# Amazing Race: Family 12/13 - FINALE **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 13, 2005, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-family-12-13-finale/335434 "2005-12-13T17:10:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2005, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-family-12-13-finale/335434/141 "2005-12-15T05:49:36Z")
Just watched a web newscast out of Canada and the hosts bantered a bit about the finale. Both expressed their earnest happiness that the Weevils lost. Truly, the Weevil-hatred is international, nay, universal. ---
**Author:** ![Ms\_Macphisto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b487fb/32.png) [@Ms\_Macphisto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms_Macphisto)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2005, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-family-12-13-finale/335434/142 "2005-12-15T07:34:08Z")
Here’s a great [article](http://jam.canoe.ca/Television/2005/12/14/1352494.html) full of Canadian anti-Weaver snark. Some highlights: > [@](#): > > The spectacular geodesic dome (even the Weavers took the time to admire something other than their own piety) held their next clue > [@](#): > > Upon landing, teams were told to find La Tour CN, which actually managed to stump the Weavers and Bransens. That’s right. They realize they’re in Toronto, there’s an imposing tower sticking out of the city, and they’ve heard of the CN Tower, the largest freestanding building in the world, which happens to be in Toronto, and they’re stumped. Actually, perhaps they haven’t heard of the CN Tower. From what we’ve seen, barely any of these people have ever watched a PBS show, or, you know, paid attention. To anything. And talking about the final Roadblock: > [@](#): > > Only one complaint: we didn’t get to see the Weavers, with their superb geographical knowledge, even attempt this task. That’s must-see-TV right there. ---
**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:** [December 15, 2005, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-family-12-13-finale/335434/143 "2005-12-15T13:01:05Z")
> [@Ms Macphisto](#): > > Here’s a great [article](http://jam.canoe.ca/Television/2005/12/14/1352494.html) full of Canadian anti-Weaver snark. > > Some highlights: > And talking about the final Roadblock: Thank you so much for that! Here’s a great bit: > [@](#): > > Whether it was trying out Spanish on the Montreal cabbie; searching for the Centre for Disease Control (CDC Centre) instead of the CDP Centre; trying to knock out the competition at a Toronto ticket counter; taking logic in strange, new directions (“Right is the most common. We should always take the left.”); or DECIDING TO NAP in the middle of a task because “it’s stupid,” the Weavers pulled off quite a pathetic performance. > > […]The Florida family just barely allowed them to squeeze by as Rolly called one of the Linzes “Thunder Thighs,” and in retaliation Tommy told “Roly Poly” to “shut it.” The righteous Weavers got on the highest horse available and denounced the Linzes for calling names. **Dear Linda: Matthew 23:28. Look it up.** For those of you like I am, here’s Mat 23:28 “Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.” And to my fellow dopers, a simple request. I know I post only rarely in these threads, but I do enjoy reading them - particularly **zut’s** always clever rankings and **scotandrsn** observations. I am hopeful, however, that for the next Amazing Race, we could do without the hundred posts in each thread proclaiming how much we drool in physical desire for a particular racer, and the ever-funny series of posts disputing whether “He’s mine.” “No, he’s mine!” “Oh, no you don’t, I called dibs.” “Did you see when he took his shirt off? ::Swoon::” Perhaps the ladies (since this seems to be almost exclusively their particular thing) could have a separate weekly thread about whichever of the random reality TV people they choose to fixate on for the next series. I’ll include Phil, since he is the default if there just isn’t anyone for whom the magic of merely being on television isn’t even enough to elevate to teen-like panty wetting status. Just a thought. ---
**Author:** ![rockle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/73ab20/32.png) [@rockle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rockle)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2005, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-family-12-13-finale/335434/144 "2005-12-15T13:41:06Z")
> [@Hentor the Barbarian](#): > > I know I post only rarely in these threads, but I do enjoy reading them - particularly **zut’s** always clever rankings and **scotandrsn** observations. I am hopeful, however, that for the next Amazing Race, we could do without the hundred posts in each thread proclaiming how much we drool in physical desire for a particular racer, and the ever-funny series of posts disputing whether “He’s mine.” “No, he’s mine!” “Oh, no you don’t, I called dibs.” “Did you see when he took his shirt off? ::Swoon::” Oh, come on, it isn’t usually a _hundred_ posts. Maybe a dozen. 🆒 I can speak only for myself here: I can’t promise to try, but I can promise to _try to try_, OK? ---
