S32: Scot Pollard

[Whimsy]

Name (Age): Scot Pollard (40)

Tribe Designation: Brawn

Current Residence: Carmel, Ind.

Occupation: Former NBA champion. Played for the Detroit Pistons, Sacramento Kings, Indiana Pacers, Cleveland Cavaliers and Boston Celtics.

 

Here's your Scot Pollard topic.

[LadyChatts]

Darnell lost the challenge for his tribe, and that was the motive for getting rid of him.  Scot admits that he cost his team the win, but that's all hunky dory?  

 

I don't dislike Scot to the extent of his musclar tattooed tribemate, but if he keeps calling Alecia 'blondie' on day 9, that's it for me.  He seems like a decent guy, I think, and I'm hoping that once he gets rid of Jason that side will come out.

Edited February 25, 2016 by LadyChatts

[peachmangosteen]

I don't dislike Scot to the extent of his musclar tattooed tribemate, but if he keeps calling Alecia 'blondie' on day 9, that's it for me.  He seems like a decent guy, I think, and I'm hoping that once he gets rid of Jason that side will come out.

 

This. I feel like there's an actual decent person inside Scot and I'm hoping Kyle Jason Whatever is just bringing out the worst side of him.

[NutMeg]

 How tall IS that guy? He's like freaking Hagrid next to the the others there!

 

And talking about tatoos, the one around his belly button is rather unfortunate :)

[Fukui San]

He was an NBA big guy, so without looking at his stats he's almost certainly from 6'9"-6'11".

[thehepburn]

He's 6'11"

[NutMeg]

He's 6'11"

Wow. That's more than 2.1 m! Freaking huge - I've always thought only basketball players were that tall, shows what I know.

 

Now I'm waiting for the challenge where someone has to be carried. Scot carrying Alecia will be like a theater performance of King Kong :)

[peachmangosteen]

Wow. That's more than 2.1 m! Freaking huge - I've always thought only basketball players were that tall, shows what I know.

 

He was a basketball player!

[NutMeg]

He was a basketball player!

Duh, how silly can I be! No wonder I have a soft spot for Alecia :)

[Jobiska]

Although Outback's Mitchell Olson, who in my 2-minute websurfing seems to be the tallest Survivor so far, was 7 feet tall and not a basketball player.  I suppose Scot is second tallest now.  I seem to recall Mitchell getting very weak from hunger, not getting enough to eat to support his frame.  He was not as muscular as Scot, however.

[LadyChatts]

I really wanted to like Scot, and I was hoping Jason was just being a bad influence on him. But after tonight, I can't say that. What a condescending jerk. I'll miss Alecia and was hoping she would stick around long enough to lead to Scot and Jason's demise, but I'm glad she doesn't have to deal with these jerks anymore.

 

ETA: Here's a gem from Scot about Alecia.  He wanted her to shut up and be positive because she wasn't being productive in the challenge, but isn't that the equivalent  of being a cheerleader?  Also, his talk about being on a team and how Alecia doesn't qualify because she hasn't been on a team since she was little-wouldn't the same apply to Kyle and Cydney?  Did they ever play professional sports?  Or at least be bench warmers like ol'Scotty boy?  Yeah, couple of winners here.  If this keeps up it is going to be one long reunion show this year.

 

Edited March 10, 2016 by LadyChatts

[KimberStormer]

then there's this asshole

[looksee]

Asshole.

[fishcakes]

Asshole.

[vibeology]

He was a basketball player!

 

I feel like you actually have to get off the bench to be considered a basketball player.

 

I missed the first episode of the season, but don't most "celebrities" try to hide their fame when they come on Survivor. I seem to remember Jeff saying that he'll go along with whatever lie they want to tell as part of their game play. Was that not an option for this guy? Did someone recognize him? (How I can't quite imagine since he barely played in a 10 year career) Or was it actually more important for him to have everyone know he's an NBA champion than to risk the jury not wanting to vote for him because he's already rich?

[laurakaye]

I don't even want to see this jerk dragged to the end as a goat (along with Lurch) because then he will: 

 

A: get a chance to talk some more and attempt to justify his bullying of Alecia, and

B: get a decent payday for coming in either 2nd or 3rd.

 

Go away, go away soon, and don't ever come back, Benchwarmer.

[peachmangosteen]

ASSHOLE.

 

I feel like you actually have to get off the bench to be considered a basketball player.

 

BURN!

