Big Brother 3: Missing Roddy

I was out of the country for two weeks and missed Big Brother while I was gone. Hence, I did not see Gerry's eviction, nor did I see the last two weeks of Roddy in the house. And I feel bad. Out of all the houseguests, Roddy was my favorite, Gerry and Jason coming in tied for second.

What is it about Roddy that turned all the female writers at this site to become hysterical when his name is mentioned? I don't know. He is handsome, and he has the bluest eyes ever to come out of NJ since Frank Sinatra. He has a body on him that can stop traffic.

But it is more than that. It was his humor. It was his intelligence. It was the first time I had a crush on a reality show contestant from my home state.

I almost cried when Roddy was evicted. This was upsetting.

Those who know me, or who have read my writings, know that in almost every reality show I have had a favorite - who doesn't? I have also had my schoolgirl crushes on various contestants - I had one on Frank from Survivor 3 and Rob the limo driver from Survivor 4. I have a huge crush on Tommy New York, a contestant from Temptation Island 2, and now I have a crush on the NYC cop on Survivor 5. I even have a crush on Shola and Doyin Richards, contestants from The Amazing Race 2, who are the two nicest men I have ever met in real life, and handsomer in person than on TV.

But Roddy - he was different. Roddy appealed to me, once I overlooked those eyes, because he has a brain. And what a marvelous brain he has.

I started to subscribe to the live feeds because I felt, as a writer on this site, I should have them, and also because I don't watch a lot of TV in the summer, so I can listen to the live feeds as I do other work. And when I was watching the live feeds I noticed something. All the houseguests were interesting, and I loved them. But Roddy… Roddy was the best thing that has happened to my brain since I graduated from college.

For those who didn't get the live feeds, Roddy would talk. Roddy knew things. One night Roddy engaged Marcellas and Jason in a whole theological discussion of God. Roddy brought up examples from Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. He threw in a bit too about Buddhism, and Hinduism. All that was missing was Zoroastrianism. But he knew these things. It was like sitting in on a Freshman Philosophy course.

I loved it. Roddy seemed to know everything, he was like the winning person on Jeopardy. And this may have cost him some in the house. People tend to attract similar people. I like to be around people like Roddy who will make me think. I don't like to be around dim bulbs. Not saying that the other houseguests were that, but none of them except maybe Gerry would be on the level to discuss existentialism or something like that for hours. And I would watch for hours on the live feeds, fascinated. My brain would get a workout. And I would really enjoy myself listening to him.

I know Danielle referred to Roddy as the Devil. I know that others in the house felt he was a threat because of his intelligence. He admitted that he wasn't familiar with the show, and stated several times his stay in the house was akin to putting "Crocodile Dundee on Survivor."

But even if Roddy hadn't seen the previous two seasons, he knew people. He knew how to listen to them and figure out their weaknesses to exploit them to his own advantage. Not a bad thing on Big Brother, or any other reality show. Even in real life, in the work force, this is what you have to do to get ahead, if you can't get ahead by nepotism. But the deal with Roddy is while he was doing this, he was still being a friend. And he was true to himself. He didn't suffer or lose his soul to play the game as another player might have done.

Well, now that Roddy is gone, the house is missing him. It is so boring. The live feeds are boring. Even Huck the shark and the rubber ducks cannot make it. All I can say is hurry up with whatever you are writing, Roddy, I am dying to read it.

I think in the meantime maybe I will start the Roddy Mancuso Fan Club from NJ. It's the least I can do.

Susan will be covering The Amazing Race 3 for RealityNewsOnline shortly. She can be reached as always, at sschechter@earthlink.net.

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