Nine, er, One Little Newbie
Carnegie, Oklahoma. The Kiowa Tribal Museum. Yea, it WASN'T much. Colin, the round's leader, was asked whether he wanted a Tribal Council this round, and he said no. Okay, enough of that... Well, then again...
Jon Pinyan (Pennsylvania): wow ... thank the good god above ... now why the hell did he do that? unless it was just to keep this game the way it's meant to be played ... i'm pretty sure devon would've been gone 3-1
mtvcdm: The way it's meant to be played is, I make 12 people my personal bitches for 3 months.
Jon Pinyan: inDEED
mtvcdm: And what's to say it wouldn't have been you 3-1?
Jon Pinyan: that's very true ... but david and i have a dela
mtvcdm: You've adknowledged that you've been in the top 2 each and every pre-count.
Jon Pinyan: and i've said i'd try to get him final 3 and 2 ... and i trust he'd help me do the same ... and i have no idea what wicked tiebreaker you'd have fo ra 2-2 tie ... so i don't think colin would take the chance of creating one
mtvcdm: Ft. Sumter.
Jon Pinyan: true ... and i'm the safest of all ... so it would be pointless ... see, i got it all worked out
mtvcdm: I was thinking 'purple rock' for a second until I remembered what I said about tiebreakers.
Jon Pinyan: yeah that's why i said colinw ouldn't want a tie
On to Memphis, Tennessee. 4 stones were at stake-- to Devon, they could be life-saving. The challenge was tied not to Elvis, but to the nation's first supermarket-- a Piggly Wiggly. Which both my mom and brother work for. The challenge was to bring in a huge haul of expensive items you can find in a supermarket, all using eBay. The highest total bill wins.
The problem is, as Devon told me, food items usually don't get sold on eBay. To him, a headache. To me, an added bonus. And may I just say: bwahahaha. Devon, however, was first to find a way around it, noting other items you may find in a supermarket. Within minutes of the challenge announcement, he noted some shaving razors that were going for $50-$100. When the challenge actually started, he proceeded to drop a bombshell on me:
Devon (Louisiana): its OK if I do multiple emails, right?
mtvcdm: Yes, but I'd prefer you don't use one item per e-mail, so my inbox isn't swamped.
Devon: I won't, I'll prob do it in bunches
mtvcdm: Make some sort of effort to put multiple items in each e-mail.
Devon: This challenge pretty much decides if I stay or if I go, so I'm going to send in LOTS of items...as much as possible ... don't let anyone else know, though...trying to make them think I've given up
mtvcdm: I only plan to reveal totals, and only then at the end.
Devon: OK, good
mtvcdm: ...wait, so the past few rounds has basically been an act?
Devon: hopefully Jon & David won't be so determined ... huh?... oh, no, at first I really wasn't playing the game much at all ... only until recently
mtvcdm: That's why i said few. ... Like, since what round have you been using this as a strategy?
Devon: I would say I started about when Val left the game, so very recently ... only then the DC trip came up, so its pretty much this round
In other words, Devon was now making it appear like he's given up when he's really not. During the challenge in Memphis-- remember how David was supposed to hold on to Jon's 3 stones until this round, then hand them back? Wellllll...
Jon Pinyan (Pennsylvania): has david confirmed the back half of our deal? ... i.e. the selling of three stones from him to me for a total fo 3000 votes
mtvcdm: I have nothing from him this round.
Jon Pinyan: goddammit
Well, I did have something from David, but it was just a picture of himself he had sent me. No stone sale.
...There was, however, a stone donation later on.
Jon (Pennsylvania): YES, the original deal between me and David featured 3000 votes. I sent to you the agreement to trade. David sent you an agreement to TRANSFER (not trade, TRANSFER, as in give away). I quickly concurred, reasoning that no trade goes through until the two players agree on the exact same thing. We hadn't until I agreed to his transfer. Therefore I expect to receive his three stones free and clear.
And the hell of it is, he's right. Jon took David to the cleaners. Meanwhile, Devon was taking EVERYONE to the cleaners in the challenge, getting so far ahead that I never even bothered to total his groceries all up, stopping when it became official that he had won and still had a cart and a half to go. He clearly demonstrated how to win in the clutch. He had such a margin of victory that, in the pre-count, despite his clear last-place overall performance, I put him in 3rd, in front of David. The reasoning behind this was that, yes, recent episodes come into play when a TV viewer determines who to vote for, but the current episode is freshest in their minds. Devon had earned it.
There was, though, the matter of everything else. ...which was also playing into Devon's hands. David- the guy selected to go in Devon's place- was the only one to not use any Safety Stones, Jon and Colin had big add-ons coming their way from back in Utah, and the Yahoo Groups audience had Colin marked. Devon looked to be getting off easy.
This, however, led to the question of: Jon, Colin or David? Probably David, but I didn't know if the penalties assessed to Jon and Colin would hit them hard enough to bring them to David's level when it was all said and done. They wouldn't.
Jon (Pennsylvania): Nine little newbies started this game
The first eight died, now the ninth will do the same
Three gaming vets: Colin, Dave, Jon
Are all still alive, now LET'S GET IT ON!
How cute, except wrong. David was the first veteran to be exiled.
3 contestants, 2 rounds.