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Dan Gheesling, the Catholic school teacher from Dearborn, Mich., was crowned the winner of Big Brother 10 last night.

It wasn't even close. Dan's game play won over all seven jury members. Mixologist Memphis, Dan's "renegade alliance" partner-in-crime, failed to get a single vote.

For someone I was sure I wasn't going to like at all when I read his bio on the BB Web site, he sure made this season very entertaining. He made what seemed like completely bonehead moves at times, and I admit I thought he was on the fast track to eviction more than once.

But he was actually working a brilliant strategy that led him to $500,000, plus the $20,000 he collects for doing America's bidding for one week. Maybe now he can buy some more shirts.

Side note on last night's live show: Only an ego maniac like Jessie would take the fact that America wanted him nominated, humiliated and evicted as a compliment. Yeah, it's all about you, Muscle Boy. Whatever, pal. Your 15 minutes are over. Now just go away.

Big Brother is a game of equal parts luck and personality. A good player has to be lucky enough to win, or not win, key competitions at just the right time, and possess the social skills to build working relationships with other players to be able to succeed at this game.

Dan was really all that.

I do suspect the producers have more influence on the outcome than it appears in the edited version. I think they can alter the game with the timing of the competitions, with the questions in the diary room, the use of ploys and twists like "America's Player."

Some seasons are clearly better than others because of the cast. Dr. Will, Mike Boogie and Janelle were great players that made their seasons fun to watch. But last summer, the season of the Donatos, was like watching a profanity-laced train wreck.

And BB9, the quickly-assembled writer's strike season from earlier this spring, was not fun because almost no one in the house was even remotely likeable.

But this summer we had good players with enjoyable personalities (not you, April or Jessie, you both set new standards in loathsome), the ploys were minimal so the game really revolved around the players and their strategies, and in the end the guy with the best game plan won.

Who could ask for more?

What did you think? Did the best player win? Were you surprised that no one threw Memphis a vote? And what did you think of Keesha winning the favorite jury member prize?

See you next summer.

Been away for a while on vacation folks, but I am back and looking for tasty recipes for the crow I will soon have to eat now that formerly lame-duck Dan has become one of the best BB players of all time.

Ah Dan, I had so little faith in your lay-low-and-play-dead strategy and even less confidence in your bizarre deal with Ollie. But you seemed to have aligned the stars in your favor.

And Dan, if you don’t win, it’s only because the jury house is 3/5 idiots with the fourth idiot, Jerry, hopefully about to join their ranks. And idiots may not appreciate superior game play.

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I can only imagine how being crammed in the world's plushest jail cell with more than a dozen other people for weeks on end would eventually start screwing around with your mind.

Hours and hours of mind-numbing boredom and the inevitable paranoia of knowing the only people you have to talk to all want to see you fail has got to take a toll on your logical thought process. You start to overthink everything because it is literally all you have to do.

Throw in spending more than three hours sitting on plastic plate while gripping a rope that's crammed between your legs and being repeatedly slammed into a wall and doused with cold water, and perhaps you do take total leave of your senses.

That's the only explanation I can come up with as to why current-HOH-and-future-jury-member Dan would make such a stupid deal with Ollie during the endurance challenge.

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April bid adieu to her boyfriend and the rest of the house last night, with a nearly unanimous vote to evict her.

Ollie was loyal to his showmance and threw Miss Fake Pageant Smile 2008 a sympathy vote, which was decent of him. He’s a lousy player, but I think he’s a nice guy.

Remember last season when James, the professional hobo with the fugly pink Mohawk, voted to kick his girlfriend Chelsea to the curb? Not classy at all, even if she was a raging maniac.

Then again, nothing was classy about that whiny bum. I'll bet he was smelly, too.

But I digress.

After April said her farewells, and groaned when she was reminded she was headed to the jury house with her one-time buddy Libra, Julie Chen tells us that we can vote for a houseguest to get a call from home.

She also told us there will be a double eviction next Thursday. Sweet!

I love spur-of-the-moment evictions. No campaigning, no time to make deals; people usually vote very transparently, revealing their alliances and who they think is their biggest threats.

Last night's HOH competition was another endurance challenge, and this one looked particularly brutal, with the houseguests clinging to swinging vines while being sprayed with water (again) and being slammed against a padded wall. There was even some menacing sounding bird calls that were freaking out the feather-phobic Ollie.

What fun!

If you want to know who won, click here. If you want to wait and be surprised, tune in Sunday.

My guess is the Renny, the dahlin' from New Ahlins, will be in a little trouble this week. And I think Jerry should plan on being on the block again as well.

Who do you think is prime meat for the chopping block this week? Who do you think looks the strongest going into the home stretch of this season? And who should get that phone call from home?

Discuss.

Lots going on in the Big Brother house last night.

