The Amazing Race 12/2 *spoilers*

[Neenahboy]

Ding dong, the bitches are gone! Phil had me going there...thought it might be a non-elimination.

Was anyone else kinda rooting for the coach bus to win the battle? :D

[jradosh]

Daughter: "I love you dad"

Father: "I hear they have good pastries there"

:rolleyes: Still a tool, but not as much as the blonde bitches I guess.

[scottykempf]

Yeah, I really wasn't surprised that nothing happened with the bus. They like to play this stuff up in promos. Heck, at least the blondes from that one season actually hit the bus with their car. LOL

Man, I can't believe Nathan called Jen a b&#ch. Even if she was acting like that, don't destroy your team in the middle of the race, dude.

I liked what TK said. No need to get all worked up, just keep playing the game and don't worry about other people.

"Achoo, Achoo." LOL

[jradosh]

"87, 88, 89, 100" :p

[scottykempf]

"87, 88, 89, 100" :p

I can't believe they pulled a Lori and Bolo!!!

[Anubys]

we lost, but we're already rich so F all of you...

I hope the person doing her pedicure cuts off her toe...what a total B*tch!

[loubob57]

"87, 88, 89, 100" :p
I laughed even harder when they came up exactly 10 over. :)

[VegasVic]

I really thought this was a non elim. I'm glad it wasn't. I hope hernia guy is next.

[JFriday]

Daughter: "I love you dad"

Father: "I hear they have good pastries there"

:rolleyes: Still a tool, but not as much as the blonde bitches I guess.

That looked totally edited.

[MarkofT]

I laughed even harder when they came up exactly 10 over. :)+10 :D

[Marc]

Did they get rid of the rule that the teams have to travel on economy class tickets?

I saw (thanks to TiVo, of course :)) that when Azaria/Hendekea and Nicolas/Donald were getting their tickets, according to the confirmation being printed out on the dot matrix printer, they were confirmed in fare business class (one code C and the other code O). The seats assigned were 3E and 3F on an A330-200. According to SeatGuru, those are "lie-flat Affaires" seat in the first seating section, even ahead of what looks like business class, so I'm guessing they probably wouldn't have booked economy and gotten a free bump all the way to first class.

Of course it's possible that the confirmation being printed was actually for Amazing Race staff and not for any of the teams. If economy were full, the staff still needs to travel along to the destination to film them.

(The editors showed one printout during Azaria/Hendekea's segment with seat 3F, and then another printout during Nicolas/Donald's with seat 3E, so I'm guessing they just used nameless footage.)

[spikedavis]

"87, 88, 89, 100" :p


She may be dumb (and dating a jerk) but man, is she hot!

[spikedavis]

"I'm begging you to count inside your mouth!"

[WinBear]

Did they get rid of the rule that the teams have to travel on economy class tickets?

The old rule was that they could only pay for economy class. If the airline wanted to upgrade them at no charge, that was allowed.

[Marc]

That's what I remembered. Given that they were confirmed in business class, but had a seat in first class, I was guessing that the paid fare for that ticket wasn't actually economy, but instead business-with-free-first-upgrade.

[TIVOSciolist]

Of course it's possible that the confirmation being printed was actually for Amazing Race staff and not for any of the teams. If economy were full, the staff still needs to travel along to the destination to film them.

(The editors showed one printout during Azaria/Hendekea's segment with seat 3F, and then another printout during Nicolas/Donald's with seat 3E, so I'm guessing they just used nameless footage.)

Both printouts had the Paris flight going to Brussels so either Phil decided not to mention that stop or these were printouts for other people.

Do we have any travel agents here? I'd like to know whether that computer screen really said that the earliest flight was fully booked (as the agent told Nicolas and Donald).

[smak]

That pause Phil made when saying they had been eliminated was the longest 5 seconds of my life.

Glad those airheads are gone. And, are they supposed to be good looking? Every other girl in the race is better looking probably including the lesbians.