**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:** [December 15, 2005, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-family-12-13-finale/335434/145 "2005-12-15T13:44:48Z")
> [@rockle](#): > > Oh, come on, it isn’t usually a _hundred_ posts. Maybe a dozen. 🆒 > I can speak only for myself here: I can’t promise to try, but I can promise to _try to try_, OK? Okay - perhaps it really isn’t 100. It just seems that way. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2005, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-family-12-13-finale/335434/146 "2005-12-15T14:01:24Z")
I would pay good money to see footage of the Weevils doing the map puzzle. ---
**Author:** ![rockle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/73ab20/32.png) [@rockle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rockle)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2005, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-family-12-13-finale/335434/147 "2005-12-15T14:04:19Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > I would pay good money to see footage of the Weevils doing the map puzzle. Maybe they’ll include it as a “Bonus Feature” on the DVD’s. I’d buy it. ---
**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:** [December 15, 2005, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-family-12-13-finale/335434/148 "2005-12-15T14:09:02Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > I would pay good money to see footage of the Weevils doing the map puzzle. I would love to hear them reasoning their way through it, but in reality I doubt they even tried. Why would anyone, let alone the Weavers, start it, seeing that there were two completed already when they arrived. What penalty would they suffer if they just skipped it? ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2005, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-family-12-13-finale/335434/149 "2005-12-15T14:55:18Z")
> [@Hentor the Barbarian](#): > > What penalty would they suffer if they just skipped it? At the infamous Meatblock, Rob and Amber had to wait four hours from the time the next team got to the Meatblock. Since there were no teams following the Weevils, I would guess they’d have to wait four hours from the time they refused the task? Which they couldn’t have done and have any hope of winning, since they would have to have known they were near the finish line. So either they struggled through the Roadblock or they got Guidoed (“The Linzes have crossed the finish line”). Either way a losing proposition for Weevil haters the world over. ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2005, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-family-12-13-finale/335434/150 "2005-12-15T15:25:04Z")
I’ve heard (via a friend who ‘read it somewhere’, so take it for what it’s worth) that the producers of TAR were pretty pissed by Rob’s rules lawyering and have changed the rules such that the penalty refusing any given task is now (something like) three times as long as the estimated time it would take to complete the task, so Rob would have had to wait like 15 hours (since it took most contestants about 5 hours to finish all the meat). ---
**Author:** ![The\_Big\_Cheese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8baadc/32.png) [@The\_Big\_Cheese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Big_Cheese)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2005, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-family-12-13-finale/335434/151 "2005-12-15T15:41:09Z")
You should always finish the task, because you don’t know if the teams in front of you will get penalized for some reason. I think I remember Meredith & Gretchn(?)/the old couple last year getting to the finish and then being told they did something wrong or forgot something and had to go back. They also don’t know how far behind they are, or how far away the finish is. People do get lost going from the last challenge to the pit stop/finish. ---
**Author:** ![Wolfian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7ea924/32.png) [@Wolfian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolfian)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2005, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-family-12-13-finale/335434/152 "2005-12-15T15:54:53Z")
> [@The Canucks](#): > > And if they weren’t disturbing enough, what was with Carissa Gaghan making a beeline for Rachel, who scooped her up in her arms? To paraphrase Linda Weaver: “Noooo! Don’t touch her!” Tee hee. ---
**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:** [December 15, 2005, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-family-12-13-finale/335434/153 "2005-12-15T16:32:21Z")
> [@Fenris](#): > > I’ve heard (via a friend who ‘read it somewhere’, so take it for what it’s worth) that the producers of TAR were pretty pissed by Rob’s rules lawyering and have changed the rules such that the penalty refusing any given task is now (something like) three times as long as the estimated time it would take to complete the task, so Rob would have had to wait like 15 hours (since it took most contestants about 5 hours to finish all the meat). Hey, I’m all for that. I realize that you heard it from a guy who read it somewhere (and so the veracity is questionable), but if the producers are pissed they only have themselves to blame. The penalty for NOT doing a task should always be longer than the time it takes to actually DO the task–substantially longer. Rules lawyering it is, but if the only penalty for stealing $100 was to be fined $50, theft would be a much bigger problem. ---
