GR Press lends a helping hand to Viacom

Analysis:

This is an amazing story for the Grand Rapids Press to put on the front page. Not only does it promote a popular program on CBS (owned by the media conglomerate Viacom), it focuses on a former NFL football player who happens to live in Grand Haven. Readers should ask themselves if a promotional piece for a network TV show merits front page coverage on the only daily paper in Grand Rapids?

When they do talk about Guatemala in the story the comments used are “Survivor,” which this time is set in Guatemala, promises the return of two former players and some harsh living conditions. It also plans to incorporate the country’s culture.” How does having contestants play at Mayan ruins incorporate the country’s culture? And when they say “harsh living conditions” what do they mean? Guatemala has a tremendous amount of poverty and human rights abuses, yet those issues are not mentioned in this article. When the US government recently ratifies the Central America Free Trade Agreement, this did not receive front page coverage in the Press. Something to consider with the argument that this article featured a local angle, by featuring a Grand Haven resident, why didn’t the GR Press feature in any of it’s coverage the local angle on the Central America Free Trade Agreement, since 23 local groups worked against this trade policy?

Story:

From gridiron to Guatemala: former football star tackles ‘Survivor’
By Lorilee Craker

West Michigan knows him as Gary Hogeboom, the former NFL quarterback and Central Michigan University star.
But to the 15 other contestants on tonight’s “Survivor: Guatemala,” the 47-year-old real estate developer from Grand Haven, Michigan, is . . . Gary Hawkins.

“This guy could still be a superb athlete, but if he shows it, he’s dead,” “Survivor” host Jeff Probst said in a recent conference call. “Right out of the gate, Gary was acting, taking on the last name Hawkins and downplaying his skills.

“There’s an 11-mile hike the first episode that was brutal. He’s as well-conditioned as anyone, but he doesn’t give it his all to throw people off. We’ve never had someone with such a big lie pull it off so well.”

More than 20 million fans are expected to tune in to tonight’s 11th installment of the Emmy-winning reality show, which has been one of TV’s most popular shows since it debuted in the summer of 2000.

The winner gets $1 million, and past competitions have created celebrities out of Richard Hatch, Tina Wesson, Ruppert Boneham, and Rob and Amber.

Is Gary Hogeboom, or rather, Hawkins, next?

On tonight’s opener, only one competitor, Danni Boatwright, a 30-year-old sports-radio talk show host from Kansas City, possibly recognizes Hogeboom, Probst said.

“It’s early on, day two or day three, when we have our first challenge, Danni said, ‘Hey, isn’t that Gary Hogeboom?’ We’ll see if she uses that knowledge to her advantage, by possibly striking a deal with him,” Probst said.

“Survivor,” which this time is set in Guatemala, promises the return of two former players and some harsh living conditions. It also plans to incorporate the country’s culture, as contestants will live among 2,000-year-old ruins and face some Mayan-inspired challenges, according to the fan Web site survivorfever.net.

But the buzz right now is all about Gary and Danni.

According to another fan Web site, Probst said in radio interview that Hogeboom told producers early on about his deception strategy.

“Gary said that even if people figure it out, he would say, ‘Yeah, I get that all the time,’ ” according to the forum posting.

On the same posting, “Survivor” fans were impressed with Danni’s sports knowledge.

“If Danni actually figures out who Gary is, I’d be totally amazed. No one has heard of the guy,” a fan said.
Hogeboom, who was in Guatemala from late June to early August to tape the show, is back in West Michigan and under a strict contract not to talk to anyone regarding “Survivor.”

But those who know the former Dallas Cowboy quarterback, consider him to be stiff competition for the largely 20-something crop of contestants, especially in terms of strength and endurance.

“I’ve never known him to be out of shape,” said Herb Deromedi, athletic director and former head football coach at Central Michigan University. He coached Hogeboom in the 1978 and 1979 seasons..

“In fact, whenever I’ve seen him over the years I’ve been tempted to ask him to suit up and help us out on the field.”

According to Probst, Hogeboom’s mettle will be tested on a different playing field.
“Palau (the location of last spring’s episodes) was a vacation compared to Guatemala,” he said. “It was at least 105 degrees every day, and one day it reached 120 degrees. The mosquitoes are ridiculous, and there’s a muddy river filled with crocodiles. It’s by far the most physical ‘Survivor’ yet.”

Probst was asked if Hogeboom was recruited to be on “Survivor” because of his former NFL status.

“We didn’t go looking for him,” Probst said. “His tape was him in Michigan and he’s out in the snow and his kids are piling snow on his head. He’s saying, ‘If I can survive two kids and the Michigan winter, I can survive your show.’ And when I saw his tape it just says Gary, it didn’t say Hogeboom.”

A lot of people think Hogeboom, who will join family and friends to watch tonight’s episode, has a shot at the top prize. One online betting site gave Hogeboom as 9-2 odds to win (Danni was a 6-1 favorite).

“Gary was in the NFL for 11 years,” said his dad, Bob Hogeboom of Plainfield Township. “He’ll come through all that kind of thing … just fine.”

And besides, Gary wants very much to win.

“Gary hates to lose,” said Deromedi, his former coach. “That is just not part of his makeup at all.”
And that success will depend on his acting ability.

“Hogeboom was out of the gate an actor,” Probst said. “And it was fun because . . . he didn’t hesitate. ‘What do you do?’ ‘Landscape architect.'”