I’m really enjoying this season of Survivor (Survivor: Island of the Idols).  Its so much better than last seasons debacle (Survivor: Edge of Extinction).   Having players who are voted out actually be out of the game is the way the game should be played.   I love the concept of having Rob Mariano and Sandra Diaz-Twine as mentors and hope they do it again with other Survivor legends.   Imaging going to the Island of the Idols with Benjamin “Coach” Wade and John Cochran   or Rupert Boneham  and Parvati Shallow.

As far as this seasons contestants, it took me a while to get familiar with some of them since they are not doing the introductions (with names) at the beginning of the episodes.   Hopefully they will bring this back next season.    I was surprised when I saw Tom Laidlaw as the 1st contestant from Canada.  I remember him as a member of the New York Rangers back in the 1980s, paired with Ron Greschner

Here is a list I found of professional athletes who have appeared on Survivor.  There may be more, I will need to do some more research

Jimmy Johnson (NFL Coach), Tyler Fredrickson (NFL), Brad Culpepper (NFL), Grant Mattos (NFL), Gary Hogeboom (NFL), Steve Wright (NFL), David Samson (MLB Owner), John Rocker (MLB), Jeff Kent (MLB), Cliff Robinson (NBA), Crystal Cox (Olympics)

Will be interesting to see how the rest of this season plays out.  There are a lot of good players playing good physical and social games.    After the merge next week we should have a better idea of where everybody stands.   Through in some more visits to Rob and Sandra and it should be fun to watch

In other Survivor news, was very sad to see that Original Player Rudy Boesch  passed away at the age of 91.   RIP Rudy Boesch.   He was a true character and realy embodied what Survivor was all about.    Here are the videos of him being voted out in Season One (Borneo) and Season 8 (All-Stars).   Rest in Peace Rudy Boesh – You will be missed

Here is a copy of custom Survivor Cards that I have created for Season 1

And finally, here is a list of all Survivor Contestants who left us to soon: