Early Show Transcript
February 2, 2004
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QUESTION: Do you think that the people involved in the switch were screwed out of playing an otherwise perfect
game?
DAVID: Yes, but that's the wrong question.
I considered leaving the answer at just that and letting people figure out why, but it is a good question that
took a lot of thought so I'd hate for people to think it is an off-the-cuff answer.
At first I thought the question was asking if I felt people that were playing a perfect game got screwed by the
twist. My answer to this is: No. Switches are part of the game and thus should be a part of any perfect plan. I
know it was a part of mine, read my pre-show. So if you were not prepared for it, you were not playing a perfect
game.
Then I thought maybe it was asking if the switch had not happened would any of those people have played a perfect
game. The answer is: who knows? It did happen and there is no predicting what would have happened had it not. So
that obviously wasn't the proper question.
Then I thought, who are we talking about? Just the people that switched? Everyone was involved. The switch certainly
negatively impacted Henry but he was not switched. It helped some people, it hurt others, some of them not switched
themselves. So it had nothing to do with who really.
So, it has nothing to do with which people and it has nothing to do with plans and how perfectly people played.
The question is really 'Do I think the switch screwed people". The answer to that is a whole-hearted YES and
in different ways. Look at me. Look at Henry. Our departures were outcomes of the twist.
But again, I still don't think that's the right question. So the question I choose to answer is: 'Do you think
that the twist was fair since it can take people that were playing a good game and put them in an impossible-to-win
situation".
My answer is yes, I think it is fair. It's what Survivor is about, adapting. Sometimes a good player gets put into
a bad position. It can happen from a switch or it can just happen. At the beginning Lis was voted out. She was
a better player than Henry, but he was kept basically because he got in the alliance first. Once that happened,
she had no real chance. Getting Pagonged is just another way of ending up outside the dominate alliance, and that
can kill you no matter how good a player you are. It happens and it just goes to prove that it takes more than
just good game play to win and sometimes you can end up in an unwinnable position that you can not foresee and
prevent. That's why all players fear the switch.
QUESTION: When you were on Sato you seemed very levelheaded and calm- I thought you would make it very far.
However, when you arrived on Kamiya, you lost it. What caused the change in attitude?
DAVID: Nothing, I was still levelheaded and calm. My profanities and arguments were calculated. When I was
first approached by Ryan his condescending attitude upset me. As such I vented a bit to my alliance members and
then got over it and assessed the situation.
Either Ryan was telling the truth when he threatened me in which case Mike was a swing vote and Ryan was a fool
or he was lying in which case there was a solid four person alliance and things were bad. I had approached Michelle
and Emma (Isabella) and they were unwilling to even discuss strategy. This was Ryan's attempt at it, and I had
already talked with Mike. I decided that when you run out of strategy, you go with emotion. So I set out to shake
things up to see what would come of it. To bring up Ryan's condescending remarks to Emma and Michelle, to put Ryan
on the spot in front of Mike. Things like that. But it was all 100% calculated, not anger. And had Ryan been telling
the truth, I believe it would have worked. Since he wasn't, it didn't matter. But it was my best shot.
Combine that with my opinion that if Ryan was lying I would have gone out later in the game, but still would not
have won. I don't play to lose, so I decided it was my best option. I felt I had to walk into a merge with Beth
and Matt and hook back up with Amy who (to me) obviously had things under control in Sato. This was the best way
I saw to do it.
QUESTION: Why were you so set on Henry being final two with you? How did you plan to get there with him?
DAVID: I wasn't set on Henry for the final two. I'd have sold him out the moment he became a true liability.
But I did want to try to get to final two with him for a number of reasons. First and foremost he would be my Clay.
I felt nobody would pick him over me, and I planned to get dirty in end game. I also knew that I would have to
drag him there and could show how I had in order to prove to the jury that I deserved to win. Another consideration
was that Henry made an excellent lightning rod. While he was around people were busy blaming things on him and
being upset at him allowing me to get away with much more. But the there was one thing that clinched it for me:
I read Henry's articles.
He respects strategy more than anything else. I wanted to drag him along to the end, prove that I had, and have
*him* tell the jury to pick me because I had played a better game than him. I wanted to be the first person in
Survivor history to have the F2 partner tell the jury to vote for the other player. To me it was going to be my
crowning achievement.
As for how I was going to drag him with me, I had no definite plan. I knew I'd have to drag him for a while because
he turned down an F2 with me. So, I was counting on my skill, which usually serves me well in life. I still think
I could have done it had he not gotten out of my sight. Stupid tea ceremony.
Let me take this moment though to say that keeping him around was a mistake. He should have gone on the first vote.
Had I listened to Amy he would have. She was right and I was wrong.
QUESTION: Why were you willing to vote out Amy a few episodes back? Especially after you didn't want to
break up the alliance by voting out Henry? And what, if anything, would you have done differently after you went
to New Kamiya?
