Draft Recap: Season 2

Wow, we got through the draft in record time, I guess everyone knew exactly who they wanted right? Actually, it might be more accurate to say that people knew who they wanted but couldn't get them. I know more than a few hearts were broken during the draft and I was personally robbed of my soon to be favorite player. I can only hope she gets eliminated early so I won't have to watch her week after week scoring points for someone else (ahem, Yasmine). So let's do a quick draft recap shall we?

Draft Order: HT, Yasmine, Kim, George, Jon, Victor

Round 1
This was a draft with two obvious top picks: Wes and Kenny. All the previews were focused around their feud and since both are great competitors, there's no reason either will leave early. They are the obvious franchise players here and are strong players in all the competition and bonus categories. In fact, I'll be shocked if they don't both get some Challenge and Exile wins, as well as copious amounts of hooking up, fighting, and crazy ass tirades. Will one of them cry? Let's hope so!

The question was which one would HT pick first? In our poll, five out of six voters went with Wes but HT decided to go with last year's Ruins Champion, co-captain of the douchebag alliance, killer of other people's self-esteem, former fat kid, Kenny Santucci! Due to Victor's man crush on Wes, he tried desperately to negotiate with the people above him to move up a few spots. Rumors are that he offered his entire draft for Wes, willing to part with all his picks for his true love. Instead, all offers were rejected as Yasmine broke Victor's heart and made the wise move of taking Wes second overall. Yasmine may hate Wes as a person but as a competitor, she knows he's Challenge royalty.

As the newbie owner, Kim took the safe route of picking Darrell, who is guaranteed to be a well behaved competitor after losing out on all his cash in an ill advised bout of anger last season. And we know he won't be hooking up so it's all about competition points for him. Along the same lines, Fresh Meat Noor will probably be thrust into a similar role. Awesome competitor but he's not getting any love from the ladies (minority men always get shafted in that department). It's okay, George was impressed by his outstanding combine performance and believes he's the one to lead her to victory. Jon quickly snapped up Landon, the last of the veteran men with any track record for success. He's pretty boring though. Sigh.

With the first of his double down picks, Victor took the intriguing strategy of grabbing Wes' partner. After a lot of studying of the preview, it was determined that Wes was probably partnered up with Mandi. She boxes, she trains for marathons, Mandi could be a great pick here as she's partnered up with a franchise player and destined to go far. Plus in the preview she gets on Wes for falling behind!

Round 2
Following that same strategy, Victor took Laurel, who is definitely Kenny's partner -- they are clearly pushing the log together in the same colored shirts -- and a very strong Fresh Meat competitor. She's also headed toward a few hook up points as her and Pete have already shared a kiss. With her Amazonian size and Midwest upbringing, Laurel could be the strongest female in the whole competition -- well, unless Eve shows up.

Having fallen for Sarah's tattoos and can-do attitude last year, Jon felt he had to take her early because she would never make it to his next pick. The previews show her and Vinny getting pretty close so he feels confident some hook up points are headed his way. Sarah is a strong swimmer with a not-so-secret crush on Kenny so here's hoping she attacks him romantically underwater for another point or two. Someone who's decidedly the personality Alpha Female in the house, Jenn is here to stir up trouble and cause ruckus. She's basically like the Veronica of this season, with an equal chance of fighting, hooking up, and throwing up. Of course George loves her and took Jenn in glee. Why does George always like the loud bitchy ones? Hum.

Poor Vinny must feel robbed to not have been on Jersey Shore but his presence on the Challenge proves that muscle bound not so bright Guidos are a dime a dozen. He may have the physical strength for this competition but how smart is he? Kim will find out as Vinny now co-anchors her team. She's also hoping he "pounds it out" while in Vancouver. Anyone else notice how all the Fresh Meat folk would say something like "I may look dumb but I'm actually smart!" If you have to go out of your way to say that you're smart, you're probably not that smart, fyi.

