Things

Posted on October 28, 2026 by AverageAndy

And another one has left us. Walter Koenig, who played Ensign Pavel Chekov on Star Trek: The Original Series, as well as in multiple Star Trek movies, passed away at the age of 90. Joining the show at the start of season 2, he quickly became part of the legendary crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise and their 5-year mission. I always liked the character of Chekov. Slightly out of his element, he added some humor to the role. He also had some great scenes in Star Trek: The Wrath of Kahn, and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.

With his passing, only William Shatner and George Takei are the last two of the Original Crew alive and keeping the lore of Star Trek alive. RIP Walter Koenig, you are one of the best and will be dearly missed.

We also lost singer Donnie Iris. Born in New Castle, PA, he became a true Pittsburgh legend and he was loved by all throughout the greater Pittsburgh, Youngstown and Cleveland, Ohio, areas. His solo hits in the 1980s (No. 29 hit “Ah! Leah!” and the No. 37 hit “Love Is Like a Rock.”) live on throughout the area and are staples at PNC Park for Pittsburgh Pirates games. Another one gone but not forgotten. RIP Donnie Iris

The NY Football Giants showed that they are not going to go down quietly and beat the Houston Texans 27-21 on OT on Sunday to improve to 4-2-1. They played smart, physical football, and outplayed the Texans. For the 1st time in a while, I am having fun watching the Giants; I don’t constantly think about how they will find a way to lose. They have their bye this weekend, and then travel to Philadelphia for a huge division contest. Let’s GO Big Blue

The Lehigh Mountain Hawks lost a heartbreaking game at Villanova last Saturday. Trailing most of the game, they had 3 chances to score late to win, but it was not to be. They are now 6- 2 and need to win at home this weekend against Bucknell to keep their Patriot League Title chances alive. Looks like it may all come down to the game against Richmond on December 14th.

Let’s Go Lehigh Engineers / Brown & White / Mountain Hawks

After losing the first three games of the 2026 World Series to the Milwaukee Brewers, the Tampa Bay Rays saved off elimination, scoring twice in the bottom of the 12th for a thrilling 4 – 3 win to extend the series. Game 5 is tonight, and it should be a good one. Can the Rays replicate the 2004 Boston Red Sox and come back from 3 – 0 to win the Series, or will Milwaukee be able to put last night’s loss behind them and win their first-ever MLB World Series?

Had a fun time attending the 85th Philly Non-Sport Card Show last weekend. Was able to attend both days, as well as the sponsored dinner on Saturday night. Picked up a lot of free promos that were given out upon entry each day, as well as some exclusive cards given out at the dinner. The show run by Harris Toser and his family had some of the best attendance in years. Besides classic and newer movie and TV cards, there were a lot of Pokémon, Wacky Packages, and Garbage Pail Kids cards. This brought in a lot of kids who looked like they were having a great time looking for those special cards they wanted/needed.

Will be spending the next couple of days updating my spreadsheets, as well as making sure to add the cards I picked up to the Trading Card Database, which I use to keep track of my inventory

Going to hold off on writing about Survivor / The Amazing Race until tomorrow. Enjoyed all the drama and scheming last week, and want to give it a deep dive

I am also going to finish putting together my next Audition Video, and hopefully get it submitted tonight

Much more to come

AverageAndy

#NeverTooOldForSurvivor
#GiveMeAChance
#PEACE

If you’re looking for an older Survivor Fan, I’m your man

#JeffProbst
#JesseTannenbaum

#survivor #survivorcbs #cbssurvivor #survivorus #survivorseason51 #survivorseason52

#CastAverageAndy
#CastJWay

Marillion – New Album Coming Soon
U2 – New Album out in November

#WarriorsTheMusical
#ComeOutAndPlay

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Live Long and Prosper

Posted in Adam Klein, Aubry Bracco, Baseball, Boston Rob, Christian Hubicki, Christine Hofbeck, Cirie Fields, Dalton Ross, Donnie Iris, Drew Basile, Emily Flippen, Jeff Probst, Jenna Doore, Jesse Tannenbaum, John Cochran, Jonny Fairplay, Kelley Wentworth, Kellyn Bechtold, Kyle Fraser, Lehigh University, Marillion, Mark Burnett, Mike Gabler, Mike Turner, Mike White, Non-Sports Cards, NY Giants, Ozzy Lusth, Parvati Shallow, Philly Non Sports Card Show, Pittsburgh Pirates, Reality Shows, Richard Hatch, Rick Devens, Rizo Velovic, Rob Cesternino, Sports, Star Trek, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan, Survivor, Teeny Chirichillo, Tony Vlachos, U2 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Random Theme Park Monday, plus Books

Posted on October 19, 2026 by AverageAndy

Came across this video from 51 years ago. Crazy to think Great Adventure has been around that long

This brought back memories of another NJ theme park – Warner Bros. Jungle Habitat

Warner Bros. Jungle Habitat was a 450-to-800-acre animal safari and theme park in West Milford, New Jersey, that operated from July 1972 until October 1976. I remember going here a few times when I was 7 – 10 years old.

And who in New Jersey can forget the crazy Water Park Action Park

Besides the water slides and attractions, they actually built a loop water slide that was crazy. I was lucky to have ridden it back in 1984, before it was shut down.