 

I take back thinking Scot maybe wasn't too bad and it was Jason's influence. LadyChatts and I were SO wrong!

Edited March 10, 2016 by peachmangosteen

[JudyObscure]

Moron. He couldn't even understand what Alecia meant when she asked him about the concept of team work.  His answer was, "I played with the best in the world."  Duh.  Good teamwork can apply with a group of seven year-old  T-ball players.  Clearly he was one of those high-school jocks who valued people entirely on their expertise in sports -- and he's never changed.  He never liked Alecia because she wasn't good in challenges and he can't see people beyond that.  I hope his daughter doesn't grow up to be some loser who graduates from med school and joins Doctor's Without Borders while winning the Pulitzer prize.  He'd be so ashamed of her if she's not good at sports.

[LadyChatts]

I really hope Jeff brings up his NBA past at the reunion.  "So Scot, when you played pro basketball-excuse me, when you sat on the sidelines while your teammates played..."

[piequinn35]

0 minutes on the playoffs with Celtics - HAHAHA :> that's embarassing

reg season: 22 games 1.8 ppg

[scowl]

In the 2007-2008 season he was the Celtics' third center on the bench behind P.J. Brown. It looks like he was on the injured inactive list.  I guess he was sitting with the best basketball players in the world. 

 

I like to think that Polard made some suggestion in a timeout and Kevin Garnett told him, "I scored 24 points! What have you done?"

[slowpoked]

I don't recall all of the athletes who have played the game, but don't most of them try to keep a low profile? This guy's the other way around, telling anyone who would listen he's an NBA champ as if he had contributed something significant to that championship run.

 

I mean, take Jeff Kent for example. One of the best players of all time, HOF-caliber, and still didn't toot his own horn about being THE Jeff Kent. Granted, he may not have a ring like this neanderthal does, but I would wager he's played a much more meaningful career. 

 

Plus, don't ball boys and cheerleaders and ticket sales, and everyone employed by the team get rings too? They probably did more for their team's championship than this sidekick.

[Fukui San]

I don't want to go too far down the road of mocking his NBA career.  He had a decent career peaking as a starter for a very good Sacramento Kings team that won sixty-one games.  Someone had to foul Shaq six times a game. By the time he warmed the bench for the 2008 Celtics, he was DONE as a player but he was a decent enough big guy in his time. Never one of the most important players on any team he played for, but there are far worse.

[LadyChatts]

I don't recall all of the athletes who have played the game, but don't most of them try to keep a low profile? This guy's the other way around, telling anyone who would listen he's an NBA champ as if he had contributed something significant to that championship run.

 

I mean, take Jeff Kent for example. One of the best players of all time, HOF-caliber, and still didn't toot his own horn about being THE Jeff Kent. Granted, he may not have a ring like this neanderthal does, but I would wager he's played a much more meaningful career. 

 

Plus, don't ball boys and cheerleaders and ticket sales, and everyone employed by the team get rings too? They probably did more for their team's championship than this sidekick.

 

Typically when someone has to brag about their achievements, they are usually looking for attention and/or are full of hot air.  Take Peter saying he and Liz were so good looking and smart compared to their tribe mates, and even Peter last night stewing over the fact that his (in his opinion) not so smart tribe mates just screwed their game.  Because Peter is just too smart for them. 

 

Scot and Jason, who in one breath are egging on the haters and promising more bullying to come, also can't take it based on their twitter reactions (and the fact that they continue to try and bring Alecia down...to justify that they aren't such bad guys?

[scowl]

 Never one of the most important players on any team he played for, but there are far worse.

 

I recently looked through the NBA roster for some pub trivia. I was amazed at how many players have been bouncing around the league warming teams' benches for over ten years. They're making around $700K a year staying in shape and playing just well enough to be an eleventh or twelfth player on a team's roster. At least Pollard did have some success early in his career. 

[Fukui San]

I recently looked through the NBA roster for some pub trivia. I was amazed at how many players have been bouncing around the league warming teams' benches for over ten years. They're making around $700K a year staying in shape and playing just well enough to be an eleventh or twelfth player on a team's roster. At least Pollard did have some success early in his career. 

If I had time on my hands, I'd start a tumblr called "He's STILL playing?!" which would just consist of pictures of pro sports players who you're surprised are still playing somewhere.  If I were to start this now, the first entry would be 39 (!) year old Vince Carter who is scoring 5.7 points per game, which is less than a point less than Scot Pollard's best year!

