You're neck and neck, it's all going to come down to the paddling.

Survivor is one of my TV guilty pleasures. I don't like the game as much as I like the idea of people out on an island somewhere trying to survive. Although the game is brilliantly designed (that's why the show has the longevity it does.)

But I have a continual pet peeve with the show that flared up tonight. In most of the seasons the tribes are stranded in a place where water is a big part of their life. They use boats in challenges, sometimes they even use boats to get around to challenges and tribal councils. Yet they are almost universally terrible paddlers. Paddling isn't that hard, I teach six people how to paddle in about 10 minutes every time I guide a raft trip. If I were on the show as soon as we had some of the basics taken care of (shelter and water) I'd be convening a little paddling lesson.

Seriously, these two teams are in a neck and neck paddling race with huge stakes on the line, and their paddling made me cringe. Admittedly I've been paddling canoes, rafts, and kayaks since I was a wee lad - but someone on the show has to know how to paddle and try to teach their team... If I'd had 30 minutes with one of those teams it wouldn't have even been close, they would have blown the other team away.

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