Week 3 Scores

STANDINGS

Yasmine: +14 (34)
Jon: +6 (26)

Susan: +6 (23)
George: +9 (22)

Kim: +5 (19)

Victor: +9 (19)

First off, we ran our mini-draft and the results went like this: Isaac to Kim, Swift to George, Preston to Jon, and then George again with Latoya. Those extra additions helped a lot, especially since George's team lost yet ANOTHER player, Frank, this time to a medical boot off the show. It's getting a little hilarious. At least the mini-draft bolstered her back up to three players.

Yasmine is back on top, riding her Nany hot streak, with +14 this week. Victor also leapt back into the fray with a nice +9, mainly off the strength of a well rounded week from everyone. Plus, he has Cara Maria, who deserves all the points for her gutsy Elimination showing.

Detailed scoring: check the spreadsheet.

COMPETITION POINTS:
Challenge (+1): Camila, Johnny Bananas, Jessica, Brandon
Elimination (+1): Nia, Johnny R, Cara Maria
Survival (+1): Cara Maria
OUT (+0): Nia

BONUS POINTS:
Kissing (+2): Cohutta/Nany, Nany/Johnny R
Hookup Bonus (+1): Yasmine (Nany/Johnny R)
Crying (+2): Frank
Booted (+3): Frank
Blurcle (+1): Jasmine, Johnny R, Zach
Clue (+1): Jonna, Isaac

Scoring Notes: A pretty exciting week as we get our first ever booted bonus thanks to Frank. Plus a hookup point for Yasmine's team. And we also had a blurcle party! Laurel and Jordan's hookup was deemed to have taken place off-camera -- or in commercial break -- and not scored. And too bad they didn't show the aftermath of the Elimination because that would have been some medical points for Non-Hurricane Nia!

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Week 2 Scores

STANDINGS

Jon: +14 (20)

Yasmine: +12 (20)

Susan: +9 (17)

Kim: +8 (14)

George: +4 (13)

Victor: +6 (10)

Huge week for Jon as his entire team got some extra points, even if he did lose Emilee to elimination. Camila the Destroyer paid off with four huge points, and her drunken (verbal) fight with Nany helped Yasmine's team into a share of the lead. Nany was actually the high scorer this week with seven, as she also threw in a nice birthday smooch with Cohutta.

Kim's gotta be sad to lose her first round draft pick, Dustin, but at least he went out on a kissing streak. It's too bad Big D won't be around any longer, as he probably could have racked up hook up points aplenty. George almost lost Frank to an elimination again, but now she's going to be able to replenish her team after WK2. Victor remains in last place, as his team has been a little slow to rack up the points.

Remember, this week we mini-draft out Latoya, Isaac, Swift, and Preston for Kim, Jon, and George's teams. Also, some of you still haven't blogged about your teams yet!

Detailed scoring: check the spreadsheet.

COMPETITION POINTS:
Challenge (+1): Laurel, Cohutta
Elimination (+1): Dustin, Frank, Jonna, Emilee
Survival (+1): Frank, Jonna
OUT (+0): Dustin, Emilee

BONUS POINTS:
Kissing (+2): Dustin/Jessica, Emilee/Dustin, Laurel/Jordan, Cohutta/Nany
Tirade (+2): Camila, Nany
Crying (+2): Camila, Nany
Blurcle (+1): Jasmine

Scoring Notes: Tons of hookups this week, and surprisingly, no same team hookups. Still, it was a glorious week for on-screen action. And if you saw the after show, you know there was more that wasn't even put into the episode. (Sidebar: Suzy looks terrible! Fake boobs and new face?!) Jasmine actually got blurcled twice, but gains only one point. Things are quickly heating up this season!

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Historical Rankings

I recall a few years ago, after the Rivals season, trying to calculate who our highest scoring players were. Unfortunately, I can't find that post now! (And it wasn't the Challenge scorecard, sadly.) Anyhow, as we head into our eighth season, I thought I better run the numbers again and answer some intriguing questions as we head into what looks like a very exciting Free Agents season. Click here for the actual spreadsheet.

