- The NFL Draft was captivating as always...at least that's what I'm told. We naturally picked the perfect time to take an extended weekend getaway to a remote lake house in Jasper, Alabama, the ultimate Draft weekend! Or so I thought. Luckily we were spared by the tornadoes that made their way through the surrounding areas that weekend, but we did lose our television viewing capabilities for the duration of the NFL's Annual Player Selection Meeting. Special shout-outs to friends, family, Sirius Satellite Radio, and most of all Natural Light for turning what could have been a disaster into what was still an absolute blast of a weekend.
- The NBA and NHL Playoffs have both rated 'Above Average' on the Entertainment Value Scale, but nothing special enough to warrant an article in The Breaux Report...not yet at least. Props to the Nashville Predators for making their first trip to the Western Conference Semis: it's pretty awesome to finally live in an NHL city.
- If Animal Kingdom can win the Preakness Stakes this Saturday, I might be compelled to write what I'm sure would be an original "Will We Finally See Our First Triple Crown Winner in 33 Years?" article. I mean COME ON, can this happen at least ONCE in my lifetime?!
- THE PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP was fantastic this past weekend. Congrats to K.J. Choi for scoring the biggest victory of his career so far by defeating David Toms in a sudden death playoff. And congrats to David Toms for getting me to openly root for an athlete who attended LSU...doesn't happen often!
But something else happened yesterday that gave me the inspiration to write again, a textbook WOW moment that technically doesn't have any place in a sports blog. But dammit, if something like NASCAR can be considered a sport, then so can the greatest reality competition program of all time! For those of you out there who do not watch "Survivor", you can stop reading right now...nothing I will say for the remainder of this article will make any sense or have any impact on you. And for those of you that are fortunate enough to watch "Survivor" but have yet to watch last night's Season 22 Finale, you can also stop reading right now...because I'm about to give it all away!
I would now like to send out this article's most special shout-out to my main man Kev, who a little over six years ago talked me into watching the premiere of Survivor: Palau, the series' 10th season. Since then I have watched every episode of the series, including going back and watching the first nine seasons. To explain the concept of the show would be a waste of both my and your time. If you watch the show, then you totally get it. "Survivor" is as equally compelling now as it was when it debuted 11 years ago.
The only thing that bothered me about "Survivor" through the years was that my favorite contestant and also the game's greatest competitor, 'Boston' Rob Mariano, had never actually won the million dollar prize and the title of "Sole Survivor." After last year's "Heroes vs. Villains" season, it seemed that Rob's quest to win "his" title was officially over, coming away empty-handed again in his third attempt. But then, thanks in part to Rob's popularity and his famous feud with Russell on the 'Villains' tribe, both Rob and Russell were invited to join 16 other castaways on this Spring's "Redemption Island" season. It appeared that CBS was grasping for ratings. As if someone with Rob's reputation had any chance of going far with a new group of completely unknown players. He would naturally be an early target and a most likely early exit...at least that's the way it should have played out. It did play out that way for Russell: the self proclaimed "greatest player in Survivor history" lasted a total of eight days, even sobbing like a little girl after failing to make it to the final vote for the first time in his three attempts at the game. Meanwhile, Rob somehow managed to form alliances, his team won challenges, he found the hidden immunity idol, he had the numbers at the merge, he backstabbed, he blindsided, he got everyone in his alliance to believe that he was taking them to the end, he had to get rid of two people twice because of the 'redemption island' twist, he won the final immunity challenge in what was most certainly a "win or go home" scenario for him, all nine people on the jury were sent there when he decided it was their time to go............................................................and all but one of them voted for him in the end. BOSTON ROB F*CKING DID IT!!!
During the live reunion, Jeff Probst called it the closest thing to a perfect game he has ever seen in 22 seasons of hosting the show.
There was certainly an extra hop in my step at work today, and my smile was bigger than it should ever be on a Monday. I didn't want to live in a world where Boston Rob was "the greatest player to never win." Luckily none of us will be living in that world anymore.
To Kevin, thanks for that day in February 2005 when you talked me into what I was sure at the time would be a waste of 45 minutes in front of the TV, love ya man. And to Boston Rob, congratulations, it has been an absolute joy watching you over the years...you deserve it.
