S29.E12: We're Going To Victory Lane

[Netfoot]

3 hours ago, millennium said:

I don't like Scott at all, in fact I strongly dislike him.

We agree.

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P.S. And how come karma's never nearby when you need it?   Brooke and Scott promised not to U-turn the team with the big, bearded red-haired guy but they did it anyway.

Disagree.  It's unreasonable to expect anyone to honour such a promise at all, in a race for 1 megabuck.  The fact that they refrained from U/W-Turning them the first time would have certainly repaid any debt.  The fact that they refrained a second time, even more so.  The third-time U/W-Turning was perfectly fine by me, and RedBeard and his holier-than-thou attitude only made me glad they'd U/W-Turned him, and wish they'd stuffed the U/W-Turn up his nether regions.

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Assholes.

We agree, again!  

[scowl]

On 6/2/2017 at 8:59 PM, me5671 said:

Ironic, because IIRC that season of TAR ended in Chicago too, no?  It must be the city... produces horrible winners and subpar tasks.

No, the Flo/Zack season ended in Gas Works Park in Seattle, which was also the location for the "paint fight" scene in 10 Things I Hate About You.

[chitowngirl]

If all three teams would have been doing the final task at the same time, I could see where it would have been more challenging.  Three people inside the score board running around a cramped space, while three speakers are giving instructions at the same time would have been chaotic. It looked good on paper, it just didn't turn out that way.

[ByaNose]

Wait! This was a bad dream that Brooke & Scott won, right? Sort of like Bobby Ewing in the shower?! Someone please tell me that this entire season was a horrible dream. Somebody! Anybody! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! 

[Nedsdag]

So Whiny (Scott) and Screechy (Brooke) won? No surprise! Every time I root for a decent team, Team Beelzebub wins. 

I would love to see their social media responses. I'm sure it wasn't pretty. Perhaps it'll make both of them change after seeing how horrible both of them were during the show.

Is Screechy single or in a relationship? If so, I truly hope this person is a saint to put up with her.

[Subrookie]

I've read all this discussion and quite honestly I'm just totally disappointed by how this season ended. 

I get that whoever is in the final 3 any of them probably deserve to win, but this season was full of teams who never really seemed to grasp that this was a race. Everyone seemed to help Brooke make that ladle,  seriously in that episode every team seemed to try to do anything to help her. Now they lost to her and Scott. 

If this is the direction the show goes (e.g., gimmicky teams) I'm not going to be one of those people who says I won't watch anymore but it just won't be the same to me. It's been a while since I was annoyed as much about an outcome of this show. 

[chitowngirl]

I was rewatching this my son and about the bag check, Scott said, "We checked our bags through to the final destination." Which would be London.

[biakbiak]

23 minutes ago, chitowngirl said:

I was rewatching this my son and about the bag check, Scott said, "We checked our bags through to the final destination." Which would be London.

London?

[chitowngirl]

The plane route was Seoul-Chicago-London.

[biakbiak]

19 minutes ago, chitowngirl said:

The plane route was Seoul-Chicago-London.

I assume he meant that he checked the bags to their final destination not the planes. An airline would not allow them to check the bags to London because they were only ticketed to Chicago.

[kaygeeret]

And I still truly wonder how being Brooke on this show will enhance her life.

She is a lawyer - at least according to her bio - and employed at an actual law firm.

If she were assigned to me I would refuse.

??????????????????????????????????????

[biakbiak]

4 minutes ago, kaygeeret said:

And I still truly wonder how being Brooke on this show will enhance her life.

She is a lawyer - at least according to her bio - and employed at an actual law firm.

If she were assigned to me I would refuse.

??????????????????????????????????????

Well it's her firm so people definitely have a choice to retain her services or not.

[ProfCrash]

"I think the big lead they had is probably - at least in part - because they came running off that international flight with nothing but a fanny-pack of documents for customs to look at.  That would probably have got them into a taxi and away while the other racers were being inspected for contraband."

A while back there was an article that talked about the things you don't see on the Race. Like the signing of waivers, time waivers that we are not shown (the Producer or camera crew causes an issue that cost the racers time, the racers get a time credit, that type of thing. One of the issues they discussed was leaving customs. The article said that all teams were held until all the teams had cleared customs. So I don't think the lack of a pack coming through customs was that much of a time saver.

There was a time that people fought to get seats at the front of the plane so they could get off more quickly, that has not been a story line for ages because exit order on the plane is not important because they all are held until they clear customs.

So, no, their lead did not come from the lack of backpacks leaving the airport. I also suspect that just dropping your pack any where, in the back of a cab, trash can or something along those lines is not happening in this day and age of heightened terrorism awareness. I suspect that they are told that they have to carry what they have on them because the Race does not want it to get back to them that the police were called out to blow up one of the Racers bag that they had abandoned and someone called in as a bomb threat. Leaving them in baggage claim is fine because the bags had to be cleared through security and are being held in a location where the bags are safe and not going to cause an uproar. Leaving them in a cab or someplace random is a bad idea these days.

[greyhorse]

34 minutes ago, ProfCrash said:

"I think the big lead they had is probably - at least in part - because they came running off that international flight with nothing but a fanny-pack of documents for customs to look at.  That would probably have got them into a taxi and away while the other racers were being inspected for contraband."