Who's had the most Challenge appearances?
Counting from Ruins II to Free Agents, a total of eight seasons, the players with the most appearances are Sarah (7), Cara Maria (7), Wes (6), Johnny Bananas (6), Camila (6), Paula (5), Jasmine (5), Theresa (5), and Brandon (5).

Thus, the top five vets for Free Agents are Cara Maria, Johnny Bananas, Camila, Jasmine, and Theresa. Isn't it weird that aside from Johnny Bananas, none of these players are considered leaders? Where's the respect?!

Who's had the least Challenge appearances?
Well, aside from this year's crop of rookies -- Nia, Johnny, Latoya, Swift -- the players with only one pre-Free Agents season under their belts are Jordan, Devyn, Jessica, Emilee, and Cohutta (making his triumphant return all the way back from Ruins II). And then there's Isaac, who I totally forgot was on Duel II, way before our fantasy MTV time.

Who are the one/two year wonders?
One season wonders defined as scoring 20+ points in their lone season played include Carley, Tori, Mike, Marie, Jordan, Marlon, and Cooke. The first three on that list were all dragged to wins by strong teams or partners, aka Landon literally pushing Carley to victory. Jordan and Marlon are likely not an one-time fluke, but we'd like to see Marie and Cooke return to see if they have staying power or if they're just another Lisa Loeb or Natalie Imbruglia.

Players with two seasons under their belts and a 20+ point average include Diem, Tyler, Evelyn, and Frank. Basically if these guys hit the Challenge, they are going to do well. Or maybe they just got lucky twice!

Who have been the best players over the past seven seasons?
Nine players have averaged over 20+ points per appearance. This list excludes the one year wonders, so in order: Laurel (25.0 pts), Diem (23.5), Jenn (23.0), Tyler (22.5), Evelyn (22.5), Emily 22.0), CT (21.0), Frank (21.0), Johnny Bananas (20.0). Four of these top players are competing in Free Agents.

Who are the "Spring Breakers?"
I'm dubbing Cara Maria, Camila, Jasmine, and Theresa the "Spring Breakers." Each of them are appearing in at least their fifth Challenge. Only Camila has ever won one, and her average of 18.8 points is clearly tops out of those four. Ranking the other three is easy: Cara Maria (14.2), Jasmine (12.5), and Theresa (10.6). It's possible that this crew could be usurped by Jemmye, Nany, and Jonna soon, as those three are making their third or fourth appearances. Plus, Jemmye, Nany, and Jonna have all outperformed Jasmine and Theresa historically.

Who's in a make-or-break season?
A question that will be answered this season is if Zach is more Thor or  more Thor's weakling alter-ego, Donald Blake. Mr. Not-Quite-NFL dominated Battle of the Seasons with 25 points but was an emotionally vulnerable wreck last season, tallying only 13 points. With an average of 19.0 in two appearances, this is the season for Zach to show us if he deserves to be up there with CT, Frank, and Johnny Bananas as the best guys. Or will he let a contender like Jordan overtake him?

For the girls, the big mystery is Devyn, who got 19 points in her one previous showing during Battle of the Seasons. Based on the eye test, she's not exactly a solid bet to do well during Free Agents, as she won't have a strong Brooklyn team to prop her up -- also no Easy E to score hookup points with. Devyn, are you for real?

Who's the worst guy?
Shockingly, the answer is Brandon! In four previous Challenges, he's only averaged 6.3 points, which is lower than Preston's 8.0 points in two appearances. I know Brandon's had some bad teammates before, but worse than Preston?! Ouch.

What is Coral up to and can I hire her to provide child care?
Yes, and yes. Also, her Challenge BFF Princess Melissa with an important public service announcement (about babies).

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Right Reasons Podcast

Jacoby and Juliet are back at it, this time with not only their podcast and Jacoby's weekly column, but also video!

• The Right Reasons Podcast: ‘The Challenge’ Returns!
• America’s Fifth Major Sport Returns!
• A ‘Challenge’-Shaped Life Raft in a Sea of Juan Pablocalypses
• Learning to Accept, Embrace, and Love MTV’s New Reality (2013)
• Killing It in the Offseason: The Challenge Contestants' Side Hustles (2013)

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Week 1 Scores

STANDINGS
George: +9 (9)
Susan: +8 (8)
Yasmine: +8 (8)
Jon: +6 (6)
Kim: +6 (6)
Victor: +4 (4)

If George wanted to follow up her second place finish last year with a title this year, she's going to have to do it fighting uphill. The premiere saw three of her four players sent to elimination and even though she scored major points, that glory will be short lived as half her team has been eliminated already. Ouch.

