Just found your list WylDawg and it's fantastic.

Glad you included Gary on the list at #20. Tom was my first Survivor winner that I loved, and after that I went in search of a Master of Doom (maybe Rob Mariano kinda made me see what that could be like with someone who could seriously play the game). Gary gave me a true Master of Doom moment in the dinner reward, where everyone was given certain food to eat based on how well they did in the challenge. Judd won the challenge and had Surf & Turf while Gary got a tiny slice of pizza. Problem was Judd was sitting directly across from Gary and acting a fool (as usual). Gary kept staring hungrily at the large amount of food Judd was eating, to the point where Judd finally cried out in distress and guilt over shoveling food in his mouth in front of a tall, emaciated tribemate, 'Gary, stop staring at me man!' What made it a Master of Doom moment was the very next second where Gary dropped his head and gave an evil little grin. He'd been playing Judd the whole time. Granted it was easy to play Judd as Gary found out when he followed Judd into the woods and found the Hidden Immunity Idol to save his ass for another week.

Gary went too soon for my taste. Maybe that's why I've learned to appreciate Jonathan Penner. Granted I couldn't until recently (I was one of those who hated him during CI, though the reunion with his wife rehumanized him to some extent), but I have since joined the Church of Jonathan Christ and I happily live there. One question though: how does he stack up with Rob Cesterino, who many consider the greatest Survivor contestant to never win?

Love that Tom made #2. Tom did something the other Alpha Dads for the most part couldn't do--he embraced his softer, maternal qualities as well as his paternal ones. The Alpha Dads can come off as authoritarian and arrogant (such as Terry), but Tom was also Koror's comforter in bad times (such as his one-on-one with Janu after a bad storm) as well as its protector, and even Tom-hater Coby admitted in interviews that when Tom got drunk he exhibited a very soft, gentle side he appreciated. That's very motherly. And it made it emotionally impossible for the rest of Koror to vote him off.