I’m a big fan of smart people. I feel like the world undervalues intelligence a bit too much. We’re a commercial society and I understand that; sex and atheletic ability sells products. But the we’ve come this far as a race of beings because of smart people. If it weren’t for smart folks we’d still be living in caves, barking at the moon and crapping outdoors. I’m sure every single person reading this blog knows at least one person who has the brains of a gerbil and couldn’t possibly survive in a world without lattes, motor vehicles, flushing toilets, running water, microwaves, air conditioning and television. Those people really exist. Imagine if they were the smartest people we had to offer.
So I was happy to see Sean Yazbeck win the job. He comes across as a very intelligent guy with a lot of passion for what he’s doing. And intelligence and passion are two things you can’t teach or learn. You either have them, or you don’t. I think Trump got a steal in Sean.
I think what surprised me was that Trump was surprised by the poll results, which heavily favored Sean. It wasn’t even close. I can understand Trump’s take; he’s always diplomatic when it gets down to the final two and says both of them are “great”. He’s on national TV and doesn’t want to come across as an ass. He’s done this every season. But Lee wasn’t really great. He was mediocre at best. He was good at big idea thinking, and I’ll admit that was cool to see, since previous contestants have spent way too much time worrying about saving their own ass if things go south. But other than that, Lee was a disappointment. He was way too much of a politician, as Trump pointed out several times. Personally I have a real problem with people who are politicians. They either (a) can’t answer your question because they’re too uninformed/uneducated to answer, or (b) they fear your reaction to their answer, which essentially means they lack the fortitude to be decisive. I think Lee leaned more toward (b), and simply feared Trump challenging his point of view. Lee lacked guts and it showed.
Overall I thought it was an incredibly entertaining season of The Apprentice. I read that the Nielson ratings for this season were down, but it certainly couldn’t have been because of the quality of the show. The cast of characters was really amusing this time around, especially Brent, who proved to be one of the most annoying, narcissistic and clueless cast members of all time. It was hilarious every time he spoke to the camera; I can’t recall a contestant who more sure of himself, and yet was so clearly wrong for the job. The comedy factor alone was worth watching.
I’m not sure how much longer Trump can keep doing this. He’s bound to run out of realestate projects sooner or later, right? But for the time being it is fun television.