A while back there was an article that talked about the things you don't see on the Race. Like the signing of waivers, time waivers that we are not shown (the Producer or camera crew causes an issue that cost the racers time, the racers get a time credit, that type of thing. One of the issues they discussed was leaving customs. The article said that all teams were held until all the teams had cleared customs. So I don't think the lack of a pack coming through customs was that much of a time saver.

There was a time that people fought to get seats at the front of the plane so they could get off more quickly, that has not been a story line for ages because exit order on the plane is not important because they all are held until they clear customs.

So, no, their lead did not come from the lack of backpacks leaving the airport. I also suspect that just dropping your pack any where, in the back of a cab, trash can or something along those lines is not happening in this day and age of heightened terrorism awareness. I suspect that they are told that they have to carry what they have on them because the Race does not want it to get back to them that the police were called out to blow up one of the Racers bag that they had abandoned and someone called in as a bomb threat. Leaving them in baggage claim is fine because the bags had to be cleared through security and are being held in a location where the bags are safe and not going to cause an uproar. Leaving them in a cab or someplace random is a bad idea these days.

I was thinking about this as well, and yes, I think it almost would have to happen.  Brooke and Scott run off the plan with just a fanny pack and clear customs quickly presumably.  But what about their camera crew?  What if they had an issue and cost them time?  How would they adjust for that?  Would they make the other teams wait a certain amount of time before they could go?  I think the scenario you describe is pretty much what happens.

I was also thinking that if you were part of the Global Entry program, that would speed you up as well too.  But again, the same problem with the camera crew.  So I think having Global Entry wouldn't be much of a help other than the lack of stress and maybe you get some time to relax waiting for everyone.

Interesting about running out of the airport.  Is that true for every airport?  What about when they don't have to clear customs and can just run for the taxi?

I'd also be curious to know if racers get miles for all the flights.  That would be awesome.  I know you can't sit in business class and have to purchase economy tickets, but what if you had status and they just upgraded you automatically for free?  I think this Korean Prestige is the first time I've seen the racers be able to fly in business class.

[blackwing]

On 6/3/2017 at 11:02 AM, amazingracefan said:

He said he knew to do it because he'd found out others had on previous seasons.  So it was more knowledge of that than an original idea.

I don't think anyone is claiming that it was an original idea.  Most posters here are saying they have seen teams dump their bags on every final leg on TAR, and expressed surprise that neither of the other teams did the same.  It was a good move by Scott because he noticed that none of the other teams were checking their bags so he purposely boarded the plane last so that neither of the other teams would notice that he checked the bags.  He used his knowledge to gain an advantage.  

19 hours ago, Subrookie said:

I've read all this discussion and quite honestly I'm just totally disappointed by how this season ended. 

I get that whoever is in the final 3 any of them probably deserve to win, but this season was full of teams who never really seemed to grasp that this was a race. Everyone seemed to help Brooke make that ladle,  seriously in that episode every team seemed to try to do anything to help her. Now they lost to her and Scott. 

If this is the direction the show goes (e.g., gimmicky teams) I'm not going to be one of those people who says I won't watch anymore but it just won't be the same to me. It's been a while since I was annoyed as much about an outcome of this show. 

I am far from being a fan of Brooke, in fact I think she would probably be someone that I would find difficult dealing with on a daily basis.  I give Scott kudos for putting up with her and for being a strong partner.  

I was initially really unhappy about the strangers concept but I think it worked out well in the end.  I think it was an interesting concept, and it was definitely much better than the Blind Date idea.  I don't need to see it for a while, but I think it was interesting in that I think it was different from the same old combinations that we normally see (alpha males, hot blondes, gay couple, engaged, exes, parent/child, siblings, etc).

A lot of people have commented about the help Brooke got with the ladle.  I would agree that it was probably not a good move to help her.  I don't think anyone should ever help anyone on the race.  But they touched on this in one of the interviews... whenever there was an opportunity at pit stops or other places where teams gathered, Scott was always being friendly to other teams.  He approached the Race like it was Survivor or Big Brother, since those were the two shows he had originally applied to.  He got people to like him and Brooke, so when Brooke went to ask to help, the teams seemed to want to help her.  That's probably a combination of Scott getting them to like him and the other teams being stupid.  If I were ever on the Race, I'd probably say, "sorry, as much as I like you, this is a race" and just let people get upset.

Additionally, there's always some element of luck and "what if" on TAR.  If Long Hair hadn't lost their passports, then the Beekman Boys would have gotten eliminated at the pool and they wouldn't have gone on to win.  If the Bro team from Texas hadn't helped out those two NFL cheerleaders with the Jewish food task, then they wouldn't have been in last and gotten the Speed Bump, which played a role in their elimination next leg, then Joey and Kelsey might not have won.  If Dave and Connor hadn't been allowed to not split the Roadblocks evenly on the All Star season, then there's no way they would have won (I am still not buying Phil's cryptic assertion that Roadblocks had to be even up to the point, and then didn't have to be.  That has never been the rule as far as I know.)  There is always going to be the "if only" game when it comes to TAR results.

[Netfoot]

2 hours ago, ProfCrash said:

The article said that all teams were held until all the teams had cleared customs. So I don't think the lack of a pack coming through customs was that much of a time saver.

