Over the past few weeks, we've covered the Wheel, The Race, The Contender, but have completely neglected "Survivor." Before our eyes, we have seen a team completely self-destruct, right from the very beginning. Every episode, nearly every challenge, even the basics like keeping a camp together, are not happening at the Ulong camp.

I suppose I should explain the title of this week's piece. Pagong was one of the tribes on the first edition of Survivor, back in 2000 (It seems so long ago, doesn't it?). Anyway, Pagong had four people left, against Tagi's six. Tagi figured out that no matter who won immunity, they could just pick off the four Pagong players, by virtue of the voting numbers. It's become a well known strategy, at least in the circles that follow the show.

The point is that everything is going Koror's way, so they might not have to even worry about employing that strategy.

I think I figured it out. Koror's captain played it smart, picking all the older, hard-working people. Ulong's captain went for the young cute people, who it turns out blew chunks at the challenges, and can barely do any work. Any sort of shuffling of the teams at the beginning, and it would be a different game. But it's not. And I don't mind saying, I am enjoying every bit of this. I'm not sorry for them at all. They were happy with the tribe setup, so good for them. To add to the bashing, this time out gave the tribes a chance to pick their own way. If Ulong were saddled with dead weight from the beginning, I could throw them a little pity. Not so, friends.

Strangely, I don't find it boring to see Koror completely dominate every type of challenge. Some people would find it insanely boring, knowing what the outcome is. What I enjoy is watching the wheels come off the cart. Loss after loss, going to Tribal Council, still filled with hope, that 'tomorrow is another day.' Except that's not how it's working out. Meanwhile, Koror is living high on the hog, catching fish, living in a (relatively) lavish shelter, and kicking ass. It's a sort of payback for all those weeks I slogged through Vanuatu, watching the capable men getting picked off by the catty women.

So I praise the eight remaining Koror players. They are a well-oiled machine when it comes to swimming, strength or mental agility. It is an absolute shame that they will eventually have to turn on each other because Ulong cannot keep up. They aren't Outplaying, outwitting, and they sure aren't outlasting.

If you have any questions or comments regarding this piece, send them to traviseberle@hotmail.com.