I also used to frequent Bowcraft Amusement Park in Scotch Plains. It did have some fun rides and a cool mini-golf course, but my main reason to go was it had one of the better Video Arcades of the time. My friends and I would get dropped off at Bowcraft and spend hours (and lots of quarters) playing games until we got picked up and driven home. Good Times

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As far as books, I have been trying to read more, and have been able to finish some good ones

The Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins — Very good book with lots of great suggestions on ways to improve your life

Lock In (Lock In, #1) by John Scalzi — Interesting book about the future where disease causes people to merge their consciousness with robots in order to attempt to live a normal life

Easy Discipline: An Unconventional Way to Achieve Ambitious Things by Jia Jiang — Been a fan of his since his first book, Rejection Proof: How I Beat Fear and Became Invincible Through 100 Days of Rejection, and his video series of 100 days of rejection

Theo of Golden by Allen Levi – Very well-written spiritual story. Was refreshing to read a book that was just a simple story with lots of interesting characters. Highly Recomended

I am currently reading Ghost Barn: A Dave Gurney Novel, the 9th book in the Dave Gurney series. Have enjoyed all of them so far; this one has not disappointed

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Lehigh had a tough loss on Saturday to Cornell. They looked rusty after their bye week, and never could recover. Big game this weekend at Villanova in Patriot League play

The Giants played a good 1st half except for the last minute, and then got punched in the mouth to start the 2nd half, and could never fully recover. The fact that they had a chance to tie or take the lead at the end of the game was a miracle. They are not a great team, but at least the losing attitude of the past 15 years seems to be behind them. They play with passion and determination, and that has led to wins that in the past would have surely been losses. Tough game next week against Houston before their bye. Would love to be 4-2-1 heading into the 2nd half

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The 85th Philly Non-Sports Card Show is this weekend. Looking forward to picking up some promos to add to my collection. Will post some pictures of what I was able to get next week

That’s it for now

Andy (AverageAndy)


#NeverTooOldForSurvivor
#GiveMeAChance
#PEACE

#JeffProbst
#JesseTannenbaum
#Survivor
#SurvivorCBS
#SurvivorCasting

#CastJWay
#CastAverageAndy

#Marillion – A Better Way of Life
#U2 – New Album “Carnaval De Luz” out November 13th

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Please Cast AverageAndy on an upcoming season of Survivor.






Posted in Action Park, Allen Levi - Theo of Golden, Books, Bowcraft, Card Collecting, Dalton Ross, Football, Fun and Games, Great Adventure, Jeff Probst, Jesse Tannenbaum, Jia Jiang, Jia Jiang - Rejection Therapy, John Verdon - Dave Gurney, Jungle Habitat, Lehigh, Lehigh University, Mark Burnett, Mel Robbins - The Let Them Theory, Non-Sports Cards, NY Giants, Philly Non Sports Card Show, Reality Shows, Sports, Survivor | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Survivor, Bicycling, and Kayaking, Oh My

Posted on October 16, 2026 by AverageAndy

Here are a few Instagram Stories I have been following lately.

https://www.instagram.com/jwayiv/ – @jwayiv (John Way) is a Survivor fan who has been putting out a new post every day about trying to get cast on Survivor. He is now up to Day 162 of “Posting every day until Jeff Probst casts him on Survivor”. His videos are great, and you can tell he’s a passionate fan who really wants to be on Survivor, just like me. He #JeffProbst, #JesseTannenbaum, #SurvivorCasting- take a look, and give this guy a shot. Survivor needs more real people who want to be on the show for more than just a gateway to becoming famous. Just like me, I believe it’s the idea of Survivor and the experience of being on the show that is the driving force.

https://www.instagram.com/stories/andersgrandien/ – @andersgrandien (Anders Grandien) is a Swedish solo long-distance cyclist currently undertaking an epic bicycle expedition from Alaska to Argentina. Currently 62 days in, it’s been fun following him on this adventure. With all the issues going on in today’s world, it’s very refreshing and uplifting to see all the friendly people he has met and the places he has seen. He’s made it out of Canada and is currently making his way down the California coast.
Feel free to buy him a beer as he continues his journey – https://beertkns.com/andersg

https://www.instagram.com/ash_dykes/ – @ash_dykes (Ash Dykes) Ash Dykes is a Welsh adventurer and extreme athlete. His current adventure is kayaking/travelling the Congo Basin, as part of his 6 part series, ‘Project 6’ where he will travel in different extreme environments, attempting to complete multiple challenges. I heard about this while listening to the Boomer and Geo Show a while back, and have really enjoyed following this. Some of the pictures/videos have been wild, especially those of gorillas. Take a look if you have some time

Another good episode of Survivor 51. Sorry to see Jenna go, as she seemed to be really enjoying her time on the island, playing a good game. Sucks that it really came down to luck of the draw. I know it’s part of the game, but anytime somebody’s game is ended or derailed just due to luck, it has to make it that much more of a shock, and Jenna’s reaction really showed this.

Big weekend for the 3-1-1 NY Football Giants (against a not-so-good New Orleans Saints Team), the 6-0 Lehigh Mountain Hawks against a tough Cornell team coming off the bye.