-smak-

[spikedavis]

And, are they supposed to be good looking?

Maybe they're hand models.

[janry]

Couldn't they have shown any more about everyone trying to get flights? My goodness, I thought for awhile the whole hour was going to be about the flights. Seemed to take forever.

[danplaysbass]

Nice Job of TK and Rachael going from last to first in one leg. I think I will root for them to win.

[janry]

I was sooo hoping the blondes were going to be amongst the early arrivals and then have the wrong gnome.

[5thcrewman]

"I'm begging you to count inside your mouth!"

If it's in your mouth it doesn't count!

[scottykempf]

"I can't count without talking!" LOL

[TiVo'Brien]

Couldn't they have shown any more about everyone trying to get flights? My goodness, I thought for awhile the whole hour was going to be about the flights. Seemed to take forever.I thought so, too. At 8:19 I looked at the clock and wondered how much longer was this going to go on. :confused: 20 minutes of watching people arrange flights was too much.

[InterMurph]

The counting challenge was a classic. As I see it, there are 2 key strategies:

1) Dual-Core: if you trust your team, each should start on either end and count; when you meet, add up the two numbers, and go. One team even mentioned this, but didn't implement it.

2) Redundant: have one person count the first 100, then have the other person count the first 100. If both end on the same picket, then mark it somehow, and repeat. If you end up on different pickets, then you only have to go back 100 to restart.

And either way you count, the section of the fence that had alternating short and tall pickets was begging to be counted 2 at a time.

PS Good riddance to those two. Now if we can just get rid of the other annoying bitchy woman, we'll be all set.

[Cragmyre]

Not only did the Grandson add, he had to subtract too, and he still got it right ( or at least it editing made it seem that way )

[Anubys]

I really don't understand why contestants have trouble with the counting challenge...

the villagers distracting them was pretty funny, though :D

[TiVo'Brien]

The people in Latvia seemed pretty nice, and the town looked like a place I'd like to live. That location got :up: :up: from me. :)

[PJO1966]

Not only did the Grandson add, he had to subtract too, and he still got it right ( or at least it editing made it seem that way )

I thought it was pretty smart of them to realize it would be quicker to finish counting and go back to subtract the gates, rather than starting from scratch.

The blondes were starting to look a little gaunt (yes... gaunt). They look like they each had lost about 10 lbs on the race, when they had none to spare. I'm glad they're gone. Now they can go to the spa were everyone is sent after elimination. They can go back to being pampered in the manner in which they are accustomed.

[Marc]

Do we have any travel agents here? I'd like to know whether that computer screen really said that the earliest flight was fully booked (as the agent told Nicolas and Donald).
From what I could see, the screen doesn't match her saying that the flight to Amsterdam is sold out. She's pointing at the screen, but she's merely pointing at the passengers' names (which include Donald and two other names who I guess are TAR staff). The flight segments on the screen show Paris (CDG) - Frankfurt - Vilnius on, I think, Lufthansa.

Then, when the camera looks at the screen when she's looking at a new flight via Prague, it's the same screen (yes, still showing Frankfurt).

Oh, and as an interesting note, the screen also (down on lines 13 and 14) has the payment information. It shows that the tickets were paid by a Visa card, although the card numbers are X'd out on the screen (it's actually displayed that way, not done in editing).

[JFriday]

"87, 88, 89, 100" :p
That one was edited too. If you go back and look at 89 she is just passing a tree, at 100 the tree is no where in the picture. My guess is she counted a gate to get the extra 10.

[jradosh]

That one was edited too. If you go back and look at 89 she is just passing a tree, at 100 the tree is no where in the picture. My guess is she counted a gate to get the extra 10.

I'll have to re-watch to be sure, but it seemed to me (in my memory) that it was one shot where she skipped from 89 to 100. I don't recall any edit. :confused:

I thought the gates had 20 pickets.

[markz]

The people in Latvia seemed pretty nice, and the town looked like a place I'd like to live. That location got :up: :up: from me. :)


Most of the younger women in that town were hot! I wanna go there!

