Post by Mark "Papa Bear" Caruso on Dec 27, 2012 2:59:49 GMT -5
Alright, here goes nothing again...
- I feel like the second round of this game will forever be remembered by me as the round where I lost all faith in humanity. Allow me to explain...
- I claimed both privately and openly that I was unaffected by the random vote I received at the last tribal council. Here in the comfort of my own confessional, I'll admit that vote bothered me a little bit. It bothered me because it made no sense. To me, Cochran and Semhar were clearly the weak links and both deserved all the votes they got. So for me to have to swallow my pride a little bit and accept that someone viewed me as extraneous to the tribe was a little bit tough. Not I'll also admit that I wasn't stretching the truth when I confessed at tribal council that the vote was an excellent reminder that you are never fully safe in this game without immunity. In fact, I may treasure that lesson for the rest of my time in this game. Once again, you cannot trust people.
- As if that weren't enough, this round I also learned that luck is not on my side just yet either. In a challenge that I felt confident that Savaii could win - especially with a disadvantage on Mikayla's part - we turned out to be the unlucky ones and the losers by quite a decisive margin. To me, that was the bummer of all bummers. After Semhar's dramatic departure at the last tribal council, I wanted to be able to take a few days to relax and watch as the numbers were pulled even between Savaii and Upolu. Instead, I'm scrambling on my way to tribal council - never a fun occasion.
- And, of course, when it rains, it pours. All this round Cochran has been inflating my ego a little bit by telling my how grateful he is that I didn't vote for him and how incredible of a player I am. I confess that I may have bought into that. In fact, I bought into it so much that when I got word that MY name was on the chopping block, I was a little bit shocked. Apparently, Ozzy elected to kick me while I'm down and use the vote against me last round as a reason to take me out of the game. To me, that's foolish. But it also screams that there might be some validity to Semhar's aforementioned rant where she declared that some folks on the tribe are previously connected. Apparently Ozzy is one of those people. Now, I'm never one for conspiracy theories, but if people are going to come into a game with alliances with people they have met from another game, I'm not entirely sure how I feel about that. Either way, this round I have learned that Ozzy is quite the jackass, and I am eager for the day that I may or may not get the opportunity to directly duel his ass or take him out of this game. Foreshadowing? Perhaps.
- But for every jackass in the world, there are many more heroes. And that is certainly the case with my friends Cochran, Elyse, and Dawn. These three and I have come together to decide that we cannot sit back and let Ozzy play Hitler. In all reality, this decision is as beneficial to them as it is to my own well-being in the game. In fact, I'm not so sure they are doing it for me at all. Nonetheless, we are kind of viewing this as our chance to hold our ground and turn the tides in the game. It's unbelievable that something like that is necessary this early in the game, but apparently it is. If the four of us choose to stick together the whole time remains to be seen, but as of right now they claim that they are willing to take it all the way to drawing rocks if need be. I hope they are sincere.
- One other thing I have learned is that Elyse and Cochran are undoubtedly the strategists that I was hoping to surround myself with. Tonight, we left no stone unturned as we explored every option possible for the vote. They entertained the notion of convincing Jim to vote for Ozzy, of convincing Ozzy and company to vote for Jim, and what seemed like a million other options before deciding that the best bet was voting for Keith and making both Ozzy AND Jim vulnerable for a rock drawing. In my opinion, that is brilliant because it really puts the pressure on them to put their money where their mouth is and follow through to drawing rocks. I'm still not entirely convinced that one of them won't cave, but time will tell. Either way, nothing will happen that Cochran and Elyse haven't explored the option of happening already.
- I'm realizing more and more that I got off to too slow of a start in communicating with others. Unfortunately, I'm still sitting here wondering who people like Whitney are and what they are thinking. To be honest, that was my mistake. Big time. Back in my early days of playing, it was always frowned upon to be the guy who sent messages or tried to contact everyone extremely early with insincere, vague messages. Instead, I tried to make deep connections slowly and surely throughout our tribe. And, honestly, that would have worked beautifully if we would have been immune twice. I mean, heck, the people that I have spent the most time talking to, Elyse and Cochran, are now willing to draw rocks to defend me. But there are still too many people who don't even know who I am going into our second tribal council. I'm hoping this will not be a fatal mistake for me.
- Redemption Island is a blessing in disguise for me. It's keeping me from getting down or discouraged honestly. I know that if something happens and people change their minds or if they have been lying to me this whole time, I still have that back up plan to rely on. In all honesty, I think I could handle Redemption Island pretty well and defend myself well enough to battle back into the game. Of course, everyone probably thinks that about himself or herself though. Either way, it's nice to know that when my torch may or may not be snuffed tomorrow, all hope is not lost.
- And with that, I'm going to follow through with the plan. I'm about to go cast a vote for Keith. My tribemates will see that vote for Keith show up in the tribal council thread, but what they will not see are my crossed fingers and elevated blood pressure. Once again, I do not feel confident in the least going into this vote, and I have to just hope that everyone is as genuine as they are claiming to be. I feel like I have made some pretty meaningful connections so far. We'll see if it's good enough. Hoping for the best....