Going to make an effort to see the Tom Cruise movie Digger in the next week. Will post my thoughts

Helped my friend out last weekend with a booth at the 10th annual ProgStock festival held in Rutherford, NJ. He was promoting the Museum of Music Technology. Got to see some awesome prog bands, as well as meet Pete Trewavas from my favorite band Marillion. He was there to promote the new Edison’s Children album along with bandmates Eric Blackwood, and Rick Armstrong (the son of astronaut Neil Armstrong)

Pete Trewavas / AverageAndy
ProgStock 2026
MMT Booth


Time to get some stuff done before going to a political town hall for Democrat Rebecca Bennet, who is running for Congress. Just want to hear what she has to say about the current goings-on

Have a great day

AverageAndy

#NeverTooOldForSurvivor
#GiveMeAChance
#PEACE

#JeffProbst
#JesseTannenbaum
#Survivor
#SurvivorCBS
#SurvivorCasting

#Marillion – A Better Way of Life

#U2/28

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Posted in 101.9 WFAN, Adam Klein, Dalton Ross, Jeff Probst, Jenna Doore, Jesse Tannenbaum, Kelley Wentworth, Kellyn Bechtold, Kyle Fraser, Marillion, Pete Trewavas, ProgStock 2026, Radio, Reality Shows, Survivor, The Lorax | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Big Brother, NY Giants, Lehigh, and we are even more doomed

Posted on October 7, 2026 by AverageAndy

Shout out to Rick Devins for winning Big Brother 28 and the $750,000 grand prize. I really enjoyed this season and was happy for Rick Devins. He played a great game, never coming across as a threat, and winning challenges when needed to take himself off the block and make sure he could not be voted out. He then was able to make the right (but difficult) decision to take Taylor Brown to the finals over Drew Campbell and ending up with more than enough votes to win. I was a little upset that Rick Devens was allowed to add another $50,000 to his winnings for being voted “America’s Favorite House Guest”. There should be a stipulation that if you are the winner of Big Brother, you cannot also win this vote, and it should go to whoever had the next highest vote. I know it’s just nitpicking, and really doesn’t matter, but it’s happened before in both Big Brother and Survivor, and it always annoys me.

Quick take on Episode 2 of Survivor 51. Once I read Dalton Ross’s EW recap and realized what Rob was thinking, it made voting for himself more understandable. I have always thought of doing the same kind of thing when knowing somebody has an Immunity Idol. Convince them that everybody will vote for them, force them to play the idol, and then they can cast their vote for whoever they want to go home. Need a few more weeks to get to know the players before I can post some observations and choose who I would like to go far. Looking forward to tonight to see if the producers continue to keep the players guessing, as this has been a big reason this season feels refreshing

For the 2nd week in a row, the NY Giants tried to give away a win, but somehow were able to sneak out a victory, giving them a 3-1 record (3-0 at home). This is their best start in a while, and it’s strange to be excited about them this far in the season. It’s a breath of fresh air to not be inundated with people mentioning who they should be looking at in next year’s draft. With another winnable game this weekend at the Washington Commanders, I am not even sure what I would do if they pulled off a win and went to 4-1 (and 2-0 in the division)

Note – Jamis Winston is not a good QB at this point in his career. There really is no reason he should be starting going forward. Let’s see what JJ McCarthy can do, instead of waiting for Winston to fail and ruin all the good feelings that the team has built up. Don’t want to end up losing a winnable game because of a bad Winston INT.

The Lehigh Mountain Hawks are off to their 2nd straight 6-0 start, and have now won 23 consecutive regular season games. They have their bye this week, before starting the 2nd half of the season against a tough Cornell team (more on Cornell below). Currently ranked 5th in the FCS polls, it looks like it will be a fun ride going forward, ending with a win over Lafayette in the 162nd meeting between the schools.

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Don’t really like writing about the craziness of this world, but some things just can’t be ignored or pushed to the side. What is alleged to have happened at Cornell University is truly horrible. No matter what eventually comes out, I feel we have missed the boat on the overall story. What has happened to compassion and accountability on a personal level? Don’t people feel remorse for their actions anymore? Even if something bad happens and you are completely in the right, what about simply saying I’m sorry for what happened. Besides those involved, anybody on the text chain, or anyone else who simply heard about what was alleged, I have not seen one person say “I’m sorry, or “I should have done more”. That includes the University president, faculty, and board members. Everybody always tries to deflect or blame anybody else and remove responsibility from themselves.

Should those involved be punished by losing their jobs, Who Knows?

Should the President and Faculty at Cornell be forced to resign, Who Knows?

But wherever this leads, and however it ends, we as a society are the ones who have already lost


Dopy Donald continues to spew out lies about whatever he wants, and it’s crazy how the media continues to cover him, and people continue to support him. I have had discussions on whether the democratic media should simply stop mentioning him on all their shows, and if the late-night shows should simply pretend he doesn’t exist (No mentions of his name, his staff, his policies). Continuously telling the same people who watch or listen to these shows the same thing over and over and over again, and then getting madder and madder, does nothing. He may appear to care and send out a few stupid tweets, but he really doesn’t. While the media takes his stupid tweets and promotes them for weeks, he has already moved on to something else.

Add to that the fact that when Donald does something that judges and legal experts all say is illegal, nobody ever holds him accountable. All I hear is “We need to go through the proper channels; we need to make sure we cover ourselves for appeals; we need to make super duper sure he is not allowed to do this” over and over again. Eventually, people just tune out, giving Donald and his administration another win.

What is the tipping point where everyday people just say “Fuck It” and start doing whatever they want as well, since there is no accountability? The name of the game is how much you can get away with, and right now Donald and friends are running away with the prize.

