I'm not sure that there's any worthy spoiler news in here, but here is the article from today's Grand Haven Tribune. I live in the area, so I'll see if I hear anything worth mentioning over the next few weeks.

I'm not sure how long they'll keep the article up, but I don't know the policy on copying material. Is it okay to copy it if I cite the source? If it isn't, someone let me know, and I'll delete it.

Grand Haven Tribune
Friday, September 16, 2005
Hogeboom a 'Survivor' in episode one
BY MATT DEYOUNG
mdeyoung@grandhaventribune.com

GRAND HAVEN TOWNSHIP — Grand Haven's Gary Hogeboom survived the opening episode of "Survivor: Guatemala: The Mayan Empire" as his team, the Yaxha Tribe, won immunity on the first task.

Tribune photo/Matt DeYoung A crowd of over 100 joined Gary Hogeboom's family and friends at Grand Haven Golf Club Thursday to watch the opening episode of "Survivor: Guatemala."

As the introduction of the reality show's eighth season aired Thursday night on CBS, the 47-year-old's picture was the first of the 16 contestants to be unveiled on the television screen. Standing 6 feet 4 inches tall, his short hair turning gray, he stood out visually from the remainder of the nine Yaxha "tribe" members, most of whom are in their 20s, and was one of the most active competitors on the show.

More than 100 of Hogeboom's family and friends gathered at the Grand Haven Golf Club Thursday to watch the opening episode. His wife, Kristi, daughters Heidi, 22, and Jami, 10, and son Jake, 21, were all in attendance. The couple's third daughter, Kasi, 18, lives in California.

"We had no idea what he was in for," Kristi Hogeboom said after watching the show. "He hasn't said much to anybody. We're all in the dark. I just watched the way he interacted with the people.

"It was awesome to have so many people come out to watch the first show. We thought it was a one-time thing, but a lot of people came up to me and said, 'Let's do this again,' so I'm not sure."

Hogeboom, a former NFL quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys, immediately bore the leadership role in the Yaxha Tribe — one of two nine-member teams or "tribes" competing in grueling reward and immunity challenges for 39 days that will eventually land one person the coveted $1 million prize.

Dressed in a yellow shirt, cargo pants and Yaxha's turquoise "buff," Hogeboom carried the team's temporary turquoise and golden flag to a beach where "Survivor" host Jeff Probst welcomed them and the Nakum Tribe.

Probst surprised survivors as he revealed last season "Survivor" contestants Bobby Jon Drinkard and Stephanie LaGrossa, who became members on each of the tribes. LaGrossa, who was the last remaining member on her tribe last season and was referred to by Probst as being the "strongest woman ever to play 'Survivor,'" provided additional knowledge for Hogeboom's team.

Yaxha Tribe lost the first challenge of the show, losing out to Nakum Tribe in the opening "race" — an 11-mile, 24-hour trek through the Guatemalan jungle infested with snakes, crocodiles and howling monkeys, with the winner earning the better of the two camps and an all-important flint to help make fire.

Hogeboom kept his past as an NFL quarterback a secret, and even changed his name for the show, calling himself Gary Hawkins. Yet his leadership skills immediately came to the front as he grabbed the team's map and compass and led Yaxha Tribe on its trek through the treacherous jungle. With many of his teammates in their 20s, Hogeboom said on camera that his "paternal instincts kicked in with these kids."

While Hogeboom survived the first challenge relatively unscathed, the men of Nakum tribe were not so lucky. Several suffered severe dehydration, which led to cramps and nausea. The ill effects of the dehydration seemed to carry over to the first immunity challenge. In that event, the two teams had to row their canoes around a buoy in the center of a large lake, collect a torch from the buoy, row back to shore, then pull the canoes over rolling logs across a finish line. The first team to haul their canoe across the finish line, then light their torch, won immunity from the first Tribal Counsel — where the team that loses votes off one of its team members.

The two teams were neck-and-neck after the canoeing portion of the challenge, but Hogeboom's Yaxha Tribe was much more efficient pulling the canoe over the rolling logs and won the challenge.

That put Nakum Tribe into the Tribal Council, and there was very little question as to which team member they would vote off. The oldest member of the tribe, Jim Lynch, tore his left bicep trying to help lift the canoe, and his injury made him a lame duck that the team quickly voted off.

The Hogeboom family said having their husband and father spend nearly two months in Guatemala wasn't easy, but they fully supported him in his adventure.

"It's always been his dream," said Heidi, who is currently doing her student-teaching in Holland. "When he got the call, he was weighing the possibilities, the pros and cons, and we told him to go ahead and do it. Survivor is probably the only show he ever watches. It's always been his favorite. If I call him around 8 on a Thursday night, he'll be like, 'Call me back later.' He's all gung-ho about it."

"To be gone for seven straight weeks, that's a lot of time," Kristi added. "Jami is just 10 years old, and she and Gary are very, very tight. It was a family decision, but they were all urging him to go for it. He's always wanted to be on the show, so it really wasn't much of a decision."

At the end of Thursday's opening show, CBS aired teasers for next week's episode. It showed Hogeboom and his teammates eyeing a colony of ants. One of them can be heard asking, "You want to eat ants?" Hogeboom replies, "We need protein."

Anything to survive on "Survivor."

Tribune reporter Kyle Moroney contributed to this story.

Slice & Dice Chop Shop 2005