[firerose818]

The people in Latvia seemed pretty nice, and the town looked like a place I'd like to live. That location got :up: :up: from me. :)

Too bad they all live in Lithuania. ;)

So, so glad to see the blondes leave. :up:

[JFriday]

I'll have to re-watch to be sure, but it seemed to me (in my memory) that it was one shot where she skipped from 89 to 100. I don't recall any edit. :confused:

I thought the gates had 20 pickets.
It took me 4 or 5 times to notice the tree. Focus on the tree it disappears. I'm not sure how many pickets the gates have, the kid subtracted 20 but he was also checking to see which gates he counted and which ones he didn't so 20 could have been 2 gates.

[Anubys]

would it be faster, if you got the answer wrong, to just keep writing different numbers on the board until you got it right?

so if your first number is 727, you now have an idea about where the right number is (plus or minus 30 at most)...doing it that way (up or down) would get you to the right number quicker than going back and counting...

[TiVo'Brien]

Too bad they all live in Lithuania. ;)

So, so glad to see the blondes leave. :up:D'oh! :o:p

[DevdogAZ]

would it be faster, if you got the answer wrong, to just keep writing different numbers on the board until you got it right?

so if your first number is 727, you now have an idea about where the right number is (plus or minus 30 at most)...doing it that way (up or down) would get you to the right number quicker than going back and counting...

Agreed.

I also couldn't believe it when one of the teams turned in a number that was wrong (must have been Nathan and Jennifer) and he said something like, "Now I'll have to count this time." WHA?!?! How in the world do you do that challenge and not both count just to have a backup?

I'm glad to see that they finally got their camera dried out (or stopped using it). For the first several episodes, there was one camera that clearly had condensation inside the lens as the center of the picture was blurry.

Also, it always bugs me when teams rip open their envelopes and throw the little piece of paper on the ground. Hopefully they pick them up and just don't show it, but there are many times we see them fall to the ground. I'd like to see a rule that if they are caught littering, they have a 10 minute penalty when they reach the mat.

[Anubys]

Also, it always bugs me when teams rip open their envelopes and throw the little piece of paper on the ground. Hopefully they pick them up and just don't show it, but there are many times we see them fall to the ground. I'd like to see a rule that if they are caught littering, they have a 10 minute penalty when they reach the mat.

does that happen often? I only noticed it yesterday when the Blondes did it and it made me hate them even more...

I won't hate them less, but I'd like to know if other teams have done it as well...

[PJO1966]

I've been watching the Elimination Station videos on CBS.com. My first impressions of Ari were dead on... what an annoying asshat.

[jradosh]

does that happen often? I only noticed it yesterday when the Blondes did it and it made me hate them even more...

I won't hate them less, but I'd like to know if other teams have done it as well...

I've seen this many times over many seasons of AR. I also hope that they clean up after them contestants, and I like the idea of penalties for littering (or other 'ugly American' behavior) :)

[Honora]

I thought so, too. At 8:19 I looked at the clock and wondered how much longer was this going to go on. :confused: 20 minutes of watching people arrange flights was too much.

By that time I'd gone to the basement to take my clothes out of the dryer. I didn't think I would miss anything. I didn't.

[TIVOSciolist]

Also, it always bugs me when teams rip open their envelopes and throw the little piece of paper on the ground. Hopefully they pick them up and just don't show it, but there are many times we see them fall to the ground. I'd like to see a rule that if they are caught littering, they have a 10 minute penalty when they reach the mat.

Strangely, this is something that has been bothering me for years. Most of the time, you can't tell because the editors cut away before the person opening the envelope does anything with the strip.

[loubob57]

Also, it always bugs me when teams rip open their envelopes and throw the little piece of paper on the ground. Hopefully they pick them up and just don't show it, but there are many times we see them fall to the ground. I'd like to see a rule that if they are caught littering, they have a 10 minute penalty when they reach the mat.