In the meantime, the entire black team won a challenge point, but somehow Victor's team missed out on it all as he only owned red players. For Susan and Yasmine, both of them didn't accrue bonuses but did have all four of their players emerge victorious from the team competition. Also, can we just give Kim extra points for Theresa's one-on-one basketball performance? She should get +10 just for basically playing CT to a standstill! (For the record, the undrafted team of Latoya, Swift, Isaac, and Preston racked up +10 total this week.)

Detailed scoring: check the spreadsheet.

COMPETITION POINTS:
Challenge (+1): Black team of Johnny, Jasmine, Nany, CT, Jessica, Swift, Jordan, Aneesa, Cohutta, Preston, Nia, Leroy, Johnny Bananas, Laurel
Elimination (+1): Jemmye, Latoya, Chet, Frank
Survival (+1): Frank, Latoya
OUT (+0): Chet, Jemmye

BONUS POINTS:
Medical (+2): Chet, Latoya
Clue (+1): Devyn

Scoring Notes: Not a lot of action. All these single people and no make out scene? C'mon MTV! It was nice to see the return of the clue reader, as the show had been sporadic with that as last year wore on.

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Team Johnny (Not The) Backpack

Oh my favorite time of year. Winter is finally coming to an end in New York and The Challenge Draft is upon us. Hooray! I watched the trailer closely and looked at the other MTV videos and bios to help me decide. Here we go...

1st Round: CT
CT won for the first time last season, so winning twice in a row might be a long shot, but in general, CT is a volatile contender, and the "free agent" style of this game may work to his advantage. He has the strength and skills to do well in the challenges, as well as get under people's skin and rub them the wrong way. I hope this translates into some fighting points. CT has had his way with the ladies in the past, but I somehow feel this will be a dry season in the love department. I was debating picking Zach here, but I'm hoping CT's experience will give him a leg up on strategy. Finally, two words that will always paint a lasting picture in my mind: Johnny Backpack

2nd Round: Nany
I was a big fan of Nany since her Real World season. I picked her this time because she seemed to be all over the trailer. Fighting and making out all over the place. I sense a lot of drama for this girl plus I think she can handle herself in the challenges.

3rd Round: Johnny (not the Backpack)
I was all ready to pick Theresa here, but then I started reading the MTV bios again and rookie fresh-faced Johnny kept standing out. I think he will be underestimated as a rookie, but with some fellow Portland cast to give him support, I think he will be a surprise in the challenges. Plus the bio hints at a love connection. Rob the cradle ladies!

4th Round: Jessica
We're scraping the bottom here. I think I picked Jessica based on the bio too..."she just might shock everyone." She seems like some princess, so yea I hope she does shock me and make it far this season. Plus I think she gets some Dustin lovin.

Reactions to the first episode:
Theresa has mad basketball skills! Now I am really kicking myself for not picking her. My team members were all on the winning black team! Woo hoo! And Jessica does shock everyone by dealing with her fear of heights and making it across the rolling log first. This girl has balls! I am pleasantly surprised. Both Jessica and Johnny have hookup potentials already stirring. The La Toya vs. Jemmye elimination was so intense! I don't like La Toya but I'd be afraid of her if I were those other girls. She proved herself for sure. And poor George losing 2 people...at least you can draft again! I realized I'm the only East Coaster now in our league and it's so hard to keep my mouth shut for 3 hours!

I watched the first episode with my boyfriend. I leave you with a few sound bites from him -- "Aneesa looks like a busted up Tyra Banks." and "Jasmine - she's a 5."

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Team: Femme Fatales

I don’t know what happened but somehow I ended up with an all female team in a Challenge that will insure only one winner. Whoops. Basically I just cut off 50% of my chance at getting final winner points. Stupid! Maybe this is why I haven’t won one of these seasons yet. So Kim, don’t feel bad! George and I haven’t won this before either, and we’ve been playing waaaaaay longer than you. Wait, that’s so sad…

Fine, it’s been a bad run for me. However, this just re-doubles my enthusiasm as each new season gives me another chance to win! And this year I feel great because I have the strongest female competitor in the history of the Challenge back.