If this is so (and now you mention it, I do seem to recall hearing something like that in the past) losing the backpacks must still be advantageous.  Simply not having to run around carrying the extra cumbersome weight would be an advantage, for a start.

[ProfCrash]

1 minute ago, Netfoot said:

If this is so (and now you mention it, I do seem to recall hearing something like that in the past) losing the backpacks must still be advantageous.  Simply not having to run around carrying the extra cumbersome weight would be an advantage, for a start.

I agree that it is an advantage. Carrying extra weight is carrying extra weight. They are running from location to location, up and down stairs and carrying a pack requires extra energy. Dump the pack and conserve energy. It just did not give them a benefit getting through customs more quickly. I suspect that the other teams were not able to dump their packs at that point in time because of the concern over terrorism and people reacting to backpacks laying about.

I don't think that is why Brooke and Scott won. They did a far better job navigating the postcard task and saved a ton of time because of the path they choose. The second place team went to the wrong location, costing themselves a ton of time, and LOLO choose the worst possible path for the postcard task. I suspect that their lead was large enough that they could have walked with their packs and won with time to spare.

I really liked the final task. I like that the locations were not in order, making the teams think about each task and trying to coordinate which number went where. The folks putting up the numbers probably though they were going from top to bottom so there needed to be some type of coordination so that they knew where to slot the number.

[greyhorse]

2 hours ago, blackwing said:

A lot of people have commented about the help Brooke got with the ladle.  I would agree that it was probably not a good move to help her.  I don't think anyone should ever help anyone on the race.  But they touched on this in one of the interviews... whenever there was an opportunity at pit stops or other places where teams gathered, Scott was always being friendly to other teams.  He approached the Race like it was Survivor or Big Brother, since those were the two shows he had originally applied to.  He got people to like him and Brooke, so when Brooke went to ask to help, the teams seemed to want to help her.  That's probably a combination of Scott getting them to like him and the other teams being stupid.  If I were ever on the Race, I'd probably say, "sorry, as much as I like you, this is a race" and just let people get upset.

Ah, so he did apply to be on Survivor or Big Brother?  I know this season the racers occasionally talked about "the social game" and "alliances", talk that we have never before heard on TAR because, well, it's not really a social game, it's a race.  But I would agree that if people like you, they are more inclined to help you.   It played a role in Ashton and Vanck getting eliminated because everybody geared up against them and decided they wanted them gone.  Scott seems like an affable guy and calm collected Brooke seems like somebody who would do well in a social setting.

1 hour ago, ProfCrash said:

I agree that it is an advantage. Carrying extra weight is carrying extra weight. They are running from location to location, up and down stairs and carrying a pack requires extra energy. Dump the pack and conserve energy. It just did not give them a benefit getting through customs more quickly. I suspect that the other teams were not able to dump their packs at that point in time because of the concern over terrorism and people reacting to backpacks laying about.

I don't think that is why Brooke and Scott won. They did a far better job navigating the postcard task and saved a ton of time because of the path they choose. The second place team went to the wrong location, costing themselves a ton of time, and LOLO choose the worst possible path for the postcard task. I suspect that their lead was large enough that they could have walked with their packs and won with time to spare.

I really liked the final task. I like that the locations were not in order, making the teams think about each task and trying to coordinate which number went where. The folks putting up the numbers probably though they were going from top to bottom so there needed to be some type of coordination so that they knew where to slot the number.

We'd have to wait for interviews from Joey and Tara or LoLo to see if there are "race rules" that you can't throw out your backpack.  Or whatever you start the leg with, you have to bring with you the mat.  I vaguely remember at least one instance where a team dumped their packs.  I think one team (Globetrotters, perhaps?) even ran the final leg carrying their stuff in what looked like a plastic grocery sack they got from the airport.  I agree that in this age, yes, you can't just leave a full backpack in a trash bin.  But why can't they leave it at a location where there were lots of production people, like the Joliet Speedway?  Why can't the racers decide to simply throw out clothes?  So just toss smelly tshirts and underwear and unneeded jackets in the trash?  At least lighten the load of what they were carrying in their backpack if they can't physically throw out the backpack.

While on paper Brooke and Scott's route was the most efficient, I still say that there was an element of luck involved.  Their route was the most efficient because they went in the reverse order and City Hall was close to them when they finished.  If the final destination was closer to the Water Tower, then they would have chosen the worst possible route by ending up the furthest away.  They ran the leg well, but there was an element of luck that contributed to their win.

[Rinaldo]

3 hours ago, greyhorse said:

If the final destination was closer to the Water Tower, then they would have chosen the worst possible route by ending up the furthest away. 

I agree that, not knowing they would need to go to City Hall after the 3 locations, they lucked out to that extent. But their choice was still sensible, it wasn't "the worst possible route." That would probably involve doing the bridge first; then, whichever they did second, they would need to complete retrace their steps and then some to get to the third. Or, you know, the detour that Tara and Joey did would still be worse too. 

Anyway, not knowing what came next, they made the best choice their knowledge permitted, and it turned out to be better yet once they got the next clue.

