Survivor, Social Distancing, and More

Posted on May 14, 2020 by AverageAndy

Its been a long time since I have had the motivation to write here on AverageAndy.  Have been hunkered down at home due to the ongoing Covid 19 Pandemic, doing the social distancing thing.   I have been keeping busy during the days (I am lucky to have a job that allows me to work at home) and at nights have tried to get out for a walk.   Been doing take out now and then to help the local businesses, and usually take a trip to the bagel shop on Saturdays to stock up for the week.   Been doing some weekly Zoom meetings with Family and Friends which have been really nice.   Also been trying to reach out and keep in touch with family and friends (text, e-mail) to see how everybody else has been handling these strange times.

I want to take some time to thank all the radio stations that have stayed on the air during this crisis and kept me entertained and lifted my spirits day after day

Terrestrial:  105.5 WDHA,  99.9 The Hawk,  Sports Radio WFAN
SiriusXM – Nik Carter and Lori Majewski in the mornings,  Eddie Trunk midday,  and Alan Light and Mark Goodman in the afternoon

This leads me to Survivor

The current season Survivor (Winners at War) premiered on Wednesday, February 12th and brought back 20 past winners to compete against each other for the title Sole Survivor and a 2 Million Dollar grand prize.   It was great to see some of my all time favorite players returning to try to become the 2nd Two Time Survivor Winner (Or in the case of Sandra Diaz-Twine, a 3 time winner and the undisputed greatest Survivor Champion)

Despite the problems with Extinction Island in the past, and the fact that is was a necessity to get some of the contestants to come back, I enjoyed it for the most part this season.   I still don’t like the fact that you get rewarded for the longer you are on Extinction Island.  While the living is tough, you have lots of time to bond with others before getting the chance to get back in the game,  all while you never having to worry about being voted out.

As far as the contestants, being a fan since Season 1, I was rooting for the older players, and it was tough to see all the players I was rooting for get voted out early – Amber, Ethan (who is a friend of my cousins),  Boston Rob, Parvati, and Yul  were all voted off before the merge.   (For a while I was more interested in what was happening at Extinction Island then the real game).   As for the players who made it farther, some I liked (Tony, Sophie, Michele) while others I did not really care for (Adam, Ben, Kim).

As the season wound down, I will admit I was rooting for Tony to win, and thought he was playing the best game.   He was good at all aspects (Physical, Mental and Strategic and managed not to get a single vote cast against him the entire time.

Once Natalie won the chance to come back to the game, I became very nervous as I did not think it was fair for her to possibly win the game despite not being part of the real game for 33 days.  The more I thought about it,  the more of a disaster it seemed it would be if she won.   I held out hope that the this jury would not reward somebody who spent the entire time away from the main game with the 2 Million Dollars.

Once Tony won the fire challenge and made the final 3, I thought there was no way he was not going to win, and was relieved when the jury voted him the winner by a 12 – 4 count.  I think they got it right as he played one of the best games anybody had played.  He now joins  Sandra as the only 2 time winners.

Also want to give a shout out to New Jersey (Where I live).  We have been well represented in Survivor and were again last night with all 3 finalists from the Garden State.  Way to Go and makes me proud.

I want to thank everybody involved with Survivor (The contestants, Jeff Probst, the Producers and all the crews) for another great season.   It continues to be the best Reality Show on TV, and especially during these tough and crazy times, it has been something to look forward to each Wednesday night which kept my spirits high.

Felt good to write some stuff after such a long time, and I will try to find some time to write some more about my thoughts about the world during these crazy times.

