A Mike Life – The Life of Mike!

The Amazing Race, Final Leg!

// May 10th, 2009 // fun

The team I picked last week to win it all ended up finishing third on the final leg.

Hopefully none of you placed any bets off of my prediction.

*SPOILERS*

The finale was sort of anticlimactic I thought. The challenges along the way were okay, but there was no big skydiving or death-defying event like normal on the final leg.

I guess a jet ski is fun…but I was hoping for something more exciting.

The leg started off with Tammy and Victor leaving at 9:15pm. Jamie and Cara left last, at 2:04am, but it didn’t really matter as planes don’t leave for Hawaii in the middle of the night do they?

On one hand, I get so irritated when teams get bunched together because of planes or challenges, but on the final leg it’s a lot more fun when things get tight. So I was glad they all caught up with each other.

The first thing they had to do when landing in Hawaii was make it to the beach and get into swimsuits. I loved the girls telling their cabbie that he’d get a big tip if he got them there fast.

I think the fact that they changed into their suits in the backseat of the cab was probably tip enough!

The detour was to season a dead pig and carry it across a beach and bury it in dirt. Simple, right? No, it weighed 160 pounds and only Margie and Luke knew how to use their shoulders to carry it. The rest of the teams struggled as Luke and Margie flew by.

I was wondering what the Luau cooks were thinking as they saw all the seasoning on the pigs get washed off every time it was dropped into the ocean.

Jamie once again showed her true colors by bashing Cara for dropping the pig over and over.

“PLEASE PICK UP THE PIG!”

Contrasting that was Victor encouraging Tammy to help her get through the pain. Two different methods to motivate people…which one would you chose?

The next challenge was to find some jet skis and locate a clue amongst hundred of buoys. It didn’t take long for Margie and Luke to get theirs, although Margie was getting a little upset with Luke always yelling and telling her what to do.

On a side note, I was wondering how often Luke really said “Gooooo!” during the race, or did the editors just pipe in a pre-recorded “Goooo!” anytime he was running out of a plane, out of a cab or after getting a clue. *grin*

The other teams arrived shortly and found their clues fairly easily.

Margie and Luke left first, with a decent lead. The others came later, but Jamie and Cara paid the price for their (or really, Jamie’s) hatred of cabbies.

They cab driver (despite speaking English) had no clue where to go, and the lady on the radio wouldn’t help either. Although I find it hilarious that a cab company that delivers people TO destinations doesn’t think they need to HELP find a place you are trying to get to.

It’s sort of like an airline pilot letting you board the plane but then asking you to call the police department in order to find the city you area flying to.

To add insult to injury, the guy had to stop for gas too. Gah!

The final challenge was that ugly memory game that I know I’d probably suck at. Luke had been training and training for it the entire race it appears, a sure sign that these guys are well-educated when it comes to The Amazing Race.

Luke was flying when he started, so much so that his shorts kept falling off. So he decided to “phuket” and take off the swim trunks and finish the challenge in his speedo, t-shirt and black socks. Sexy.

I felt so bad for the kid…he wanted to win this thing so bad, he tried so hard, but he could not get the last two surfboards. While he was trying, Victor came up (stripped to his speedo too), blasted past Luke and ended up taking off first.

Jamie actually ended  up beating Luke too, which makes you wonder how close they would have come to winning the thing if their ridiculous cab driver had known right where to go the first time.

I thought it was very decent of Luke to work with Jamie to help them both finish, even if it ended up with them coming in last.

So, without the editors making us think it was much closer than reality, Tammy and Victor crossed the finish line to win the Amazing Race!

And what can you say bad about these two siblings? They had sort of a cool journey. From starting off awesome, to almost finishing last in episode three, to resolving their differences and kicking butt all the way home.

Still, I got all teary-eyed at poor Luke who so badly wanted to be the first deaf person to win the competition. He was always so hard on himself when he failed, and I just know if I was in his position, I would probably be just as down on myself.

Losing hurts…and coming that close to a million dollars would be brutal. Margie told Luke that the experience was prize enough, but that prize sure couldn’t pay the mortgage.

I’ll probably remember them as one of my more favorite teams. She was the “Bionic Woman” as Phil called her, and they both were great competitors.

So what did you guys think of this season? It was okay, I thought it started out strong and then kind of glided the whole way to the finish. I still love the show though…I think the fact that it really ends up being about people working together makes it one of the best reality shows out there. It’s not about screwing your neighbor, or finding your next wife…it’s just about competition, effort and relationships.

THE CONTEST!

Congrats to the four of us who won the contest: Melissa Jill, Scotty Dub, Tracy and myself!

There is a $5 dollar Starbucks giftcard waiting for each winner. If you don’t like Starbucks, let me know and I’ll find something else for you. I am going to use your email addresses to hopefully send out the gift cards, or if not, I’ll contact you about another method.

Next year we’ll work in some kind of tiebreaker to make sure only one of us wins…but either way, I think it’s impressive how good you guys are at picking the best teams after just one week of watching the show.

I used to run a game like this for Survivor and it was impossible to make any kind of informed decision for that game.

Melissa Jill – Tammy & Victor, Brad & Victoria, Mark & Michael

Scotty – Tammy & Victor, Margie & Luke, Mark & Michael

Jina – Amanda & Kris, Lakisha & Jennifer, Brad & Victoria

Sarah – Margie & Luke, Brad & Victoria, Mark & Michael

Kathy – Christi & Jodi, Cara & Jamie, Amanda & Kris

Mike – Amanda & Kris, Tammy & Victor, Margie & Luke

Tracy – Cara & Jamie, Tammy & Victor

Nicky – Cara & Jamie, Mike & Mel

Sara – Margie & Luke, Brad & Victoria

Adrian – Mike & Mel, Christie & Jodi