[biakbiak]

39 minutes ago, Rinaldo said:

agree that, not knowing they would need to go to City Hall after the 3 locations, they lucked out to that extent

And I still firmly believe given that the water tower was not only the furthest distance from the location they were at but was also the farthest distance from the other two spots that it was more logic than luck to use the metro given that the clue was on the train platform and not at some other place.

[kaygeeret]

21 hours ago, biakbiak said:

Well it's her firm so people definitely have a choice to retain her services or not.

Slaps palm to forehead - - - yikes, I completely misunderstood something I read and thought she was just another lawyer at a big firm.

Thanks for clarifying BIAKBIAK

[Netfoot]

5 hours ago, greyhorse said:

I agree that in this age, yes, you can't just leave a full backpack in a trash bin.

Of course you can.  There is no law that says otherwise.  They can just throw it in a dumpster.  In an aeroport, it might be more considerate to dump the contents out into the trash and then throw the empty bag on top, but...

[sinycalone]

I would interested to learn what Tara/Joey and LoLo were carrying in those backpacks.  Maybe they did get rid of the dirty clothes and other unnecessary items...but had gotten gifts for their children or other family members that they wanted to keep.

[CoyoteBlue]

1 hour ago, Netfoot said:

Of course you can.  There is no law that says otherwise.  They can just throw it in a dumpster.  In an aeroport, it might be more considerate to dump the contents out into the trash and then throw the empty bag on top, but...

OTOH, if Michigan Ave is closed down again because some asshat leaves their mystery bag leaning up against a light pole, the sheer negative karma and death vibes sent from everyone would probably cause them to lose the Race. :)

[North of Eden]

Just watched now.

I think the renewal will make a lot of people happy as most would not have wanted the final episode to be Brooke winning.

I'm mixed about the win. They did deserve it based on their performance this episode but the caveat that they would never have gotten there without people helping Brooke so much during the race.

My biggest regret is seeing the Amazon woman and her policewoman partner that went out leg 2. I so wanted to see more of them and I'm sorry they went out so quickly. I wish there was a way to bring them back but due to the concept it seems near impossible.

No one knows when the race will be airing next season but a good old fashioned "no gimmicks" or "returnees" is what's needed!

[Netfoot]

1 hour ago, North of Eden said:

They did deserve it based on their performance this episode but the caveat that they would never have gotten there without people helping Brooke so much during the race.

It could be argued that the ability to persuade people to help you win, is a valuable race-skill.  Despite all that's been said against her, her race-partner Zach has always been reported as saying that Flo was very skilled at securing the assistance of others.

[blackwing]

9 hours ago, North of Eden said:

I'm mixed about the win. They did deserve it based on their performance this episode but the caveat that they would never have gotten there without people helping Brooke so much during the race.

There was the ladle of course, but I'm trying to recall other instances where she received significant assistance.  What are some examples?  I can't really think of any real game changers.  I can only recall that she asked for help at the Venetian masks and didn't get any.   I think the perception that everyone helped her so much might be a bit overblown.  Scott seemed to help others as well... didn't he compare notes with someone on the Milan meal trolley?

[greyhorse]

Maybe there is a media thread that this is supposed to go in, but here is an Entertainment Weekly interview from Brooke and Scott.

What sticks out to me is that Scott specifically came into the race with the mindset that he wanted to play the social game, being that everybody was a stranger and there was no built-in social support system.  So it talks about how when the seatbelt light went off, he would move about the cabin trying to build up relationships, and the same with Brooke during the race.  Brooke also commented about how it wasn't a bad idea to be perceived as one of the weaker teams, especially with all the U-turns.

Brooke also says that the entire race was full of physically fit people, and that she normally doesn't consider herself one of the weaker people but in this season it seemed she was.  So I guess in real life she is pretty fit?!  She also admits that she didn't realize how much she complained/whined about doing things.

I read somewhere else that apparently 80% of the internet isn't happy with their win.  I've had some time to process it now and I'm ok with it.  When the chips were down, Brooke nailed it.  She was a boss in the last two episodes.  Seems like the perfect rope-a-dope strategy.

[Fukui San]

1 hour ago, greyhorse said:

Maybe there is a media thread that this is supposed to go in, but here is an Entertainment Weekly interview from Brooke and Scott.

What sticks out to me is that Scott specifically came into the race with the mindset that he wanted to play the social game, being that everybody was a stranger and there was no built-in social support system.  So it talks about how when the seatbelt light went off, he would move about the cabin trying to build up relationships, and the same with Brooke during the race.  Brooke also commented about how it wasn't a bad idea to be perceived as one of the weaker teams, especially with all the U-turns.

Brooke also says that the entire race was full of physically fit people, and that she normally doesn't consider herself one of the weaker people but in this season it seemed she was.  So I guess in real life she is pretty fit?!  She also admits that she didn't realize how much she complained/whined about doing things.

I read somewhere else that apparently 80% of the internet isn't happy with their win.  I've had some time to process it now and I'm ok with it.  When the chips were down, Brooke nailed it.  She was a boss in the last two episodes.  Seems like the perfect rope-a-dope strategy.

I would guess she could run a mile faster than an average adult in this country, but I wouldn't recruit her to play rugby or run a Spartan race or run a marathon anytime soon. She's skinny but she doesn't seem to have much in the way of practical strength and endurance. I can't remember any times she showed more or less agility than normal.