Stay Inside if you can, Self Distance and Stay Safe

AverageAndy

Posted in 105.5 WDHA FM, 99.9 The Hawk, Jeff Probst, Radio, Reality Shows, SiriusXM, Survivor, Volume 106 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Clive Cussler / Dirk Pitt

Posted on February 26, 2020 by AverageAndy

Very sad to see that author Clive Cussler passed away at the age of 88.  He wrote the Dirk Pitt novels which are some of my favorite books and have been part of my life for the past 30+ years.    I remember reading “Deep Six” when I was in high school and was hooked ever since.  Since then I have read every Dirk Pitt Adventure, as well as some of his other books and enjoyed every one of them.   His books were my companions on vacations, buisness trips and lazy afternoons.  Nothing was better that starting a new Dirk Pitt novel and getting swept away in another adventure.

I thank Mr. Cussler for creating the character of  Dirk Pitt, along with Admiral James Sandecker, Al Giordino, Rudi Gunn, Hiram Yaeger and St. Julien Perlmutter.    He also created the character Foss Gly, who appears in a few of the Dirk Pitt books.  I don’t know why, but I always remember this character and he has become a cult favorite of mine.

Here are a few photos of his books that I have read over the years

RIP Clive Cussler – You and your books will be missed

 

Posted in Books, Clive Cussler - Dirk Pitt | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

David Rupprecht

Posted on February 20, 2020 by AverageAndy

I am sad to report that my uncle David Rupprecht (my dads brother) passed away on Sunday, February 16th at the age of 78.  Dave was a true gentleman and although I didn’t get to see him much (he lived in North Carolina, and I’m in New Jersey), I did enjoy talking to him on the phone from time to time.  He was a loving wife to my Aunt Connie and loving father to his sons Jeff and Alexander.   My sister told me she asked my dad about my uncle, and he said they never had an argument or ever had anything bad to say about each other.   He was a very nice man and will be missed  RIP

Dave Rupprecht (1942 – 2020)

Andy

Posted in Announcement, Everyday | Leave a comment

Survivor is back for Season 40

Posted on February 13, 2020 by AverageAndy

Last night was the premier of Survivor: Winners at War.  Crazy to think that this is the 40th season, and even crazier to think that I have never missed an episode.  That comes to around 583 hours (or around 25 straight days).   I used to be able to remember all the players and winners but as the seasons went on, its been harder and harder to remember everybody that played and won.

Season 40: Winners at War brings back 20 past winners (10 men and 10 women).  As they showed up on the beach, it brought back great memories of all the seasons I watched and reminded me of why I am such a fan of the show.  As the show went on, the one thing that stood out to me was that all these players are millionaires, but none seemed any different then when they played in the past.  They were all willing to submit themselves to the game of Survivor (eating rice / sleeping on bamboo / physical challenges) to play the game again.   I found it interesting how some of the players from the earlier seasons felt the game (and players) was moving super fast while the newer players felt like it was the same as when they played.

I really like the dynamic of  having all past players (winners) playing against each other.  I have read and heard that past Survivor Players have formed a kind of bond outside of the game and a lot of become good friends.   This makes things really interesting as everybody has a lot of external information on everybody else.

Its to early for me to try and pick who will win.   I have some of my favorites (Boston Rob and Amber, Parvati, Ethan and Yul) as well as some I am not a big fan of (Adam, Ben).  A lot of the others I am on the fence on,  so will need to wait and see how the season progresses before I make any judgments.

As far as the game play, I was not a big fan of Redemption Island, and hope they make some changes (like bringing back the voted off-players much earlier than before).  It should not be an advantage to be outside of the game as an non participant observer for most of the time while the players in the game have to stigmatize and make moves against other players)

As for Fire Tokens, I like the idea and it will be interesting to see how it plays out

The season is off to a good start and I am looking forward to watching and seeing if somebody can become the 2nd two time winner, or if somehow Sandra can Outwit, Outlast, and Outplay everybody again and become a 3 time winner.

Andy

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Quick Update

Posted on February 5, 2020 by AverageAndy

Just a quick update to remember a a few people who have recently left us

All left their mark  in different ways, touching millions of people with music, sports and movies.   Due to them, the world is a better place.  They all will be missed.

