# Amazing Race 11/5: "He Can't Swim, But He Can Eat Cow Lips" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 6, 2006, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-11-5-he-cant-swim-but-he-can-eat-cow-lips/379244 "2006-11-06T02:42:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2006, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-11-5-he-cant-swim-but-he-can-eat-cow-lips/379244/21 "2006-11-06T14:14:06Z")
I’d like to know how long the Detour and Roadblock took, compared to how long the Models and Kimberly & Rob were forcing down cow lips. They were so confident that they could just take their time, and yet the BQs (and very nearly the \*Wins) beat them to the mat. ---
**Author:** ![light\_strand](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a6a055/32.png) [@light\_strand](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/light_strand)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2006, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-11-5-he-cant-swim-but-he-can-eat-cow-lips/379244/22 "2006-11-06T14:22:36Z")
I don’t understand all of the hating at Mary. She is not a shrew I don’t care how you look at it. She is short. She is direct. But she not malicious, and she makes no attempt to undermine or embarrass David, especially in front of others. I really liked both of them. I think the \*lyns hit it on the head when they said that Kentucky just aren’t jaded, and it’s fun to watch them embrace every new experience. In the insider videos last week David was saying what he would do if they won the money. It nearly broke my heart. Anyway. I’m over the BQs. I liked them until they took the other car. They seem to gotten mean, for no other reason than to just be mean. Rob and Kimberly are far more annoying than David and Mary could ever dream of being, and the Model boys, are just weird. I mean, I can’t make heads nor tails of them. They’re nasty and short-tempered at oddly inappropriate times. They’re kinda juvenile, and there’s just something simpering about them that I can’t put my finger on. I rooting for the Chos. Good guys don’t have to finish last. ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2006, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-11-5-he-cant-swim-but-he-can-eat-cow-lips/379244/23 "2006-11-06T14:37:45Z")
I’m one of those who didn’t like Mary - she actually reminds me of some women I know IRL, so maybe that’s it. They’re actually nice and sweet to other people, but mean and nasty to their husbands, and the husbands just seem to sit back and take it. The one event that stand out for me was when they were in Vietnam and David was talking about being where his father fought, and seeing the places he’d been and talked about, and Mary leaned forward from the back seat and snapped at him to hurry up and find the place they were looking for - something like that. It just pissed me off. David was having a ‘moment,’ if you will, one of those confessionals, and she just had to be a shrew and yell at him. There were other times, when he was talking that she’d interrupt and talk over him or disagree with anything he said. Like she always has to be right, or get the last word in, no matter what he says. What did David say he was going to do with the money? I know they wanted it for their kids; I’m guessing for college or a better house? I still like the BQs, but I agree they were wrong to take someone else’s car. I got the impression they took the Model’s car, so the Models took someone else’s car - I forget now whose it was, but whoever else had a red car. Either 'Bama or Kentucky. Rob and Kimberly do annoy me, too. And the Model Boys irritate me for some reason. I’m also rooting for the Chos. I just hate that they feel they owe the 'Bamas something or that they have to wait for the other part of their “Six-Pack” which, thankfully is no more. One of them did make a comment about letting one of the other Six-Pack teams win over them at the end. I guess if it came down to a footrace at the end, the Chos would give up and let the 'Bama Moms win? WFT? I don’t see 'Bama getting that far, but seriously, WTF? I’m all for good sportsmanship, but damn, it’s a race, you know? It’s a million freaking dollars! ---
