Team Buck Nekkid

First, I just want to say this draft has caused me a lot of excitement and anxiety. I took a nap after Dan picked Theresa as his #1 pick (Are you nuts?!), and had a dream that Kim picked Shauvon in the first round. Yea. It’s seeped into my head. Go ahead and analyze that one.

My Strategy
So my research for this season’s draft involved looking at the team breakdown in Wikipedia, reading up on the MTV.com cast bios, and watching the promos. There’s a good handful this season whom I’ve never heard of, so I had to find out who these fools were. Seeing how the game is structured this season, I took a look at the three teams and decided Gray team was hands down the best. They had the best girls and pretty strong guys. So I figured I would lean toward picking Gray team people if possible, and I got 4 out of 5! (There was no way I was picking the boob popper.) So all my eggs are in the Gray basket for the extra team point. It’s a risk, but I had to go for it. Go Gray! I started to rank all the players, but it got too difficult, so then I made a rough girls list and guys list which helped me make my choices.

Here’s my reasoning for each pick...

#4. Abram - I vaguely recall Abram, but I believe he’s a strong intense player, especially from the bio, so he could have team leader potential this season. Plus he makes out with Cara Maria, so that’s a guaranteed extra point. High five Jon! It also seems like a showmance vs. a one-time hot-tub kiss, so who knows how many repeated hook up points we will get from this. Another high five! Cara Maria was a high contender for my #1 pick, but Jon bullied me out of it. Jon seems to be pulling some behind-the-scenes political strategery himself. Maybe we’re on hidden camera, and people are drafting us?! Dum dum dum!!! Kim and Dan, we must form an alliance. You heard it here first.

#9. Sarah - In the Ruins season, I made the fateful mistake of picking Brianna over Sarah (no thanks to Kim). So it seemed like I was faced with the opportunity to redeem myself. I couldn’t pass up Sarah the Fish this time, even though I really liked the look of athletic hot-tub makeout slut Emily. Sarah has enough experience by now to know how to strategize and get in with the veteran alliances. I also see her throw up in the promo (point!) and maybe she’ll get some repeat lovin’ from Vinny?

#16. Dan - I think Dan’s my dark horse. He seems cute, strong, and athletic. His bio also seemed to give him a lot of promise...I like to read between the lines. I’ve never seen him before, but he could be my Cara Maria crush (which, like Jon’s, is not based on much). He runs around naked in the promo, and just seems like he could be a cool, likeable guy among his teammates. (I believe Luke went naked last season, hence the team name.) I just hope he falls off the wagon and gets into some fighting or makeout sessions. Or stay sober, focus, and win some challenges!

#21. Luke - Yea, this could be a mistake. I don’t know. He seems like he can compete, and may have an advantage on the other guys in a non-traditional sense, like using his smaller size for speed or something. He also seems like he can get involved in stupid situations, which can lead to hookups or fighting. Plus, at this point, I’m 4 for 4 on the Gray team picks, so there you go. I almost took JD here, but he seems like he could be too boring and just disappear quietly.

#28. Tyler - At this point, we’re scraping the barrel, and I wasn’t gonna pick stupid Brandon (who invited him back?) or the busted implant Shauvon, even though she would’ve rounded out my Gray team. Tyler has a lot to prove, and seems like he has his head in the game this time, at least politically. Plus he’ll get some makeout points with the girls, even though he’s gay. Will I get those points? I say yes! I’ve also got 4 guys now, which can be an advantage since a guy and girl go home every show...I have less chance of losing 2 players at once. I didn’t want this to drive my strategy though, as I don’t know how the ending will play out. Plus I’m glad I have Sarah...girl power!

On the other owners’ picks...
I feel like my preferences in general differed from a lot of people. I was definitely surprised by some choices, most of all, Dan’s. Theresa? Big Easy? Chet? You’re crazy. Rookie, explain yourself. Some other surprising early picks - Paula, Melinda, Camila. I wouldn’t have picked these girls as high as they went. Also, it seems like everyone leaves happy after the first round. It’s nice to see that even if we didn’t get the #1 pick, we all still got our #1’s anyway.

In Memoriam
HT, I know I don’t know you, but I’m disappointed that you aren’t here to potentially threepeat. It’s like Candice Bergen pulling her name out of Emmy contention because she kept winning for Murphy Brown. Weak! Any win of ours will feel a little bit hollow, but hey, at least a new champion will be crowned. And by the looks of our teams, it’s anyone’s game (except Dan’s).