Neil Peart, the drummer from the band RUSH died on January 10th, 2020

Neil Peart

Kobe Bryant (any 8 others) died in a helicopter crash on January 26th, 2020

Kobe Bryant and 8 Others

Kirk Douglas – Actor who lived to be 103 Years old – died February 5th, 2020

Kirk Douglas

New Season of Survivor starts next week (Survivor: Winners at War).  20 past winners are back to battle for the title of ultimate Survivor.   Rely looking forward to this season.  Should be a lot of fun to watch.

Haven’t been felling well for a bit – been dealing with I believe is Lyme disease.  I’m on the mend and feeling much better, so will be back writing about my thoughts and observations about Survivor, Card Collecting, as well as Music, Sports, TV and Movies

Andy

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Survivor, The Rise of Skywalker, and lots more

Posted on December 22, 2019 by AverageAndy

Season 39 of Survivor (Island of the Idols) ended last week with Tommy Sheehan Outwiting, Outplaying, Outlasting all other contestants and taking home the 1 Million dollar prize.  While I really enjoyed this season (despite the issues regarding improper touching by one of the contestants who eventually got removed from the show), it was a bit of a letdown when another nondescript, uninteresting person in Tommy somehow managed to convince the jury he should win.   Not as bad as last season where Chris Underwood one despite not even being on the main island for more than half the season.   I will always be a big fan, and still enjoy the show, but they need to find a way for interesting, charismatic and remediable people win the game.   Not to take anything away from any of the winners, but I used to be able to remember and name most of the winners.  Now I look back at the past few seasons and think “I kind of remember that person, but have no really memory or feeling of them”.

I like the Island of the Idols concept,  and enjoyed seeing Boston Rob and Sandra give their challenged to the players who were sent to see them. I feel they could bring this back in future episodes with other favorite players coming  back.

All in all, this season was a slightly above average season.   I am looking forward to next season (Season 40) whit all past winners competing for 2 Million Dollars, but have to admit, it is getting  a bit stale when players are now on for their 4th, 5th, and 6th time.

I will be submitting my next audition video for the upcoming seasons with the hope of eventually showing Jeff Probst, the Casting Directors, and the rest of the Production Crew that they need to get me on the show to bring some new blood to the show so that it can remain relevant for another 40 seasons

As far as Star Wars – The Rise of Skywaker – I saw it on opening night to keep my streak alive of seeing all the movies on their opening night – except the original Star Wars IV – A New Hope – which I saw at the Wellfleet Drive in on Cape Cod soon after it opened.   I went in with an open mind and really enjoyed it.  I have been a fan from the beginning and enjoyed all of the movies (some more than others).  I take them for a ongoing entertaining story with lots of great and interesting characters.   I really don’t consider this the end of Star Wars, but more like the end of chapter in a very long and ongoing book.    Just like life just doesn’t come to an abrupt end,  but just continues.

I will definitely  need to see the movie again (might try to catch it in the theater in a few weeks) to get a true feeling.  I enjoyed the story and the main characters, but do think throughout the new trilogy, they have added to many new or bit characters that really did not add much to the story.   In some cases, smaller and simpler is better

In other news, I have to admit I really like the new Harry Styles record.  My daughter has been playing it a lot, and it has really grown on me.   And it seems like I am not alone

Harry Styles “Fine Line” album Number 1 on Billboard 200 Chart

Its very refreshing to hear some new music that changes things up and is not just the same as everything else that sounds all the same to me.

In sports, the New York Football Giants won their 2nd game in a row after losing 9 in a row.  I’m happy that they are winning some games, but also hoping they don’t take these last few wins as blue print for next season.  They need to get rid on Coach Shurmur and bring somebody in who can take the team (which has talent) and give them a identity and focus and a winning attitude.

And finally,  Mike Francessa of WFAN signed off of his afternoon slot for the 2nd time in the past 2 years, but this time I think he will be off for good.  He will still be doing a 1/2 recap show each day and looking forward to listing on my way home from work.  I really enjoyed listing to him for the past 30 years and think he was one of the best.