**Author:** ![lorene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/65b543/32.png) [@lorene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lorene)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2006, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-11-5-he-cant-swim-but-he-can-eat-cow-lips/379244/24 "2006-11-06T14:41:10Z")
[QUOTE=Southpaw] Since when is the Race about being friendly? The BQs have no obligation to be nice to their competitors, just run a clean race. Which is what they’re doing. [/QUOTE] Right, absolutely. But then don’t complain about _finding out who your friends are_ when you’re stuck waiting around for a team to pair with you. I agree that overemphasis on friendship will likley cost a team the Race, but I don’t agree with turning it on and off like the BQs do. Especially don’t get pouty about people not wanting to play with you when you left them your banged-up car to drive. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2006, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-11-5-he-cant-swim-but-he-can-eat-cow-lips/379244/25 "2006-11-06T14:45:17Z")
[QUOTE=BiblioCat] I’m one of those who didn’t like Mary - she actually reminds me of some women I know IRL, so maybe that’s it. They’re actually nice and sweet to other people, but mean and nasty to their husbands, and the husbands just seem to sit back and take it. The one event that stand out for me was when they were in Vietnam and David was talking about being where his father fought, and seeing the places he’d been and talked about, and Mary leaned forward from the back seat and snapped at him to hurry up and find the place they were looking for - something like that. It just pissed me off. David was having a ‘moment,’ if you will, one of those confessionals, and she just had to be a shrew and yell at him. There were other times, when he was talking that she’d interrupt and talk over him or disagree with anything he said. Like she always has to be right, or get the last word in, no matter what he says. [/quote] There was only one little moment of Mary-nastiness in the last race that we were shown. David was asking to get the window seat, saying that he hasn’t gotten it once. I don’t remember her nasty comment in reply, but I do remember taking note of it and wondering how the folks who find Mary so delightful miss all those little sniping nasty things. I thought the last episode included more Mary moments, and you certainly spotlighted one of the archetypal nasty-Mary moments. I find it interesting that some of the people who thought that the Hippie’s use of local phrases was a manipulative put-on are the same people who thought that Mary’s doing so is charming evidence of her investment in the joys of the race. ---
**Author:** ![light\_strand](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a6a055/32.png) [@light\_strand](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/light_strand)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2006, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-11-5-he-cant-swim-but-he-can-eat-cow-lips/379244/26 "2006-11-06T14:48:39Z")
She said “Fine, whatever”. THAT BITCH! ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2006, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-11-5-he-cant-swim-but-he-can-eat-cow-lips/379244/27 "2006-11-06T14:50:16Z")
[QUOTE=Hentor the Barbarian] There was only one little moment of Mary-nastiness in the last race that we were shown. David was asking to get the window seat, saying that he hasn’t gotten it once. [/QUOTE] Oh, that’s right, I forgot about that. The fact that he had to _beg_ for the window seat just accented her meanness and selfishness even more. She’s probably thinking, “Well, I’ve never been on a plane, and now’s my chance. I want the window seat!” She’s not even thinking about him wanting to sit by the window. You’d think they’d trade back and forth on the window seat. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2006, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-11-5-he-cant-swim-but-he-can-eat-cow-lips/379244/28 "2006-11-06T15:06:44Z")
[QUOTE=light strand] She said “Fine, whatever”. THAT BITCH! [/QUOTE] Like I said, one little moment. Do you find that to be a sweet and considerate thing to say? Perhaps they just edited out all the times that she wasn’t a nasty person to David, and also all the times that he said something that warranted such nastiness to her. Perhaps they also edited out all the times that the BQ’s were nice to the other teams as well. ---