Yes, after three inexplicable seasons away, Laurel is back! I’m pretty sure Ms. Stucky has never lost a challenge, and this season with a free-for-all format, she’s not going to be stuck with a crappy partner or undermined by a weak team. I had thought about trading down from the #2 overall pick but when Susan took Jordan, I just couldn't pass up grabbing Laurel. I mean, aside from being the strongest female, she’s also good for drinking, making out, tirades, and really, everything. Laurel, I love you!

Obviously, my hope was to pair up Laurel with Cara Maria for the best one-two combination ever. Okay, not competitively but in life. "It's apple time!" I follow both of their Twitters and stuff, and I love how their relationship has evolved from rivals to outright best friends. It’s a touching story. Except that Victor stole Cara Maria away from me (again). If I were savvier, I would camouflage my love for CM more, but I just can’t. My emotional tie to CM is too strong!

Deflated and hopeless, I just took the best player on the board left with my second rounder: Camila. The feisty Brazilian is perpetually underrated and almost always scores super high. Plus, the “crazy tirade” points should just be re-named "a Camila.” There were a few interesting new names I wanted to grab -- like the delicious upside potential of Hurricane Nia -- but I knew getting Camila at the bottom of round two would be a fantastic value.

For my next pick, I was very happy to get Emilee Fitzpatrick, mainly on the strength of the displayed photo. Yes, Emilee is from Massachusetts and a Celtics fan! I literally know nothing about how good or bad she is in anything -- she was cut first from Cutthroat way back when -- but anybody who is a Celtics fan must have the heart of a champion, right? Sure she's wearing that traitor Ray Allen's number but this was before he left Boston for Miami. Uh oh, is that bad karma?

It was getting near scrub city for my final selection and with a lot of newbies were on the list, I wavered and went with a familiar name: Jasmine. I don’t know why I took her -- I've had Jasmine many times in the past already. Yes she’s good for a few bonus points here or there but she’s tiny and pretty much always going to get tossed at her first elimination. In retrospect, the wise move would have just been to gamble on one of the new guys, Swift or Isaac, but I was pretty sure with such a stacked men’s lineup, the new dudes would be constantly thrown into the fray. I wish I could dump Jasmine and replace her with somebody right now! My only hope is that with our new mini-draft after WK2 rules, Jasmine gets booted during one of the first episodes. C'mon Jasmine, get tossed!

Overall, I'm pretty confident about this team because Laurel is basically going to end up in the finals no matter what. I mean, her only physical competition, Emily from DC, isn't on this season (a matchup we still have yet to see) so Laurel is going to cruiiiiise. And Camila has proven time and time again that she’s a winner. Plus, Emilee might have some potential to complete my Big Three. I guess that means Jasmine will have to be my version of 2008 Rajon Rondo. Let's go get that first title ladies!

This season's theme song for Team Femme Fatale is obviously Glee's "Run The World (Girls)."

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Team Bring It On: It's Already Been Broughten

Hi Everyone!  I'm so excited about The Challenge this year, and I'm pretty excited about my team.  Here's the thing.  I've only seen one season of The Challenge.  Rivals II.  And, I've really only seen 3 seasons of The Real World: DC, New Orleans, and Portland.  So, I feel like I'm about to learn some lessons the hard way.  

First Pick: Jordan

Picking first in the draft was a lot of pressure.  I obviously bypassed some big names: Zach, CT, Johnny Bananas, Cara Maria.  But I went with my gut on this one.  Jordan really impressed me last season.  He is hypercompetitive, has a positive attitude, and really (REALLY) likes making out.  He's also annoying enough that he will probably get into fights with both men and women.  I think this was a solid pick.  

Second Pick: Cohutta

The thing about picking first is, your next pick is 12th.  At this point, all the people I know and love were picked already.  I have no idea who Cohutta is, but I'm pretty sure he will win it all (so much money that it will Change His Life.  Forever.)

Third Pick: Nia

Nia is definitely a psychopath (I just finished reading The Sociopath Next Door which is a great book that helps you identify psychopaths in your every day life.  Check it out!)  Nia is a manipulative liar who seemed ready to kill Johnny or Jordan or Avery on RW Portland.  I was shocked that she didn't get kicked off the show.  But, when she's not physically assaulting her castmates, she is lazy as hell.  So I don't know.  Physical fights are worth points, but manipulating situations so that other people get into fights is not worth points.  She did seem to be in at least a few different challenges according to the preview, and her official MTV bio says she's "matured and mellowed."  We shall see.

Last Pick: Aneesa

The O-est G.  The fact that she was available after 23 rounds makes me think that you all know something that I don't.  She just missed the final last season, so why didn't one of you scoop her up?  I felt like I needed two men and two women, and the only other option was LaToya.  LaToya's bio did not give me confidence that she would be around past the first challenge.  Make me proud, Aneesa!

The One That Got Away: Zach

Zach is a great big teddy bear with anger issues, who will crush anyone who gets in his way and then cry about it.  I bet he gives really good hugs.

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Team Surprise Me

I have to admit that after never having won a Challenge season, my interest in picking a winning team is waning. I had to exhibit extreme self control to not select a team of my favorite people rather than competitive players. This team would have been:

• Leroy (okay, I still chose him on my real team)
• Issac
• Cohutta
• Rookie Johnny (on a side note, why did he and Averey break-up? they seemed so good together on their episode)

All lovable, easy-going (except when Johnny drinks), funny. A team a girl could really fall for... Now perhaps I should have gone with that team, but lacking faith in the athletic prowess of these hilarious dudes (even though Cohutta's endurance never ceases to impress), I opted for a more practical team.

My first pick was with Dustin. The preview shows him making out and possibly beating Frank in a challenge (I'm hoping that wasn't a challenge with a "best out of 3" type scenario). Plus we've seen Dustin snap in the past. Given these clips, and given my place in the drafting order, I took a big risk and selected Dustin for my first pick. There is a strong Las Vegas presence in this show, and hopefully that should also protect him for a while.

Next up: Leroy. He has shown himself to be a strong (physical) competitor in both of his challenge shows so far. He's part of the Las Vegas crew, and I'm hoping for an LV alliance. And I think it was Aneesa who said, "I love me some Leroy." That sums it up.

Theresa: I wanted to pick a female competitor next, and Theresa seemed like a decent pick. She seems generally athletic and is usually aiming to make out with someone, so hopefully she'll stick around for a while and get me a decent amount of points in the meantime.

Devyn: I had a hard time with this round. I wanted to go with Jasmine based on past points performance, but I doubted Jasmine's ability to stick around if she was by herself. Devyn seemed like the best option for my last pick. Decently athletic, sometimes makes out (though I didn't feel the chemistry between her and Big Easy), seems to make friends enough to stick around for at least a little while. We'll see on her.

I feel like the previews didn't show a lot of the cast. Where were the preview clips with Camila yelling? Or Cara Maria crying? Or Jemmye screaming about ketchup? Also, in what looked like the finals, all the body types seemed to be average size - no large dudes like Zach or CT in the mix. That might have been the camera angle and puffy coats, but I kind of think that we have a bunch of average sized folks who win. This left me a bit baffled about who to pick. However, as I said in the beginning, my losing streak is depressing my motivation to win, so I'll be content this season to cheer for my team and for my team-that-could-have-been.

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Free Agents: Rosters & Draft

Susan: Jordan, Cohutta, Nia, Aneesa
Jon: Laurel, Camila, Emilee, Jasmine
Yasmine: CT, Nany, Johnny, Jessica
George: Johnny Bananas, Frank, Jemmye, Chet
Kim: Dustin, Leroy, Teresa, Devyn
Victor: Zach, Cara Maria, Jonna, Brandon

Undrafted: Latoya, Swift, Isaac, Preston

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Rules and Scoring: Free Agents

With MTV switching up the competition format for Free Agents, it looks like we're gonna do a bit of changing ourselves. HT, three time champion of our league for Ruins II, Fresh Meat II, and Battle of the Seasons, has decided to step down (again). She took back-to-back titles to start her career, took an early retirement, won another title ala Michael Jordan, and now this could likely be her final good bye. We're sad to see HT go but as our all-time winningest owner ever, maybe this was just too easy for her. Good luck in all your reality TV watching endeavors HT, never forget us!

