Well, my hunch about Big Brother 8's first eviction was way off, and Carol Journey's journey ended tonight.

In a 10-1 vote, houseguests voted to evict the daughter of Kansas state Sen. Phil Journey. Because of the friendship struck between fellow-nominee Amber and Dustin, I suspect Dustin's ex-boyfriend Joe submitted the only vote to evict Amber. For those who really want to know who voted to save Carol, check out bb8spoiler.com later on tonight or tomorrow, or come back to ryanwelton.com

It's not really important though who voted to eliminate Amber, not given the 10-1 margin of Carol's demise. Truth is, she was a terrible player. Too sweet. Too cute. Not mean enough, not manipulative enough, and those really aren't compliments.

BigBrother requires that you play to win. Trust nobody, but work to cause everybody to trust you -- and, it doesn't hurt to know the game well. America's Player, Eric, was featured tonight with clips from his family, who spoke to his knowledge of BigBrother to the point where they openly hoped, initially, that he would not be America's Player because of the wrench it can throw into your game play.

I like Eric. Good guy. Funny. He's not a pageant queen, a himbo, an aging rock-star wannabe. He seems like good people, and while I absolutely think being America's Player will be his downfall, I think he was the one participant who could use that role well.

It's hardly been mentioned, too, but CBS host Julie Chen really, really needs to eat a sandwich. At this point, she's having to stand at an angle toward the camera so that there's any appearance of having the slightest bit of body. It's not sexy, but I would note that Carol was rockin' a very, very sexy summer dress. Uh, it wasn't the dress that was hot; it was her.

Nevertheless, I digress. The house this season is full of great-looking women, and one of them, nanny Jen, ended up with Head of Household by coming the closest in a contest in which they eventually had to guess how many gallons of water the tea cup outside could hold.

She said 41, and the answer was 9. I don't buy that for a minute; that behemoth held at least 100 gallons if not 200 or more. Somebody at CBS is on crack.

Nevertheless, Jen won, and if you watch the feeds or check out bb8spoiler.com, you'd know that the woman who reportedly works for Wheel of Fortune's Vanna White is at odds -- major odds -- with evel Dick.

There is no doubt in my mind that she puts him on the nomination block this week, which would be a shame considering the opportunity he has to mend some fences with his estranged daughter, Daniele. Jen's one real alliance, if you will, seems to be with Eric, and as America's Player, he'll be tasked with trying to coax Jen into nominating the player of our choice.

I think America will pick Joe.

In terms of strategy, the houseguests made a grave error allowing Amber to stick around. She can win this bugger, and they had an opportunity to eliminate a great player early on. Of course, if Jen were to renominate Amber, then her aura of greatness as a player, in my eyes, would have to be negated considering her first two weeks were spent on the chopping block.

If I were ever on this show, my strategy would be to emulate the personality of Dr. Will Kirby. No, I couldn't get away with the flirting he did because the cute girls wouldn't exactly swarm to me like they did to him.

However, the development of a bromance-type relationship with a buddy (bromance = blood brothers), like he did with Mike "Boogie" Malin (and vice-versa) can take a pair into the Final 6 or beyond. In the case of the BigBrother 8 house, there is only one twosome I think could pull this off -- Dick and Daniele.

She's well liked (so far), and he's manipulative, clearly.

However, I don't see it happening. Sexually ambiguous Nick, Zach and Mike don't have the charisma that either Boogie or Dr. Kirby had. Those two actually partied with Jen at some beach before this season began, and they have publicly thrown their support her way, as an extended member of Chilltown.

What people never really grasped about Dr. Will and Boogie was how damned smart they were in their game play. Smart ain't the term; brilliant is more like it, and there likely will never be anybody like that duo in the history of this game.

However, that shouldn't stop BB8 houseguests from trying. After 13 days, it's been a bunch of get-to-know-yous and loose strategies. Some of the houseguests, like Jameka and Mike, have been quieter than others (the rest of 'em), which could bode well for them -- although Carol was quiet, and she was axed like a limp tree.

Jen's ascension to HoH will force houseguests who hate her to warm up to her, at least at the surface. I suspect it will lead to a showmance, probably with a Nick, who can work it because he knows she wants it. Plus, I don't think Jen's the brightest chick on the planet, so she's susceptible to all sorts of manipulation.

And, while there has been a ton of talk and weirdness these first two weeks, what will separate the wheat from the chaff in THIS game is the player's ability to manipulate.

My prediction: Dick and Jameka are nominated.