Board Thread:Season 45 - Molise/@comment-31624573-20180221201739/@comment-24830549-20180222150017

Hi Eli!

First off I want to acknowledge some of the stuff you mentioned in your speech. The self vote, yeah that was a yikes. But it wasn’t out of laziness or a lack of concern that I self voted, it was a simple mistake. In fact, when I went on at around 6:30 that night I thought I’d have enough time to make sure my plans were in place and then send my vote. That doesn’t excuse it obviously but I don’t think me self-voting was reflective of my game in any capacity. It was just a fluke.

As for the perception that I somehow “gave up,” I want to definitively deny that right off the bat. I by no means gave up in challenges or otherwise. Final five and four immunities happened to fall on an incredibly busy week for me and I didn’t have time to put what I consider to be my best foot forward. As for Jason saying that I told him I was giving up… Clearly there was a misunderstanding. I NEVER gave up. In fact, I think one of the last things I told Jason before he left was that I was trying to come up with a strategy to beat Declan at the Jury vote, so I have no idea where he insinuated that I was giving up. I didn’t give up by any means. So only one yikes.

As for your question, I believe that I played a better all around game than Declan. Yes, Declan played a very good social game and at the end played the Mike Holloway type game, but I don’t really see his strategic game. Strategic conversations with Declan were short and sweet, and it was hard to figure out where his head was at unless you had a very long conversation with him where strategy eventually came up. That’s not a bad thing, that’s just who Declan is. But I think part of this game is being well-rounded and I think I was able to develop social relationships with people, I think I was able to play a very solid strategic game. I also think the aspects of my game were more spread out. I didn’t just play a social game and fly under the radar for the first 14 rounds (including Izzy’s first vote) and then turn it on randomly at the final seven. I played a consistent game that was well-rounded, and I think that’s where I can differentiate myself from Declan. I didn’t try to hide my skills or my flaws, and I think that’s a more respectable way to play the game overall. If you want me to give you some specific actions, I’d be happy to.

Thanks for the questions. Nat, Aaron, Jerry, and Jordan, I’m getting to you guys next don’t worry, and Trey, I can’t wait to read your speech!