The second boot drops for Colorado 'Survivor'

By Michael Mehle, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Photo by Monty Brinton © CBS

Ami Cusack, of Golden, has her torch snuffed out by Jeff Probst during last week's episode of "Survivor."

One week Golden's Ami Cusack was flying under the radar, quietly working her way toward a tribal merger and decent odds of winning $1 million.

The next week, Jeff Probst was snuffing out her torch and the once-formidable manipulator was turning on the water works, thrown for an emotional loop by an imploding Survivor alliance.

And thus ended the Common Grounds barista's second chance at winning reality's biggest jackpot. Her stint on Survivor: Micronesia - Fans vs. Favorites was shorter and featured fewer fireworks, but her reputation for stirring the pot on Survivor: Vanuatu three years ago probably sealed her fate again. The young Erik Reichenbach saved his own hide by convincing Ozzy Lusth that Cusack couldn't be trusted. And unlike on Vanuatu, Cusack couldn't sway her fellow female contestants.

After her unexpected ouster, it was time for Cusack's exit interview:

I thought we wouldn't be talking for at least another month. Were you caught by surprise, too?

"I know - I knew about 10 minutes before tribal council that I was going to be voted out. I was hoping Ozzy would vote for Erik, but I never had the chance to talk with Ozzy."

Really? Wouldn't you have had better luck persuading Cirie or Amanda to side with you?

"I wasn't cuddling Amanda at night. Ozzy was."

You seemed far more emotional about this ouster than the last one. What was behind that?

"The first time I played, things happened because I was ruling the roost. This time, Ozzy didn't trust me, and that hurt me. That kind of crushed me that he wasn't with me.

"Also, I was going through a lot more in my life this time. Right before I left, I had found out that one of my childhood friends had passed away. I was at a point in my life when I was doing a lot of inward reflection."

The first game, you were the straw stirring the drink. This time you seemed to be letting the game come to you.

"The second Yau-Man was voted out, I knew the game was not in my hands. Once Yau-Man was gone, my alliance was destroyed and I had to play a different way."

Do you think your reputation from Vanuatu came back to bite you?

"Definitely. I think Ozzy was nervous that it was going to turn into an all-girls thing and he'd be stuck on an island with me, Cirie and Amanda. Who knows what I could have been capable of then."

In one challenge, contestants were literally dragged through an obstacle course. It sent one survivor home with an infected leg, and it looked like something happened to your knee. How serious was it?

"I blew out my ACL and tore my meniscus. It was a very, very brutal challenge. I heard something snap and I knew right away something bad had happened.

"But the damage was done, and there was nothing I could do about it. I was not physically the same. I had to completely change the way I did challenges."

Viewers could see the brace on your knee afterward, but Jeff Probst didn't say much about it. Were you trying to keep it a secret?

"Jeff was showing me no love this season. He said I tweaked my knee. Please, Jeff - I blew out my knee!"

Did that bother you?

"Heck yeah, it bothered me. We were friends. I hung out at his house. But he wasn't showing me any love."

And how's the knee now?

"Last Monday I had surgery. I'm on crutches for five weeks to two months. But I've got (noted orthopedic surgeons) Steadman-Hawkins working on it, so it'll be all right."

Anything you would have changed while on the island?

"I wish I would have cuddled with James a lot more."

For the sake of the game, or because James is built like a linebacker with single-digit body fat?

"Because he's a stallion. You can't blame me."

How many interviews have you done the day after being voted off?

"Oh, at least 30. I've talked to a lot of cool people today."

Any interesting questions?

"Last night I got one from a friend. He asked if we got tampons on the island. How often does a guy ask that? Do you have any questions like that?"

Um . . . no, not like that. Do you feel like you made better friends on the show this time?

"I've got a lot of good friends from both shows. You create a bond like with no other people in your life. You go through a sort of suffering that no one else could understand.

"I think more of us will stay in touch from this last show, but there's nothing like the first time, baby."