[blackwing]

I do agree that everyone seemed very physically fit on this race, with the exception of Ass Michael, and probably Floyd and Vanck, both of whom seemed physically weak.  I think most everyone was fit for the same reason why Joey was the oldest person on the race at 46.  This was a season where they would be doing a schoolyard pick for partners, and nobody wants to be stuck with an old or out-of-shape partner.  If there was a 60 year old grandma on the race, I bet she would have been picked last, and I would feel bad watching her get picked last.

[ProfCrash]

16 hours ago, CoyoteBlue said:

OTOH, if Michigan Ave is closed down again because some asshat leaves their mystery bag leaning up against a light pole, the sheer negative karma and death vibes sent from everyone would probably cause them to lose the Race. :)

That is what I meant. You can throw away an entire pack or leave it by a trash can or whatever and someone is going to call the Police and they will shut things down until the bag has been cleared. If there is anything in that bag that IDs you, there is a possibility that you will hear from law enforcement. I seriously doubt that the Producers would want that to happen which is why I suspect that the participants are not allowed to simply leave their bags some place. I have no hard evidence for this but I suspect that there is a rule that you have to carry whatever you take out of the airport with you. If you check your bag through to the final destination and leave it in baggage claim, you are good to go. The bag will not cause a panic or a Police response, it has already been cleared and is treated as lost. If you leave the airport with your bag, you carry it unless Production has a pre-approved dumping spot.

[greyhorse]

Agree that Brooke maybe equates "physically fit" with "not fat", but certainly she doesn't have physical endurance or above average strength (as witnessed by the exasperation by doing tough things such as simply walking).  And that's a good point blackwing about how this was supposed to be a playground pick-em, so likely you're not going to have some grandma or overweight person running the race. 

2 hours ago, ProfCrash said:

That is what I meant. You can throw away an entire pack or leave it by a trash can or whatever and someone is going to call the Police and they will shut things down until the bag has been cleared. If there is anything in that bag that IDs you, there is a possibility that you will hear from law enforcement. I seriously doubt that the Producers would want that to happen which is why I suspect that the participants are not allowed to simply leave their bags some place. I have no hard evidence for this but I suspect that there is a rule that you have to carry whatever you take out of the airport with you. If you check your bag through to the final destination and leave it in baggage claim, you are good to go. The bag will not cause a panic or a Police response, it has already been cleared and is treated as lost. If you leave the airport with your bag, you carry it unless Production has a pre-approved dumping spot.

That's a huge assumption.  Maybe you can't throw out the backpack.  But how is production going to know if you go into a bathroom and throw out some old clothes?  I would find it a bit hard to believe that they inventory every racers' belongings and then check at the end of the leg to see if they still have all of their things.  I remember one season (can't remember which racers exactly though) where they lost their packs and then had to go through the race carrying stuff in plastic bags and getting donations from other racers.  I think you could probably do anything you want with the backpack as long as it doesn't seem like it's a threat to public safety.

[mtsmvfn]

Quote

Agree that Brooke maybe equates "physically fit" with "not fat", but certainly she doesn't have physical endurance or above average strength (as witnessed by the exasperation by doing tough things such as simply walking).  And that's a good point blackwing about how this was supposed to be a playground pick-em, so likely you're not going to have some grandma or overweight person running the race. 

Brooke said in the Amazing Race Afterbuzz show that she had back surgery six months before they filmed the Amazing Race and that she wasn't in the best of shape. 

Edited June 6, 2017 by mtsmvfn

[iMonrey]

Quote

Ah, so he did apply to be on Survivor or Big Brother?

I maintain that none of them auditioned for Amazing Race. Several have claimed to be "super fans" of AR but that doesn't mean they applied for this show. Especially considering the "strangers" gimmick. Week after week after week people kept asking (of Brooke) - "Why did she even apply to be on this show?" I'm sure she didn't. 

Quote

 I think the perception that everyone helped her so much might be a bit overblown. 

It is. She got help with the ladle - that's it. She asked for help with the masks but nobody offered it and she figured it out on her own. She needed no help with the marching Roadblock or the cups. She was a pill up until the bitter end, there's no question about that, but these complaints that everyone helped her through the whole race are just overreactions. She put in the work, even if she bitched and moaned about it the whole time.

And yeah I can understand fans being upset with such a whiner winning this thing but saying the "wrong team" won is kind of laughable. It's not Dancing With The Stars, nobody votes for who wins. It's a race. Whoever crosses the finish line first is the "right" winner, whether you like them or not.

[Netfoot]

1 hour ago, greyhorse said:

Maybe you can't throw out the backpack.  But how is production going to know if you go into a bathroom and throw out some old clothes?

What possible objection could there be to discarding parts of your gear that you no longer needed?  It's a time honoured tradition on TAR, from the days of Teri and Ian (famously of the Asshat), who used disposable underwear and threw them away as they went along!

If I were racing, I would certainly use and discard as I went along, so that by the end of the race the backpack was virtually empty, anyhow!  How many days can you wear a T-shirt while racing around the world, before you have to chuck it away?  I'd only need one shirt per leg.  