DAVID: I was going to vote Amy out for two and a half reasons. Honestly, the main reason is my real life
girlfriend was very jealous of the relationship we had developed. That's one of those things you don't count on
while plotting your strategies out. But in addition to that I was scared of her. We got to know each other very
quickly and I already felt I'd never beat her in front of a jury. People simply liked her too much. I also knew
the inside of her game and felt she was an excellent player. I saw an opportunity to take her out with Henry and
wasn't sure another chance would come up again, so I started planning to do it. The half-reason was the one I was
going to use as an excuse when doing damage control with Matt and Beth afterwards; that she was turning on an alliance
member that, while foolish, wasn't trying to vote other alliance members. That once you turn on one member, you
could do it to others.
As for New Kamiya, the only thing I can think of that I would have changed is I should have signaled Amy to try
to throw the competitions once I saw Henry go. Otherwise, I think the moves I made were solid, it was just a bad
spot. I could have gone UTR but I don't think it would have mattered in the long run. Besides, I had fun swearing
at them.
QUESTION: David, was there anyone in this game that you would have refused to work with in an alliance?
Refused to betray?
DAVID: If you asking if there was anyone I disliked so much I wouldn't ally with them, no. Liking someone
isn't required for me to ally. If you are asking are there people I wouldn't trust enough to ally with, definitely.
I would never have allied with Ryan or Michelle. I didn't trust them for a moment due to Ryan's approach and Google.
(see below)
Refused to betray? Yes and no. This is an example of people and things change during the process of a game. How
you may pick one strategy at the start, but switch later on. I was going to betray Amy, and if I would betray her,
I would betray anyone. However, after a while in Kamiya my opinion switched. I so wanted to go back to merge, hook
up with Amy, and go to F2 with her at that point. I wouldn't have turned on her again.
QUESTION: Hey Dave, sorry about being voted out. Now after looking back and reading the episodes, how do
you feel that all the fights were just an act? They seemed too outrageous to me to seem real, and is there anyone
you're still in contact with?
DAVID: Thanks, I'm sorry about being voted out too
I'm not happy that the fights were an act. Yes, they were a little over the top, but I kind of pushed them that
way. Realize that the story cuts out a lot of what happened. The big argument was about 150k log. There was a lot
said, it wasn't blurted out at once, so it seemed very natural. I give them credit for the acting, it was well
done until the last argument with Mike. That one made no sense and is what tipped me to what was happening. Although
at that point it was too late.
I've talked to everyone since the game in varying amounts. A lot of us at first talked and then kind of pulled
away to decompress. It's amazing what the game does to you. There are still those that I talk with though. Amy
and Henry mainly amazingly enough. Beth and Matt of course. Murtz to a fair extent. Lis when I can. There is nobody
that I am avoiding or wouldn't talk to though.
QUESTION: Is there anything else you would like to add?
DAVID: Sure! Three things in fact.
1) First and foremost I had a great time playing the game, hanging out in Loser Lodge, and watching the episodes.
I want to thank Mario for all the hard work and time he put into the game and now into the episodes. I met some
great people and they all know who they are. I wouldn't give up the experience for anything. It was well worth
it.
2) I wanted to make sure that Mike, Michelle, Isabella, and Ryan know that despite the way they played when I was
in Kamiya I hold no hard feelings. Game is game. I have said and still feel that their conduct was completely pointless
and unsportsmanlike. I especially resented Mike's argument at the end which was a private conversation, not a public
one. So instead of letting me know I was going and then telling people we argued I was instead given a lame excuse
of an argument and then (sorta) blindsided. However, I do realize that the game makes people do funny things. I've
talked with all of them and we've made amends.
3) Mario asked me to mention "GoogleGate". So here goes:
Prior to the game everyone had test posted on the forums. At that point we knew everyone's AIM and e-mail but were
told not to contact them. I took those and googled everyone involved. I cleared with Mario first was told it was
OK, since most people were probably googling me. It revealed a few bits of information that I used or could have
used throughout the game like the fact that Mike was a Magic player or that Danielle played Might and Magic. Good
for striking up shared interests quickly.
However, in the case of Michelle it was used in a different way.
She had told me she was single (something advised by Chris), something I knew that wasn't true from having Googled
her. So when trying to shake them up I pointed out to her that she wasn't as honest and nice as she pretended to
be by mentioning her husband's name and another small fact or two. It *really* threw her off balance. It appeared
that she *hadn't* googled anyone and she was very offended that anyone did it to her. That was the cause of the
great friction between the two of us. She asked that I be removed from the game, accused Mario of favortism, and
threatened him at one point. I apologized because that was really the wrong way to use that kind of information.
Eventually she felt less violated and we both apologized to each other. Now, we get along fine. But it was quite
the division during the game that caused quite a few problems.
In the story it was represented by me saying that she never could get married.
So, for one last time, let me say sorry for that, Michelle.
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