri and Coach could be swayed either way. When Russ was spilling his plea to the two floaters, I was amazed that Jerri ate the whole thing up and Coach of all people called BS! This guy believes anything you throw at him. If HE knows Russell is spinning a web of lies then we know Russ is off his game.

But Coach being the non-loyal warrior that he is, voted off Rob and sided with Darth Russell. On the bright side though, we got another legendary quote from the Dragonslayer, "At the dawn of every morning, hope springs eternal." What that had to do with the given situation, I have no idea.

The Heroes won both challenges this week in what has become a ritual of Survivor. The team that continues to lose tribe members, begins to come together as the group gets smaller and smaller. The Heroes, down to only the Fantastic Five as Rupert named them, has no choice but to get along with each other. This new spirit and team cohesion leads to challenge victories and a nice momentum boost as that merge gets closer.

Fantasy Results

Punch Face Champions

Russell (Villains)- W7 (22), Votes (-12)= 10
Danielle (Villains)- W7 (22)= 22
Sandra (Villains)- W7 (22)= 22
JT (Heroes)- W7 (22), Reward (4), Im (8)= 34
Tom (Heroes)
Week 7= 88 Total= 401

Redwood Original

Boston Rob (Villains)- Votes (-16)= -16
Parvati (Villains)- W7 (22)= 22
Colby (Heroes)- W7 (22), Reward (4), Im (8)= 34
Sugar (Heroes)
Candice (Heroes)- W7 (22), Reward (4), Im (8)= 34
Week 7= 74 Total= 320

DJ Roomba

Tyson (Villains)
Randy (Villains)
Jerri (Villains)- W7 (22)= 22
Rupert (Heroes)- W7 (22), Reward (4), Im (8)= 34
Amanda (Heroes)- W7 (22), Reward (4), Im (8)= 34
Week 7= 90 Total= 281

Kick Puncher III

Coach (Villains)- W7 (22)= 22
Courtney (Villains)- W7 (22), Votes (-4)= 18
James (Heroes)
Stephenie (Heroes)
Cirie (Heroes)
Week 7= 40 Total= 179

Survivor Heroes vs. Villains- Week 2

Boston Rob Mariano went through a ridiculous couple of days during this week's Survivor. After once again complaining that no one in his tribe wants to do any work he decided to stop putting in the effort and join his fellow lazy friends.

Here's where things get interesting. Boston Rob started to talk about how he wasn't feeling well. No one, including myself, thought anything of it, but as he began walking through the woods he just passed out. The dude fell on his face in the woods. When Probst and the medical team got to him he had woken up but was looking terrible. He could hardly speak and looked like Joe Buddens when he tried to drink out of the water bottle.

When Rob uttered the words, "It's getting the best of me," I couldn't help but laugh out loud. It definitely felt like he was acting at that moment. He was trying to be vulnerable for the audience. If that's true I commend the dude. When he claimed that he had a moment of clarity I got worried, but then when Rob explained what that clarity was it was all for the best. The dude figured out that he passed out from being too good. He needed to get back to the villain that he was in Survivor's seasons past. What a great moment of clarity.

He followed up that great moment in the woods with one of the best challenge performances I've seen in a while. While the Heroes tribe was busy arguing with each other the Villains worked together to win the second immunity challenge in a row. Every single Hero thinks that they are something special and all needed to give their opinion on what needed to be done. On the Villains side, on the other hand, everyone took a step backseat to Boston Rob. He took the leader role and yelled at everyone what to do. It was great to see the likes of Russell, Coach and Tyson as silent worker bees for an entire competition. Villains are working competitions like clockwork right now.

Punch Face Champions

Russell (Villains)- W2 (2), Im (8)= 10
Danielle (Villains)- W2 (2), Im (8)= 10
Sandra (Villains)- W1 (2), Im (8)= 10
JT (Heroes)- W2 (2)= 2
Tom (Heroes)- W2 (2)= 2
Week 2= 34 Total= 71

DJ Roomba

Tyson (Villains)- W2 (2), Im (8)= 10
Randy (Villains)- W2 (2)= 2
Jerri (Villains)- W2 (2), Im (8)= 10
Rupert (Heroes)- W2 (2)= 2
Amanda (Heroes)- W2 (2), Votes (-12)= -10
Week 2= 14 Total= 47

Kick Puncher III

Coach (Villains)- W2 (2), Im (8)= 10
Courtney (Villains)- W2 (2)= 2
James (Heroes)- W2 (2)= 2
Stephanie (Heroes)- Votes (-24)= -24
Cirie (Heroes)- W2 (2)= 2
Week 2= -8 Total= 25

Redwood Original

Boston Rob (Villains)- W2 (2), Im (8)= 10
Parvati (Villains)- W2 (2), Im (8)= 10
Colby (Heroes)- W2 (2)= 2
Sugar (Heroes)-
Candice (Heroes)- W2 (2)= 2
Week 2= 24 Total= 20

Survivor Heroes vs. Villains- Week 1

After the season premier of Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains I have one immediate thought on the game play of these supposed All-Stars and plenty of immediate thoughts on the players themselves. Let's just start with this...

"Sometimes you gotta go retrieve dragon eggs," Coach Wade, the Dragon Slayer.

It was quite an exciting moment watching all of the past players come to Samoa via the choppers. I, being someone who has only seen the past three season, can't imagine what it must be like for someone who's been watching for the past ten years. As for the contestants themselves; many of them are looking around, amazed to be in the same company as so many Survivor Greats.