Have a happy and safe Holiday season and Happy New Year

Looking forward to writing more in 2020

Average Andy

Posted in Jeff Probst, NY Giants, Radio, Reality Shows, Sports, Star Wars, Survivor, Television | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

St. Elmo’s Fire – Music and Clips

Posted on November 16, 2019 by AverageAndy

 

I heard the St. Elmo’s Fire theme song on SiriusXM Big Eighty’s Countdown and made me realize how much I like the movie

 

 

 

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Monday Monday

Posted on November 11, 2019 by AverageAndy

Another Monday, and we are talking about another NY Giants loss.   For the past few NFL seasons the only thing that Mondays have brought have been a deluge of posts and rants about how bad the NY Giants are and that they need to make changes.  Fire Coach MacAdoo (Done), Fire GM Jerry Reese (Done), Trade  Odell Beckham Jr. (Done),  bench Eli Manning (Done).  Now it’s fire coach Shurmur and GM Dave Gettleman.   What a mess this team has become.  Other than 2016 when they went out and spent a lot of money on defensive players (who all had All Pro Years), the Giants have been a below average team since 2013.  Mike Francesa of WFAN summed it up when he stated that the NFL is designed for teams to be average (7-9, 8-8, 9-7).    If your better than that you are a good organization, and if you are worse than that, then you are a bad organization.  For the past 7 years the Giants have been a bad organization.

2019  2-8      3rd — NFC East
2018  5-11    4th — NFC East
2017  3-13    4th — NFC East
2016  11-5    2nd — NFC East
2015  6-10    3rd — NFC East
2014  6-10    3rd — NFC East
2013  7-9      3rd — NFC East

I am not a big fan of coach Pat Shurmer and feel the Giants should fire him sooner than later.  My biggest concern is that under him, the team has no identity; No Spark; and no Desire to win.  They are just a Blah team.    They have as much talent as most other teams and need to bring in somebody who has some passion and can help get the Giants out of their current situation.   Why waste the rest of this year, and then the beginning of next year (I just cant see them turning things around with coach Shurmer) before making a move.   The best owners (of Sports team and business in general) know when to admit they made a mistake and things are not working, and make a change.

The New York Mets made a change and hired Carlos Beltran Mike Francesa as their new manager.  While the team played hard and had a good season under Mickey Calloway,  much like the Giants, the the team just had a blah feeling and needed to change the culture. Hopefully by bringing in a popular player and proven winner in Carlos Beltran, the Mets can ride the talent the have towards a winning season in 2020.   I am on-board with this hire and with the pitching  (Cy Young winner Jacob DeGrom, Noah Syndergaard , and Marcos Stoman) and young talent (2019 Rookie of the Year Pete Alonso, Jeff McNeil) they should be able to be competitive.

Last but not least, want to mention that I really enjoyed the series finale of “The Affair” last week.   The Showtime series ran for 5 years and I am sad to see it end.   I stumbled across the trailer after watching Homeland, and though it looked interesting.   After the 1st episode I was hooks and I looked forward each week to see where things were going and how messed up the characters could be.   I thought the show did a great job of portraying average people and I started to really care about the characters.  And after 5 years, the finale did a really good job of showing that although life can be messed up for everybody, there is hope that things work out in the end.

