I really can't describe in words how cool it was to shoot that cannon and to take a top guy out in head-to-head elimination. The sound of two cannons firing simultaneous, and the pressure you feel from knowing its neck-and-neck at that point is incredible!!
One thing I can't stress enough is that my cannon was the real deal - 1902 from the Battle of Manilla. A real piece of history. And the bore was so clean, the action so smooth, the breech locking mechanism so incredible solid yet simple to operate. Just WOW.
The rules required us to clean the barrel after every shot. I don't know if its because of the black powder residue or because of the historical value of each gun. Maybe they didn't want any competitor trying to gain a huge time advantage by deliberately skipping a cleaning cycle, or if the half dozen steps it takes to cycle and clean the gun just made for a more interesting show. But those were the absolute rules we were given.
This real truth about the time and money it takes to play this game on TV never really gets addressed. We are talking about up to 6 weeks !! No one has that kind of vacation time, and even if you did it could still jeopardize your entire career to leave for that long. Not to mention the emotion of having to be away from your wife and kids. In season 1 we were in total isolation - no TV, no computer, no books or newspapers, no phone calls home. Nothing!
We are bound by a non-disclosure agreement to not talk about the terms of the contract, but I thinks its fair to say that everyone but the 1 winner will lose a LOT of money to participate. Reality TV is not bound by any screen actor guild or tv union rules, through some dopey game show loophole. You are competing to win your prize, so they don't have to pay you anything for your time.
So when people try to judge your actions or morality on TV, they are really incapable of understanding what goes into these decisions, or what is happening behind the scenes as the camera only catches 1 hour for each 3 days that pass. In shooting terms, think about how had you would try to win if you signed up for a match that required you to go into total isolation for 6 weeks, and had a $10,000 entry fee, and you get nothing for second place. That kind of stuff weighs heavily on how you will vote in eliminations in past seasons.
That is why we were so happy to see this All Star season be purely performance based. This is the way it should always have been, and I just wish it was getting more attention and more ratings for the truly spectacular show that it is this time around. We really had a great time on the All Star series, and I hope that is coming across on the TV !!