[Vantraveller]

2 hours ago, iMonrey said:

I maintain that none of them auditioned for Amazing Race. Several have claimed to be "super fans" of AR but that doesn't mean they applied for this show. Especially considering the "strangers" gimmick. Week after week after week people kept asking (of Brooke) - "Why did she even apply to be on this show?" I'm sure she didn't. 

 

She mentions in the EW interview that she had actually applied 3 times previously to this one. Once with her brother, once with a sorority sister and once with a girlfriend.

[sinycalone]

Tara and Joey applied to TAR only.

[kiddo82]

5 hours ago, iMonrey said:

She got help with the ladle - that's it. She asked for help with the masks but nobody offered it and she figured it out on her own. She needed no help with the marching Roadblock or the cups. She was a pill up until the bitter end, there's no question about that, but these complaints that everyone helped her through the whole race are just overreactions. She put in the work, even if she bitched and moaned about it the whole time.

Exactly. And Becca helped Brooke out with the ladle because Brooke and Scott helped Fun by giving them their extra key at the detour.  

We're never going to know what would have happened had no one helped Brooke with the ladle. There's every possibility she'd still be there working on it.  Like, literally, right now.  Or maybe Sara and Shamir were so far behind it wouldn't have mattered.  There's also nothing to say that Sara and Shamir wouldn't have caught up, not gotten eliminated, and won the whole thing themselves.  It also doesn't mean that Liz and Mike wouldn't have forgotten to pick up a goat, Mike and Redmond wouldn't have made a poor transportation choice, and Floyd wouldn't have gotten sick with dehydration.  It's impossible to make this an if/then scenario.  

Edited June 7, 2017 by kiddo82

[green]

A belated congrats to the winners this season.  The red-haired and bearded guy afraid of heights who was a bit patient but nowhere near Saint Zach levels and his partner, Flo 2.0.  They did manage to be a bit entertaining at times too.

(Too bad she didn't do the Vietnam bicycle carry the traps thing to pedal in Flo's real shoe steps.  Also Flo looked like a happy, sunshine optimist compared to this woman).

Don't like the strangers format but did like Team Fun.  They are the only team I'd like to see back from this season.  Didn't mind "older couple" too much except she didn't like video games ... boo.  But yeah to the cop, Go Red Sox!

[ProfCrash]

14 hours ago, greyhorse said:

That's a huge assumption.  Maybe you can't throw out the backpack.  But how is production going to know if you go into a bathroom and throw out some old clothes?  I would find it a bit hard to believe that they inventory every racers' belongings and then check at the end of the leg to see if they still have all of their things.  I remember one season (can't remember which racers exactly though) where they lost their packs and then had to go through the race carrying stuff in plastic bags and getting donations from other racers.  I think you could probably do anything you want with the backpack as long as it doesn't seem like it's a threat to public safety.

They could very well toss stuff out of their bags. No one said that they couldn't. It still takes extra time to stop, open the bag, and remove things from it. They are all using backpacking back packs. I have used one, they are not made to be easy to take things out so that it is hard for people to lose items. So it is not as easy as open and dump but open and physically extract everything. It would take 5-10 minutes to unload the bag and throw everything away. And there is a real possibility that people do not want to actually throw away their things. They might be smelly now but a trip in the washing machine and you have the clothes and associated memories from an adventure of a life time. The props that they get to keep are unique, the clues that they hold on to. Do you want to trash all of that or take the time to sort out what to keep and what to toss? It is easy for us to say that they could save the weight and toss everything away but I doubt that it is as easy as all of that.

And even if you get rid of everything in your bag, the bag itself weighs between three and ten pounds, depending on the size and quality of the bag. It is more awkward to carry empty then filled.

Brooke and Scott's act saved them the weight and the time it would take to clear it out if they wanted to but had to keep the bag.

Call it what you want but the move gave Brooke and Scott and advantage. It might have been a small one but in a race for a million dollars, any small advantage is a good one. It probably helped them a good deal because Brooke was struggling to keep up without her pack, imagine the whining and how slow she would have moved with the pack. I don't know if it would have been enough to close the gap but they did spot another team coming into Wrigley as they were finishing up the board so the time saved might very well have been important.

[greyhorse]

18 minutes ago, ProfCrash said:

They could very well toss stuff out of their bags. No one said that they couldn't. It still takes extra time to stop, open the bag, and remove things from it. They are all using backpacking back packs. I have used one, they are not made to be easy to take things out so that it is hard for people to lose items. So it is not as easy as open and dump but open and physically extract everything. It would take 5-10 minutes to unload the bag and throw everything away. And there is a real possibility that people do not want to actually throw away their things. They might be smelly now but a trip in the washing machine and you have the clothes and associated memories from an adventure of a life time. The props that they get to keep are unique, the clues that they hold on to. Do you want to trash all of that or take the time to sort out what to keep and what to toss? It is easy for us to say that they could save the weight and toss everything away but I doubt that it is as easy as all of that.

And even if you get rid of everything in your bag, the bag itself weighs between three and ten pounds, depending on the size and quality of the bag. It is more awkward to carry empty then filled.

Brooke and Scott's act saved them the weight and the time it would take to clear it out if they wanted to but had to keep the bag.

Call it what you want but the move gave Brooke and Scott and advantage. It might have been a small one but in a race for a million dollars, any small advantage is a good one. It probably helped them a good deal because Brooke was struggling to keep up without her pack, imagine the whining and how slow she would have moved with the pack. I don't know if it would have been enough to close the gap but they did spot another team coming into Wrigley as they were finishing up the board so the time saved might very well have been important.