 

Feel free to steal this idea, btw. I'll never actually do it.

Edited March 10, 2016 by Fukui San

[slowpoked]

I don't want to go too far down the road of mocking his NBA career.  He had a decent career peaking as a starter for a very good Sacramento Kings team that won sixty-one games.  Someone had to foul Shaq six times a game. By the time he warmed the bench for the 2008 Celtics, he was DONE as a player but he was a decent enough big guy in his time. Never one of the most important players on any team he played for, but there are far worse.

Oh I'm very familiar with that team, so I knew who Scot was as a player. I had a huge crush on Peja Stojakovic and if they didn't get screwed over by the refs and the league wanting the Lakers to win, chances are, Scot would have had two rings instead of one.

 

I don't recall him being a starter though. I remember Vlade Divac was the starter, he was the back-up center. 

 

I have no issue with his career to be honest. Not everyone can be Lebron James or Kobe, and someone has to do the dirty work (fouling Shaq thereby saving Divac through the game). But I just don't like the posturing that just because he's an NBA champ he's the only one who knows about teamwork, etc. And the way he brags about it is as if he was the Finals MVP. Lots of great players have never won championships, and lots of bad players do. It's just a fact of life. Be thankful you get to win one, but don't brag about it as if you're an important reason you got to be a champion.

[Special K]

Oh I'm very familiar with that team, so I knew who Scot was as a player. I had a huge crush on Peja Stojakovic and if they didn't get screwed over by the refs and the league wanting the Lakers to win, chances are, Scot would have had two rings instead of one.

 

I don't recall him being a starter though. I remember Vlade Divac was the starter, he was the back-up center. 

 

I have no issue with his career to be honest. Not everyone can be Lebron James or Kobe, and someone has to do the dirty work (fouling Shaq thereby saving Divac through the game). But I just don't like the posturing that just because he's an NBA champ he's the only one who knows about teamwork, etc. And the way he brags about it is as if he was the Finals MVP. Lots of great players have never won championships, and lots of bad players do. It's just a fact of life. Be thankful you get to win one, but don't brag about it as if you're an important reason you got to be a champion.

 

I don't have an opinion about his relative value as an NBA player.  But I do think it's pretty tacky and small-minded for an NBA player, any professional athlete really, to lord his career over a young woman who is just starting out in life.

[scowl]

I don't have an opinion about his relative value as an NBA player.  But I do think it's pretty tacky and small-minded for an NBA player, any professional athlete really, to lord his career over a young woman who is just starting out in life.

 

And to talk to her like she is the only reason Brawn keeps losing.

 

Hey Scot, two other people on your team haven't found any bags. Go shit on them too. 

[piequinn35]

Bounty and bench, even though they are big and muscled tattoo crap and with a body builder Cydney, they still lost 3 IC and 1 RC

this brawn tribe 1000000% sucks big time on all aspects of the game

:)

[Jersey Guy 87]

Pollard wasn't on the active roster for the Celtics during their playoff run, he's an NBA champion in the same sense that the guy who mops the sweat off the floor is - except that guy was actually active and contributed during the playoffs.

 

He was obviously an extremely good basketball player - my son loves playing basketball, I remind him that the last guy on the bench of an NBA team is better than anyone he'll play in AAU or high school basketball.  Being good enough to make the NBA and stick around for 11 years means you are an excellent basketball player.  It doesn't mean, though, that you're not an asshole and Scot is clearly an asshole.  His treatment of Alecia was horrible.  I can't wait to see him go home.

[laurakaye]

Scot & Co. seem to think Alecia was the reason they kept losing challenges, yet it took the Brawn tribe three go-rounds to vote her out.  When Jeff asked if Alecia was a sure vote out, Scot replied, "yes, I'm not going to make that mistake again." So why did he make that mistake twice before, I wonder?

 

Which is it?  Either you think she's useless and vote her out during the very first TC, or stop talking about her like she's the reason you can't win.  To me, it seems like these big, brawny brawns kept her around so they could point to her as the reason they kept losing challenges.  Because surely, if she wasn't there, they'd have cleaned up on every single challenge.  I feel like they kept her around because they could deflect their anger at losing onto her.

[slowpoked]

Scot is claiming villain edit was engaged. I know we don't get the full story of what happened because they can only show so much in an hour, but really, if there was nothing villainous in what you did while on the island, there will be no villain edit.

