Let's Get Ready to Rumble!

Let's face it, few things get our proverbial juices going quite like a good rivalry.

Leafs and Habs. Packers and Bears. Yankees and Red Sox. Ortiz and Shamrock. Ali and Frazier. Balboa and Creed. Kirk and Klingons. The Empire and The Rebel Alliance.  The U.S and The Soviet Union. Republicans and Democrats. Evolution and Creation.

But hands down, the greatest rivalry of all time is Boston Rob vs. Evil Russ.

And for those of you who truly appreciate a really good rivalry, today CBS confirmed probably the worst kept secret on the Internet - Rob Mariano and Russell Hantz will be back to participate in the upcoming season of Survivor.

Judging by the reaction on public forums and the blogosphere, a lot of people seem pissed that Rob and Russ are getting another shot (this will be Boston Rob's 4th time playing, and Evil Russ' 3rd time in 4 seasons). But I don't really give a shit about those people.  Just sayin'.

Boston Rob is one of the most loved players ever (especially by women), and Evil Russ is THE most polarizing figures ever to play the game.

They first crossed paths on Heroes vs. Villains where round 1 in their epic battle clearly went to Evil Russ.  Ok, maybe "epic battle" is a wee bit melodramatic, but damn, it sounded good didn't it?? 

Anyway, Russ planted the mother of all "Russell Seeds" and got Tyson to vote himself out, Jerry to switch her allegiance to him, and Coach to give up his man-crush on Rob.  All of this resulted in Evil Russ voting out Boston Rob and it was pure genius.

Could you imagine if they found themselves on Redemption Island together?? Now THAT would be must see TV!

Rob and Russ will each captain their respective tribes. There were rumours going around that they'll be immune from the vote until the merge, but methinks it's just that - a rumour. I can't see the producers giving them that kind of advantage over other the players (although selfishly, I wouldn't be opposed to the idea).

So that begs the question, how long can these two possibly last?? They will have HUGE targets on their backs right from the start. This is where the sly producers come in.

There are a large number of contestants this season who were recruited for the show (as opposed to auditioning) who hadn't ever watched an episode of Survivor.  They don't know Boston Rob or Evil Russ and aren't familiar with how they play the game - that could be the great equalizer.

I'm hoping they both last until the merge as I really like Boston Rob, and I LOVE Evil Russ - I love him in a manly kind of way of course (the kind where you don't cross any icky lines). 

And while I doubt it would ever happen, it would be great to see them set aside their differences and join forces - they would dominate the game like no one ever has.

Are you happy Rob and Russ are back??  Who do you think will last longer??  And will they remain mortal enemies, or will they combine their evil powers and produce Survivors first Super Villain??