Across The Pond

I have enjoyed The Big Break since it's inception a few years back. For those not in the know, it's basically a golf-based game show where the winner gets a shot at playing in a professional event. Past seasons have included spots in Canadian Tour, Nationwide Tour and LPGA Tour events, while this season features a spot in a European Tour event.

This, of course, leads to the format change for this season. In previous seasons, all players have played individually from the start of the show, with the final two going head-to-head in an 18 hole match play finale. This season, with the show taking place in Europe, they have decided to take the show to the next level and add a Ryder Cup, or probably more accurately, a Survivor-type element to the game.

Two teams, USA and Europe, go head to head each week in what they call an immunity challenge, with the losing team going on to an elimination challenge, or tribal council in Survivor terms. The difference here from Survivor is that you don't get to vote someone off. Players are elimintated if they lose the challenge, simple as that.

So far this season has been pretty decent. I do find myself pulling for Team USA, even though the team part of the show is just a gimmick and doesn't really mean anything as far as the ultimate goal of the show. At the same time, I do like some of the Europeans and would like to see them advance just as much as I want to see the Americans advance.

My current favorites are Randall from the Americans and Marty from the Europeans, with American T.J. not far behind. Unfortunately, I don't see any of them making it to the finale. If I was a betting man, I would go with American Paul and European Warren to go all the way. They are both seasoned veterans who seem to know that flash doesn't necessarily always get it done. Although neither is my favorite character, I think if it does come down to the two team captains in a head-to-head match play finale, it will be fun to watch. I currently don't see any weaknesses in either of their games and that should make for a good match to watch.

On a side note, I think I might be enjoying The Big Break: All Access show a little bit better than the regular series. It comes on Wednesday nights and is basically a behind the scenes recap of the Tuesday night episode. It's nice to see what goes on behind the cameras and that the things we see on these reality shows don't happen as "naturally" as we might initially think.