Big Brother All-Stars 2020

 Big Brother All-Stars 2020 Opening Night!

I am so glad you decided to join me in viewing Big Brother (US version) All-Stars 2020. Hopefully you will enjoy reading about each episode from my point of view, and I would love for you to comment with what you thought of the episode too!

First, I should explain my Big Brother background and why I watch. I am a huge fan of the show, and have watched every season... but not until years after they aired lol! I did see some episodes of season 10 live, but it really wasn't until season 11 (yes, I'm a huge Jeff and Jordan fan) that I really got into the show. Thankfully, CBS put all the seasons on their app, so I have been able to go back and rewatch all the seasons over the last couple years. I'm a big fan of Big Brother because I love seeing how people are forced to compete and plot against one another, but then they have to turn around and make dinner and sleep next to one another. The emotional roller coaster of all that drama would be so stressful... and it makes for great T.V.! 

Now, lets get to the 2020 All-Star Episode 1:

Lets kick things off with the Elephant in the Room... all the covid stuff. This episode just felt off right from the beginning. Julie Chen is always classy and professional, but she seemed off her game not having a live audience and having all the contestants wearing masks and being 12 feet apart. The initial interviews when the cast had their masks on were awkward, and I didn't feel like things really began until they finally got inside and threw them off (and some even kept them on their wrists which made it harder for them during the challenge). Also, the Have-Not room door was a total let down, and made super awkward by knowing they couldn't show someone going in to fix it. Finally, we do know that covid testing disqualified some houseguests from competing. Josh Martinez has stated that he was supposed to be a houseguest, but had a false positive covid test. We don't know yet who else was disqualified, and which guests were the backups. That being said, I am THRILLED that Josh is not a current houseguest (wouldn't surprise me if he shows up later). I am not a fan of his competition style, and did not want to watch another season of his emotional roller coaster.

Next, I thought I'd talk about who I wish had made it on the show, but as of now are not part of the cast. I love the showmances (I know, pathetic), so I was super bummed that NONE of the big brother couples are on the cast. We do have Nicole F (who I will talk about later), but we are missing out on Victor. There is no Jeff and Jordan, no Brendan and Rachel, no Cody and Jessica, etc. While all these couples have a showmance in common, they are also all really good Big Brother players individually. I also would have liked to see Derrick L, Caleb R, and maybe some other stronger physical competitors this season The girls look pretty tough, but we didn't get many strength competitors on the men's side.

Now, lets get to tonight's episode and the houseguests that DID make it on the show. The first competition had the houseguests start off in groups of 4. They entered the house, found a clue in the backyard, ran into the house to find the answer, and then had to roll the ball through a heavy maze to the correct answer. In terms of Big Brother games, this first game was lame.  The houseguests weren't really talking yet, and the girl's definitely seemed to have a more challenging ball roll than the boy's whose answers were near the top of the puzzle. By the end of the 4 rounds, which seemed to take forever, Christmas, Ian, Kevin, Nicole A, Memphis, and Cody went on to compete for HOH. 

After the first challenge, the contestants were all reunited in a super awkward group gathering that Julie could not seem to get control of. They were all supposed to act excited and cheer and then sit down, but nobody listened and most of the time was filled with Julie trying to make a joke about last person to their chair being eliminated,. Finally it was time to head off to the HOH competition, and can I just say this competition HURT me to watch. I honestly was expecting someone to roll an ankle, and I thought Christmas was going to struggle since that is what ruined her game the last time she played. Everyone pretty much stunk at this game, but in the end  it was Cody who ended up victorious. The show ended with the other HOH contenders drawing a card that showed if they won $5000 (Christmas did) or if they were the have-nots for the week. Julie tried to have them go see the Have-Not room, but technical difficulties prevented the contestants from entering, and Julie pretty much ended the show by telling us all to Expect the Unexpected.

My final thoughts for this first episode post are to go over a few of the contestants that I am rooting for as of today, and why I'm not of fan of some of the "All-Stars". My biggest complaint comes is the merging of CBS contestants and one of my favorite reality shows "The Challenge". Dayvonne, Bayleigh, and Josh (if he had made it) have all been competing together on The Challenge in the last year. That does not make them BIG BROTHER all-stars. Instead, it just makes them professional reality show competitors, which doesn't seem fair to the contestants who are really being pulled out of their home life and have to think about everything they are giving up to be on the show. Also, I have never been impressed with any of those three on Big Brother or The Challenge, but hopefully they will prove me wrong this season. I also am struggling to like Cody, because he also has a brother who has been a frequent The Challenge menace and I can't help but see a lot of similarities. Cody was the supporting actor during Derricks season, and I know he is looking for the victory for himself, but there is something weird about him and not having Derrick to balance him out could be detrimental to his game. I just really hope we don't end up with a "Challenge" alliance this season (especially when Johnny Bananas isn't even there lol). As for who I am rooting for...