In a huge surprise, Yasmine takes the gamble with Evelyn, who may or may not be on the show. I was predicting an Evelyn pick in the third round (if not the last) but Yasmine thinks she saw a glimpse of superwoman E.V.E. on the trailer and took her with no regrets. If Eve indeed shows up, it'll be a steal as Yasmine would have two of the strongest male and female competitors. What a gamble! Also surprising was HT's selection of Jillian. I know she's a former Gauntlet champion but is she slated to go far in this thing? Then again, why question HT who has proven that all of her picks turn into absolute gold. Jillian'll probably win the whole damn thing now that she's on HT's team.

Round 3
For her wrap around pick, HT went with Pete, who isn't the strongest male competitor but his other attributes could win him some big points. HT has definitely cornered the market on the tall good looking "yum" guys. And for the biggest transgression of the entire draft: Yasmine stealing Cara Maria from me. I logically knew she wouldn't drop far after her strong pull up showing but c'mon, wouldn't Sarah and Cara be the perfect pair on a team together? Yasmine messed that all up for me, which means her powerhouse selections of Wes/Eve/Cara Maria has already managed to upset three other owners. Someone's starting the season with a big target on her back!

We're not sure what Luke brings to the table (except a possible hook up with Ryan) but he seems like a strong contestant in the mold of a poor man's Derrick. He's small and feisty it seems like. Jeff, the not quite Navy SEAL, actually slipped a bit from my personal rankings and George snapped him up hoping he'll be make it through a few weeks at least. I have him as a sleeper.

For the last two picks of the third round, ho hum veterans Ryan and Paula were taken by Jon and Victor respectively. We know what they bring to the table. No athletic ability, light drama, and at least one hook up apiece. Paula is also headed for a puke and cry session, possibly on the same episode.

Round 4
The final round and all contestants left have big question marks. Victor goes with an intriguing all female team, hoping for a Femme Force Four of Mandi, Laurel, Paula, and Carley. That's three newbies though, perhaps making for a very risky strategy. His last pick, Carley, seems like our next best candidate for boob poppage and was terrible in the combine. Then again, her profile says she's an amateur wrestler so maybe she's better in enclosed spaces.

Jon had wanted Katelynn all along and passed up Brandon "aka Nick's lookalike older brother," going against the "when in doubt pick the black one" strategy. Aside from supporting Katelynn in her transgender awareness efforts, Jon's hoping she'll be a surprise competitor. George took Danny, who's about as exciting as well, Landon or Dummy Bear. George had "El Lardo" last year and he got knocked out after three weeks. Melinda probably won't have to wait long for a reunion with her fiance.

In a shocker, Kim selects Sandy, who shames her Asian brothers and sisters with a complete inability to run, jump, lift, or anything else. She looks like an Asian Casey to me! Then again, she's probably like really good at the piano or violin, so that could prove useful for night time entertainment -- or a challenge. Quoting directly from her MTV profile page: "Sandy promises that if she wins the grand prize, she'll 'throw some D's on this' and get breast implants." I'm so ashamed.

For the last two picks, there were four available choices: Brandon, CJ, Theresa, and Sydney. Strengths for each? Brandon seems like a crowd pleaser, CJ is a nominally an athlete as an one time aspiring NFL kicker, Theresa is stereotypically "hot and spicy" (hey she said it herself!), and Sydney is ahem, passionate about cheerleading.

Yasmine took Theresa, lured by her promise to "box a bitch" while HT took Mr. Irrelevant, CJ, making his dreams of making it into the league come true. I'm predicting he's the first dude out because the new veterans are always on an island. Not integrated with the Fresh Meat and invariably ostracized from the old veterans. So the draft is over and this Wednesday the fun begins!

Undrafted
It must be pointed out that once again, the black contestants were undrafted (last year it was Nick). Are we racist? What's going on here? I offer a counter theory. If someone isn't bad ass like Coral or a superior athlete like Alton, the Challenge owners shy away from them. I mean, both Brandon and Sydney were pretty terrible in the combine weren't they?

Overall this is probably the whitest cast we've ever seen on the Challenge, and that's why Noor was such an interesting casting choice. He's a minority male who's actually good at the challenges (sorry Yes) and he's Muslim. Someone get this guy on the Real World DC! Oh wait, that season already happened.

If Eve doesn't show up, Yasmine has already stated her preference for Brandon as her replacement player. Here's hoping he sneaks in (and sabotages Yasmine's team)!