**Author:** ![rockle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/73ab20/32.png) [@rockle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rockle)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2005, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-family-12-13-finale/335434/154 "2005-12-15T16:40:54Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > At the infamous Meatblock, Rob and Amber had to wait four hours from the time the next team got to the Meatblock. Since there were no teams following the Weevils, I would guess they’d have to wait four hours from the time they refused the task? Which they couldn’t have done and have any hope of winning, since they would have to have known they were near the finish line. > So either they struggled through the Roadblock or they got Guidoed (“The Linzes have crossed the finish line”). Either way a losing proposition for Weevil haters the world over. So, did a poor lowly PA complete the map for them for the race-off, then? Because Phil said, “Using the maps you just completed …” ---
**Author:** ![rockle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/73ab20/32.png) [@rockle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rockle)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2005, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-family-12-13-finale/335434/155 "2005-12-15T16:43:49Z")
> [@The Big Cheese](#): > > You should always finish the task, because you don’t know if the teams in front of you will get penalized for some reason. I think I remember Meredith & Gretchn(?)/the old couple last year getting to the finish and then being told they did something wrong or forgot something and had to go back. > They also don’t know how far behind they are, or how far away the finish is. People do get lost going from the last challenge to the pit stop/finish. I remember this. I think it was a different team in a different season, though. The “token older couple” was penalized a half-hour for taking another team’s car by mistake, on top of having to turn around and go back and get their own car. I can’t remember who the team was, but I do remember they took Rebecca & Hornio’s car. ---
**Author:** ![BigDummy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee59a6/32.png) [@BigDummy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigDummy)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2005, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-family-12-13-finale/335434/156 "2005-12-15T18:37:09Z")
> [@rockle](#): > > I remember this. I think it was a different team in a different season, though. The “token older couple” was penalized a half-hour for taking another team’s car by mistake, on top of having to turn around and go back and get their own car. I can’t remember who the team was, but I do remember they took Rebecca & Hornio’s car. I think I remember M&G forgetting to grab the stick with the flag on it during the ‘Drag sticks around with your truck’ challenge and being sent back to get it. ---
**Author:** ![rockle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/73ab20/32.png) [@rockle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rockle)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2005, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-family-12-13-finale/335434/157 "2005-12-15T18:48:00Z")
> [@BigDummy](#): > > I think I remember M&G forgetting to grab the stick with the flag on it during the ‘Drag sticks around with your truck’ challenge and being sent back to get it. Yeah, they did that too. Apparently I am getting my penalties confused … ---
**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:** [December 15, 2005, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-family-12-13-finale/335434/158 "2005-12-15T19:05:33Z")
I think it was Uchenna and Joyce who didn’t pull the stick out of the ground (just took the flag off it) at the Land Rover course. Phil just told them that they hadn’t completed the task, so they had to go back and figure out what they had done wrong. Meredith and Gretchen missed the clue (also mounted on a post) as they were leaving the course, but just followed the only road and found the Pit Stop anyway. They had to go back for the clue. ---
**Author:** ![BigDummy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee59a6/32.png) [@BigDummy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigDummy)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2005, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-family-12-13-finale/335434/159 "2005-12-15T19:13:37Z")
THAT was it. Thanks. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2005, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-family-12-13-finale/335434/160 "2005-12-15T19:20:49Z")
Ian and, er, Mrs. Ian stumbled across the pitstop in Saigon while looking for the rickshaw depot, and got told by Phil to go back and do it first. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-family-12-13-finale/335434.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-family-12-13-finale/335434.md?page=9)