I've noticed that since season 1. I often wonder if anyone ever got a littering ticket.

[Neenahboy]

I've noticed that since season 1. I often wonder if anyone ever got a littering ticket.

I recall reading an interview with team members somewhere that said the executive producers encourage you to put the opened clue envelopes back in the box to avoid littering.

[uncdrew]

Lots and lots of funny lines this week, most already mentioned.

Here's one more:


Blonde 1: Do you want to count or do the stilts?
Blonde 2: Counting. I'm good at counting.

:D

[TiVo'Brien]

I couldn't figure out why Asian dad rode the stilts instead of counting fence pickets. Dude, you've got a hernia! Why would you choose a physical task like that?

[JFriday]

I couldn't figure out why Asian dad rode the stilts instead of counting fence pickets. Dude, you've got a hernia! Why would you choose a physical task like that?
That was my thought too, why do something to put a strain on your hernia when you can just count something.

[Jebberwocky!]

That was my thought too, why do something to put a strain on your hernia when you can just count something.

he needs something to complain about - looks like he is a planner.

[jradosh]

I couldn't figure out why Asian dad rode the stilts instead of counting fence pickets. Dude, you've got a hernia! Why would you choose a physical task like that?

That was my thought too, why do something to put a strain on your hernia when you can just count something.

Didn't he pick it because he said "I have great balance" ? :p

[trainman]

From what I could see, the screen doesn't match her saying that the flight to Amsterdam is sold out. She's pointing at the screen, but she's merely pointing at the passengers' names (which include Donald and two other names who I guess are TAR staff). The flight segments on the screen show Paris (CDG) - Frankfurt - Vilnius on, I think, Lufthansa.

Then, when the camera looks at the screen when she's looking at a new flight via Prague, it's the same screen (yes, still showing Frankfurt).

I think there was another screen shown briefly that had a long string of lines that looked like this (most of the letters are made up)...

F7 B7 C7 Y7 Q7 D7 X7 U7 L7

That's code for how many seats are available for sale in each class of service (in this case, plenty of seats -- at least 7, even at super-discount economy fares). But it went too fast for me to see anything more than what that screen was, and it probably had no relationship to what was actually going on, because that shot of the screen was probably edited in from a different point in time, so I didn't even bother to pause the TiVo.

[DevdogAZ]

Didn't he pick it because he said "I have great balance" ? :p
Yes, and then they immediately cut to him looking like a complete klutz on the stilts. I love when they use people's words against them in things like this.

[JLucPicard]

60 Minutes started about 17 minutes after the hour, so I padded a half hour. When I watched, if FFd to around the start point and hit play - yeesh, Andy Rooney. FF some more to get to the closing credits and watch. It starts with Christina (I think that's her name) talking to the other team about the connection being too close, but thanks anyway. Then it shows the map with the flights and goes into who's on which flights. I'm thinking "Oh my heck - they did NOT start this in progress!!!" Then a jump in the video and it's at the recap of what happened last week. WHEW! That gave me more of a start than when Phil paused way too long before eliminating the blondes.

Speaking of the blondes, I'm glad they're gone, but I really didn't mind the tall one. It was the short one that got way more on my nerves. I wonder if their funds were drying up because they are obviously high-maintenance and they sure seemed to stress how much they NEEDED the million dollars. Oops - too bad!

TK and Rachel are my favorites at this point. And I would not mind seeing Jennifer and Nate (?) go next. Is it the fact that TK and Rachel are newly dating that they aren't bashing each other all the time, or can people really go through the race without turning on each other?

After all the talk and back-talk with the two Bickersons over counting, I thought it was hilarious that the costumed ones were really taking it to them to mess up their counting! :D

And the task they had to do in finding people and delivering gifts did not necessarily seem to be the type to have someone go from first to worst and worst to first, but it sure did do that! And when Grandpa said he'd been there for hours waiting I thought, "Holy Crap, kid - are you even TRYING to find where you should be going?"

