Survivor: One World Roundtable Predictions Update, Episode 8 – Blown Away!

Every season, the RNO scribes play Nostradamus and predict how the season will go. Our mission, should we decide to accept it: Predict the pre-jury boots, finalists, and ultimately, the winner.

By now most of you know that a day before the latest episode aired, North Texas got a reminder of exactly why we used to have a soccer team called the “Dallas Tornado,” as about a dozen of the twisters reportedly touched down here. While there was little if any loss of life thanks to technology that now warns us well in advance, there was obviously a lot of property damage.

Like a tornado, the game of Survivor is often unpredictable and can change course in the blink of an eye. Accordingly, some writers saw their pre-season predictions relatively unscathed by Mike’s ouster in the most recent episode, while others saw their seasons suffer irreparable damage. But unlike a lot of people in Dallas, Mike didn’t realize he was not in a safe place, game-wise, and had no idea he was right in the path of the storm we call Tribal Council.

While Mike saw his chances of winning the game completely destroyed, the writers suffered varying degrees of damage to their predictions: Some were completely unscathed, while a couple of poor unfortunate souls saw their seasons seriously damaged, if not wrecked altogether.

Hardest hit by this would have to be me, since Mike was my projected winner. I blame it all on the events of a few weeks ago, when RNO editor David Bloomberg lost his second finalist and winner in Bill. He stated at the time the only way for him to win the season was for everyone else to do as poorly as he did. Lo and behold, since that proclamation, five of us have watched our winners get booted. Ironically, this week, David’s predictions also suffered major damage, as he lost his last remaining finalist with Mike’s leaving. David, how do you feel about this development?

Not a surprise. I knew Mike was doomed and was already figuring to lose him. As I said, it doesn't matter anyway – my goal is not to rise to the top, but to drag everybody else down to the bottom with me.

As with last week, it should be noted that we all picked eight people to miss the merge, but since only six did, anyone who picked Mike or Jonas for an early exit still gets credit for a win in that regard. Only those who picked either player as a finalist get charged with a loss. But if there’s a tie at the end, the tiebreaker will come down to having either or both of those two in the jury.

As far as the standings go, despite losing his last remaining finalist, David stays out of the cellar due to having a better win-loss record than Chris. With the exit of Mike, I drop to a tie for fifth with Sarah. Unlike Mike, I sort of saw this coming, as the men were now in the minority and Mike was probably the strongest of those left. Still, it means yet another season goes by where I have failed to predict the winner. I’ve come close a few times, such as with Ozzy last time around, but my winner always seems to come up a bit short. I can still win the season among the writers, but my only hope is to have Christina make the finals, and that probably ain’t happening.

While Sarah and I have identical records, our weeks were anything but: I lost my winner, but she correctly forecast a jury spot for Mike. Sarah, how do you feel about this?

I'm just glad to get one right for a change. Better yet, my husband suggested at the start of Tribal Council that it might be Christina to go. I, secure in the knowledge that nobody had picked Christina to win, told him it would be Mike. One marital point to me!

Incidentally, just looking ahead to next season, is there an altar around here somewhere on which we can place offerings to appease David?

Well David, how about it?

My dark rage cannot be soothed until I properly predict a winner again.

To which I just heard William reply:

Or until the Cubs win the pennant.

Now you have both incurred an extra dose of my rage!

It only makes me hungry for more!

I'll take any point I can get. Besides, at this point I'm looking ahead to the non-winner finalists everybody selected.

At this point, almost all of us are. William, you were the only one to pick Jonas for the jury, and this week, you got Mike right as well.

I'll take the point, even though it means I'm guaranteed to get at least two more wrong later on. What really pisses me off is that I still haven't gotten one right in my prediction column! I've had dry spells before, but not like this. And the freaking Survivor editors lied again. The exact words in the promo were that this would be "the biggest shocker" of the season and that "a major player is about to get played." Can someone tell me in what universe Mike qualified as a major player? In what way is getting rid of the biggest physical threat a shocker? Yes, he was blindsided, but the editors are supposed to be priming the audience, not the players who did this stuff months ago. I feel cheated!

Seriously, can we bring Colton back? This is about to become the most boring since Thailand’s season.

But I digress. Also tied with Jeffrey and William is Jenn, who made all her picks thanks to a randomizer. Don’t laugh: Before Jonas left, she was the only one of us who had all three finalists left.

So who is in first place this week? None other than Stinger, the only writer to have his winner still in the game. If the curse holds, next week we’ll see Troyzan, Stinger’s winner, leave the game. But Troyzan doesn’t appear to be next in the pecking order, and even if he were, he has an idol, so the curse may just take a week off.

Stinger’s rise to the top has been nothing short of phenomenal. Just four weeks into the season, Stinger was 0-4 and in last place. But since then he has reeled off four straight wins.

Incidentally, if the curse holds and all the projected finalists are knocked out, the only ones left at the end will be Chelsea, Tarzan, and Sabrina. They’re the only three left who didn’t have anyone predict them to make the finals. And if that actually happens, will David’s curse serve his purpose, or will someone else benefit? Hmmm… We’ll save that info for later. Meanwhile, it looks like the guys could be in real trouble. We’ll find out for sure Wednesday.

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Now that Mike is gone, Ken is looking for a counter-curse to protect Christina, his one remaining finalist. He can be reached at YourNextOfKen@aol.com.

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