Immediate Game Play Thoughts

Right from the announcement of this All-Stars season, I was looking forward to watching a game get played by plenty of people that want to actually play. Last season it was fun watching Russell toy with everyone on the entire island of Samoa, but I also think it would be fantastic to see a multitude of people playing just as hard. That is exactly what I thought we were getting as this two hour episode progressed.

Maybe it was only the first day, but I was completely wrong. After the Villains won the immunity challenge, the Heroes had to make their first decision on who to send home. The obvious first choice that everyone came up with was Sugar. She's terrible at challenges, doesn't do anything at camp and is ridiculously annoying. Then one by one (or so the producers wanted us to think) different members of the Heroes tribe came up with alternative choices for who should get sent home first. Whether it was splitting up a Tom/Stephanie alliance, getting rid of Amanda because she's made it to the final two twice before, or stepping on Cirie's mind games early, almost everyone came up with a better idea than voting out Sugar.

What happened at Tribal Council? Of course the editing was a misdirection, as Sugar got every vote but her own. Is not one of these so-called All-Stars brave enough to make a move early in the game. Sure Sugar's not going to help in the challenges, but some of these other girls (I include Rupert in that) might not either. Why not get rid of someone that could vie for something meaningful down the road? I expect this from a bunch of novices, but I really didn't see it coming with these guys. Disappointing.

Immediate Player Thoughts

Boston Rob and Parvati- These are two players from older seasons that I had never seen before, but had heard great things about them and picked both of them for my fantasy squad. After two hours I am thoroughly impressed with the both of them. Boston Rob just seems like a guy that gets things done. He only showed a glimpse of his game playing skills, but I liked the move. When Probst inquired about how camp was for the villains, he portrayed it to be much worse than it actually was, failing to mention that they made fire without a flint. Speaking of...Boston Rob made fire by rubbing two sticks together! I've never seen it happen before so that is automatic stud status.

Parvati seems really awesome so far. Her conversation with Russell this week was fantastic. The self-proclaimed 'best Survivor player of all time' did his usual thing, going up to a number of people right at the beginning and telling them he wants to go to the end with them. After it seemed to go over well with Danielle, he went right to Parvati. Although a couple of people from last season, Betsy? in particular, realized he was full of it, none of them embraced it the way Parvati did last night. She knew he was lying to her, and that he was doing the same thing to plenty of people around camp, but it didn't stop her from enjoying it.

"I definitely feel like with Russell, I'm making a deal with the Devil, but I want the Devil on my side," Parvati.

Rupert- At the beginning of the episode Probst mentioned that this dude was one of the most liked contestants in Survivor history...pause...Is he kidding? I hate this guy more than anything. I didn't think he could get any worse than his two minute intro video, but I believe he did last night. Referring back to Boston Rob making fire with no flint, this dude couldn't even do it with a flint. Terrible.

Coach and Russell- These are the two guys that I look at with the fondest of memories in recent Survivor history. After last night's two hours, they are in two completely different boats for me. Russell's schtick has worn off for me. Maybe it was just last night, but it seemed as though he was saying the exact same things as he did the first time. Ohhh I'm the best player ever. I'm gonna manipulate all these people. Is that all you got? 'Cause if so, I'm a little over it.

Coach, on the other hand, did not disappoint. His schtick may be the same, but he at least comes up with new things to say. What comes out of his mouth might always have to do with being a Dragon Slayer, but that in turn leads to new quotes such as the one used above, "Sometimes you gotta go retrieve dragon eggs." The other underrated aspect that Coach brings to the table, is that he brings out the best in Jeff Probey Probst. Probst loves to make fun of Coach to his face, and everyone, including Coach, loves it. He embraces it. They combined for the best line of the night when the Villains were on a boat in the water Probst exclaimed, "Coach leading the villains, using all of that life experience in a kayak."

Punch Face Champions

Russell (Villains)- W1 (1), Im (8)= 9
Danielle (Villains)- W1 (1), Im (8)= 9
Sandra (Villains)- W1 (1), Im (8)= 9
JT (Heroes)- W1 (1), Reward (4)= 5
Tom (Heroes)- W1 (1), Reward (4)=5
Week 1= 37 Total= 37

DJ Roomba

Tyson (Villains)- W1 (1), Im (8)= 9
Randy (Villains)- W1 (1), Im (8)= 9
Jerri (Villains)- W1 (1), Im (8)= 9
Rupert (Heroes)- W1 (1), Reward (4)= 5
Amanda (Heroes)- W1 (1), Reward (4), Votes (-4)= 1
Week 1= 33 Total= 33

Kick Puncher III

Coach (Villains)- W1 (1), Im (8)= 9
Courtney (Villains)- W1 (1), Im (8)= 9
James (Heroes)- W1 (1), Reward (4)= 5
Stephanie (Heroes)- W1 (1), Reward (4)= 5
Cirie (Heroes)- W1 (1), Reward (4)= 5
Week 1= 33 Total= 33

Redwood Original

Boston Rob (Villains)- W1 (1), Im (8)= 9
Parvati (Villains)- W1 (1), Im (8)= 9
Colby (Heroes)- W1 (1), Reward (4)= 5
Sugar (Heroes)- Reward (4), Votes (-36)= -32
Candice (Heroes)- W1 (1), Reward (4)= 5
Week 1= -4 Total= -4