Did I really think "The Gauntlet" was worth posting about each week?

Karma, Beth. Karma. A week after Channel Surfing posted Rob Demovsky's story about Beth pulling the "Don't you know who I am?" card during her college days, the Beastly One from Ohio University was shown the door by her own team. Setting Beth up for a Gauntlet against another chronic complainer, Coral, was a risky move on the surface. After all, Beth had won previous eliminations due to her size and leverage (see the above picture), but in a third straight Ball Brawl confrontation for the ladies, Coral managed to survive despite some heavy body blows in the sand. Beth bowed out gracefully -- and with a decent fight -- but unlike older has-beens who've moved on with their post-"Real World" lives to become productive members of society, the Beast probably won't be going away anytime soon. Anyone who posts that many pictures of herself on MySpace is clearly disillusioned about their sense of "celebrity," though I've just devoted a paragraph about her exit from a horrible reality show while writing this post from home in my pajamas. Hmmm ...

As last week's recap implied, the Veteran guys held everything back in a pyramid building challenge, setting up the all-star female Gauntlet between Coral and Beth. The guys pulled the tank job in ridiculous fashion, and at one point, Roid Rage Danny did nothing but run around in circles to prove how oblivous the girls were to their manipulation. Mission accomplished. The Vets "cut the fat," as CT so callously said, and in the literal case of Beth, well ... we try to avoid obvious jokes in this space.

For a third straight week, the male Gauntlet proved terribly disappointing, with the Vets dominating the "Walk the Plank" challenge before stepping on the Rooks' neck for good. In a brilliant strategic move, the Vets tossed in their opposition's strongest player, Derek (at right), figuring that for two straight eliminations, physical prowess hadn't been part of the equation. They guessed right again, with the Rookies' sacrifice of Ryan a moot point since he and Derek were set to face off in the ultimate equalizer for small, wimpy dudes -- a puzzle challenge. David beat Goliath, and the Rookies watched as their strongest male left for home thanks to his lack of mental muscle. Again, "Gauntlet" producers set up Derek's demise by showing footage of his hook-ups with Anorexic Paula. Yawn. This show is becoming painfully, painfully boring, and I can no longer justify a Power Poll to cover it.

-- Thomas Rozwadowski, trozwado@greenbaypressgazette.com