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‘Survivor’ fans at MSU recreate reality TV competition show on campus
On Sunday night, MSU students in the Fogo tribe gathered behind Erickson Hall to participate in a tribal council ceremony similar to one they watch on TV each week. As the glow of six torches illuminated the players’ faces, host Ava Ballagh echoed Jeff Probst’s classic speech.
Ballagh’s speech is recognizable to all fans of the reality TV competition show “Survivor.” In the show, contestants participate in challenges and weather the wilderness in hopes of being the sole survivor and winner of the prize. Voting each other out along the way, the game requires social strategy.
Here at MSU, students have created their own version of the game — something that is close to an obsession for many members.
Ballagh had no idea there was an MSU club dedicated to recreating and playing “Survivor” until the club followed her on Instagram her sophomore year. It was that same night in December that she decided to apply.
Since then, Ballagh competed in season two, became an executive producer for season three and has now hosted the past two seasons.
Although the campus version of this game doesn’t involve starving on an island and building their own shelters, the games are still seen to be quite challenging.
Ballagh can’t imagine a future where she isn’t involved in Survivor MSU. So she plans to find or create another community where she can get her fix after she graduates. She sees this experience influencing her future career goals.
Rich Homie Quan, dead at 34, leaves footprint at MSU
Rapper Dequantes Devontay Lamar, better known as Rich Homie Quan, passed away last Thursday, Sept. 5 at age 34, his cause of death still unknown.
The creator of the Michigan State Football 2014 Rose Bowl team’s celebration song, “Type of Way,” became a staple of Spartan football culture after former MSU defensive back Darqueze Dennard introduced the team to his music and videos of players dancing to the song went viral.
On the Spartans’ journey to a Big Ten Championship and Rose Bowl title, the song was the common denominator in postgame locker rooms.
It reached the point where former MSU cornerback and Owner of Patchwerk Recording Studio Curtis Daniel III created a “Spartan Dawg Anthem” version of the track with Blaze1, his younger brother and rapper.
At the time, Lamar’s music wasn’t the national fixture it became, and was most popular in Georgia. Before the song went viral, he had never performed a show. The Spartans were not recognized as a national contender throughout their Rose Bowl season.
After Lamar’s virality, he performed a show at Breslin Center. To Curtis’s surprise, Mark Dantonio went to the concert and hopped on stage with the rapper.
MSU former linebacker Taiwan Jones said when the players heard of Lamar’s passing, they exchanged texts in a group chat.
“The guy was a part of the team. Didn’t matter what color you were, what background you came from, dudes who didn’t like rap,” Jones said. “But when Rich Homie Quan, ‘Type of Way,’ came on after the game, everybody in the locker room was dancing to it. As you could see, Coach D was dancing to it.”
Based on original reporting by Somer Sodeman and Alana Lundgaard.
