Real World Fantasy Leagues

You asked for it and now here it is: The Exes Finale Podcast!

Enjoy!

Exes Finale

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From a Challenge competition perspective, CT and Diem brought exactly what we expected: two incredibly talented, focused, and strong veterans who seamlessly made their way into the Final Challenge, where they currently sit atop the pole going into the final episode. Finishing strong, they took the Power Couple in the final two Challenge games, where both times they selected the pair who would be eliminated that episode.

Perhaps the most notable aspect of their season, especially from a Fantasy League perspective, is how quiet their success has been. They did not see an elimination, and because of their success as the Power Couple, they did not really make any real enemies. Their most interesting moment – selecting Paula and Dunbar to go into the Dome, instead of trying to break the Mark/Bananas alliance – did not have much of an effect, beyond pissing off TJ and earning themselves a point deduction in the RWFL for this blasphemy.

Rather, they went about their business professionally, kept their relationship strong, without much in the way of outbursts (either positive or negative), and kept focused on the prize. It is certainly interesting to see what CT has become in the past two seasons, moving from the aggressive, volatile, emotional juggernaut he once was, into the calculated, calm, and supportive partner he is now. As he quietly sips his red wine and ponders his next move, we no longer see the potential assailant who could threaten to ‘eat your face off’… and make you believe it.

Even their one rocky moment, in which CT’s criticisms of Diem lead to shouting and tears, was dispensed with rather smoothly, and possibly may have brought them closer together. Now, as they rest in their decked-out super tent, they have a real chance to reward their fantasy owners’ faith in them, as they appear to be the favorite to win the Final Challenge, and the 25 points each that comes along with such a victory. Of course, as we all know, anything can happen on any given Wednesday, but one has to assume at this point that their skill set, supplemented with a potentially great night of rest (compared to the difficulties facing the other two teams as they attempt their preparatory sleep), could potentially be too much for the other teams to overcome.

OK, boys and girls, it’s come down to this: the two-part Final Challenge extravaganza. We basically knew where we were headed going into this episode: Mark and Robin are eliminated, they go somewhere crazy cold and snowy for a final challenge, then a cut away cliffhanger before the main event. Let’s look at what this means for us:

Mark and Robin

It’s tough to say goodbye to two outstanding competitors, and classic members of the RW/RR/Challenge family. What we’ll miss: seeing them dominate, despite being much older than the other competitors; Mark and Johnny’s cute friendship. What we won’t miss: Robin crying constantly (unless, of course, you had her on your team)

The Final Challenge

Of course, as these Challenges get more and more extreme, they now need to travel to different continents just to provide more craziness. This year, the cast was sent to Reykjavík, Iceland, to experience dog-sledding, ice-diving, and sleeping in horrible conditions. Then again, for these Real World alumni, these are probably not the worst conditions in which they’ve found themselves passed out…

The Two-Parter

No real surprise here, especially coming off of Rivals. However, I’m a little blown away by the disparity of sleeping conditions aspect, and I rather like it. In Rivals, finishing first or second got you a small – but not insurmountable – head-start going into the last leg. This time, first place gets you a nice, heated tent, second gets you a decent facsimile, and third leaves you cuddled up to conserve body heat. We tweeted last week that the differential in times was incredibly small, 5:18, 5:22, and 5:23. Coming ahead by 5 seconds, or even 1, could make all the difference in rest going into that last leg.

Having said that, let’s get into the important stuff:

SCORES

Johnny (19): Win Elimination (10), Unintentional Nudity (8), Said ‘Situation’ (1)

Camila (10): Win Elimination (10)

CT (8): Unintentional Nudity (8)

Robin (8): Cried x2 (8)

Emily (4): Cried (4)

Life Changing Moments League

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Champions League

Premiere League

Having said all that, we’re looking at close battles in each division, as well as a still competitive grouping for the Overall Champion. We’ll be on twitter tonight, and should have declarations ready soon after the show of all of our champions. Good luck!

-Team RWFL

You wanna know what’s great about being such a fan of The Challenge that you would run a fantasy league and website based on it? Seeing an old, dear friend who you have known for years, and finding out that she’s Emily’s cousin. Because that actually happened. And we here at RWFL Headquarters kind of freaked out a little bit. Such is our lives.

Anyway, back on the actual Challenge, we’re heading into the stretch run, and going at it hard. Only one team was eliminated this week (sorry, V Amigos and @ms_brodie!), which means that most teams still have at least one player going next week. Considering how many players were available, it is a testament to everybody in the league that of the 27 teams represented in this post, at least 15 (and possibly a few more) will have at least one of the six finalists. Well done all around.

As for the show, this week’s episode saw a lot happening while simultaneously feeling like not much went down. The top scorer of the week, Robin, got nearly all of her points for crying a lot. (Seriously, I counted SIX different instances of crying! On one show! Really, Robin?).