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Here are a few music videos of songs I heard while on some walks. Tried to mix things up a bit, and it defiantly helped me to forget about the bad, and feel good

Hope everybody has a wonderful day as we move toward the Holoday season

Halloween / Thanksgiving / Christmas / New Years

AverageAndy Out


#NeverToOldForSurvivor
#GiveMeAChance
#Peace
#jwayiv

#Survivor
#CBSSurvivor
#SurvivorCasting
#JeffProbst
#JesseTannenbaum

U2 – New Album: Carnaval de Luz (November 13th 2026)

Marillion – The angels in this world are not in the walls of churches

#LehighMountainHawks

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Posted in Big Brother, Comics, Dalton Ross, Football, Helix, Jeff Probst, Jesse Tannenbaum, Kelley Wentworth, Kellyn Bechtold, Killer Dwarfs, Kyle Fraser, Lehigh, Lehigh University, Mike Turner, Music, NY Giants, Rick Devens, Rick Devins, Rob Cesternino, Sports, Stewart Fails To Saves The Universe, Survivor, TNT, Twisted Sister | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Survivor 51, Football, and other things

Posted on September 28, 2026 by AverageAndy

I really enjoyed the Survivor 51 premiere last Wednesday. As fans of the show, we were told this was the start of a “New Era of Survivor,” and we finally got a sense of what that means. The main thing I noticed is that they are mixing things up compared to the pretty static feeling of the past few seasons. From starting with all players on a boat forced to work together, to going back to starting with 2 tribes (instead of the 3 tribes they had been doing), things did feel fresh and exciting. But I’m hoping they don’t go too far. They need to keep the balance between keeping the players guessing what might be next and things just happening for no reason. Survivor is great when the players need to figure out how to handle the game and the other contestants using their personality and social skills, instead of having things decided by twists and luck,

Always tough to get a good read on who came to play and who to root for/against during the 1st few episodes due to the number of players and who we are shown.

Taking a look, I see only 3 players aged 40 or more, with the oldest being 49. Good for Kristin Flickinger for being selected after applying since Survivor: Australia. That means she would have started applying when she was 26. I also have been applying since Survivor: Australia. I missed a few years due to getting married and having a daughter but have submitted a lot of applications over the past 25 years. I have also attended a few Open Casting calls.

While I continue to apply, and continue to wait for my shot at age 60 to be cast, and show that I can compete with people 1/2 my age, Kristin’s journey, as well as others who have been applying and hoping for a long time motivates me more to achieve my dream

#NeverTooOldForSurvivor
#GiveMeAChance

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The Lehigh Mountain Hawks continue winning, and with Saturdays 20-7 win over Penn, have now won 22 straight regular season games. They are currently 5-0 and 3-0 in the Patriot League. Next up is a home game against Fordham before heading into their bye week. They have been fun to watch and hopefully they can continue their winning ways

The NY Football Giants were handed a gift on Sunday and escaped with a 12-7 win over at bad Tennessee Titans team. In a game where the Giants dominated for the first 3 quarters, somehow, they managed to allow Tennessee to march down the field twice in the final 6 minutes and found themselves clinging to the 12-7 lead with under 30 seconds to play. The defense finally came up with a big play when Jeyon Holland intercepted a Cam Ward pass in the endzone to seal the win. It wasn’t pretty, and Jamus Winston was not very good in his 1st start, taking over for Jaxson Dart after he suffered a season ending injury. Things got even worse, when it was announced that star defensive player Brian Burns also suffered what could be a season ending injury near the end of the game.

Despite how bad they have looked, they did win their first 2 home games for the 1st time since 2009 and at 2 -1 there is more hope than in a long time. Next up is another home game against a scrappy Phoenix Cardinals team. Hopefully they get some things straightened out and get a win.

Note: in 2011, the Giants went on to finish 9–7 and won Super Bowl XLVI.

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While it is getting more and more frustrating as AI and corporate algorithms continue to determine what content I see in my feeds (why this doesn’t bother more people is beyond me), every so often It does show me something that I actually enjoy.

This video does a great job of showing and explaining why a lot of people (me included) have turned sour on the corporate workplace.

Going to have to check out some of this guy’s other videos.

Another person I enjoy watching is John Kotrides (GenXjono). His shorts on Facebook are very relevant and entertaining – I am just a few years older than him and really relate to what he has to say.

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Looks like the nor’easter that clobbered the east coast has finally moved out to sea. While parts of the Jersey shore had lots of flooding, we got lucky in western New Jersey, with just rain and wind.

Hopefully we get some nice weather the next few weeks, to help improve my mind and mood as we march toward winter.

More to come

AverageAndy

#JeffProbst
#JesseTannenbaum

Marillion – “We are all just Sugar Mice in the Rain”

U2’s 16th studio album, ‘Carnaval de Luz’, will be released on November 13, 2026

ILUD

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PEACE to all

Posted in Archie and Jughead, Dalton Ross, Dave Stewart, Football, Jeff Probst, Jesse Tannenbaum, Lehigh, Lehigh University, Marillion, Mark Burnett, Music, NY Giants, Reality Shows, Sports, Survivor, U2 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Survivor Island

Posted on September 21, 2026 by AverageAndy

Had a great time at the Survivor Island event held last Saturday at the American Dreams Mall in New Jersey. The event was put on to promote Survivor 51 which premieres on CBS this Wednesday, September 23 at 8:00 PM EST.

I attended with my daughter and we had a fun time doing Survivor Challenges (Slide Puzzles, Ball Balancing, and my favorite, a rope course that I was able to complete, while my daughter had to do a Survivor puzzle.