Fun episode, though they did seem to spend an awful lot of time on the flight aspect.

[DevdogAZ]

And the task they had to do in finding people and delivering gifts did not necessarily seem to be they type to have someone go from first to worst and worst to first, but it sure did do that! And when Grandpa said he'd been there for hours waiting I thought, "Holy Crap, kid - are you even TRYING to find where you should be going?"
No kidding. The fact that some teams did it very fast, and that locals were willing to walk with them to where they were going, showed that the entire task took place within a very small area. I guess it wasn't really fair since most people will know the location of a cafe while few will know about a hair salon, but even still, it should not have taken him that long to find it.

[Marc]

I think there was another screen shown briefly that had a long string of lines that looked like this (most of the letters are made up)...

F7 B7 C7 Y7 Q7 D7 X7 U7 L7
Oh, that's right.

I just checked that scene again. That screen was shown when Shana and Jennifer were asking the agent to get them seats at the front of the plane. The screen actually shows fare code capacity for a bunch of SAS flights, but I guess the average consumer would figure that it was showing a text version of a seat map.

[Inundated]

Vilnius really acquitted itself well, unless they took all the nasty people and moved them out of town for one day. :D

I know almost nothing about modern day Lithuania, except that one of our local NBA team's players is from there.

[Inundated]

The counting challenge was a classic. As I see it, there are 2 key strategies:

1) Dual-Core: if you trust your team, each should start on either end and count; when you meet, add up the two numbers, and go. One team even mentioned this, but didn't implement it.

2) Redundant: have one person count the first 100, then have the other person count the first 100. If both end on the same picket, then mark it somehow, and repeat. If you end up on different pickets, then you only have to go back 100 to restart.

Another thought - one person counts a certain base amount (10, 20, etc.) and the other person keeps track of that up to the larger number.

One person going back and recounting them over and over, one by one, didn't seem to work for many of the teams.

So glad the 2007 Blondes are out. They reached the "they annoy me now, throw them off the show" point for me during this episode.

Nathan and The Now Only Remaining Jennifer were there as well. Nathan went from "you have changed into an awful person - you are so ugly to me right now" to "I'm so proud of you" inside of 20 minutes.

[mattack]

Skimmed through this thread.. no mention of one thing that I thought would get big discussion:

It sure looked DARKER when the 2nd to last team got to the mat than when the last team did. I even noticed that in the gnome challenge too.

No, I'm not a conspiracy theorist.. I can't tell if it was camera angles or what. It just seemed like it was a LOT brighter when the last team came in.. fewer shadows, etc.

Can anybody that still has the recording explain that?

[scottykempf]

So they had them find THE TRAVELOCITY GNOME and then they didn't give them a prize if it had something on the bottom. I liked that in previous seasons.

[Neenahboy]

So they had them find THE TRAVELOCITY GNOME and then they didn't give them a prize if it had something on the bottom. I liked that in previous seasons.

I always hated that they screwed the first place team out of a prize in those legs. Why reward a team for simply getting lucky?

[SuperZippy]

From what I could see, the screen doesn't match her saying that the flight to Amsterdam is sold out. She's pointing at the screen, but she's merely pointing at the passengers' names (which include Donald and two other names who I guess are TAR staff). The flight segments on the screen show Paris (CDG) - Frankfurt - Vilnius on, I think, Lufthansa.

Then, when the camera looks at the screen when she's looking at a new flight via Prague, it's the same screen (yes, still showing Frankfurt).

Oh, and as an interesting note, the screen also (down on lines 13 and 14) has the payment information. It shows that the tickets were paid by a Visa card, although the card numbers are X'd out on the screen (it's actually displayed that way, not done in editing).

wow, does anyone just watch the show for mindless entertainment....

[JLucPicard]

LOL - I was thinking the same thing! In terms of "level of interest", my interest sure doesn't drill down THAT many levels! :D

[jradosh]

Skimmed through this thread.. no mention of one thing that I thought would get big discussion:

It sure looked DARKER when the 2nd to last team got to the mat than when the last team did. I even noticed that in the gnome challenge too.