We also saw one of our favorite powerhouse teams, Paula and Dunbar, taken down by one of our automatic finalists (and a serious powerhouse in its own right) in Emily and Ty. As far as eliminations go, Ty can compete with just about anyone, and Emily is truly in a league of her own. It will be interesting to see how they look in the Final Challenge. Meanwhile, the loss of Paula and Dunbar has huge fantasy implications going forward, with their losses being exacerbated by the hit that Ty owners will experience, losing all of those make-out points. However, I don’t think that there would have been much more time for romantic dalliances as we approach the Final Challenge.

On a side note, I really enjoyed this week’s challenge. Every year it seems like the producers of the show come up with crazier and more extreme challenges, but the addition of a jet engine makes everything better (and gives us my favorite moment from this week’s show, with Camilla running after the raft as it blew farther and farther away).

Now that we’ve had our say on the action of Week 8, let’s take a look at how everybody scored:

Robin (29): Cried x6 (24), Voted into elimination (5)

Ty (25): Make out x2 (10), “Killed it” (15)

Paula (19): Make out x2 (10), Voted into elimination (5), cried (4)

Emily (16): “Killed it” (15), said ‘situation’ (1)

CT (11): Disappoint TJ (-15), “Killed it” (15), Won challenge (10), said ‘situation’ (1)

Diem (11): Disappoint TJ (-15), “Killed it” (15), Won challenge (10), said ‘situation’ (1)

Mark (5): Voted into elimination (5)

Dunbar (5): Voted into elimination (5)

Camilla (4): Cried (4)

Johnny Bananas (0)

Life Changing Moments League

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Champions League

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We will have the new totals up on the scoreboard shortly, but every league title is still in competition, and it really is just about anybody’s game. So carry on, good luck, and keep watching and hoping for the best. See you on Wednesday!

-Team RWFL

Wow… So, who would have thought we’d need to include ‘being in blackface’ on our scoring sheet. Before we get to the big issue of the episode (including some unwarranted commentary on it from yours truly), I’d like to discuss a few other issues – fantasy and otherwise – that sparked my interest from this episode.

First off, illusion shattered! Thanks, MTV. Look at the phone when Johnny ‘receives his text’ from TJ. The text line is blinking. It’s an outgoing, not incoming message. TJ never texted them! Some MTV producer typed the message in for him and handed Johnny the phone. Needless to say, I’m crushed. (also, notice the typo. How do you screw up ‘AM’ ?).

Second, if you want to know why reality television is awesome, look at CT. Remember who he was for years not that long ago? Now look at him, being all mature and nurturing, solving problems instead of starting them. It’s quite a sight to see (unless, of course, you have him on your team, and were hoping for more incidents).

And while we’re on CT, how about how he and Diem DEMOLISHED THAT CAKE?!? Seriously, one of the most impressive feats I’ve seen on this show. They put down two tiers of wedding cake without blinking. I am astonished. (and random bonus points to CT for the line of the night, while changing the tire: “I pay the priest by the hour. We gotta hurry up”)

Now, as for the most memorable aspect of the episode, I have to editorialize a bit. I do not believe for a second that Emily had any racist intent in doing what she did. Having dated Ty in the past, and being as close to him as she seems to be now, I do not for a second believe that her behavior was racially charged. That said, it was wildly offensive, especially considering she said, “Are you sure this isn’t racist?” before she did it. Given the history of blackface in this country, she could not have thought that was OK by any measure, which was obvious by the entire house’s reaction to it, not just Ty’s. I am happy that Ty was able to forgive her, and look forward to seeing them continue on this show as a unit; but I can’t imagine it’s going to be easy. That said, we did choose to award the ‘Use a racial slur’ points to Emily, because even if she did not mean racial offense by it, it was interpreted (rightfully) as, at best, ignorant, like using a slur by accident. I know it’s not a “slur” per se, but it has to be acknowledged in this context.

Now enough about blackface, let’s get to the scores!

Quick Scoring Note: After awarding Paula ‘Cheating’ Make-Out and Hook-Up points last week, it now seems like she and Ty are a real item, and to qualify it as her cheating on her boyfriend seems disingenuous.

Week Six Scores

Paula (24): Make Out x4 (20), Cried (4)

Ty (20): Make Out x4 (20)

Emily (17): Using racial/homophobic slur (5), Cried x3 (12)

CT (10): Win Elimination (10)

Diem (10):Win Elimination (10)

Camilla (5): Threw up (5)

Johnny (1): Said ‘situation’ (1)

Life Changing Moments League

#JBB League

Champions League

Premiere League

Because of all the craziness at RWFL headquarters, which everyday looks more and more like Camilla ran through it after 12 tequila shots, we don’t have a full recap of this episode, just a scoring update.

I will editorialize about a tough scoring decision. In past FL leagues, we have always erred on the side of sex. By that we mean that MTV is frequently careful about showing enough or too much sexual activity, so it’s not always clear when a smush went down. Given the evidence in favor (moaning, witnesses, etc) versus the evidence against (Paula trying to deny it to save face), I decided to award the hook-up points to Paula and Ty. To those who disagree, I apologize. But I felt it to be the appropriate call.