Survivor Island – American Dreams Mall 2026
Survivor Island Map
Survivor Island – American Dreams Mall 2026
Ball Balancing Challange – Much harder than it looks

Besides all the challenges, there was a meet-and-greet area set up for past cast members, where you could meet them and get pictures taken. Got to meet and get our picture taken with Rizo “RizGod” Velovic (Survivor 49, Survivor 50) and Charlie Davis (Survivor 46, Survivor 50). Also ran into Rob Cesternino (Rob Has A Pod Cast) and was able to get a picture with him (very cool). Others we saw were Ethan Zohn (Winner Survivor Africa, Survivor All-Stars, and Survivor Winners at War), Natalie (Winner Survivor San Juan del Sur, Survivor Winners at War), and her twin sister Nadiya Anderson (Survivor San Juan del Sur).

We did miss seeing the Headmaster himself, Jeff Probst, along with Aubry Braco and Tony Vlachos, and other past contestants who showed up after we left to grab some lunch.

Rizo and Charlie
Rob Cesternino

I was proud of myself for doing the challenges and actually did pretty good for an older gentleman. Competing gave me the confidence that if selected as a future contestant, I could hold my own against anybody, no matter how old or how fit, and how strong.

Few other things to mention

Yesterday (Sunday, September 20th) was the final broadcast of NY Mets long time radio announcer, the great Howie Rose. He is stepping away after a long and distinguish career. Hometown sports broadcasters become like family and you look forward to their familiar voice both TV and Radio) game after game. The Mets have had some of the best in the business, and Howie is right up there with the likes of original announcers, Lyndsey Nelson, Ralph Kiner and Bob Murphy. With his endless knowledge of Mets history, and his signature catch phrase “Put it In the Books”, it has been a honer to listen to him do games for the past 25+ years.

Howie Rose last game (09/20/2026)
Put it in the books

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The Lehigh Mountain Hawks survivor a tough game against Dartmouth to improve to 4-0. They have now won 20 consecutive regular season games as they continue their quest for another Patriot League Championship. In 4 games, Running Back Luke Yoder already has close to 600 rushing yards and 11 rushing TDs. Next up is a visit to Pennsylvania to take on Penn.

The NY Giants play another primetime game tonight against the Las Angeles Rams. Will be a good test to see where they stand so far. I have good feelings about the game, and hope they can move to 2-0 for just the 2nd time since 2016

Will be back with updates on Big Brother, and the premier of Survivor

Thanks for reading

Average Andy

#NeverTooOldForSurvivor
#GiveMeAChance
#PEACE

Remember, we are all just Sugar Mice in the Rain

#JeffProbst
#JesseTannenbaum
#SurvivorIsland2026
#Survivor51
#Survivor52
#Survivor53
#SurvivorCasting

U28

Up the Irons!!!

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Gumball …..

Posted in Aubry Bracco, Charlie Davis, Iron Maiden, Jeff Probst, Jesse Tannenbaum, Kelley Wentworth, Kellyn Bechtold, Lehigh, Lehigh University, Marillion, Music, Nadiya Anderson, Natalie Anderson, NY Giants, NY Mets, Podcasts, Reality Shows, RHAP, Rizo Velovic, Rob Cesternino, Sports, Survivor, Tony Vlachos | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

AverageAndy’s Sports Update and a few shoutouts

Posted on September 14, 2026 by AverageAndy

It was a good weekend for AverageAndy’s sports teams.

On Saturday, the Lehigh Mountain Hawks continued their early-season dominance with a 44-20 victory over William & Mary before a crowd of 5,000+ for their home opener. They are now 3-0 to start the season and also 3-0 in Patriot League play. Next up is another home game against Dartmouth. Luke Yoder is off to a fantastic start, leading all FCS players with 10 TDs (9 rushing, 1 receiving). He was just named Patriot League Offensive Player of the Week for his performance against William & Mary, and Lehigh has now won 20 consecutive regular-season games, the longest active streak in Division I.

Then on Sunday night, the NY Giants opened their 2026 season (and the John Harbaugh era) with a solid 28-20 victory over the Dallas Cowboys. It was their 1st opening-day win since 2022 (a 21-20 win over the Tennessee Titans), and just their 3rd opening-day win over the last 15 years. They played well and were able to shut down the Cowboys’ high-powered offense. They were also able to hold the ball and run out the clock after the Cowboys scored with 5 1/2 minutes left, something that most Giants fans haven’t seen for a long time. I know I was thinking, “The Giants will play conservatively, the Cowboys will get the ball back, score a TD, and then convert the 2pt conversion before eventually winning in OT”. Still going to take some time to get the winning attitude back, but this was a good start to hopefully a winning season,

All in all, 2 big thumbs up

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I just want to give a shoutout to people and things that I enjoyed the past few weeks

Iron Maiden — Great show last Saturday at the Sports Illustrated Stadium to kick off the USA portion of their 2026 Run to the Hills Tour. I was great to meet up with some long-time friends and enjoy the awesome show

Topps Bunt and Topps Star Wars card traders — Was cool to see Micky Gasper as the Topps Bunt editors’ pick for the week. He is the son of somebody I went to High School with, and its awsome how well he has been playing for the Boston Red Sox. Star Wars card trader released some Topps Chrome cards that look really cool. Add in the ongoing Fans Choice votes, and it’s been a fun week

Maz Kanata
Yoda
Micky Gasper – Boston Red Sox

Music – listened to music from Dave Stewart (with Daryl Hall), and Stanley Simmons (the sons of Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons of Kiss). Good stuff.