Nicole F- This girl won her season, but got the short end of the public praise stick. She won fair and square, and really had to work hard to do it! While I wish it was Victor competing, I am absolutely rooting for this girl to kill it this season.

David Alexander- This guy did TERRIBLE his first go-around in the house, and truly should not be in the All-Star cast. That being said, I am really hoping he crushes it this season, and we all get to see the amazing player he should have been the first time (when he pretty much just gave up). 

Tyler and Danielle are also great competitors, and if they play their game right I wouldn't mind seeing them take the crown. 

So, that's pretty much a wrap of this first episode. I have no idea who Cody is going to pick for his nominations, but I imagine it will be two safe options (maybe Kevin and Ian) and most likely none of "The Challenge" crew. I am really hoping the veto competition is super physical so we can see all these cast members who claim to be super into working out show up. So, let me hear from you! What did you love about this episode, who are you rooting for, who do you wish was here, and who do you think Cody is going to nominate.

And, as always with Big Brother, EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED!! 

No such thing as a Participation Award

One of the things I love about playing games with my kids is the opportunity to impart some life lessons. There are rules to follow, turns to take and wait for, and of course the opportunity to win...or lose. My children participate in various sports throughout the year. During the summer they join city swim team. Each week, the various teams in the city meet for a swim meet that pits kids against one another based on age. Usually there are about 8-10 swimmers per heat, and they all race to touch the wall first. In years past, each child would get a ribbon based on the place they got in the race. First got blue, second got red... all the way to last place which was usually a shade of brown. Some of my kids really wanted that blue ribbon, while others preferred different colors and didn't care what place it represented. Of course, sometimes disappointment would occur when one of my kiddos didn't swim very well (or just plain got beat), and tears would flow. While losing could be difficult, it opened the doorway for them to learn from their mistakes and work to improve. Fast forward to today, and suddenly the ribbons have changed to just simply state "Participation Award". The theory is that children should be rewarded for just showing up, and shouldn't feel like they have anything to prove or are being compared to anyone else. Um, hello, what on earth is happening! What are we teaching our kiddos... have you ever shown up to a job and said "Hi, I'm just here for the participation paycheck just for being here. I'm not going to try and improve and do my best, because every body gets a prize.. right?" Board games are excellent for kids because from a young age they can learn how to try hard, do their best, be gracious in winning, and learn something from losing... all in the safe environment of home! So many creative games have come out that teach kids how to think outside the box, develop problem solving skills, and most involve some sort of math (even if it is just keeping score). Its a wonderful thing to see a group of kids playing together...and not one of them receives a participation award!

The Game That Started An Obsession

When my husband and I moved to the Midwest, we had never lived more than 10 minutes away from the nearest family member. Now we were 1200 miles away, learning what ice and snow weather was like, and feeling like we were completely alone. This is when games started playing a huge role in our lives. We had always played card games and dominoes, but one Christmas we went home to visit family and were introduced to Settlers of Catan. I was immediately IN LOVE with the strategy and game-play style of this game. I knew I had to get my hands on a copy of it to bring back home to Kansas, but I was SHOCKED at the sticker price. At that time, I'm pretty sure we paid $60 for the original game, and I had NEVER paid more than $10 for any game in my life. Little did I know that there was so much more to board games than Monopoly. When we got back to Kansas we started introducing neighbors and grad school friends to Settlers. I'll admit the initial explanation of the game usually brings about a glazed look in the eyes of new game players (thankfully over the years we've pretty much mastered explaining it in under 5 minutes), but once we got about half way through playing the game, our new friends started to really get into it just like we had. Before long, we had made quite a few friends who shared a love of games, and weekly (if not daily) game nights had become a regular thing at our house. It's been over 12 years since my first experience with Settlers, but it is still a game regularly played with friends and family alike. It opened the door to a whole world of board games (and I'll admit I've paid way more than $60 for some of our games), and it also has allowed us to meet some of the coolest people from Kansas to Arizona.

Welcome Friends!

Hi, and welcome to my blog! I thought I'd introduce myself and let you know what to expect from the azgamemom blog. My name is Calli, and I am obviously from Arizona, and a Mom, and I love games!! (and exclamation points lol) I have 4 awesome kids from ages 5-15 and one handsome hubby. I am a native to Arizona, but I did spend 5 years in the Midwest (shout out to Independence, MO and Overland Park, KS). During our time in the Midwest, we were away from family and needing to make friends...enter games! We started ordering board games, card games, and video games so that we could make friends with the neighbors and fellow grad students. We also started hosting different t.v. and movie watching parties for our friends that were not so thrilled with our game obsession. Now, almost 10 years later (CRAZY!), we are back in sunny Arizona and still crazy about games, movies, and television. I started an Instagram account to share the games we play, and thought I'd add a blog so that I could do a more detailed review about board games we love (and some we didn't like as much) from the perspective of a girl gamer and her family. Hope you enjoy!!