9 p.m. Eastern/Pacific Posted on 02/24/2005 8:35:27 AM PST by Veto!
Begins March 1 on CBS, 9 p.m. Eastern/Pacific
Here we go again, race fans, for the Seventh Season of The Amazing Race (TAR7). We'll vicariously travel with eleven teams as they fly, drive, climb, crawl, leap, slide, and boogie around the world to compete for one million dollars. They'll never know where they're going next or what they'll have to do once there. The last team to arrive at the "designated pit stop" at the end of each week's episode will be eliminated from the race -- unless it is not. So pull up your favorite armchair and travel along with the Freeper Amazing Race contingent every Tuesday night for the next few months as we root for favorites, throw tomatoes at the others, and wish we were the ones living dangerously. BON VOYAGE!
A Thumbnail Photo Guide To This Season's Possibly Amazing Racers
Brian, 27 & Greg, 24 are brothers from Santa Monica, California. Brian is an actor/bartender and Greg is a bouncer. Their primary motivation for participating in the Race is to travel the world with each other and meet new people. Veto!s opinion: Team Bro wants face time on tv. They are big, strong, in shape, and they think they're action stars. But are they wily? Could be they'll be eating other teams' dust.
Debbie & Bianca are best friends from Los Angeles, California and Woodbridge, Virginia, respectively. Bianca is a high school teacher and Debbie works as a photographer. Both are highly educated, experienced travelers, and have lived abroad. Veto!s opinion: Keep an eye on these two. Unless they scratch each other’s eyes out, they’ll probably do just fine.
Lynn & Alex are (would you believe?) a gay couple from West Hollywood, California. They both work as executive assistants. With their four-year anniversary on the horizon, they possibly hope to get married in Amsterdam—if indeed they race through Amsterdam. Veto!s opinion: Need I say?
Megan & Heidi, a make-up artist and fashion designer, are roommates from Oak Park, California. Both are allegedly extremely competitive and not afraid to take risks. They decided to sign up for the Race “just for the challenge and competition.” Veto!s opinion:. Can the Hair Queens keep up the pace when their tresses get tangled? I see hissy fits on the horizon.
Meredith, 69, & Gretchen, 66, are a husband/wife team from Easton, Maryland. Meredith is a retired executive and Gretchen is a retired nurse/flight attendant. He holds seven National Masters Swimming Championship titles, she admits to being quite loud, particularly when upset. . Veto!s opinion: If Gretch doesn’t turn into Nurse Ratched, they may go far and win Freeper kudos for their efforts.
Ray, 44, & Deana, 27, are a dating-on-and-off team from Canfield, Ohio and Youngstown, Ohio respectively. Ray, a former semi-pro football player, is a stockbroker and Deana is a marketing and promotions executive. Both enjoy weight lifting and karate. Veto!s opinion:This season’s “will their relationship last?” team. Ray will overdo it trying to beat younger guys. Ho-hum.
Rob, 29, & Amber, 26, AKA Boston Rob and Ambuh, are an engaged couple from Canton, Massachusetts and Beaver, Pennsylvania, respectively. They formed an alliance and fell in love when they competed with each other on “Survivor: All Stars.” Amber won the one million dollar prize. Rob finished as the $100k runner-up, but proposed to Amber before they knew which had won the big bucks. Veto!s opinion: Two Thumbs Up! Highly athletic and competitive, these two know how to work together. But will their “take-over-the-‘hood” skills that won them Survivor translate to racing’s Hall of Fame? Why, indeed, not?
Ron, 28, & Kelly, 26, are a dating Team from Villa Rica, Georgia and Greenville, South Carolina, respectively. Ron is a former Iraq War POW who is currently a student at the University of Georgia and works as a motivational speaker. Kelly was crowned Miss South Carolina in 2002 and works as a Legislative Correspondent…(for whom?) Ron was an Apache helicopter pilot in Iraq. When shot down, he was captured, interrogated, held captive and later rescued by the United States Marines. Following his rescue, Ron returned home and was introduced to the reigning Miss South Carolina. The two have been an item ever since. Ron is very competitive and admits he’s a thrill seeker. . Veto!s opinion: Two more thumbs 'way up. They’ll be Freepers’ favorites, and they have what it takes to win.