No, I'm not a conspiracy theorist.. I can't tell if it was camera angles or what. It just seemed like it was a LOT brighter when the last team came in.. fewer shadows, etc.

Can anybody that still has the recording explain that?
I think it was so dark when the last team arrived that they had to bring in the electric lights. That's why the last team was so well-lit.

(or did you mean sunlight? I didn't notice that)

[danplaysbass]

Skimmed through this thread.. no mention of one thing that I thought would get big discussion:

It sure looked DARKER when the 2nd to last team got to the mat than when the last team did. I even noticed that in the gnome challenge too.

No, I'm not a conspiracy theorist.. I can't tell if it was camera angles or what. It just seemed like it was a LOT brighter when the last team came in.. fewer shadows, etc.

Can anybody that still has the recording explain that?

Maybe the sun was behind clouds?

[grant33]

Lots and lots of funny lines this week, most already mentioned.

Here's one more:


Blonde 1: Do you want to count or do the stilts?
Blonde 2: Counting. I'm good at counting.

:D

My wife and I got a good laugh out of the blondes having to "look around the parAmeter" for the gnome.

[DevdogAZ]

As for the conspiracy theory about the lighting for the last two teams, it's entirely possible that it was just a function of the camera being used. There was enough light when the second-to-last team came in to not have to use technology to get a better picture but then when the blondes came in, the cameras had to compensate for lack of light.

The reason I'm thinking of this was because I remember a golf tournament several years ago where Tiger Woods was leading but the light was quickly fading. The announcers kept wondering whether they'd call it and come back and finish the next day, but Tiger didn't want to and it finished in near darkness. However, on TV it looked plenty light and I couldn't understand what the big deal was until Tiger made his final putt and all the photographers around the green took pictures and their flashes lit the place up like crazy. That made it clear how dark it really was, although the TV cameras made it look fine.

[Steve_Martin]

No kidding. The fact that some teams did it very fast, and that locals were willing to walk with them to where they were going, showed that the entire task took place within a very small area. I guess it wasn't really fair since most people will know the location of a cafe while few will know about a hair salon, but even still, it should not have taken him that long to find it.


Maybe the grandkid is as annoying to the locals as he seems to be to the other contestants. He didn't seem to be having much success in asking for help in Vilnius. Quite a contrast to TK, who seemed to fit right in.

[JFriday]

That made it clear how dark it really was, although the TV cameras made it look fine.

Paris Hilton needed one of those camera's. :D

[PJO1966]

Maybe the grandkid is as annoying to the locals as he seems to be to the other contestants. He didn't seem to be having much success in asking for help in Vilnius. Quite a contrast to TK, who seemed to fit right in.


re: the grandkid...

One of the teams mentioned at Elimination Station mentioned that he has said on more than one occasion that he's done with the Race and doesn't care if they continue. What a loser. Way to take a spot from a serious contender.

[fmowry]

Could they fire the sound editing man that uses the friggin' rattlesnake sound anything stupid is said. Enough already.

Frank

[DancnDude]

I always hated that they screwed the first place team out of a prize in those legs. Why reward a team for simply getting lucky?

Agreed. But it would be cool if they told them ahead of time that one of the gnomes had something on the bottom to win a prize. That way the 1st place team could spend extra time looking for the prize, or just take any to continue on quickly. At least it would give them a choice.

[scottykempf]

Could they fire the sound editing man that uses the friggin' rattlesnake sound anything stupid is said. Enough already.

Frank


ch ch ch chhhhhhhhhhh LOL

[wendiness1]

I'll have to re-watch to be sure, but it seemed to me (in my memory) that it was one shot where she skipped from 89 to 100. I don't recall any edit. :confused:



That's what I remember, too. It seemed continuous to me.