**Author:** ![Lady\_of\_the\_Lake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e19adc/32.png) [@Lady\_of\_the\_Lake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lady_of_the_Lake)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2006, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-11-5-he-cant-swim-but-he-can-eat-cow-lips/379244/29 "2006-11-06T15:11:31Z")
I’m not angry about the outcome, even though I rather liked team Kentucky. They were interesting…but…they’ve been in the last for far too long and I felt it right that they be eliminated. Thus, I was happy that the Cho’s teamed up with the Barbies, as I knew they’d do very well at any physical challenge. I even rather liked Mary, for all of her barking at her husband, because the place for most clueless, rude player goes to Rob for me. Rob: _looks around at the ‘natives’ (or perhaps he still considers them the foreigners in their own country?)_ “And they get less protein so they have smaller brains.” wtf? It just rubs me as actively…rude and treads the line on racist for me…but maybe it’s not so much racist as classist on his part? He just seems to have this ‘Americans like me’ vs ‘dirty, stupid foreigners infesting the rest of the world’ attitude. Ugh. ---
**Author:** ![light\_strand](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a6a055/32.png) [@light\_strand](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/light_strand)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2006, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-11-5-he-cant-swim-but-he-can-eat-cow-lips/379244/30 "2006-11-06T15:19:19Z")
[QUOTE=Hentor the Barbarian] Like I said, one little moment. Do you find that to be a sweet and considerate thing to say? Perhaps they just edited out all the times that she wasn’t a nasty person to David, and also all the times that he said something that warranted such nastiness to her. Perhaps they also edited out all the times that the BQ’s were nice to the other teams as well. [/QUOTE] No I don’t think it was charming. But it seems to me that if you’re looking for a reason to hate her, you’re gonna find one. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2006, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-11-5-he-cant-swim-but-he-can-eat-cow-lips/379244/31 "2006-11-06T15:36:29Z")
[QUOTE=Hentor the Barbarian] I find it interesting that some of the people who thought that the Hippie’s use of local phrases was a manipulative put-on are the same people who thought that Mary’s doing so is charming evidence of her investment in the joys of the race. [/QUOTE] I for one don’t recall that I thought the dirty filthy hippies using local phrases was a manipulative put-on. I recall thinking that the dirty filthy hippies tried waaaaaay to hard to be funny and weren’t, so perhaps they were tiresomely trying to be funny in other languages and failing and that was coming off as manipulative. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2006, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-11-5-he-cant-swim-but-he-can-eat-cow-lips/379244/32 "2006-11-06T15:47:59Z")
[QUOTE=Southpaw] Since when is the Race about being friendly? The BQs have no obligation to be nice to their competitors, just run a clean race. Which is what they’re doing. [/QUOTE] There’s a general societal obligation to be polite to others. I for one don’t give two hoots in hell if the BQs or anyone else are “nice” to each other but I do expect common courtesy. And if you choose not to be courteous then you give up all right to complain about others being discourteous to you. ---
**Author:** ![Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2006, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-11-5-he-cant-swim-but-he-can-eat-cow-lips/379244/33 "2006-11-06T17:35:32Z")
Yay! Kentucky is gone and Alabama is next! Gripe, gripe, gripe and be incompetent. I swear there have got to be washed-out teams watching that are stunned Kentucky and Alabama made it so far. The Beauty Queens showed once again how they dominate this race – beating two teams who went for a Fast-Forward is beautiful. I’ve never seen that before, and doubt I’ll see it again. It would have been even greater if Erwin or Godwin had managed to get a faster cab and come in second place – but now the Chos have incentive. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2006, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-11-5-he-cant-swim-but-he-can-eat-cow-lips/379244/34 "2006-11-06T17:45:56Z")
Of the teams left, I only like the Beauty Queens and the Chos. I’m rooting for the Beauty Queens because they have been running a smart, well thought out race. I don’t really care if they aren’t super friendly or if they are snobby or whatever, they’re racing to win. I would root for the Chos except that I think they’ve been so stupid to align themselves with other teams and then wait for them when they could have gone on. Helping each other out is nice and well, helpful. But waiting for teams behind you to catch up is just plain stupid. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2006, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-11-5-he-cant-swim-but-he-can-eat-cow-lips/379244/35 "2006-11-06T17:56:21Z")