Now, without further ado, SCORES!

Paula 56: Win elimination (10), cheating make-out x3 (21), excessive grinding (5), cheating hook up (20)

Ty 30: Make-out x3 (15), hook-up (15)

Johnny Bananas 15: Win challenge (10), make-out (5)

Camilla 15: Win challenge (10), make-out (5)

Dunbar 10: Win elimination (10)

Diem 7: Cried (4), Sloppy mess (3)

Rachel 6: Voted into elimination (5), product placement ‘speedo’ (1)

Aneesa 5: Voted into elimination (5)

Robin 1: Said ‘alliance’ (1)

Mark 1: Product placement ‘speedo’ (1)

Life Changing Moments League

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Champions League

Premiere League

The Challenge Fantasy Battle is starting to really heat up, as we saw our first player eliminated this week. Most teams have lost a player, many are down to just one. On the bright side, one-person teams make starring decisions that much easier! But before we go into points, let’s take a quick look back at the events of the episode.

First off, I feel like MTV is making something of a conscious effort to show more of the extracurricular activities of the Challengers, with more time devoted to showing the partying and drinking and shenanigans. I fully support this. Great Challengers are equal parts athlete and partier, and if there’s a little bit of crazy in there, even better. However, it also seems like they’re showing the party stuff for the first 15 minutes, then straight through with the competition stuff. I personally would like a balance of the two mixed in with one another like they used to do, but that’s just an opinion. And while we’re on this subject, Paula and Ty’s relationship is starting to get very interesting, especially since Paula has a boyfriend back home. The next episode should be very intriguing for Paula owners…

Speaking of a little bit of crazy, we can’t talk about this episode without spending some time on this week’s MVP, The Camillanator. Seriously, what a fantastic performance out of her. Beginning with the sloppy drunk sluttiness at the club (assist points to Emily for telling one guy ‘Shoo. You’re never gonna see her again’), and moving on to whatever the hell that was at the house. She was falling out of her top, stumbling down stairs, throwing furniture, jumping into the pool fully-dressed. Seriously, just a classic performance. (We would also be remiss not to recognize another strong assist from Paula keeping the crazy under control, even when Bananas kept provoking it). We could spend all day talking about this, but we have to move on. But seriously, just an epic performance, peaking with the crazy-eyed “YOU PIECE OF SHIT! YOU CHEATER! YOU’RE GONNA DIE!!!!” threat to Bananas. Just… WOW.

Moving from the breakdowns to the competitions, what a weird performance by Abram and Cara Maria on Don’t Rock the Boat. It was impressive to see Abe talk her through what was clearly a difficult task for her, but to see such a strong team put up such a weak performance was staggering. And at the other end of the spectrum, the ageless wonderteam of Mark and Robin just continues to show up. Really impressive stuff, especially considering how little they seem to get along with one another.

One thing which has been strange to us this year is the role of CT and Diem. We definitely thought that they would be a dominant couple, from both a Challenge and fantasy standpoint. However, they have been an afterthought nearly this whole season, doing well enough to stick around, but nothing spectacular. And they haven’t been either close enough as partners or dysfunctional enough as exes to justify screen time. They’re just professional (read:boring). And as one of us took CT first overall, you can imagine the disappointment. Quick quiz: Who is the only team not to be disqualified who has neither been in a dome nor been the power couple? You guessed it, CT and Diem, who have combined for ZERO points since the first episode, when they earned a ‘You Killed It’ before losing the power-couple to Johnny and Camilla. Their highlight since then was CT getting a Challenge trivia question wrong, and Mark yelling “Dude, you were on that season!”, or CT’s only camera time in this episode where he cooked an egg and told Paula and Ty to “knock one out real quick” with a devious wink. Just a strange, strange performance.

Finally, this week did give us a fairly memorable dome, which almost felt like a changing of the guard. Abe has always been an elimination beast, but he also hasn’t been in one in a long while. Conversely, Ty still has (or, maybe at this point, had) the stench of his bizarre Cutthroat elimination stuck to him. As for the ladies, Cara Maria is a hell of a competitor, but physically she – like most of the competitors on the show – can’t match up with Emily. As such, we knew that this was really going to come down to a battle of Abram and Ty: new school vs. old school, and it did not disappoint. Ty shook off the demons of Challenge past, and took out Abram in a game that seemed designed for his strengths. It’s sad to see Abe and Cara go, and it looks like Ty and Emily are going to be a very tough out for anyone.

There’s still much more to talk about from this episode, like the up-and-down swing of Abram and Cara Maria’s relationship (how do they qualify as ‘exes’ when they came to the show in a committed relationship??), or the interpersonal power-struggle and vitriol between Mark and Robin, but why don’t we move straight into scores:

Note: Sorry about the slapdash nature of the current scoring update. I promise you we will get back up to our previous levels of pseudo-mediocrity starting this week!

Camila: 35

Mark L: 26

Robin: 25

Emily: 16

Ty: 15

Abram:11

Cara M: 10

Bananas: 1

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