All posts by JimboVA

Hello Jury, I’m sure a lot of you are surprised to see me here in the Final 3. In a way – that is good. It’s testament to the superb under the radar game that I played. It might not have been the flashiest or most exciting game that you have seen this season, but it was effective nonetheless. I’m sitting at Final Tribal Council. That’s a fact. [And if we are being honest … there are a lot more Natalies and Michelles that have won the real game than there are Tonys.] Don’t let the cowboy hat & my “aww shucks” attitude fool you. I’m a Registered Representative & obtained by Series 7 & 63 licenses. Other than maybe the BAR – it’s one of the most difficult & pressing entry exams into any profession. I have a shrewd mind & had to make the most of it to get where I am tonight. Some of you might feel like I didn’t play as good of a game as Andrew or Mackie. I can’t say that I did play a better game, but I can say I played a different kind of game than they did. I had to out of necessity. It’s YOUR job to determine if it’s better or not. I can only tell you how & why I played my game, and give you details on the choices I made. In a lot of ways I was given a pound of ground beef & was asked to make lemonade. Let me rub a little explain up on it for ya. THE BAD: First & foremost – I have a career & a robust home life. My job has me working 50+ hours a week, so I didn’t have as much time to play as a lot of you. I am usually up at 5:30 a.m. and in bed by 9 or 10 p.m. My window to play, for the most part, was between 5 to 9 p.m. which isn’t a lot of time. I knew coming into the season that would be a problem. If I wanted to get anywhere – I had to play smarter not harder … and I believe I did that. Knowing I only had a few hours each night plus weekends to play – I had to make sure that I made the most of that time. I made it a point to get to know each of you personally. Despite my time constraints - I was sure to say Hello, check in as often as possible & build a working relationship with almost everybody. I think my outgoing nature & laid back demeanor saved me from being on anybody’s radar when vote time came around. Post Swap it served another purpose which I will get to in a bit. Another disadvantage I had in this game is my age. Don’t roll your eyes! Hear me out. Just imagine being a 47 year old in a room full of 20 year olds. I am literally probably the same age or maybe older than your parents. In a social game – that’s extremely difficult to overcome. Not only did it automatically make me the obvious “odd man out” it also changed the way you interacted with me. On a high level – age doesn’t make a difference. In the real world – in this game – it did. Whether you were consciously aware of it or not & if you are being honest with yourself – you know dealt with me differently than you did with other players in the game. [I saw plenty of copied/pasted conversations with many of you so I know it’s true]. I swear there were times when I thought people were about to call me “sir”. And that goes the same for me as well … However I had to adapt. You all didn’t. Another potential pitfall to my game was my ability to challenge. Let’s face it … I stink at challenges. This was a very tech-centric game which I had to play on mobile for the most part. I’m not very tech savvy & that did hurt me going into challenges. Speaking to my previous point – how many of you have parents which are great at Rainbow Robot Unicorns or History of the World? Come on! However – just because I didn’t do well in the challenges – doesn’t mean I didn’t give 100% each & every time! This also was a double edge sword. Early in the game – being terrible at challenges puts a target on your back. That is why I worked SO HARD early on … like spending 10 hours on the Survivor Name Scramble game. Florencia didn’t win that challenge, but my tribe mates saw that I tried hella hard & that was enough to keep my name out of all those early votes. Later in the game – that same flaw ceased to be a bad thing. Once individual immunity is available – people want to keep the weaker challengers around. It just meant – if I wanted to make it deep into the game – I’d have to do it by other means. I wasn’t going to Challenge win my way into a final spot. THE GOOD: If I couldn’t win challenges – I had to make alliances. And I made plenty! I was part of Glistening Dragons, The REAL Final 3, Original Florencia, OGFLOW2, AAA Eaters, & J I M, just to name a few. At some point – I was in an alliance with almost everybody on the Jury with the exception of Chieko & Jay. However my most significant & important alliance was a simple 2 person alliance with Mackie. Mackie & I got along right off the bat. I remember we were talking ORGs one night & he mentioned never getting to the end of one. I told him “Let’s do it. I don’t care if I get to the end & lose to you … let’s just get there”. I think when I said that – he knew I was for real & it sealed the deal. Then it was “Game On”. He & I had good rapport and have similar views on the game. We wanted to show an Old School alliance could still work & be effective. We stayed truthful & loyal to each other. In a lot of aspects – it’s hard to differentiate my game from his. We worked well as a Team. We found the Merge Idol together [well with the help of Aaron, Andrew & Izzy]. We figured out the combination, but due to timing – he had the next guess & was able to obtain it first. He offered to give me the Idol – but I insisted he keep it since he was putting himself on the line more than I was. That said – I knew if I needed it that he would play it on me. Which he would do later in the game. When it came to voting – we almost didn’t even need to discuss it. I would say “I think it’s so&so” or he would say “I think we should vote so&so” and it was literally always the same person. We had a synchronicity which is rare … but made our alliance easy & natural. As with any good team … in order to be effective you need both a good offense and defense. [OMG - I can’t believe I made a sports analogy!] Anyway - that’s what I had with Mackie. I hope nobody has the misconception that I was Mackie’s “goat”. I was an equal & important member of our duo. Our alliance was mutually beneficial as most alliances are … we were able to share information, were 2 votes at each Tribal & had each other’s backs. In him – I had a shield. He was able to talk to y’all differently & more effectively than I could. He’s a salesman & could manipulate y’all better than I would have been able to. In me, he had somebody that made our duo less threatening. If we both played balls to the wall – we definitely would have been seen as too aggressive & put targets on our backs. If we both played too lightly we would have just been waiting to be picked off. So – we each played to our strengths. That strategy suited me just fine! Really – all I needed to do was be myself. That’s why I rarely talked strategy with anybody. It kept our alliance a tad bit more hidden & made it seem like he & I weren’t 100% solid with each other. We both had our roles to play & we obviously played them to perfection. Besides – there was no point in you being mad at BOTH of us after we snaked you! At the Swap we found ourselves as the only 2 Fans on a Tribe of favorites. I thought for sure we were toast. We commiserated about it & I went to bed. The next day he told me we had a way out! Mackie had talked to Andrew & Rob and played them against each other. I give him ALL the credit on that one, but it got my head back in the game & got ball rolling for our “please” alliance with AAA. This alliance would run a good portion of the game until well after merge. It was a lopsided alliance which we both knew wouldn’t last. However, it served its purpose and allowed us to maneuver the line between the Fans & the Favorites. The evidence of that is the boot order. Favorite, Fan, Favorite, Fan. That strategy keep us hidden well enough. Until it couldn’t. While we were contemplating the demise of the “please” alliance – a new alliance was born. J I M was formed. Jim Izzy Mackie. This was the endgame alliance to the Final 3. It was a concern because Mackie was closer to Izzy … but she was a welcome addition. I had wanted to play the game with her from the start, and was glad that the 3 of us had come together! In Izzy – we had found an ally that didn’t feel burned when “please” was dissolved - and had an “in” with the remaining Favorites. She was able to bridge the wound with Andrew & Abi and we had an extra number which is always nice. We hid the alliance well enough and it got us out of more than a few scrapes. J I M ran the rest of the game until F5. VOTING DECISIONS: As I have stated – I was an integral part of every controlling alliance in the game. Also – for the most part deciding the vote was fairly easy & generally unanimous within each of the alliances. Honestly – in most cases – most of you put yourself in the hot seat. Regardless - I’m sure each person in each alliance had their own personal reason for deciding or agreeing on the vote, but here were mine. Alex: I didn’t vote Alex. I would have played the game to F3 with him, but he was a causality of the unbalanced Swap. Due to Evan quitting he was added to the Jury & I know he’s happy to be able to finish out this game. Jack: I liked Jack, however I always felt his primary loyalty was to Jacob. On this particular vote – he made a controlling move by voting early, therefore attempting to ‘force’ the rest of us to vote the same way. That didn’t sit well with the rest of us, so it put an easy target on his back. Also we wanted to show the “please” alliance that we were willing to vote out Fans. Voting Jack was a vote of faith & a way of garnering trust within the new alliance. Jay: Jay was an easy vote since we were able to make a case that he had close ties with both the Fans & Favorites and was playing both sides against the middle. It was rumored that he made a NuSoacha chat & was trying to rally the troops against NuFlorencia. Whether that was true or not remains to be seen, but if it were true, it had to be nipped in the bud & we made it happen. [At this point J I M alliance was formed] Matthew: Matthew was a vote that I believe I initiated. It kept in line with the Fan/Favorite boot order, but also served another purpose. He told Mackie to lie to me about the vote & started a chat in which I wasn’t included. Also – he was getting too smart for his own good. He had noticed the NuFlorencia sticking together and was piecing together the “please” alliance. As he didn’t trust me, was going behind my back and outing our alliance – he had to go. Chieko: Cheiko was another vote I believe I suggested. She was seen as being a loner & potentially a swing vote. At