[QUOTE=Otto] I thought there was supposed to be something of a moratorium on the gross-out eating challenges but we’ve had two this season. [/QUOTE] I think there’s been a moratorium on \*high-volume \* eating challenges: 10 lbs of caviar, a gallon of paprika soup. That kinda thing. But local delicacies are still on the menu, so to speak. (For god’s sake, couldn’t they at least remove the _teeth_? Eww.) Wasn’t there a previous Race where someone took the FF, and came in last? Or nearly last? Team Cha-Cha, maybe? Help me out here… ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2006, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-11-5-he-cant-swim-but-he-can-eat-cow-lips/379244/36 "2006-11-06T18:01:07Z")
[QUOTE=Barbarian] The Beauty Queens showed once again how they dominate this race – beating two teams who went for a Fast-Forward is beautiful. I’ve never seen that before, and doubt I’ll see it again. [/QUOTE] Well, this was sort of a special circumstances FF since there’s never been a joint availability one before, but there’ve definitely been instances where the FF team didn’t finish first. Perhaps most infamously when Team Guido from season 1 took the FF and ended up at the Pit Stop dead last, only to be saved by a truly punitive time penalty slapped on another team. Dennis and Andrew also ended up last after using a FF and were eliminated in season 3. > [@Rhiannon8404](#): > > I would root for the Chos except that I think they’ve been so stupid to align themselves with other teams and then wait for them when they could have gone on. Helping each other out is nice and well, helpful. But waiting for teams behind you to catch up is just plain stupid. See, I can’t quite decide if they’re irredeemably stupid or executing a strategy that only makes them look irreemably stupid. Keeping David and Mary in the race while Peter and Sarah went home was definitely to the Chos’ advantage but, as I said at the time, I don’t believe they were looking at it in those terms. ---
**Author:** ![Interrobang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/interrobang/32/17463_2.png) [@Interrobang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Interrobang)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2006, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-11-5-he-cant-swim-but-he-can-eat-cow-lips/379244/37 "2006-11-06T18:53:08Z")
I didn’t hate Kentucky, but it’s been clear for a long time that they weren’t going to win the race. They were more interested in going on the adventure than they were in winning, and while I enjoyed their enthusiasm, it didn’t translate into effective racing. Ever. I’m guessing this is the end of the backpack alliance, since both Bama and the Chos have said that, in the end, this is a race – I think David and Mary were the lynchpins of the Backpack, and they were definitely the ones who were worst at separating friendship from competition. I also didn’t mind this food challenge, in part because it’s the Fast Forward. People who didn’t want to do it could avoid it entirely, if necessary. When they said it was “cow lips,” my first reaction was hot dogs without the casing – until they mentioned the hair and teeth, which I don’t usually think of as part of the lip, myself. I’d like to see either the BQs or the Chos win. I like the BQs, and I have no problem with them being aggressive, but sometimes they’re not all that smart about it. I have no problem with them taking a different car, for example, but why? Were they really afraid the car they drove in would break on the way to the airport? It gained them nothing to take an undamaged car, and just further aggravated other teams – and not in a “we benefit from their aggravation” kind of way. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2006, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-11-5-he-cant-swim-but-he-can-eat-cow-lips/379244/38 "2006-11-06T19:21:31Z")
It looked to me like the headlight might have been damaged or broken. At 3:00 a.m., in a strange country, and driving on the left, no less, I’d want all the light I could get. ---