Renny was overwhelmed to see pictures of her deceased parents in her HOH room. She's a shrieking banshee, for sure, but I think there was genuine emotion in her response. This is a big old mind game, and seeing pictures of family and letters from home have to be a huge psychological boost.

And Renny has transformed from a cartoon character to a real player. Lets see if she can make it through her HOH week without making herself a big old target later in the game.

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The eviction went pretty much as expected last night. Libra got her walking papers by a unanimous vote, despite the little editing tricks that the BB producers used to make it seem like Keesha may be in trouble.

I am so glad Renny, who won last night's HOH competition, toned down the annoying vibe she had early on. She's turned into my favorite players this season. Lets hope she doesn't blow it by acting like a power-wielding jerk like most of the other Heads of Household this season.

I have almost no doubt she will nominate April, and I can only hope she also puts Ollie on the block with his showmance. If there is one lesson learned from previous seasons is you cannot leave couples in the house: think Dr. Will and Mike Boogie in the all-star game and the Donatos in Season 8.

As much as I hope April gets shown the door this week, it also wouldn't bother me if Col. Codger got axed. His self-rightoues rants and personal attacks are ridiculous; he's like a senior citizen version of Evel Dick, only not as amusing.

Who are your picks for nomination this week?

Chaos reigns and Keesha and Libra are twisting in the wind this week in the Big Brother house, all because they had the audacity to evict the object of Michelle's misplaced affection, Jessie, the patron saint of protein powder and slayer of English grammar.

Somehow, April, who actually nominated Muscle Moron for eviction, gets a pass on the guilt from Michelle for his demise. And that really chaps Keesha, who cried and whined to Michelle that she can no longer stand to be in the middle between April and Libra, or as she so aptly called them, "crazy and crazier."

Has anyone in your family ever suggested that all seated at the Thanksgiving table take turns saying what they are thankful for this year, and you had a really crappy year and you are dreading the holidays and you now are stuck trying to come up with one nice thing to say that doesn’t sound completely cliché, when all you really want to do is eat your turkey and pecan pie and get to the television for football?

God knows I have.

That's what last night's episode reminded me of as the houseguests, at Keesha's request, went around the dinner table and tried to find one positive thing to say about another houseguest.

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I missed the first few minutes of last night's BB 10. I was watching the Olympics on NBC, and apparently the golf tournament on CBS ran long and so "60 Minutes" was late starting and ending and TiVo, for all its impressive feats of programming, is just not that sophisticated to know that.

So when I clicked on "BB 10" on my Now Playing list and saw that there was a good chance I would have to see Andy Rooney's ferret-like eyebrows furrowing and listen to another of his curmudgeonly rants, I could not delete it fast enough.

Luckily BB10 was in progress when I switched over to Watch Live TV. Whew! I can't handle the beastly eyebrows of a curmudgeon on a Sunday night. Or any other night.

But I digress.

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Random thoughts during the live eviction show:

Who dresses Julie Chen? Seriously. She's married to the network president, and earns some nice coin working two jobs. You would think she could get a nicer wardrobe.

Dan's football players were cute kids, and I like his family. I hope the playing-like-a-wimp strategy works for him. I am recalling a similar style of game play with Zac from BB8, and Erika from BB3 and All Stars. Well, maybe Dan can break the streak.

Last ditch speeches from the nominees are nothing special. Memphis sounds a lot like Angie did last week, which means he must think he's doomed.

First three votes are for Memphis, and then Libra breaks away from the herd and votes to evict Jessie. There is hope! Argh! Commercial break.

Back from the break, Keesha votes Jessie. Then Renny. All tied at three each. And here come's America's Player, Dan. Does America want Jessie gone! Yes!

I love America!

Jessie whines to Chen about being evicted, dumps on Dan for not attending church (uh, wasn't Jessie the one who had never heard the story of Solomon?) and gets completely stumped when asked for one-word answers. Ah, Jessie. You won't be missed.

Michelle wins the HOH and gloats all over the place, jumping up and down and saying: "This is for you Jessie, I will get them."

Calm down, Red. You can only get one of them. Smart money is on Keesha and Libra for nominees this week.

And Chen just told us about a special competition with houseguests from prior seasons. Janelle returns!

Mean, catty girls. Conceited boys who play mean girls against each other. Gossip and rumors. She said this and he said that. Temper tantrums. Yelling and screaming.

Watching Big Brother is just like high school. But without any educational value. Or football games.

April is HOH and, despite a promise she made to Michelle during the HOH competition, she has nominated Jessie. But she insists her target is her other nominee, Memphis.

That's two weeks in a row that Jessie, the grammar-challenged, self-absorbed body builder, has been the pawn. And yet, instead of laying low and keeping his inarticulate mouth shut, he stirs up trouble by repeating gossip to April that causes her to argue with Keesha and Libra.

Much yelling ensues, interrupted for a few minutes so all the houseguests can sing "Happy Birthday" to Keesha. Then the yelling resumes.

Good times.

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