Ryan, 31, & Chuck, 32, are lifelong friends from Landrum, South Carolina and Inman, South Carolina, respectively. Ryan is a general contractor, and Chuck works in boiler tube replacement sales. Both are motorcycle nuts and very religious. . Veto!s opinion: Definitely wily Southern boys. Up against tough competition, but I hope they make a good showing.
Uchenna, 40, & Joyce, 44, a childless married couple from Houston. Uchenna worked for Enron as an energy trader and Joyce worked in sales for WorldCom, have different jobs since their companies went bankrupt. If they win, they say they’ll use the money for in-vitro fertilization. Veto!s opinion:A tough, scrappy pair, but too much tension here, methinks, for them to get much traction. They’re hardly Kim and Chip, the wonderful black couple who won Amazing Race two seasons back.
Susan, 54, & Patrick, 26, are mother and gay son. She is the Director for Judicial Affairs for Miami University in Ohio and Patrick is a writer now living in Hollywood. Susan, married to Patrick’s father for 34 years, earned her college degree as a “non-traditional” student. Patrick says his family has always been very supportive of him,even —surprise, surprise-- when he told them he was gay. Veto!s opinion: They’re looking for love in all the wrong places; hopefully, their elimination from the show will be swift and merciful.
That’s it for the Preview.
At the beginning of the show, Rob discovered that the first bus to leave would not be the first bus to arrive. He whispered that news to Ron, also to a couple of other guys, but everyone caught on and all climbed on the faster bus. Rob then collected a few bucks from Ron, Ray, and Uchenna, (The Testosterone Brotherhood), who were all sitting at the front of the bus at Rob's direction. He bribed the bus driver to open the front door when they arrived but keep the back door closed, thus putting Ron in the first group to scramble for taxis. It worked well and this group maintained that small but effective lead for the rest of the show, finishing 1,2,3,4..
I had the sense that it was not just the 40-second lead but the psychological boost those guys got from banding together. Rob, who works in construction, understands these Manly Man things and uses them to his advantage. Could be one of the other MMs will rise up to out-alpha him, but we'll see.
I have to concede the point, dead. They were PIA's at IKEA. Still they seemed a classier couple than Meredith and Gretch. No AARP team will ever win TAR, but they attract older viewers and build up the show's ratings, which I'm all for. More ratings mean more TARs. Next season, they're going after kids on a family TAR, so there probably will be no one over 40 to grouse about.
Still they seemed a classier couple than Meredith and Gretch.
Alright, I’ll give them that.
No AARP team will ever win TAR
Sooner or later, you have to run fast up a big hill or be eliminated.
The addition of kids in the 8-18 range is going to raise the annoying factor exponentially, which is just fine by me. I love hating people on television, especially when I get to watch them get eliminated.
They had the betting story over at Survivor Sucks. Also what has come to be known as the "Jamaica Spoiler" on who the final three teams are. I invite anyone who wants spoilers to visit there, although be warned, many of them are a bunch of blue state $h**heels who disparage Ron, George Bush and the American Military. I tune out those threads when they turn political.
Thought Romber ran a flawless leg. However, sorry, never liked them. But he was the only one that did the books in one trip because he knew how to pack and distribute the load.
I thought the betting story was telling but I don't put too much weight on spoilers. I went on Amazing Race Sucks website last season that swore inside info on the remaining teams being Hayden/Aaron, Lori/Bolo and Adam/Rebecca. They had Freddy & Kendra (winners) in fourth place.
Agreed. They always seem to get older couples that can't meet the vigorous physical demands. Now, you know there are older couples that do marathons and iron man competitions. I want one of those couples!
If I were to bet actual money on this race, I'd go around the Net saying that my brother's cousin knows a producer at TAR and can say for sure that the XYZ team wins. If properly placed, this rumor could increase the odds against my real favorite, thus upping my earnings. Too easy for some jerk to do, so I never bet.
The brothers? Gee, RCG, they are awfully cute but I don't think they have the requisite heart/torque to win. But may your fave eye candy stay around for awhile for your aesthetic pleasure.
He paid a bus station person to not tell other teams that the express bus leaving AFTER the bus that everybody was getting on actually arrived 30 minutes before the early bus. He then let Ron and Uchenna in on the "secret" but the other teams found out about it a little later.
