Survivor 32 Episode 8: Pro athletes should never pass up a free meal
This episode was all about food and deception.
By
Zach Harper
•
5 min read
One of my favorite things I've noticed in covering the NBA is observing the veteran players who head to the media dining prior to a game. Andre Miller is the culprit I've noticed the most. Whether he was playing for the Minnesota Timberwolves or Denver Nuggets or now the San Antonio Spurs, before the game in any city you could find him taking advantage of the meal provided to the media. Sometimes those meals are free and sometimes you have to pay a little bit for them ($7 or $8 here and there).
To players and members of the visiting team, those meals are free no matter what. They can grab a plate, get some veggies and protein scooped onto their plate, mix in a salad and head back to the locker room for a peaceful, free pre-game meal. The reason it's a brilliant strategy by the veterans is 1) you're getting proper nutrition (for the most part) before your game so you have the fuel to play and 2) you're pocketing all of that per diem money when you're on the road.
NBA per diem is $127 for players when they're on the road. Let's use Miller as an example. He's been in the NBA for 17 seasons. That means his team has played roughly 697 road games during his 17-year career. Even if we just conservatively estimate the average per diem over the course of his career is $105, by hitting those free pre-game meals he would've pocked nearly $35,000 if he just spent half of that per diem on food during the day before his game. Veterans know they can make some good extra money by being savvy for their pre-game dinner.
Scot Pollard was a veteran in the NBA for a long time and knowing these tricks is a big help. You know to never pass up a free meal. That's why in Survivor's latest episode it was all about getting those extra menu perks that island simply couldn't offer up. In their reward challenge, they needed to use teamwork and balance in order to win an ice cream treat. While Scot's teams have generally not done well in challenges, they demolished the other team who couldn't get off the ground (or stay out of the water).
Scot was able to help his team win the challenge and that gave him a free treat, much like hitting up a media room with a soft serve ice cream machine.
The next challenge also had a big-time food reward element to it, but it came at a cost. Throughout this episode, alliances are being forged and fortified throughout but there was a real threat of paranoia complicating things. The plan was to get rid of one of the three remaining Brain tribe members, which was going to be quite easy to do. The tough part of that though was the threat of an all-woman alliance screwing up the vote and taking over the power of the island.
The main alliance though felt pretty solid their plan of getting rid of a Brain member (either Deb or Aubry) was going to work. So in a challenge in which you had to uncomfortably balance on a post in the brutal sun, Jeff Probst offered up a consolation prize that if you were willing to forgo the chance at immunity then you would get to eat pizza, hot dogs, burgers, and have a cold beverage. But you had to quit and you had to do it in the 10-second window in which he offered it, otherwise falling off the post was going to mean defeat and no treat.
Scot, not one to pass up the possibility of a free meal during this competition, joined Jason, Michele and Joe as the only people to quit the challenge in order to eat the meal. The rest dealt with torture of some sort in either losing, trying not to lose, or watching them enjoy comfort food they weren't going to get any time soon.
It was a pretty easy choice for Scot. He knew he wasn't going to win that challenge because his size made it almost impossible. Keeping your heels on the tiny platform and putting that pressure on your back and knees when you weigh 300 pounds is an impossibility. Scot seemed to have the scheme perfectly crafted in how the game should go. As long as a woman didn't win, their plan should work.
Scot has played this entire game plan perfectly. He seems to know how to manipulate the group to keep himself around. He helps with challenges and he helps unite the alliance that needs to be united. And now, it's starting to reward him with not only success in staying on the show but in being able to enjoy food surprises like what happened during the immunity challenge.
There was just one problem in this episode. As good as Scot has been in uniting his alliance and keeping them together, he couldn't stop Nick from overplaying the game. Nick was too involved in trying to stop against a potential alliance with the women and almost seemed to galvanize that effort. His obvious attempt at sneakiness ticked Sydney off and it spurred her to go make sure the women stuck together and ruined the main alliance's choice of getting rid of Aubry or Deb.
When it got to tribal council, Nick never saw it coming and halfway through, Scot and Jason seemed to know what was coming. Especially once Tai let it slip that he had too much information about the immunity idol and the potential super idol, the strategy had been destroyed like free hot dogs in the middle of an immunity challenge.
Nick was voted off, having forced the women to turn on him and now the remaining alliance has to recalibrate and figure out how to regain the upper hand. At least Scot got to take advantage of that free meal. If you scheme properly, you can end up with a lot of extra money in your pockets. Maybe that money will be the $1 million prize.