Television – Down the stretch they come on Big Brother 28. Down to the final 7 with a double eviction this week to get to the final 5. Was glad to see Dee and Rick Devens survive the block last week, and hoping they can somehow make it to the end. Only 9 days left until the premiere of Survivor 51 on Wednesday, September 23rd. Really looking forward to what they have planned for this season. Really enjoying Liones on Paramount+. Very well done, and keeps me interested. Other shows I need to finish watching are Silo and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

Books – Finished reading “Easy Discipline: An Unconventional Way to Achieve Ambitious Things” by Jia Jiang and really enjoyed it. Lots of good information to use and follow. Next up is Theo of Golden. Highly recommended by friends and looking forward to it. Also very excited for the final Dave Gurney book by John Verdon (Ghost Barn: A Dave Gurney Novel). Really enjoyed all the books in the series and looking forward to how things wrap up.

******

AverageAndy

#NeverToOldForSurvivor
#GiveMeAChance
#PEACE

Marillion – A Better Way of Life

We are all just Sugar Mice in the Rain

******

JeffProbst
JesseTannenbaum
Penni Lane Clifton
Christian Estrada
Heidi Hill
Andy Sloan

Posted in Big Brother, Books, Dalton Ross, Dave Stewart, Dee Valladares, Football, Friends, Iron Maiden, Jeff Probst, Jesse Tannenbaum, Jia Jiang - Easy Discipline, Job Searching, John Verdon - Dave Gurney, John Verdon - John Verdon, Julie Chen Moonves, Kelley Wentworth, Kellyn Bechtold, Kyle Fraser, Lehigh, Lehigh University, Liones, Music, NY Giants, Reality Shows, Rick Devens, Sports, Survivor, Television | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Happy 60th Anniversary to Star Trek

Posted on September 9, 2026 by AverageAndy

Star Trek was created by Gene Roddenbury, and premiered on NBC on September 8th, 1966, and we have been boldly going ever since. Star Trek actually predated me by a few months, so I never saw original episodes while they aired. I do, however, have fond memories of watching the Original Series on Syndication in New Jersey on WPIX 11 after coming home from school. It fascinated me then, and continued to fascinate me when the 1st Star Trek movie (Star Trek: The Motion Picture) premiered in 1979. I clearly remember seeing the next movie (Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan – 1982) at the Essex Green Movie Theater in West Orange, NJ. After enjoying the next 2 movies (Star Trek III: The Search for Spock – 1984, and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home – 1986, the Star Trek universe was forever changed with the Television premiere of Star Trek: The Next Generation on September 28th, 1987. I remember gathering in a classmate’s dorm room with a bunch of other Star Trek fans, eagerly awaiting the show to start.

Through eight more movies and numerous TV series (Deep Space Nine, Voyager, Enterprise, ..) Star Trek has become a fabric of my life and continues to entertain me and millions of other fans throughout the world

Happy 60th Anniversary – Live Long And Prosper

Besides the TV Shows and Movies, numerous Star Trek Trading Card sets have been released over the past 30-plus years. SkyBox / Rittenhouse Archives have released and continue to release sets for all the TV Shows and Movies. The Trading Card Sets contain base cards as well as Autographed Cards, Costume Cards, Sketch Cards, plus parallel and insert sets. I have always been a card collector, starting with Topps Baseball cards. Got my first real taste of Non-Sport Cards with Topps Star Wars Cards and have been hooked ever since. Over the years, I have amassed a pretty good collection of Star Trek Cards, and am looking forward to seeing what the future brings



Back later with more

AverageAndy

#NeverTooOldForSurvivor
#GiveMeAChance
#PEACE

Remember – The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one

#Marillion – A Better Way of Life

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Lehigh Mountain Hawks are now 2 – 0 after beating Georgetown on Saturday by a score of 38 – 14

NY Giants open their 2026/2027 season on Monday Night against the Dallas Cowboys – GO BIG BLUE

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Posted in Card Collecting, Dalton Ross, Fun and Games, Jeff Probst, Jesse Tannenbaum, Lehigh University, Non-Sports Cards, Star Trek, Star Trek The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Enterprise, Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan, Star Trek: Voyager, Survivor | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

We are all Doomed (My Survivor Journey Continues)

Posted on September 1, 2026 by AverageAndy

I’ve been writing this blog for a long time (My First post was way back in September of 2010). I would talk about the CBS reality show Survivor at work, and how I was a huge fan and dreamed of one day becoming a contestant. Finally, a co-worker told me, “We all know you are a fan and are rooting for you, but you need to reach out to others and get the word out. You should write and post about your quest and journey on a blog”. How do I do that? I asked. At that time, there was MySpace, Tumblr, and Facebook, which was just starting to be a place for News Feeds and Status Updates. But if you really wanted to get your name and message out to the masses, you had to have a blog.

The next day, my co-worker registered and set up www.averageandy.com using the free version of WordPress. And for the past 16 years, I have been writing on this blog about Survivor, other classic reality shows like Big Brother and The Amazing Race, as well as a running history of the Television shows, Movies, Books, and Music that I have watched, read, and listened to over this time. I have also posted about vacations, sports (Professional, college, and Lehigh University; my alma mater), as well as a lot of random thoughts, and things that I found interesting (including both the good and the bad). I have posted about my love of Non-Sport Card Collecting, including pictures of cards I picked up at the Philly-Sport Card Show, or on e-bay, as well as clips of my favorite movies on YouTube.

As for my quest to be on a future season of Survivor, it’s still going strong. I have submitted numerous videos, gone to Open Casting Calls, and followed many Survivor contestants on Social Media platforms to keep up with all the latest casting news. I had a lot of fun going to a live showing hosted by Rob Cesternino, and the Survivor 50 Idol hunt (Found the Idol in Asbury Park, NJ). I do have a copy of Rob “Boston Rob” Marianos “The Boston Rob Rulebook: Strategies for Life” and am looking forward to reading books by Richard Hatch, Coach Benjamin Wade, Parvati Shallow, and others

Since the beging of my obsession with Survivor, and keeping up with and reading about the casting process from original Casting Director Lynne Spiegel Spillman (who left Survivor in 2018) to Current Casting Director Jesse Tannenbaum, Its been a long and fullfilling ride, and hopefully it will continue as a future contestant.

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About the title — I was scrolling through the news, and came across the following story from the Independent:

Experts warn that Trump’s AI fakery in Iran will destroy public trust: ‘Breaking our shared reality’

I had seen the AI video that the idiot Donald Trump posted on his Truth Social site yesterday, and at the time thought it was insane that the President / White House would publish an AI-created video and tout it as real. Makes no sense to me how Trump, his high-level cabinet members, MAGA, and all the idiots and jerks that blindly follow him would see this and not be horrified. But that’s the world we currently live in, and it sucks.

Say what you will, but what the President of the United States says and does has major consequences. People will believe and follow whatever he says and not consider that he may be spreading false and dangerous information as fact. This leads to false narratives getting spread among the citizens. People need to understand that Donald Trump doesn’t care about anybody but himself. Everything he does is meant to keep him in power and take away all rights and freedoms from anybody who disagrees with him. He also knows that once he is out of office, he will most likely face numerous criminal charges that could land him in prison. He will do and say anything to avoid this, which includes spreading lies and false information and then insisting that he and only he can protect the people from all the terrible people and crimes that are destroying the country.

According to him, everybody is evil and is conspiring against him and his close acquaintances. So if you want to be safe from the world, your only choice is to follow whatever he says.

What does get me is the lack of protest and action from the United States Citizens. As Donald Trump continues to place his name and image on everything he wants, people seem to just shake their heads and move on. Who cares that Donald Trump destroyed the White House? Who cares that Donald Trump destroyed the John F. Kennedy Center for the Arts? Who cares that he disrespects the US Military? Who cares if he continues to have ICE agents terrorize and deport people illegally?

I say we start outing the people who attend his gathering at Mar-a-Lago. Let’s out the people who pay thousands of dollars to be members of his Golf Courses around the world. Let out the people who donate huge sums of money to him. Let’s post the names of all the members of the Senate and Congress who vote yes on anything he wants. Let’s call out the members of the Supreme Court who have traded their moral values for power and the destruction of the rule of law.

If we continue on this path, we are going to wake up one day and look back and say, “Why did we let this happen?” as Donald Trump declares himself the King

I really have to, or like to post about politics, but this is getting too crazy to stay silent.

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Now back to our original programming

Lehigh with a big 35-10 win over Holly Cross on Saturday to start the 2026 Season. The win was their 18th straight regular-season win over the past 3 years, putting them on top of every other team. Also, with the Patriot League expanding this season, it was good to get off to a good start and get a League win.

Big Brother is getting near the end. All players left have guaranteed themselves a spot in the jury and a vote at the Finale. It has been an enjoyable season, and I like hearing all the different strategies about how to play with the Icons (returning player Angela and former Survivor players Dee and Rick Devins)

Glad to see that WR Odell Beckham Jr. made the NY Giants final roster in his comeback attempt. It’s also fitting that the Giants cut WR Jalin Hyatt, who was wearing Odell’s old number 13. Odell was wearing Number 3 during the preseason, but can now switch back to his Number 13 when the season starts on Sunday Night, September 13th, at home against the Dallas Cowboys

As we approach Labor Day, remember remember that Labor Day is only the unofficial end of the summer, with September still having plenty of beach days to enjoy.

PEACE

AverageAndy

#NeverTooOldForSurvivor
#GiveMeAChance

Marillion – A Better Way of Life

#JeffProbst
#JesseTannenbaum @jesse.tannenbaum
#SurvivorCasting
#CBSSurvivor
#Season51
#Season52

U28

Maz Kanata
Grogu
Yoda




Posted in Benjamin "Coach" Wade, Big Brother, Boston Rob, Dalton Ross, Dee Valladares, Football, Holiday Weekend, Jeff Probst, Jesse Tannenbaum, Jia Jiang, Julie Chen Moonves, Lehigh, Lehigh University, Mark Burnett, Non-Sports Cards, Parvati Shallow, Philly Non Sports Card Show, Richard Hatch, Rick Devens, Sports, Survivor | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Been a while

Posted on August 27, 2026 by AverageAndy

Since it’s been a while since I last wrote anything, I’m going to simply write a bunch of things to try and catch up

RIP to Hayden Panettiere (1989 – 2026), Dolly Parton (1946 – 2026), and Tim Curry (1946-2026). All three contributed their talents to this world in Television, Music, and Film, and will be deeply missed.

From the TV show “Heroes” to all-time classics “9 to 5” and “The Rocky Horror Picture Show”, they all had memorable appearances that will be remembered fondly

And let’s not forget the music career of Dolly Parton, which spanned 50 years, and produced major hit songs like “9 to 5” and “Jolene”

Really enjoying Jia Jiangs’ new book “Easy Discipline”, the follow-up to his 1st book “Rejection Proof: How I Beat Fear and Became Invincible Through 100 Days of Rejection”. I have been following him since his video series titled 100 Days of Rejection Therapy, which went viral on social media. He really does care about helping people to find their story and embrace it no matter what others may think. One time, after posting on one of his blogs, he replied and even spent some time with me on a Zoom Call, and talked about doing what makes you happy.

Saw that the musician Passenger has a new album coming out in November. The 1st songe released, “It was Gonna Be You,” is really good, and looking forward to hearing some new music from him.

Big Brother celebrates its 1000 epesode tonight. Scary to think that I most likely have seen every one of them, meaning I have spent around 42 days of my life watching a bunch of people argue and play crazy games while stuck in a made-up house. I guess the upside is that I still find it interesting and entertaining. I have enjoyed this season, and looking forward to seeing if the Icons (Dee, Rick, and Angela) can figure a way to make it to the end

In Survivor news, a few things

Got my Free Tickets to “Survivor Island” at the American Dreams Mall (In New Jersey) on Saturday, September 19th. Looking forward to seeing what they have in store for the fans before Season 51 premieres on Wednesday, September 23rd.

I did watch the 1st few minutes of the “Meet the Survivor 51 Castaways!” video on the SurvivorOnCBS YouTube page. I really enjoyed seeing the behind-the-scenes stuff with Jeff Probst. But once they started to show the Season 1 castaways, I turned it off, as I like to be a suprised as possible when watching Survivor. Once again, I will be very careful when checking a lot of the entertainment websites the next few weeks.

Here are the Survivor Casting Directors I saw on Instagram

@JesseTannenbaum #JesseTannenbaum
@pennilaneclifton #pennilaneclifton
@chrisecasting #chrisecasting
@heidihillcasting #heidihillcasting
@andysloantv #andysloantv

Hopefully one of them will see my audition video, or read this blog, and reach out and give me a chance to show what I can bring to a future season of Survivor

#NeverTooOldForSurvivor
#GiveMeAChance

I did come across jwayiv on Instagram who decided to post a video every day until he gets cast on Survivor. He is currently up to 112 days. Reminds me of @ImSurvivorRalph on X, who did the same thing, tweeting every day for over 450 days. (He stopped posting in 2022, and I did get this result when asking AI about him

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Survivor Ralph (@ImSurvivorRalph) posted over 450 times on X asking to be chosen as a contestant on the reality show Survivor before stopping in September 2022. Was he ever cast, or did he stop for another reason

The user running the @ImSurvivorRalph account on X was never cast on Survivor, and they stopped posting primarily because the production team behind Survivor completely overhauled their casting process, making the user’s aggressive, automated public-tagging strategy completely obsolete

This specific account was a dedicated super-fan (not the actual contestant Ralph Kiser) who tried to use sheer volume to get noticed by casting directors.

Why They Stopped Posting

The account went completely dark in late 2022 due to a combination of shifting realities in how the show finds its contestants:

The 50% Diversity Mandate: In late 2020, CBS instituted a strict policy requiring all unscripted shows to ensure that at least 50% of their casts are Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC). For many older, recurring applicants who didn’t fit the specific demographic casting puzzles for upcoming seasons, the odds changed drastically, prompting many to stop repetitive campaigns.

The Move to Digital Casting & Active Scouting: Survivor casting directors, led by Jesse Tannenbaum, completely shifted away from looking at public social media spam or unsolicited tags. Instead, casting focused heavily on a modernized Survivor Casting Website and active scouting on TikTok and Instagram for unique personalities

Burnout and Platform Fatigue: After tweeting nearly 500 times with no response or engagement from network executives, the applicant likely realized the automated public strategy was ineffective and simply gave up on the account.

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It will be interesting to see what happens with jwayiv – He checks some social media boxes (Unique / Instagram) but not others (social media spam or unsolicited tags).

He did mention that he was in his 40’s and was excited because two of the contestants in Season 51 were in their 40s. That is a good thing, but what about us in our 50s or 60s? They did cast LaTrice Verrett, who is 57 years old (And who happens to be from Maplewood, NJ- big shout-out to the town I grew up in). I know the two shows are different, but age should not be a major consideration when casting. Both Dee and Rick Devins have even said that Big Brother is harder mentally than Survivor.

Have my Fantasy Football draft later this evening, so need to wrap things up. Crazy to think that it’s almost football season (There are actually some college games this evening, and Lehigh opens its 2026 season Saturday at 3:30 PM against Holy Cross as they attempt to repeat as Patriot League Championships

And finally, shout out to Micky Gasper of the Boston Red Sox. He is the son of somebody I went to high school with, and it has been really exciting for her and her family to get to see him do well in the Major Leagues

AverageAndy Out

#PEACE

#Marillion – A Better Way of Life

Posted in 9 to 5, Books, Dee Valladares, Football, Jeff Probst, Jesse Tannenbaum, Jia Jiang, Jia Jiang - Easy Discipline, Jia Jiang - Rejection Therapy, Lehigh, Lehigh University, Passenger, Reality Shows, Rick Devens, Sports, Survivor | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment