OK, so I watched former MVP and longtime MLB second baseman Jeff Kent on the season premiere of “Survivor” last night and now I’m going to share a few details with you so I don’t feel completely silly about those 90 minutes of my life.
• Kent injured his knee before the first commercial break, losing his balance jumping from a boat to a raft. Once he got onto the actual island he played it off as no big deal so everyone else wouldn’t think he was at less than full strength, but Kent later guessed that he had a torn MCL.
• While limping around he wasted no time trying to build alliances and started scheming to get another player voted off the island. He also talked about what a big fan of “Survivor” he is and how that motivated him to sign up.
• Kent is attempting to keep his identity a secret and as far as I could tell only one of the other contestants recognized Kent as a former baseball player. And the woman who did recognize him didn’t tell anyone, so his secret is safe for now. However, she did wonder out-loud to the cameras whether “someone with $30 million” deserves to win the $1 million prize, so that figures to be an issue. And it wasn’t even an accurate number: Kent earned more than $85 million during 17 seasons in the majors.
• Despite the knee injury Kent quickly emerged as a leader, doing most of the heavy lifting in building his tribe some shelter. He told everyone about his farm in Texas and bonded with several people who view him as a fellow Southerner. Kent does have a farm in Texas, but he was born and raised in California.
• He played a big role in the immunity challenge, doing a good job paddling a boat to allow his teammates more time to solve a puzzle that ultimately won the challenge. That means he’s safe for at least one more week and, I guess, means I’m committed to watching this show for at least one more episode.