My response was to your assertion that if you left the airport with your backpack, that you would have to carry it to the end "unless Production has a pre-approved dumping spot."  I really don't think that it's a big deal to empty your backpack.  They had a 1 hour taxi ride to the Joliet Speedway.  And then 1 hour back.  Surely there was enough time to take out the stuff from the backpack, even if it is more difficult to take out of a backpacking backpack as you suggest.  It's only more difficult because these packs are essentially like bags, and to get anything out at the bottom, you typically have to take everything up above out.  But in a one hour cab ride?  Surely they would have had enough time to empty, purge, and reorganize.  Especially if they realized that Scott and Brooke had no bags.  We've already discussed how they hold racers at the airport until everybody is ready to run.  So the other two teams should have seen that the two of them didn't have heavy packs.  

Souvenirs?  OK.  Logan had a straw hat that we saw.  But we really have no idea.  I don't think the racers are spending much of their money on souvenirs.  I've read interviews where they are even afraid to buy airport food because it costs more for fear of running out of money, so they ask for extra airplane meals and eat them along the way.  What's more important?  Running for $500K or holding on to your smelly Under Armour shirt?  Sure, maybe keep the paper clues that don't weigh much.  But do you really need your jacket or dirty socks or extra pair of shoes?

I think the awkwardness of carrying an empty backpacking backpack is over exaggerated.  Surely one could understand that running with and carrying a bag weighing 3-5 pounds is much easier than one packed full weighing 20-30 pounds.  

Brooke and Scott did have an advantage, but there was plenty of opportunity for the other two teams to even that advantage by lightening their load.  They chose not to do so.  I'm still really curious and waiting for interviews from them to see how they respond.

[Lady Calypso]

15 hours ago, iMonrey said:

It is. She got help with the ladle - that's it. She asked for help with the masks but nobody offered it and she figured it out on her own. She needed no help with the marching Roadblock or the cups. She was a pill up until the bitter end, there's no question about that, but these complaints that everyone helped her through the whole race are just overreactions. She put in the work, even if she bitched and moaned about it the whole time.

True. I do think that Brooke's attitude sucked most of the time and, like Mike, was worse when her and Scott were not doing well. I disliked her complaining and making a big deal out of everything, which is why people are more focused on her and her faults. Remembering back to when she fell and injured her arm, and she made a big deal out of it (although not as much as Mr Ow My Balls, so a little credit to her for that), and she only got worse from there. I do think she expected to be helped when she asked for it, and she was not happy when she didn't get it. She was the one who even said that they were targeting Vanck/Ashton the leg they were eliminated on because they didn't fit in with the cool kids. So unfortunately, her faults did overshadow her work and what she could actually do. Maybe if she just shut her mouth for 30% of the race, there'd be more people who could recognize that, and maybe I might have actually liked her the last two legs. Unfortunately, 10 legs of her complaining, whining, bitching, and berating Scott did not suddenly disappear just because she stopped complaining and had a better attitude for the last two episodes. Her saying "I can't do it" at least once a leg also didn't help matters because even if she wasn't helped on many of her tasks physically, she seemed to need Scott or others to tell her that she could. She needed that emotional support for most of the race. 

[iMonrey]

I can understand the desire to "de-legitimize" Brooke's win, because you don't want to see someone who spent the whole race bitching, moaning, complaining and screeching "I can't do it" be rewarded for it at the end. But the only sense in which Brooke didn't "deserve" to win is in respect to Karma. Unfortunately good things happen to bad people and vice versa. I never liked her and I still don't like her and I'm not telling anyone they should like her. But, she deserved to win on merit as much as anyone else who ever won. We've had terrific, strong, positive and upbeat racers get eliminated in the first few legs and we've had klutzy, weak and dumb racers stumble their way into the final three. It's just the way the game works and at the end of the day, whoever crosses that finish line first won fair and square. 

[Netfoot]

22 hours ago, ProfCrash said:

If there is anything in that bag that IDs you, there is a possibility that you will hear from law enforcement.

And they would hear me laughing in their face.  Unless there is a new law which says you can't throw anything away any more.

[mikewho]

Quote

It's a time honoured tradition on TAR, from the days of Teri and Ian (famously of the Asshat), who used disposable underwear and threw them away as they went along!

And don't forget Frank and Margarita from season one, who threw things from their backpacks away toward the end of the race (I think they did it in an airport) in order to make their backpacks lighter.

[kiddo82]

6 hours ago, Netfoot said:

And they would hear me laughing in their face.  Unless there is a new law which says you can't throw anything away any more.

I'm with those who think there's probably a rule that you unless it's stowed on a vehicle in which you are currently traveling (plane, taxi, train, etc.) your bag has to be in line of sight of you or your partner.  We've seen racers drop their packs when they located Phil at a pit stop but not before while searching the grounds.  The producers don't need it publicized that the Amazing Race shut down an airport, bus station, or tourist attraction because some yo yo racer abandoned his or her backpack in a crowd of people.  As far as there being no law against it, forget the race, in today's world, is that really a thread anyone wants to pull on?

