Ranking the Allstars
Following is my list on who I would most like to win (1st) through who I would least like to win (16th). My list takes into account both skill and personality as we know them from prior seasons on Top Shot. In addition, I will be adding reasons to justify my rankings. I welcome responses, rebuttals, and lists of your own.
1) Kelly Bachand - I said this about Kelly in another post. He really got boned his first season. In the final episode when Kelly was eliminated, he had to go first. Everyone watched him load two rounds for every gun, but then he bullseyed each target with one shot. EVERYONE after him knew that they had to load one round and have a perfect run in order to beat Kelly, and that is what they did (except for the Adam "Ratfink" Benson, who also lost with Kelly because he couldn't do a perfect run). If they made the team leave the range when not shooting like with many of the previous challenges, then they wouldn't have known exactly how to beat Kelly. Many of them likely would have loaded more than one round as well. Kelly isn't just methodical in his performances, but also in his day-to-day life. His reservations and tactical behavior makes him seem smug. I don't think that he truly is. Kelly to win it all!
2) Joe Serafini - All around good guy. Joe is one of those people who doesn't say much, but somehow, you instantly like him. I consider him to be one of the best marksman of any season. Unfortunately, it just takes one bad day to lose it all. He consistently performed well for his team. He had one bad performance for his team, and had the integrity to volunteer for elimination. Sadly, he had his second bad performance and went home. Just not a good day for Joe. I would be very okay with watching Joe win it all.
3) Peter Palma - Another good guy and good marksman. Peter was ahead of the curve on many competitions. He also had the balls/integrity to tell people to their faces what he thought of them when he thought it. He was never mean for the sake of being mean, but he wasn't afraid to call someone out. He seems to have a good head on his shoulders and knows his way around these weapons.
4) Gabby Franco - Gabby's size is her worst enemy. She consistently has trouble reaching the trigger on bigger pistols/rifles. When she can properly handle a weapon she performs with the best of them. It helps that she seems to have a great personality(and not a bad body either).
5) Blake Miguez - Blake has a lot of talent in the real world, but I have reservations about people who modify their weapons to such an extreme. I'm not sure how "fair" it is at that point in competition shooting. As far as the show goes, he got beat by Kelly (a rifle man) with a handgun that he supposedly specializes with. His personality knocks him down a peg too. I think he is incredibly nice, but not so incredibly humble.
6)Jamie Franks - Jamie can come off as annoying and his personality makes him a target. Unfortunately that came to pass in his season when many of the Alpha males (namely George Reinas, Brian Zins, and passive-aggressive-pseudo-winner Chris Reed) relentlessly picked on him. Jamie fell short of his potential because of the bullsh!t "friends first, skill second" elimination voting. This season he has a chance to prove it because there are no politics involved in the eliminations.
7) Chris Cerino - As far as straight skill goes, I think Chris should be higher on my list, but personality comes into play as this list is a subjective ranking of who I want to see win it all. Chris was a great guy during his season, but he sat idly by while members of his "alliance" bullied others in the household. He also went along with plans to vote out people who didn't deserve it just because they were outside his circle. I know he didn't call the shots, but he should've stepped up. He seems like a very honorable man and this behavior surprised me during his season.
8) Kyle Sumpter - Kyle is the dad figure during his first season. He is great to have around for comfort and moral support. He also keeps the children in line. Many of the not-so-levelheaded competitors were far more behaved when Kyle was around. His skill level is good, but not good enough to win it all. It is unlikely at his age that it will get much better.
9) Chee Kwan - Chee seems like a great guy, but he has trouble adapting to new situations/weapons. I think his nerves get the better of him. It is often obvious in competitions that he is over-thinking things. I also think he has honed his craft so well that he has trouble working outside of it. He seemed like he was almost always in the shallow end of the skill pool during his season.
10) Gary Quesenberry - Gary is the Brian Zinns of this competition if Brian were a decent human being. There isn't a lot to say about Gary. He has the skill and likability to go far, but neither of enough to go all the way.
11) Alex Charvat - Seems like a really nice guy and a good marksmman. However, I don't think he has what it takes to go all the way. He is also hard to "get to know" because he gets sort of a non-edit. He would likely rank higher if I was given more information to invest in.
12) Phil Morden - Another non-edit. He gets about as little camera time as Alex Charvat. It is hard to place these two because I neither love them nor hate them. Mostly because I haven't "gotten to know" them. Phil seems skilled enough to get into the final 9 or 10, but I don't seem him going much further.
13) Adam Benson - Ugh, the "Rat fink" guy. He is especially annoying because I like John Stewart so much. I INSTANTLY wanted to like this guy in his first season, but he just wouldn't let that happen. I think his marksmanship is barely above average based on what we see on the show, and his personality is certainly below average. He clearly considers himself to be hot sh!t and doesn't like to associate with anyone who isn't in his perceived wheelhouse. Not a fan.
14) William Bethards - I think he is good, but not as good as he thinks he is. His overconfidence and smug attitude make him hard to root for. He also loses a lot of points for failing his team on multiple challenges during his first season. Especially because he failed a few of them with weapons he supposedly specializing in.
15) Brian Zins More than anyone, I want Brian to go home. I was devastated when he was the only one to bulls-eye the target during losers bracket round of the first episode. He had a very smug and superior attitude his fist season. I served in the military and even I can't stand servicemen and servicewomen who think they are automatically better than the people they protect. Brian was in many ways a bully towards much of the house during his season. I also found him two-faced and insincere. It was easy for him to be humble when he did well, but he would throw others under the bus when he failed. Only once, after about the sixth time he performed terribly, did he volunteer to go up for elimination and even then (if I remember correctly) his entourage voted Jamie into elimination instead. It was ridiculous.
16) Gregory Littlejohn - I didn't feel TOO strongly one way or the other about Littlejohn, but he was the only one eliminated at the time of this post, so he gets a fitting/honorary last place position.
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Made you look.