LAST EDITED ON 09-14-10 AT 01:55 PM (EST)

Another season for analysis.....

Young vs. Old is a concept that should have us have an idea of how these tribes may fare. Statistically speaking, the “old” tribe may be in some semblance of trouble merely based upon the fact that they are, in fact, older. We have seen in the past that the being “older” has its problems as many times, the older you are, the quicker you leave. Since the tribes are grouped by age, this may happen within the older tribe (i.e. the older you are, the quicker you leave.). It will be interesting to see how this plays out since they are all considered “older.” Consequently, we have often seen a “token” elder be utilized as a valuable vote (or goat) and be “carried” by a stronger alliance/group (Jan, Butch, Kim, etc.) so we cannot rule any of the older group being long term players as once a merger happens, there could be members of the younger tribe (who have formed an alliance) taking it upon themselves to secure an older member to help their game.

The younger tribe may have their own sets of problem and could be their own worst enemy. We will recall how Jake felt his strong, young team would demolish the tribe that Jan selected but ego and tempers caused a less cohesive tribe and they did not perform as one would expect from this group. It may be fair to say that while physically the younger tribe could have the advantage, they may lack that certain quality that only experience and age provides. The younger tribe may need to check themselves quite often or they may be in for a rude awakening at times.

We already know that males vs. females always plays a role in alliances and perceptions. Women tend to have to walk a careful line that is quite hypocritical since some strong women are viewed as bossy and overbearing. It will be interesting to see if the older males display a more old fashion viewpoint with respect to their female tribe members as opposed to the younger males’ viewpoint of their female tribe members.

Geography of the players, race, religion, political views and the like can always play a defining role on friendships and alliances and connecting those factors on each tribe and cross tribe is always helpful to potentially identify those who may pair up.

I also attempt to identify players based on their game play; clinical players, emotional players, under the radar players and head of household players usually can be honed in on within a couple of episodes. Head of household players can do very well but only if they are not in a battle with others attempting to play head of household. Leaders are well regarded IF it is clear the tribe needs it to be defined. Clinical players do not get caught up in emotional battles nor do they get involved in others' and solely have the game in mind. The emotional players tend to have trouble as they cannot remove their personal feelings from the game which can interfere with the game itself. An emotional player can do well but often times, ego, anger, loyalty issues and the like end up their downfall. Under the radar players can do very well and as stated before, UTR does NOT necessarily mean a quiet and unassuming player that somehow sneaks their way into the end. Under the radar in this sense can describe ANY player that the other players do no consider to be a contender for end game and overlook them as the threat they can be.

I am merely providing the names and ages and location. I expect at this point that speculation (or information) along with personal impressions have already been formed and I am looking forward to those who want to express their opinions on the contestants

The Espada Tribe

Dan Lembo – age 63 – New York

Holly Hoffman – age 44 – South Dakota

Jane Bright – age 56 – North Carolina

Jill Behm – age 43 – Pennsylvania

Jimmy Johnson – age 67 – Florida (Of note, Jimmy Johnson obviously would have a bigger issue than anyone else due to he is and the stigma attached to it)

James (Jimmy) Tarantino – age 48 – Massachusetts

Marty Piombo – age 48 – California

Yve Rojas – age 41 – Missouri

Wendy DeSmidt-Kohlhoff – age 48 – Montana

Tyrone Davis – age 42 – California

LaFlor Tribe

Jud Birza - age 21 - Califronia

Alina Wilson – age 23 – California

Chase Rice – age 24 – North Carolina

Brenda Lowe – age 27 – Florida

Ben Henry – age 24 – California

Kelly Bruno – age 26 – North Carolina

Matthew Lenahan – age 30 – New York

Kelly Shin – age 20 – Arizona

Shannon Elkins – age 30 – Louisiana

NaOnka Mixon – age 27 – California

Enjoy the season!