Edited June 8, 2017 by kiddo82

[Netfoot]

36 minutes ago, kiddo82 said:

As far as there being no law against it, forget the race, in today's world, is that really a thread anyone wants to pull on?

Are you honestly saying that if I want to throw away this Amazon box or this old suitcase, and I throw them in a dumpster, someone will take issue with me for doing it?  Of course not.  You are allowed to dispose of items you no longer want/need.  If you are in the demolition business and you have an old unwanted box marked "DYNAMITE", nobody can realistically expect you to keep it forever.  

[holly4755]

but don't try it in an airport today or a public bin. you throw it away in your apartment dumpster.  too many bombs. too many in back packs. 

[ProfCrash]

"Are you honestly saying that if I want to throw away this Amazon box or this old suitcase, and I throw them in a dumpster, someone will take issue with me for doing it?  Of course not.  You are allowed to dispose of items you no longer want/need.  If you are in the demolition business and you have an old unwanted box marked "DYNAMITE", nobody can realistically expect you to keep it forever."

I don't believe that there is a law that prevents you from throwing anything away any where. I do believe that you would hear from Police to let you knew that they had blown up your bag because it was left unattended and the x-ray robot saw something in there it couldn't identify but it looked like it might be an explosive device. And if you are cool with the police spending money on blowing up your intentionally left bag so that you could race lighter to win a million dollars, that is cool. I suspect, and it is only a suspicion, that there is a Race rule in place to prevent people from dumping their bags because the Race does not want the negative press that would come from such an incident. I have seen Police go check on bags that were left unattended in public places in the DC area. The busses have giant signs reminding people to report suspicion or unattended packages. I know that my board game, Ticket to Ride, looked like something with circuits and bomb like when it went through the X-Ray machine at the airport (I was stopped and asked to open my carry on bag that held the game and I asked the guy why, he showed me the image. It looked like a bomb. If I my bag had been left alone and the Police scanned it, they would have brought in a bomb disposal robot and blown it up.)

I suspect that people are less likely to report stuff thrown away in your garbage and the dumpster by your apartment building. I do think people would report a dynamite box thrown away at a private residence because very few people need dynamite at their house and that would be suspicious as all hell and gone. Heck, there are laws that require Home Depot and Lowe's to call the police if people buy more then a certain amount of fertilizer, the private purchase of dynamite is not something I see going uninvestigated these days. I am guessing that people in who are legally using dynamite are throwing the boxes away in places where it is not suspicious and not taking those boxes home, the Michigan Avenue in down town Chicago, or to the airport to dispose of the box where it would look really, really bad.

We are trying to understand why two teams did not dispose of their backpacks when they knew another team had and they had ample opportunity to do so, as pointed out in cabs and other areas, because it seems like a good idea once you realize you are going to be walking 25 or more blocks and carrying a backpack is going to be a pain and you no longer need the gear in the backpack because it is the final leg. Heck, you even have an entire production team with you who would probably pick it up to prevent a bad PR situation. But they didn't drop their bags in a perfectly legal trash can or next to a trash can or in a cab or on the L. The best explanation I can come up with is that they are not allowed to. As others have posted, teams carry their packs all the way to the mat, only dropping them when they are with in eye sight of the mat, probably because they would not be allowed to go back to a cab or further down the path to get their bags. And yes, we have seen people carrying plastic bags with stuff. In those cases bags were ruined or the team had lost all their stuff because of that dumb penalty they had for people coming in last. We still saw them carrying the bag with them, to all tasks, and the mat and wherever they went. They didn't leave them any place.

Which is a lot of circumstantial evidence that there is a rule preventing teams from abandoning their gear. Brooke and Scott did not abandon their gear, it was legally checked and they could go to the airport to get it since the race was at an end and it would not cost them time to do so.

[Netfoot]

3 hours ago, ProfCrash said:

And if you are cool with the police spending money on blowing up your intentionally left bag so that you could race lighter to win a million dollars, that is cool.

Obviously, nobody is going to deliberately leave a package in a sensitive area, and risk calling in the bomb squad.  (Unless they are a thoughtless idiot or a troublemaker.)  Which is why if I had a backpack to discard I'd dump the contents individually (dirty Tee shirts and long-johns, stinky socks, etc), and then dump the empty backpack with all the zippers open.  I'm just quite certain that if you had a backpack to dispose of, you could do so, and not run afoul of the law.  

There may be a race-rule on the matter, but it's been done so many times before it would have to be a new rule.  

Quote

I have seen Police go check on bags that were left unattended in public places in the DC area.

I've seen the bomb-squad descend on an unattended bag only yards from where I sat, in Heathrow terminal.  And I've heard the PA announcement a few minutes later, asking people not to leave their bags unattended.

3 hours ago, ProfCrash said:

I am guessing that people in who are legally using dynamite are throwing the boxes away in places where it is not suspicious and not taking those boxes home, the Michigan Avenue in down town Chicago, or to the airport to dispose of the box where it would look really, really bad.

Have a look at this.

3 hours ago, ProfCrash said:

Brooke and Scott did not abandon their gear, it was legally checked and they could go to the airport to get it since the race was at an end and it would not cost them time to do so.

I seem to recall at least one team FedExing their backpacks home at the start of the last leg...