Papa Bear
- I feel like the second round of this game will forever be remembered by me as the round where I lost all faith in humanity. Allow me to explain...
- I claimed both privately and openly that I was unaffected by the random vote I received at the last tribal council. Here in the comfort of my own confessional, I'll admit that vote bothered me a little bit. It bothered me because it made no sense. To me, Cochran and Semhar were clearly the weak links and both deserved all the votes they got. So for me to have to swallow my pride a little bit and accept that someone viewed me as extraneous to the tribe was a little bit tough. Not I'll also admit that I wasn't stretching the truth when I confessed at tribal council that the vote was an excellent reminder that you are never fully safe in this game without immunity. In fact, I may treasure that lesson for the rest of my time in this game. Once again, you cannot trust people.
- As if that weren't enough, this round I also learned that luck is not on my side just yet either. In a challenge that I felt confident that Savaii could win - especially with a disadvantage on Mikayla's part - we turned out to be the unlucky ones and the losers by quite a decisive margin. To me, that was the bummer of all bummers. After Semhar's dramatic departure at the last tribal council, I wanted to be able to take a few days to relax and watch as the numbers were pulled even between Savaii and Upolu. Instead, I'm scrambling on my way to tribal council - never a fun occasion.
- And, of course, when it rains, it pours. All this round Cochran has been inflating my ego a little bit by telling my how grateful he is that I didn't vote for him and how incredible of a player I am. I confess that I may have bought into that. In fact, I bought into it so much that when I got word that MY name was on the chopping block, I was a little bit shocked. Apparently, Ozzy elected to kick me while I'm down and use the vote against me last round as a reason to take me out of the game. To me, that's foolish. But it also screams that there might be some validity to Semhar's aforementioned rant where she declared that some folks on the tribe are previously connected. Apparently Ozzy is one of those people. Now, I'm never one for conspiracy theories, but if people are going to come into a game with alliances with people they have met from another game, I'm not entirely sure how I feel about that. Either way, this round I have learned that Ozzy is quite the jackass, and I am eager for the day that I may or may not get the opportunity to directly duel his ass or take him out of this game. Foreshadowing? Perhaps.
- But for every jackass in the world, there are many more heroes. And that is certainly the case with my friends Cochran, Elyse, and Dawn. These three and I have come together to decide that we cannot sit back and let Ozzy play Hitler. In all reality, this decision is as beneficial to them as it is to my own well-being in the game. In fact, I'm not so sure they are doing it for me at all. Nonetheless, we are kind of viewing this as our chance to hold our ground and turn the tides in the game. It's unbelievable that something like that is necessary this early in the game, but apparently it is. If the four of us choose to stick together the whole time remains to be seen, but as of right now they claim that they are willing to take it all the way to drawing rocks if need be. I hope they are sincere.
- One other thing I have learned is that Elyse and Cochran are undoubtedly the strategists that I was hoping to surround myself with. Tonight, we left no stone unturned as we explored every option possible for the vote. They entertained the notion of convincing Jim to vote for Ozzy, of convincing Ozzy and company to vote for Jim, and what seemed like a million other options before deciding that the best bet was voting for Keith and making both Ozzy AND Jim vulnerable for a rock drawing. In my opinion, that is brilliant because it really puts the pressure on them to put their money where their mouth is and follow through to drawing rocks. I'm still not entirely convinced that one of them won't cave, but time will tell. Either way, nothing will happen that Cochran and Elyse haven't explored the option of happening already.
- I'm realizing more and more that I got off to too slow of a start in communicating with others. Unfortunately, I'm still sitting here wondering who people like Whitney are and what they are thinking. To be honest, that was my mistake. Big time. Back in my early days of playing, it was always frowned upon to be the guy who sent messages or tried to contact everyone extremely early with insincere, vague messages. Instead, I tried to make deep connections slowly and surely throughout our tribe. And, honestly, that would have worked beautifully if we would have been immune twice. I mean, heck, the people that I have spent the most time talking to, Elyse and Cochran, are now willing to draw rocks to defend me. But there are still too many people who don't even know who I am going into our second tribal council. I'm hoping this will not be a fatal mistake for me.
- Redemption Island is a blessing in disguise for me. It's keeping me from getting down or discouraged honestly. I know that if something happens and people change their minds or if they have been lying to me this whole time, I still have that back up plan to rely on. In all honesty, I think I could handle Redemption Island pretty well and defend myself well enough to battle back into the game. Of course, everyone probably thinks that about himself or herself though. Either way, it's nice to know that when my torch may or may not be snuffed tomorrow, all hope is not lost.
- And with that, I'm going to follow through with the plan. I'm about to go cast a vote for Keith. My tribemates will see that vote for Keith show up in the tribal council thread, but what they will not see are my crossed fingers and elevated blood pressure. Once again, I do not feel confident in the least going into this vote, and I have to just hope that everyone is as genuine as they are claiming to be. I feel like I have made some pretty meaningful connections so far. We'll see if it's good enough. Hoping for the best....
Papa Bear