**Author:** ![zut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zut/32/2875_2.png) [@zut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zut)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2006, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-11-5-he-cant-swim-but-he-can-eat-cow-lips/379244/39 "2006-11-06T19:24:34Z")
Another elimination, and unsurprisingly David & Mary go. What _is_ suprising is how little advantage the Fast Forward gave the teams who took it. **Taxi Assessment** **Stuck in the Desert and Officially Detained** - or, Philiminated with extreme prejudice. _Bilal & Sa’eed_ and _Vipul & Arti_ and _Kellie & Jamie_ and _Duke & Lauren_ and _Tom & Terry_ and _Peter & Sarah_ - Out on their ear. _David & Mary_ - (down from “Flat Tire”) - Did the elimination of this team surprise anyone? It shouldn’t have. However, I will say that David & Mary were screwed by the “Intersection” marker. Consider: with the Detour and the Roadblock so close together, there was almost no opportunity for anyone to make a huge mistake and spot David & Mary the half-hour they needed. To have any chance, the _had_ to take the Fast Forward (assuming they _could_. They seemed to think so, but the TAR site at CBS still says a team may take only one. So I dunno. Work with me here.). But Lyn & Karlyn (quite rightly) didn’t want to chance losing the FF and dropping behind, so they left the FF to Rob & Kimberly and Tyler & James. If only David & Mary had had an opportunity to challenge for the FF, they could have stayed in the Race. **Flat Tire** - or, not likely to get anywhere soon. No one this week. **Stopping for Gas** - or, not broken-down, exactly, but not a good sign. _Lyn & Karlyn_ - (holding steady) - Clearly the weakest of the remaining teams, but not, I think, the lost cause that David & Mary was. Lyn & Karlyn look like the slowest and weakest of the remaining teams, but their navigation is a bit better than average, and with the right tasks they could pass a couple other teams and make it into the final three. **"Rapido! Por Favor?"** - or, making meaningless ineffectual comments from the back seat, but in no immediate danger. _Erwin & Godwin_ - (up from “Stopping”) - A nice solid run for the boys. I admit to wondering if they’d _really_ sacrifice ther own hides for their alliance mates–by, say, intentionally sabotaging their task with Dustin & Kandice in order to give David & Mary a half-hour head start. But they didn’t, and now that they’re not saddled with David & Mary they may go farther. This team seems to be maturing as the Race progresses, so I have high hopes. _Rob & Kimberly_ - (holding steady) - I’m thinking Dustin & Kandice and Tyler & James are near locks for the final three, so the question is: who will be their competition, Erwin & Godwin or Rob & Kimberly? Rob & Kimberly seem to be managing their intra-team bickering, and that’s a positive sign, but it’s hard to tell what the future might bring from this episode alone. **In the Passing Lane** - or, ahead of the pack, but not quite comfortably. _Tyler & James_ - (holding steady) - Like Rob & Kimberly, it’s a bit hard to read anything into this team’s performance this week: they got on the same flight as everyone else, had good luck with their taxi, and made the obvious decision to take the FF. Not much chance to screw up, and they didn’t. **Cruisin’ with Earl** - or, drivin’ on the shoulder, takin’ shortcuts, and generally kickin’ butt. _Dustin & Kandice_ - (holding steady) - A fabulous leg for Dustin & Kandice this week. They got lucky in that the Fast Forward was really a Not-so-Fast Forward, and they also seem to be not-so-well-liked by the other teams–Racing isn’t about being well-liked, but being friendly with other teams can be an advantage. Still, Dustin & Kandice are running smart and aren’t making a lot of mistakes. Definitely the team to beat. Next week: Things! Happening! And when are we going to see a Yield? [sub]Props to **Mullinator** and his Raj Ratings.[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Southpaw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@Southpaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Southpaw)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2006, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-11-5-he-cant-swim-but-he-can-eat-cow-lips/379244/40 "2006-11-06T19:51:14Z")
[QUOTE=Otto] There’s a general societal obligation to be polite to others. I for one don’t give two hoots in hell if the BQs or anyone else are “nice” to each other but I do expect common courtesy. And if you choose not to be courteous then you give up all right to complain about others being discourteous to you. [/QUOTE] How often were they discourteous to other teams? And how often have other teams been discourteous to them and others? The BQs are human, and have said and done some mean or marginal things, but I don’t think they’re as bad other people seem to think. They haven’t broken any rules or been deliberately nasty. I wonder what’s been going on at the Pit Stops that made the other teams dislike BQ so much. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-11-5-he-cant-swim-but-he-can-eat-cow-lips/379244.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-11-5-he-cant-swim-but-he-can-eat-cow-lips/379244.md?page=3)