He paid the bus driver to only open the front doors of the bus when they got to the destination before opening the back doors. This gave the "front of the bus sitters" about a 2 minute lead getting off the bus.
Rob is ruthless and he is playing the game exactly as I would. Look for an advantageand the hell with the other teams. Play your game, don't follow the others.
There were other "plays" but I forget what they were.
I did not like Rob in the first Survivor. He seemed like a slacker/whiner on that show. On All-stars, he did great. I personally would have voted for him over Amber.
The first show, I thought he really didn't do much, but this show he did. He did great with stacking the books, so they could make one trip. I thought he was smart to tell the security guard not to talk to the other teams, and I loved it when he bribed the bus driver not to open the door in the back of the bus.
He also seems to have done some homework, and is doing great at speaking Spanish. I think every TAR has gone to at least one Spanish speaking country, so it seems like that would be a good language to brush up on if you are going on TAR.
Rob is also not a wimp. He'll do the challenges, like a man. All the gay guys were so awful looking on the zip line last episode, and Rob looked like a real guy. Also, Rob is very nice to Amber and she is very nice to him. That says a lot for the two of them.
No doubt about it. I do have, to my discredit, some previous knowledge of Rob, but you are absolutely right - he was definitely smart to check around and see what else was available. The bus thing and not opening the doors - well, that I'm not so fond of, but it can come back to bite him in the butt later on with the other teams - you never know. On another board, someone was indignant about the fact that he "pocketed" the other teams money. And as I pointed out to them, well, no, he didn't - he just didn't use HIS money.
Rob's smart - he may not be the most articulate racer there ever was, and he may have a touch of arrogance to him, but he runs a hell of a race and he tries to think ahead - he doesn't really rush into situations - as you pointed out, he takes a little extra time to weigh the options. You don't see a lot of racers do that -- they just rush rush rush to the nearest option, find the other one was more feasible and lose lots and lots of time. I think it was Season 2 when a team tried one detour, screwed it up, went to the other detour, couldn't do that, and then went back to the first detour, completed that, and were Phil-iminated that night. I'm like "yeah, that was a brilliant strategy."
I have to ask -- are you a "red" Republican because of state or hair color? Hee! And Veto - thanks for starting this thread. It's the only Amazing Race thread for discussion that it's full of Anti-Bush, Anti-Iraq ^&*^%$!!
Survivor has sucked the last couple of seasons - you haven't missed a thing!
Agree - Rob should have won All-Stars. Anyone that could make the other tribe vote off one of their own instead of an outsider is the King of all out-players. But I really, really, disliked him in Marquesas.
And my post above? Should have said it's the only site that ISN'T Anti-Bush, yada yada yada
Agreeance with every word. Rob could never had achieved the mind-control of his entire tribe during All-Stars if he hadn't kicked butt during the physical challenges. Rob learned from his first Survivor, and Amber learned from hers. The folks they beat out on All Stars had learned nothing, and played the same loser game.
If some of the teams on AR don't start paying attention to their own games instead of focusing on Rob's game, they'll never catch up. I keep telling my kids that the Amazing Race lesson is don't worry about who is in front of you, just keep your eyes on what you're doing.
Red = hair color. But I am in Georgia so I'm Red in that column too.
Other than on TAR4 and TAR6, all of the other seasons had their first several legs in Latin American countries. Yes, speaking Spanish is a good initial advantage; however, it is quickly negated as the race travels eastward.
It looks more and more that the most important TAR skill is akin to being able to cycle in the Tour de France pelaton: being able to keep without much effort, try to get the other teams "pull" you along around the world, and only put the effort into not being last each leg to conserve money and energy for the final push.
Lucky....I'm from Carolina originally. My two favorite cities in the U.S. are Charleston and Savannah - can't beat that Georgia coastal accent.
All I can say is WOW! I know we're not supposed to mention the other show he was on but...that's very similar to how he manipulated his way to the top. Encircled himself with 3-4, 3 men and the other Amber, and kept them on the inside of his group and had them working for him and would throw them a bone every now and then to build up loyalty. He was ruthless. This is going to be very interesting to watch.
Yes they are having auditions for the show in Birmingham, AL. I would love to go watch to see how they choose the teams.
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