[fmowry]

ch ch ch chhhhhhhhhhh LOL

Our audience is so stupid that we need a sound effect to inform them when someone on the show says something stupid.

Frank

[wendiness1]

Oh, that's right.

I just checked that scene again. That screen was shown when Shana and Jennifer were asking the agent to get them seats at the front of the plane. The screen actually shows fare code capacity for a bunch of SAS flights, but I guess the average consumer would figure that it was showing a text version of a seat map.

Keep in mind that the computer screen may be shot out of sequence. Unless they have more than one camera, it's probably a pick-up later.

[wendiness1]

re: the grandkid...

One of the teams mentioned at Elimination Station mentioned that he has said on more than one occasion that he's done with the Race and doesn't care if they continue. What a loser. Way to take a spot from a serious contender.

I've said something similar earlier in the race. It looked to me like he wanted grandpa to do all the roadblocks, hoping they'd be eliminated before he (grandson) would be required to do any.

[sketcher]

I always hated that they screwed the first place team out of a prize in those legs. Why reward a team for simply getting lucky?
Coming in first is quite often a result of simply getting lucky.

Getting a good cab driver
Finding the needle in the haystack quickly
Your flight not getting delayed somewhere
etc etc

[Anubys]

Coming in first is quite often a result of simply getting lucky.

Getting a good cab driver
Finding the needle in the haystack quickly
Your flight not getting delayed somewhere
etc etc

so maybe they should give the million dollars to a team selected randomly!

you come in first, you won...what more is there?

[Idearat]

Coming in first is quite often a result of simply getting lucky.

Getting a good cab driver
Finding the needle in the haystack quickly
Your flight not getting delayed somewhere
etc etc

Bad luck can send you back in the queue, but good luck alone isn't going to get you first place. You have to not screw up on multiple tasks. You have to not turn left when the next task is to the right. You have to choose which of your team can accomplish the roadblock without a meltdown.

If two cabs are racing to the Pit Stop neck and neck it's unfair to say the team who's cab is faster only got there due to luck. Finishing the previous task 1 minute later would have negated a 30 second quicker cab ride.

[sketcher]

so maybe they should give the million dollars to a team selected randomly!
you come in first, you won...what more is there?
I was responding to Neenahboy's post about the gnome based prizes. Not to the general conduct of the whole show. Please try to keep up.

Bad luck can send you back in the queue, but good luck alone isn't going to get you first place. You have to not screw up on multiple tasks. You have to not turn left when the next task is to the right. You have to choose which of your team can accomplish the roadblock without a meltdown.

If two cabs are racing to the Pit Stop neck and neck it's unfair to say the team who's cab is faster only got there due to luck. Finishing the previous task 1 minute later would have negated a 30 second quicker cab ride.
I'm not talking about a cab ride that gets you there 30 seconds quicker. I'm talking about randomly picking a cab driver that is familiar with your destination even though it is on the other side of the island rather than the guy that has no clue of it's existence and heads off in the wrong direction as a result. Or say the Cuban cabdriver that asks for directions to the cigar shop of the king in Spanish rather than the Dominican cabdriver who wouldn't think to ask in Spanish (reference Romber v Uchenna/Joyce).

I'm not talking about someone melting down during a challenge. I'm talking about challenges like the one where one of the blond sisters from Utah searched for a clue for hours through hay bales and never ended up finding it. It can only be luck that one group picks a correct hay bale on the first try and another group picks dozens of bales and never finds a correct one.



And just to be clear. I don't have a problem with the luck factor in the show. I was just commenting that I didn't have much of a problem with the gnome based prizes from earlier seasons.

[Anubys]

I was responding to Neenahboy's post about the gnome based prizes. Not to the general conduct of the whole show. Please try to keep up.


oh, I got your point, I just thought it was silly...or didn't you get the sarcasm?

:p

[sketcher]

oh, I got your point, I just thought it was silly...or didn't you get the sarcasm?

:p
I'm sarcasmically challenged -- in print. I tend to get it in person.