The Amazing Race -- All-Purpose Thread

The admiration and respect that Rob and Corey hold for one another is so incredibly wholesome. Great final three.

 

Rob & Corey 4 Life, but not sure if there's ever been a final three where I have no problem with any of the possibilities.

 

How Corey treats his dad versus how Anna Leigh treats her dad...

 

It really is. It should be a great season finale.

I'm rooting for Rob and Corey to win, just because I would love to see it. But I really like all the teams, and I'd be happy for any of them. These teams have been the personification of what, I think, Phil Keoghan and the show's producers have always hoped and intended The Amazing Race to be -- competitive, and outside people's comfort zones, but also, positive and life-affirming for all involved.

That Riverdance looked incredibly hard, and Joel did well to stick with it and get it down after, what? Nine attempts, I think? He and Garrett also did a great job, for the second week in a row, of rebounding after falling behind to get to the mat before another team. I got a kick out of Garrett standing in the pub, plugging his ears while Joel recited his James Joyce quote, probably so that it wouldn't mess up his memorizing of his own quote.

 

Am I the only one a little bummed that they're no longer sponsored by Travelocity? Will anyone think of that poor gnome?

 

One of my regrets about our time in Dublin in 2019 was not taking in the hurling semifinal between Cork and Kilkenny at Croke Park which was up the street from our hotel. Supporters from both clubs took over the pubs on O'Connell street, amazing atmosphere.

 

That could've been you, reciting a confusing, long-winded James Joyce quote in a pub!

 

I for one hope Corey manages to take his Riverdance instructor on one of the Expedia trips he won; they made for a cute couple.

 

I've been thinking of Corey's mention of his and his dad's strategy of having Rob do most of the earlier tasks, leaving more of the later ones for Corey because they thought the challenges might be more difficult toward the end, and with Corey being younger and faster, that doing that might benefit them.

Is that true? Has anybody noticed that, either this season, or in past years -- that the roadblocks get progressively, if incrementally, harder as the legs go along? Corey said they weren't sure that actually happens but that that was their thought, and would be their attempt to deal with it if it happened (which was why Corey ended up doing both challenges this week). I guess each team member has to do six?

I have to say that I have not really ever noticed that trend, but maybe I'm just into just watching and not really assessing every little thing. Plus, I feel like the challenges are so far-flung and different all the time, so they're all over the place in terms of type and ease or difficulty.

 

I wondered if there were some tasks Corey had to do because his dad is deaf. Could Rob have done the dancing challenge? Even with a sign interpreter, it would have been difficult.

Sometime they are told who can’t do a task, like how Todd couldn’t ride in a plane because he was too large.

 

I kind of don't think so, unless it's to do with legitimate safety concerns, like the size/weight of a person in a glider, say. I'm sure there were/are some tasks which Corey would be better suited to do, but otherwise, it seems like it's up to the team. And, like Corey, Anna Leigh's dad had to do both challenges this week, too, because he hadn't fulfilled his quota.

Also, they had Rob do the recitation of the quote, which, if there was ever something he couldn't have done (speaking-wise, I mean), that was it. But I'm guessing there was an interpreter there, somewhere off to the side, verifying that he was, in fact, "saying"/signing the quote correctly? I don't know how true this is, either, but it is said that deaf people can often "feel" music, and dance that way, anyway. I'd say Rob would probably have struggled with the Riverdance, but it might've been something he could've done by watching the steps and with the repetition of practice, which is pretty much all Joel did.

There have been other race participants with disabilities in the past, and I don't recall any super-apparent special rules/requirements or favors done for them in any of the events. Remember, there has been at least one other deaf/severely hearing-impaired competitor in the past. I also remember Sarah Reinertsen, a competitor who had had a leg amputated but, like Rob, did well in TAR (I seem to remember her climbing up some big rock castle wall, or something like that. It was a huge struggle, if I recall, but she, amazingly, managed to do it). There was also Bethany Hamilton, the surfer who had her arm bitten off by a shark, who paired with boyfriend (now husband) Adam Dirks to finish third in Season 25 of TAR. She struggled mightily with a bicycle-riding challenge, and, in fact, didn't really even ride the bike but ended up walking it along (and the show let that go, so, yeah, that might've been one instance of a sort-of pass for a handicapped person), but she still had to complete it herself however she could; and there has been at least one team of dwarfs that I recall...so, unless it's a direct safety regulation as might be involved in flying, I'd say no, there are no special stipulations or considerations.

Maybe Wenders might know for sure, though?

 

We watched the first half of the game in a pub and even with Wimbledon and the British Grand Prix on that day, the hurling was on all of the TVs. Crazy sport.