Early Show Transcript
April 13, 2004
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QUESTION: Looking back on it- do you feel dumb for trusting Joni so much and why did you really put so much
faith in her?
HOGAN: Let's start at the beginning for this one. When I first met Joni, I was the odd man out. I had been
rejected by pretty much everyone on Sato besides Lance, and you didn't have to have the IQ of a toaster to figure
that one out. When Joni and Chris came along, they were two people I could talk to and relate to. Well, Joni moreso
than Chris. Chris and I are about as similar as Frank and Brandon.
I don't trust people in real life right off the bat; it takes me a while. I grew up a trust for Joni, and she had
several things going for her that made me trust her even more. 1) She was religious. 2) She was similar in age
to me, which was nice after dealing with people like Henry 3) She was nice and I never found out information that
Joni didn't tell me from other people. We were truly tight.
However, after the Chris vote, I was fairly angry at Joni. She hadn't voted with me, but I understood she was friends
with Chris and forgave her (mistake #1). After the Ryan vote, Joni apologized again, and me being the nice person
I am, I again forgave her (mistake #2). At the TC where Matt left, I saved Joni's arse (mistake #3). As you can
see, I really put my ass out on the line for her.
In this episode Joni is shown as the poor little girl who had to choose between me and Michelle. Well, really,
what in the world did Michelle ever do for Joni? Hmmm, let's think... not a freakin' thing. I had basically given
Joni a million dollars and that was still not enough. You can try to make a case to excuse Joni, but it won't ever
fly with me. She had her chance to help me back, and she didn't. She decided to sink to the level of play of those
around her. Unfortunate, yes.
The bottom line is I do regret trusting Joni. I should have seen past it, I trusted her because I felt she had
a lot of the qualities I look for in a friend, and if Joni ever needs my help in life, I will have my secretary
take a note of it, then use it as toilet paper.
QUESTION: Did you and Joni make up post-game, or are you still angry with her?
HOGAN: Great! I was hoping for this question. I actually did make up with Joni, and we continued to be friends
for a while. However, Joni felt the need to lie to me post-game. I talked to her about my boot, and she kept changing
her story. At one point she claimed she voted for me because Michelle forced her. At another point, she voted for
me because Emma made her, and the story kept changing. It finally boiled over when I caught her in a crappy situation.
She said that she was glad she voted me out and that it was her decision alone. I saw the transcript and remember,
we were still friends at this point. I had totally forgiven her for everything in-game. I confronted her and asked
why she had lied to me post-game about her motives to vote me out. She said she didn't want to talk about it and
it wasn't a big deal. You don't have to work at Wal-Mart to realize that it was a big deal to me. I had just forgiven
her for the ultimate betrayal of trust and friendship. She then stated that what was in-game should be left in-game,
and that was my point exactly. She didn't need to lie to me about it. Had she told me in the beginning, I might
have been more willing to make up. Instead, she once again led me astray and abused my trust. I simply stated to
her that I was done talking to her, and I haven't spoken to her since.
I mean people, the game is over, and we don't need to lie anymore. I can't stand Phony personalities like that.
I don't feel that I really need to make up with her AGAIN, because I already have and the trust was broken there.
It's her loss if you look at it that way. It may look as if I am bitter from in the game, but that is not true.
I am bitter from her treatment of me as a friend outside the game. I don't need to associate myself with those
types.
The moral of the story is: I am fine with Joni's in-game moves. She did what she had to do, even though I wouldn't
make that move (as I proved several times). I got outplayed in that aspect, and that's clear. However, her treatment
of me outside the game pisses me off.
QUESTION: And who else do you still talk to?
HOGAN: I still talk to Amy, Beth, and Murtz on a regular basis. They are all great people and I enjoy every
time I get to talk to them. I talk to Mike and Lance occasionally. People I would like to talk to more are Ryan
and Matt. I think all our disagreements are water under the bridge now, at least I hope, but we just never seem
to have schedules where we can talk to one another.
QUESTION: So, all things considered, do you wish you could take back your Matt vote?
HOGAN: Great question. Voting out Matt is the one thing I regret other than voting out Joni. You have to
understand though that in the game Matt and I didn't really get along. I tried to talk to him, but I would get
ignored. I finally gave up and considered it his loss.
It seemed good at the time to vote him out, but really, I screwed myself by doing it.
Looking back on the vote though, I should have stuck with Matt and voted out Joni. I could have gotten rid of her,
even though at the time I considered her a friend. It ultimately led to my demise; it wasn't a smart move on my
part. So to Matt, I am really sorry for the vote, I would take it back and I hope we can bury that hatchet.
QUESTION: Could you explain your 'taking a dump' strategy?
HOGAN: Ha ha ha. I don't know that taking a dump was necessarily my strategy, but it definitely added to
the dumb teenager role I was trying to portray. I didn't want people to feel threatened by me, and taking a dump
was something that seemed so incredibly facetious and sophomoric that I figured it would fit in well with my portrayal.
Plus, once I learned that I could get some energy for it, I wanted to make sure I got as much as I could.
Additionally, I lost the Immunity challenge in this episode mainly due to my lack of energy. I had received a really
snarky email from Michelle telling me to work more, and I knew what a pissed off Michelle was like. Had I had a
little more energy, I might have been able to snag one of those immunities. I guess I should have relieved myself
an extra time that day. Or I could have said that I didn't hang around Emma for a day and my stress level went
way down, that would have been a creative way to get some energy.
QUESTION: What was your best decision in the game?
HOGAN: Hands down, voting out Chris is my best decision. He couldn't be trusted, and if you think he could,
the nut house in Kalamazoo may be a good place for you to visit. Seriously, I am so glad that Lance and Amy were
able to point out his lies to me because they were there, and they were serious. Had I voted out Amy at that Tribal
Council, my game most likely would have ended in a couple of episodes. I wouldn't have put it past Chris and Joni
to throw a challenge to try to get me or Lance booted.
It was a decision I was proud of, I held up to my agreement with Amy and Lance, and proved I was in the game to
play.
QUESTION: If you could go back and change any one thing, what would it be?
HOGAN: I wouldn't trust Joni. If you need further explanation, check out my book hitting bookstores in a
city near you. It's titled PLEASE TRUST ME!!!!!: The Life and Times of Joni Newman.
QUESTION: Matt's already been asked why he let politics and religion dictate much of his relationship with
you, so what was your take on how you used politics and religion in your relationship with him?
HOGAN: I tried to get to know Matt, I really did. However, some things just put me off. When I would try
to talk to him, I seemed to get dismissed as another damn Republican. In all honesty, I thought of Matt as another
uninformed liberal who didn't know any better, and I really didn't want to educate him since he seemed like a lost
cause, lol.
Do I regret bringing politics into it? Kind of, but I don't think it was a huge thing. I am who I am, and if you
don't like it, don't talk to me.
QUESTION: A common complaint was that you didn't really talk to people. Care to comment?
HOGAN: Well, part of my strategy was to be passive. I wanted to play the dumb teenager, which was hard for
me. As Mario pointed out in the Pre-Season Show, I am more than a little cocky.
However, I feel that I tried to connect with everyone. I connected with Joni, Amy, and Lance right off the bat.
I also really liked Dave McDaniel, Murtz, Michelle, Chris, and Liz. I truly did try to make an effort to reach
out to Emma, but we had nothing in common, plus, she was just odd to talk to. All the rest, I tried to communicate
with daily, but I didn't really consider them friends.
During the course of this game, I learned what an acquaintance is, and what a true friend is. People like Amy and
Lance, who stuck by me through thick and thin, they are true friends. There are others too that I consider friends
post-game. However, people who are fake, well, I don't know if I even consider them acquaintances. They are more
road blocks than anything else, and there are always going to be people like that. I have run into a few bad apples
in my life, and I know there will be many more. I don't need to waste energy on them (best advice my parents have
ever given me), but it sure is therapeutic to make fun of them.
QUESTION: Also, how was War and Peace?
HOGAN: War and Peace was a good break from the game. I am an avid reader, but usually don't read classics.
Ann Coulter, Bill O'Reilly, John Grisham, etc. are more of my typical types of books. However, I am glad that I
brought it with me. I think it is one of the more memorable luxury items. As a side note, I did not end up finishing
it. Maybe some day I will travel back to Okinawa and finish those last 400 pages. Emma, Chris, and Michelle could
come with me, and we could just have a big lovefest... read, sing campfire songs, and talk of memories past. Or
as an alternative, I could shoot myself. Kidding, kidding.
QUESTION: I really thought you were going to be the winner. Besides not trusting Joni, what do you think
was your BIGGEST mistake?
HOGAN: My biggest mistake was voting out Matt. It was a move that didn't need to be made at that moment.
I probably would have tried to vote him out at some point had I not voted him out E8, but that was not good timing
on my part. It left the door open for unappreciative tribemates to vote me out despite helping them out. I guess
I put my trust a little too much in the wrong hands.
QUESTION: What do you consider to be your shining moment in Okinawa, the one thing you're proudest of?
HOGAN: Ya, I do have some proud and shining moments from the game. One was definitely winning one of the
Immunities at the merge. I put a LOT into that challenge and was very ticked off when I didn't win. But once I
found out that there were multiple immunities, then I was ok, ha ha ha. Also, voting out Chris was one of my proud
moments. I stuck with those who were loyal to me and was an awesome strategic move for me. Chris could not be trusted
in a merge situation. I mean, if I can't trust Joni, do you honestly think Chris would, out of the goodness of
his heart, bring me along for the ride? Hmmmmm? The chance of that happening is similar to that of Rosie O'Donnell
making a comeback and earning a Nobel Peace Prize for political tolerance. Finally, playing an honest and moral
game was key to me. Yes, it probably prevented me from winning, but I am able to live with my decisions after the
fact.
QUESTION: Do you have any idea what Bella said to sway Michelle?
HOGAN: I don't know what Bella said to Michelle to sway her. Maybe it had to do with pony stickers. No,
wait. That was Joni, right?
QUESTION: Were you and Joni Okinawa's "couple"? Did anything happen?
HOGAN: Oh god, never. Joni and I were never a couple and never will be a couple.
QUESTION: What are your opinions on the castaways left?
HOGAN: Amy - She is so great. I can talk real life with her. She is really strong, smart, and showed how
good of a friend she is when I voted for Matt... she stood by me when I left. I don't think she realizes today
how much it meant to me for her to vote with me.
Emma - Smart player. I don't know her very well out-of-game. She knows the game, but also knows how to piss people
off, as you could probably tell from my comment to her in the last episode.
Joni - She was a great friend some of the time in the game. Out of game she is a drama queen. She makes the Fab
5 from NBC seem like a clan of Darrahs.
Lance - He truly is a great guy. He and I had a bond from the first day that I don't know was necessarily shown.
On the first day, I found out he was Catholic like me. It was nice to have someone who shared similar views on
the world with me on this journey.
Michelle - I really liked Michelle in game. I didn't want to vote for her at all, but was forced to because it
was my only option. I haven't talked to her since the game has ended. She's a good player and can separate emotion
from game, which is something that I can't do and don't think I would ever want to do.
Mike - I didn't really respect his game play. He abused the scout oath, and treated me more as a stepping stone
to his goal, very similar to Emma and Michelle. I have gotten to know him a bit out of game though, and he seems
like a nice guy.
QUESTION: I'm sorry, but this has been kind of itching the back of my mind for awhile: as an Eagle Scout,
what's your opinion of Lill Morris from "Survivor: Pearl Islands"?
HOGAN: I really liked Lill on the show. It's hard to play Survivor and maintain the qualities that the scout
oath directs us scouts to follow. I usually root for the old people, I am sympathetic towards them. As for her
representation of the Scouting Organization, she did her best. Made some mistakes, admitted the mistakes, and moved
on with life. She seems like a great person.
QUESTION: Why did you choose to take out Chris over Amy on Day 18?
HOGAN: When this time came, I got two emails; one from Chris, one from Lance. The one from Chris was telling
me how bad off I would be if I went with Lance and Amy. It was a more anti-Lance email. I didn't really like that.
The one that I got from Lance sent a very positive message. It told me about what I could expect with him and Amy.
It didn't mention that Chris was a bad person or that Joni was. It reached me more on a personal level and emotional
level. I really appreciated that. Ultimately, that was the deciding factor for me. Oh ya, and Chris admitted to
lying about an Amy-Chris-Joni F3. That might have had a little to do with it.
QUESTION: What was your take on the Wheel of Fortune?
HOGAN: I really liked that twist. It screwed me and helped me. I can't really complain. It was part of the
game we all had to deal with it.
QUESTION: What would be your ideal final two, and what person, under no circumstances, would you vote for
in the final vote?
HOGAN: My ideal final two would have been Joni and Lance. There was no one that I ruled out for the vote. I
was actually very open-minded and was excited to see how the game would turn out. Everyone left in the game, including
Joni, deserved to be there. I was outplayed, and I will be the first person to admit that. As I said before, I
am pretty open-minded.
QUESTION: If you could have schemed to change the vote, what would you have done?
HOGAN: I really wanted to vote out Mike. Had Lance and Amy stayed with me on that one, I think that we could
have gotten Mike out. But in all honesty, if Joni was willing to cave to vote me out at this point in the game,
it’s obvious that she would have turned on me down the road as well.
Joni can say she would have voted for Mike, but at some point Emma was going to convince her to vote for me, and
she showed that she was willing to do that. As I said in the game, it was just a shitty situation.
QUESTION: When the final plan for Sato to vote for Michelle was made and when you all (Amy, Lance, yourself)
went to Joni to try and sway her, was there ever talk of voting for Mike instead, thinking that Joni would probably
have voted with you if you voted for Mike?
HOGAN: Yep, I really wanted to vote for Mike. The problem was that Lance didn’t want to vote for him. I
don’t blame Lance though. If Joni was really my best friend out there and I was hers, we wouldn’t have voted for
each other in any circumstance. I held up my part of the bargain. Not voting for her in E3 or E9 fulfilled that
I believe. I guess I overestimated that bond.
QUESTION: Where did you get the idea to boost energy by taking a crap every day?
HOGAN: Well, I have done my share of camping being a boy scout. And to be quite honest, I hate camping,
but would do it for survivor. I can’t stand getting dirty and am a very hygienic person. Well, by like day 6 or
so we were all just out of energy. I found that taking a bath would get me some energy sometimes. After a couple
of times in a row though, Mario said enough. So, I decided to be creative and realistic. I knew that I would feel
better after taking a dump, and it turned out that I did get some energy. After that, I ran around telling everyone
to go take a crap. It helped boost energy and made me look dumb, which was part of my strategy.
QUESTION: If it were a perfect world, how would you have had the rest of the season play out?
HOGAN: Well, Mike would have left the TC where I left. Then, I would have stuck with Amy and Lance and tried
to get Joni to vote out Bella. Then, Michelle would have gone. After that, I have no idea what woulda happened.
QUESTION: Please give us your final "Final Words". Sum up your time in the game, looking back.
HOGAN: Well, Okinawa was definitely a great experience. It's something that I would do again under certain
conditions. I met a lot of great people and had an awesome time. I forgive people for in-game stuff, as I hope
they can do for me. I am proud of the way that I played the game, and I have very few regrets. I want to thank
every member of the cast, you all made this a great experience for me. I learned something about myself from all
of you. I wish you all the best in life, and a few of you may be getting some calls from me in 30 years for help
on my Presidential Campaign. FYI, Mario is definitely being hired as a political strategist. It will be great;
him and Rob C. and Rich (well maybe not Rich, he might not agree with some of my "policy") will be running
the presidential campaign, just watch. He he he.
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