 

Also, this tells me he's not close to winning or even if he, he won't win. From some accounts during Second Chance, Jeremy did act cocky and arrogant at times, controlling who can talk to whoever or not, but that wasn't shown because he ended up being the winner. Fatty and his sidekick are not getting that benefit of the doubt so far. 

[Special K]

Right.  Scot and Jason (and Dan and other before them) fail to realize that they are mere pawns in the morality-tale-making machine that is Survivor.  After all this time with reality TV, why does this come as a surprise to people?

[scowl]

He was obviously an extremely good basketball player - my son loves playing basketball, I remind him that the last guy on the bench of an NBA team is better than anyone he'll play in AAU or high school basketball.  Being good enough to make the NBA and stick around for 11 years means you are an excellent basketball player. 

 

Or that you were at one time in your career. 

[LadyChatts]

Scot is claiming villain edit was engaged. I know we don't get the full story of what happened because they can only show so much in an hour, but really, if there was nothing villainous in what you did while on the island, there will be no villain edit.

 

Also, this tells me he's not close to winning or even if he, he won't win. From some accounts during Second Chance, Jeremy did act cocky and arrogant at times, controlling who can talk to whoever or not, but that wasn't shown because he ended up being the winner. Fatty and his sidekick are not getting that benefit of the doubt so far. 

 

If Kyle or Scot suddenly start getting a rosy edit I'm going to get worried (but no way that'll happen, right?)  I think back to Mike Holloway getting a not so good edit in the first part of WA, then suddenly he was the ultimate underdog that was being targeted by the Bad & Boring alliance.  But even Mike wasn't anywhere near as bad as Kyle and Scot (or his WA counterparts Dan and Rodney).  We didn't even see much of Jeremy's game last season, let alone anything he was doing behind the scenes that made him cocky and arrogant (I do remember Kass saying that Jeremy and Savage were following her around when she was trying to talk to Joe and Spencer to make sure they didn't flip).

 

And Scot/Kyle better be careful talking about the edit.  Probst may pull the Dan Foley card at the reunion to prove them wrong.  I do sometimes try to give Survivors the benefit of the doubt in TH, because I know they are asked leading questions, and sometimes can come across poorly in those.  But this isn't just TH.  This is the big picture of how they talked about and interacted with Alecia at camp.  I don't know the extent of the hate mail they are getting, but Kyle's wife (before she made her SM accounts private) was posting screen caps on twitter of some things people were saying, and begging CBS to help.  I don't know what she thinks Survivor is going to do.  This show has been in the can for over a year.  They aren't going to re-edit it because her husband can't take it.  And they can't censor the fans of the show.  I don't think Scot and Kyle have been doing themselves any favors by continuing to diss Alecia after the show to justify bullying her.  

 

Guess we won't be seeing any smiling pictures next week of Scot/Jason mocking bullying. 

[Jersey Guy 87]

Or that you were at one time in your career. 

 

Staying in the league for 11 years is a testament to the idea that Pollard was an excellent basketball player.  Not an excellent NBA basketball player, but good enough to make it into the league and stick around for 11 years.  And, as an 11 year veteran he would be guaranteed a higher salary than, say, a young guy with no experience in the NBA so he was kept because he brought something to the team.

 

He still has acted like an ass on Survivor thus far.  And given that he barely played on the Celtics team during the regular season (and not at all in the playoffs) I'd question him calling himself an NBA Champion.  They would have won whether or not he was on the team, he was apparently mainly there as a practice body.

[azshadowwalker]

The thing is that he was nominal, bad or just overrated at every point of his career. In the most important game of his college career, he got his ass handed to him by Arizona, who finished 5th in their conference that season. Drafted 19th by the Pistons, they got rid of him pretty quickly. Traded to the Hawks, who waived him. Picked up by the Kings only to protect Vlad. Played two whole minutes in the Finals for the Cavs, who lost to San Antonio. No Finals play with the Celtics. He's better at talking himself up and having stupid hair than actually playing basketball. To use that as a bludgeon against Alecia is begging to be put in his place regarding his "championship" credentials.

[ihartcoffee]

Asshole.

[ByaNose]

Reading his twitter I get the impression that he didn't care then and he doesn't care now. Both he and Jason are gross. And, this has nothing to do with their ugly and nasty tattoos.