Enter new owner Susan, who will be looking to make big waves as a rookie -- unlike our last replacement owner during Cutthroat, who didn't communicate with us at all! Why Dan, why! I'm told Susan is an avid Challenge watcher and eager to participate in the best fantasy sport of all!

See below for the new rules this season, specifically the adjustments on how we'll fill out rosters.

DRAFT

• Six team owners will each select four players each, in a snake style draft. (Four players will be "leftovers."
• After Week 2's episode, whoever has lost a player already will participate in a mini-draft, which will consist of replacing an eliminated player with a leftover one. This means all six teams will then re-stock back up to four players each.
• This draft will be conducted in reverse (original) draft order, and snake if necessary. #6-1, #1-6.
• No team can get multiple leftovers before another team has selected theirs first.
• Retroactive points for these leftover players do not count, they only accrue points from WK3 and onward.
• The idea behind this mini-draft is to not run the risk of having a team losing half (or more) of their players after WK1/2. Since 28 turned out to be an awkward number divided by 6, we thought doing it this way would maximize using all the MTV contestants while giving teams a slight buffer against catastrophe since we traditionally have at least five players per team. Note: It is still disadvantageous to lose a player WK1/2., since they won't be getting points for you. It just hurts less because a replacement will show up at WK3.
• Any contestant that shows up midway through the game, hopefully during WK1 or WK2, is added to the leftovers pool and is eligible to be drafted during the mini-draft. However, if they show up after WK1/2, they are given to the team that loses ALL of their players first. Note: There is only one mini-draft after WK2, it doesn't keep rolling even if new players are added to the game.

SCORING and POINTS
It looks like this year's format will feature all 1vs1 eliminations, and possibly weekly challenges. We can adjust scoring if necessary. Otherwise points scoring is the same as it was last season, albeit with streamlined names.

Competition Points (awarded per episode)

• Weekly (+1): Awarded for each week a player stays on the show
• Challenge (+1): Awarded for winning weekly challenge (If team game, each individual on the winning team receives a point)
• Elimination (+1): Awarded for being tossed into an elimination challenge
• Survival (+1): Awarded for winning the elimination challenge

Bonus Points (awarded per episode and per instance)

• Kissing (+2): Romantic, carnal, or via dare, not for congratulatory or "hello" pecks
• Sex (+2): Must be shown on-camera, or acknowledged by both parties (with no doubt)
• Hookup Bonus (+1): Extra point for owning both contestants who either kissed or had sex together. (Only awarded once per couple per episode)
• Fight (+2): Must be a physical fight, including some intent to do harm
• Tirade (+2): Key phrase is a "crazy ass tirade," including throwing or breaking things
• Medical (+2): Awarded for going to the hospital, or if player needs treatment from a medical professional
• Puke (+2): Awarded for throwing up from drinking, exhaustion, food poisoning, etc. (Has to be shown on camera, not just gagging sounds)
• Crying (+2): Must be a very clear case of crying, not just red face, puffy eyes, watery eyes, but actual real tears
• Booted (+3): Getting booted off the show by producers, be it physical altercation, safety reasons, injuries, etc. Does not apply if the person chooses to leave the show voluntarily aka quits
• Blurcle (+1): Having a body part blurcled (Only awarded once per episode, and for nudity versus logo blocking out, or flicking someone off, etc.)
• Clue (+1): Awarded for reading the clue from TJ Lavin

Finals Points (awarded once at end of season)

• Finals (+5): Awarded to everyone who makes the finals
• Winner: (+7): Awarded to the overall winners (or to all members of the winning team)

Any subjective calls will be cleared up by voting. See old version of rules for examples of past subjective rulings.

ARBITRATION DETAILS
Majority wins the vote-offs (which must be done before the next episode). If there are five owners voting, that should be easy. However, if two separate owners have to abstain because it's their contestants involved, then it's four voters. Ideally a 3-1 majority would take it but if there is a tie, then no points are rewarded. Try to be objective if you can, when voting. And we can cite previous precedent or whatever in our arguments. No bribing though!

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