the time she felt like she was being ghosted by everybody so suggesting her seemed like a logical choice since it wouldn’t raise suspicion or ruffle any feathers. Also - it was rumored she also was getting tight with Zee & Jacob. It fell in line with the voting strategy & we couldn’t have other alliances forming that could challenge ours … so we voted her out. Aaron: This is where it gets dicey & was a game changer. There was a persistent rumor that Aaron had the Soacha Idol. We didn’t know at the time that Andrew had snaked Aaron & stole it out from under his nose. Also – numbers were dwindling and Mackie & I had to do something about the unbalanced numbers in the “please” alliance. Mackie & I had to reintegrate ourselves back in with the Fans to for this vote since the smartest option was a split vote. Jacob & Zee were very outspoken in their desire to get one of the AAA out & we saw this an opportunity to make a move. Aaron is actually the ONLY juror whose name I didn’t write down [Besides Izzy]. That vote was supposed to be a split vote between Andrew & Aaron to potentially flush the Idol. However Zee claims he put the wrong name down and Mackie was able to flip Andrew into voting with us at the last moment. Aaron generally wasn’t online long enough to strategize with & wasn’t there to defend himself at the time … which made him an easy target. Jacob: It was rumored that Jacob was making multiple conflicting alliances. I know he had told Chieko that I brought up her name the vote before which didn’t sit well with me. We also worried that Jacob & Zee could team up with Abi & Andrew & have the numbers to run the rest of the game. However – Abi & Andrew made a huge tactical error & didn’t take advantage of this opening. They were willing to vote Jacob and it guaranteed the safety of the J I M alliance to move forward. Zee: Zee had made a scene when Jacob was voted out & told us all to go to hell. & maybe dropped an F-Bomb or two. That didn’t sit well with anybody & it showcased where his true loyalties lied - which was clearly NOT with us. He apologized, but was snatched up by Andrew & Abi in hopes of breaking up Mackie & I. However this attempt was too little too late. While AA and Zee were trying to get me to vote Izzy … Mackie was spreading a rumor that she might have the Merge Idol. Really their only “safe” target was me. I guess the hope was Mackie & I would really vote Izzy & if they voted me & Izzy voted Abi – the vote would split and one of Mackie’s allies would be sent to the Jury. Luckily – none of us were that gullible. Besides - Izzy & I already knew the Idols would be played on us & Zee was sent packing. For the record – I personally would have preferred voting Abi out this vote to break up the Andrew & Abi duo. However – Izzy liked Abi a lot & we felt that Zee was better at challenges, so we conceded to vote Zee. Izzy: Izzy is the only member of the jury I didn’t help vote out. I stan her & wish she was here with Mackie & me. She is amazing & awesome & every other good word. Mackie & I might not be here if it weren’t for her. CONCLUSION: So there you have it. As you can see – I played the whole game start to finish. Though you may see me as a weaker choice compared to Andrew or Mackie – I have to ask why? Is there a Survivor rulebook that states you need to win immunities or lie to people unnecessarily in order to win? If you look at it – I was in every alliance that controlled the game. I was on the right side of the vote every time! I made smart decisions that helped further my game. I built good relationships with everybody. I didn’t lie for the sake of lying & only did when I pressed to. I didn’t burn people. I was loyal and kept my word to the people I had given it to. I didn’t have immunities to protect me. I didn’t have to bully or intimidate people. I had unique circumstances that I had to overcome that nobody else had to. I had to get here by myself - with only my wits & my determination. The more you dismissed me, the more power it gave me to slit your throats. Technically I didn’t get any votes the entire game! I mean Lachlan voted me at the 2nd Tribal Council – but he was inactive & might have pulled my name out of a hat for all we know. Then the votes from Zee, Abi & Andrew at Final 6 were really votes to weaken Mackie more than votes against me. Meaning I don’t think anybody “really” wanted to vote me out. I would say that’s a pretty flawless game. It’s up to you to decide what kind of game & which characteristics make a good winner for this season. I look forward to your questions &/or comments and will answer or address them to the best of my ability. Let me end with a take on my one my favorite jury speeches. It’s Erik’s from Samoa: PEOPLE WILL CALL ME “WEAK”. PEOPLE WILL SAY I’M “UNDESERVING”. BUT YOU KNOW WHAT? WHY ARE THOSE CHARACTERISTICS ANY LESS ADMIRABLE AS LYING, CHEATING & STEALING?. WHY DO THEY GET A FREE PASS BUT MY “WRONG WAY OF PLAYING” IS ADMONISHED?. IF THERE I ONE THING I LEARNED IN THIS GAME IT’S THAT PERCEPTION IS NOT REALITY. REALITY IS REALITY. AND I AM SITTING HERE & THAT MAKES ME JUST AS DANGEROUS AS THOSE GUYS. YOU MIGHT THINK I’M THE LEAST DESERVING OF THE TITLE OF SOLE SURVIVOR … BUT MAYBE … JUST MAYBE … IN AN ENVIRONMENT FILLED WITH ARROGANCE OR DELUSIONAL ENTITLEMENT … MAYBE THE PERSON WHO YOU THINK IS THE LEAST DESERVING … IS PROBABLY THE MOST. Thank You! Jimbo