Edited March 12, 2016 by ByaNose

[piequinn35]

Asshole indeed

[slowpoked]

Scot's continuous posturing of being an NBA Champion reminds me of something I saw on the internet once - apparently it's called the "small dick syndrome". Someone with a small dick just needs to keep on talking on talking and eventually, his dick gets bigger. Or so he thinks.

 

Scot constantly talking about how he is an NBA Champion like it's the best and the only important thing in the world probably helps him believe that he actually contributed something to that championship.

[scowl]

Staying in the league for 11 years is a testament to the idea that Pollard was an excellent basketball player.  Not an excellent NBA basketball player, but good enough to make it into the league and stick around for 11 years.  And, as an 11 year veteran he would be guaranteed a higher salary than, say, a young guy with no experience in the NBA so he was kept because he brought something to the team.

 

I'm unable to determine what that something was. There are so many veterans in the NBA warming the benches that I wonder if they keep them to make the union happy. Salary is rarely an issue. A ten year veteran's minimum salary can be less than 5% of the NBA salary cap. 

 

It looks to me like a few good seasons in the NBA will greatly increase a player's chances of quietly spending the majority of their career on the bottom of some team's roster.

[Fukui San]

There's no mystery as to how he got a 11 year career. He's 6'11".  If you're that tall and have functioning legs, you have a good chance of making a career in the NBA. You can block shots and you should be able to rebound, if nothing else.  His best season's scoring average was 6.5. At that height you should be scoring that much a game by accident. Even offensively challenged Dennis Rodman scored 10 points a game by his second season.

 

There are articles like this one in Forbes which estimate that 17% of people 7 foot tall from the ages of 20-40 are in the NBA, whereas only 0.07% of people 6'6"-6'8" are. Scot's only 1 inch shorter than that standard.  To be fair playing defense and rebounding is a valuable, non-glamorous part of a basketball team. The "dirty work" that has to happen for the superstars to excel.  That said, if he was 6'7" instead of 6'11", he would not have any NBA career to speak of as he had no offensive game whatsoever. 

[loki567]

All the very real legitimate reasons to criticize him for his behavior this, "He didn't even get any minutes during the NBA Finals," argument is kinda weak. 

Edited March 15, 2016 by loki567

[peachmangosteen]

Well he brought it up. He's tooting his own horn about his NBA career and using it to deride a 24 year old woman, so I think it's fair to bring up the fact that he's actually not that big of a deal in the NBA.

[Jersey Guy 87]

There's no mystery as to how he got a 11 year career. He's 6'11".  If you're that tall and have functioning legs, you have a good chance of making a career in the NBA. You can block shots and you should be able to rebound, if nothing else.  His best season's scoring average was 6.5. At that height you should be scoring that much a game by accident. Even offensively challenged Dennis Rodman scored 10 points a game by his second season.

 

There are articles like this one in Forbes which estimate that 17% of people 7 foot tall from the ages of 20-40 are in the NBA, whereas only 0.07% of people 6'6"-6'8" are. Scot's only 1 inch shorter than that standard.  To be fair playing defense and rebounding is a valuable, non-glamorous part of a basketball team. The "dirty work" that has to happen for the superstars to excel.  That said, if he was 6'7" instead of 6'11", he would not have any NBA career to speak of as he had no offensive game whatsoever. 

 

All good points (except Rodman only averaged 10 points or more for one season in his career) but it doesn't change the fact that Scot managed to play 11 seasons in the NBA which means he was a better basketball player 99% of the people in this country.  And it also doesn't change the fact that he's still an asshole.

[Special K]

I did think it was kind of silly for Alecia to be lecturing him about the nature of teamwork.  I might have trouble not mentioning the NBA champion thing myself in that instance.  

 

I guess it matters who you disliked more in that whole embarrassing display and for me it was Alecia.  (After Kyle.)

 

Yeah, to me, the younger person is nearly always an idiot and thinks they know everything, and the older person should know that and not take the bait.

[Jersey Guy 87]

Alecia wasn't lecturing him on the nature of teamwork, she was complaining about not being part of the team.  And Scot dismissed her because she didn't play on an NBA championship team.  Nor did anyone else on his team (including him in the playoffs) but it was apparently only relevant regarding Alecia.  I'm sure during practice his teammates told him to stand on the sideline and cheer for them.

[Special K]

I interpreted it kind of this way:

 

Alecia:  Teammates cheer on their teammates, even if they aren't contributing the same.  Because that's what teams do.

 

Scot: Don't tell me how teams work.  I was on a team with NBA champions, and we haze and bully anyone less talented.