Spoiler for those who have not seen the show and plan to watch it at some point

Here is the final scene of the show with Fiona Apples version of the Water Boys “The Whole of the Moon”

Posted in NY Giants, NY Mets, Sports, Television, The Affair | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Survivor Now and Then

Posted on November 6, 2019 by AverageAndy

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

Rudy Boesch

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

B.B. Andersen (Season 1: Borneo)
Jenn Lyon (Season 10: Palau)
Ashley Massaro (Season 15: China)
Dan Kay (Season 17: Gabon)
Caleb Bankston (Season 27:  Blood vs. Water)

Much more to come including my take on the Series finale of “The Affair” on Showtime as well as thoughts on the NY Giants (awful) and NY Mets (Intriguing) coaches

Andy

 

Posted in NY Giants, NY Mets, NY Rangers, Reality Shows, Sports, Survivor | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Time marches on

Posted on October 16, 2019 by AverageAndy

Very sad to hear that a co-worker of mine at NBC, D’Jamison Jensen passed away on August 10th at the age of 46.  We were on the same team and talked and ate lunch together for 5 plus years.  He was laid off from NBC the same time I was let go and we kept in touch throughout our search for a new jobs.  He was a nice guy and will be missed.  RIP Jamie

Don’t know how to feel about the NY Mets firing their Manager Mickey Callaway a few weeks back.  I will admit the he was not a very good manager during his 2 years and at times looked flustered and made many head scratching decisions.   But I did happen to hear him on WFAN with Mike Francesa after the season (before he was let go) , and he seem to have finally figured things out.  He sounded more confident than he had in his 2 years and seemed really excited about the team and it potential in 2020.   Not sure where the Mets are going for their next manager, but hopefully its somebody who can work with the pitchers and young talent to get this team to the play-offs.   I’m looking forward to 2020

On the other hand, I don’t want to be negative, but I would not be upset if the NY Football Giants fired there current head coach Pat Shurmur.  The team has been a mess the past couple of years, and I do not feel Pat Shurmur is the person to get things straightened out.  He failed as a coach at Cleveland, and so far has not done much better in NY.  He makes way to many excuses, and while I understand the team needed to move on from Eli Manning, and move forward with Danial Jones, coach Shurmur seems content to lose and then blame things on having a rookie QB.   I always root for the Giants to win, but am really torn as if they win, then coach Shurmur stays.   Lets see how things play out the next 4 weeks before their buy.

Yesterday, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced their 2020 Nominees

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 2020 Nominees

If I had to choose 5, here are Average Andys picks

Pat Benatar
Judas Priest
Dave Matthews Band
Todd Rundgren
The Doobie Brothers

Honestly, while I congratulate each of the 16 nominees,  I had a hard time even coming up with my five picks.   Other than Pat Benatar and Judas Priest, none of the others really jumped out and excited me.  I like some of their songs, but am just not feeling that they are among the best of the best.  I do wish the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame voting committee would give a little more thought to so called Corporate Rock Bands  (Boston, Styx, Foreigner) or so labeled 80s Hair Bands (Iron Maiden, Scorpions, Dio), rather than continuing to force bands like Kraftwerk (6 times) or MC5 (5 times)  out there year after year.   And they need to go back and nominate people like John Denver and Dolly Parton, who had huge influences in the 70s.

I mentioned last time I really enjoyed the new BH90210 series on FOX.   I though it was genius on how they revived the show.   If you were a fan of the original 90210, you really should check this out.  Its a bit strange at the beginning, but once you buy into what they are doing, it really works and was really enjoyable

We are 4 episodes into Survivor, and I love the Boston Rob / Sandra take.  It really works and make for some great insight.  I can see them bringing other fan favorites back in the same way in future seasons.    Plus there is no Exile Island this time, and once you are voted off, you are actually out of the game.    No real favorites yet, but I would love to see Tom Laidlaw do well.  I do remember him as a member of the NY Rangers in the early 80s and it would be cool if he went far.

Tom Laidwaw – NY Rangers / Survivor

Just a reminder that the 71st Philly Non-Sport Card show is this weekend in Allentown, PA.   I will be attending on Sunday and hope to pick up some cool stuff.

Philly NonSports Card Show

More to come

Average Andy

 

Posted in 90210, Mike and the Mad Dog, Music, Non-Sports Cards, NY Giants, NY Mets, Philly Non Sports Card Show, Reality Shows, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Sports, Survivor | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment