Final Thoughts On Barstool VS America, How I Won, And A Breakdown Of My Alliances
The short answer? Alliances...Alliances, alliances, alliances, alliances. From the get go I knew that if I aligned myself with multiple people, or at the very least started conversations with them, I would be in a good position to win. So I started with Vibbs and worked my way around. Which was upsetting to some people but at the end of the day it's a game. Shout out to Tommy Smokes for understanding that...
Also, I love how Marty and Dana were caught on camera multiple times saying they were going to fuck me, Balls, Vibbs, and the entire yellow team over yet somehow I'm the snake. Makes sense. It actually made me happy to see that they were playing, but it's still bizarre they rallied so hard against me when they were doing literally the exact same thing. That said, this moment was laugh out loud funny...
Anyway, here's a breakdown of my alliances…
Vibbs
Vibbs was really the only guy I could trust to give me the money in the end. From day one we had a deal that if either of us were in a position to secure the other person's victory we would. Which is why he decided to kick Dana off of our team during the final challenge- because if he didn't he knew that Marty would've fucked me over before Balls and Dana. So once Vibbs became captain I was thrilled because I knew I was locked in to the money IF the blue team won. A massive thank you to him for keeping his word on that. Also as a side note, Vibbs is the easiest person in the world to travel with. All he does is sleep, smoke his pen, and giggle.
Kelly
Kelly was probably the only other person on the trip I thought would give me the money/house if she had the opportunity. We spoke about it at length. Which is why I was so excited when she won captain…
I was also UP HER ASS about staying captain because I knew if she gave it to Marty and they won, he was pulling Dana off of the losing team thus fucking me out of win. All Dana had to do to make that happen was throw the challenge. He'll claim he didn't because he "has a heart", but the reality is he's just a moron…
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Dana
I knew my alliance with Dana was made of glass. It was superficial. We spent 40+ hours on a bus together and he barely gave me the time of day. He doesn't look at me in the office and really only interacts with people who's first name is Big and last name is Cat. We were in a good place when we were winning but the second we began to lose I knew he would kick me to the curb, which is why I never really trusted him. It's tough too because I want to like him, he's just kind of a dick. One second he's charming and giggly and fun and the next he's on the beach taking very real shots at your job. (Shocker that didn't make the cut.) He did the exact same thing with Vibbs yesterday…
I guess I'll be hot and cold on Dana until the day that I die. One minute I love him, the next I want to throw him in front of a bus.
Marty
Marty and I have very little crossover in terms of content, but I can honestly say I liked spending time with him on the trip. The only problem was I couldn't make a real alliance with him because he was always with Dana. Like to the point where it was literally impossible to get one of them alone to talk about the game. Having said that, I knew that if push came to shove, I was going to be the odd man out on a Dana, Marty, Pat alliance, so I didn't spend much time pursuing one and instead doubled down with Vibbs and Kelly.
Kayce, Balls, Spider
Probably my three favorite people on the trip. What you see is what you get. Balls wanted the house, Kayce wanted to play fair, and Spider wanted respect. What's not to love about that? We started out on the same team and I kinda wish it stayed that way, but if it did we had no shot of actually winning. Even though we won the first challenge, I feel like the killer instinct wasn't there. Everyone was too nice.
Other than that, my only strategy (especially at the end) was to avoid becoming team captain. The second you do you live and die by the sword. Not being a captain means you have ability to either A) move to a winning team or B) hope that your alliance with the captain of the losing team is strong enough so that they won't pull you. You also avoid any real accountability as a regular player unless you massively fuck up.
So basically the entire trip came down to one physical challenge and ten days of alliances. Those who successfully created them won…those who didn't lost. It really is as simple as that. I can't thank the crew, High Noon, and everyone on the business side at Barstool that made this happen enough. It truly was a blast. If you aren't caught up on the episodes you can check them out below. You won't regret it. SEE YOU DOWN THE SHORE!!!
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Episode One
Episode Two
Episode Three
Episode Four