# Amazing Race Family 12/6 - "The Family Christmas Card" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 6, 2005, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-family-12-6-the-family-christmas-card/334379 "2005-12-06T17:04:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-family-12-6-the-family-christmas-card/334379/61 "2005-12-08T14:50:43Z")
> [@BiblioCat](#): > > And I’m with **rockle** on the whole MeatGate issue. He didn’t complete it. He really didn’t even try. He ate about two bites and then then just quit. His strategy was brilliant, sure, but it wasn’t quite in keeping with the rules. Ridiculous. It was perfectly in keeping with the rules. The rules state complete the task or serve a four-hour penalty. He didn’t complete the task and the team served a four-hour penalty. What’s against the rules in what he did? He knew he wasn’t going to be able to complete the task, and he knew it early. How many pounds of meat was he supposed to eat in his attempt to complete a task that he knew he couldn’t complete, thus risking making himself sick possibly to the point of incapacity, before giving up on the task would be “in keeping with the rules” in your opinion? ---
**Author:** ![scotandrsn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a4c791/32.png) [@scotandrsn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scotandrsn)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-family-12-6-the-family-christmas-card/334379/62 "2005-12-08T17:11:14Z")
> [@rockle](#): > > _Eh._ I disagree, but mostly because of semantics. Boston Rob ran the Race like the former Survivor contestant that he was, I think: he did what had to be done to stay in the Race (game), and not much more. Although the Race Rules _do_ stipulate the penalties for failure (or refusal) to complete a task, to me it seems somehow wrong to let a team continue racing if they’re not going to do what’s required of them. As with Nancy and Emily. I don’t know why they got rid of the 24-hour penalty, and if I hadn’t seen Hayden run afoul of it the previous race, I would believe it if someone told me they had made the change in the hope that Rob would make use of his patented plotting-and-scheming skills to take advantage of it. I suppose we’re really mad at the producers for deciding without consulting us that we really wanted to watch a backstab-fest like Survivor instead of the race we’d been enjoying all this time. Well, love the sinner, hate the sin, as they say. I still watch the producers’ show, but I hate the sin called Rob that they committed on me. (And what do you make of the fact that we, the two Bostonians-at-heart, are the ones who most dislike Boston Rob?) ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-family-12-6-the-family-christmas-card/334379/63 "2005-12-08T18:06:13Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > Ridiculous. It was perfectly in keeping with the rules. The rules state complete the task or serve a four-hour penalty. He didn’t complete the task and the team served a four-hour penalty. Okay, then. I didn’t remember that part. it’s just that I’ve never liked Rob, not even from when he was on the first _Survivor_. There’s something about him that reminds me of my ex-husband - it’s his braziness and cockiness; specifically, the way he was able to finess all the other Racers into quitting that Roadblock with him (but after him - so he was still ahead of them). Also, when they bribed the bus driver into only opening the front doors, he didn’t chip in any money, but got money from a couple other teams. There was another instance - he flat out lied, looked right in the camera, grinned that shit-eating grin and lied, and when someone called him on it, he was offended and got all pissed off. He couldn’t stand that someone caught him lying. He just irritated me. I also am not a fan of the stunt casting, in general. ---
**Author:** ![rockle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/73ab20/32.png) [@rockle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rockle)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-family-12-6-the-family-christmas-card/334379/64 "2005-12-08T18:32:19Z")
> [@scotandrsn](#): > > I suppose we’re really mad at the producers for deciding without consulting us that we really wanted to watch a backstab-fest like Survivor instead of the race we’d been enjoying all this time. … Well, love the sinner, hate the sin, as they say. I still watch the producers’ show, but I hate the sin called Rob that they committed on me. Exactly. Which is why I said, _“Boo Rules!”_ Just because you _can_ do something doesn’t mean you _should_. The intentional walk is perfectly legal, but it leaves a bad, unsportsmanship _(heh!)_ kind of feeling in my mouth, and I don’t like it. I think it’s bad for baseball, as are artificial turf, the DH, and Bud Selig. But that’s another rant, I suppose. The point is, I think the changes made to the Roadblock rules are bad for the Race. And I think “rules lawyering” is the last refuge of the true chickenshit, to tell you the truth. I tell you what: the Linzess would have done the Meatblock. And made stupid sexual comments the whole time. (Like how it turned it around, and got back on topic?) > [@scotandrsn](#): > > (And what do you make of the fact that we, the two Bostonians-at-heart, are the ones who most dislike Boston Rob?) … that we’re the only ones with any sense, obviously. 🆒 If you’re ever in the greater Philly metro area, we have to get together for a beer and a real cheesesteak. ---
**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 8, 2005, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-family-12-6-the-family-christmas-card/334379/65 "2005-12-08T18:40:54Z")
> [@scotandrsn](#): > > (And what do you make of the fact that we, the two Bostonians-at-heart, are the ones who most dislike Boston Rob?) I don’t like him either, and I never even saw him before he was on _The Amazing Race_. I’m a Bostonian by circumstance (but not quite at heart). I wonder if it would help me get on the show if I promised to redeem the city’s reputation. ---
**Author:** ![rockle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/73ab20/32.png) [@rockle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rockle)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-family-12-6-the-family-christmas-card/334379/66 "2005-12-08T18:48:55Z")
> [@Robot Arm](#): > > I don’t like him either, and I never even saw him before he was on _The Amazing Race_. > > I’m a Bostonian by circumstance (but not quite at heart). I wonder if it would help me get on the show if I promised to redeem the city’s reputation. I’d vote for you, if you promised to take either **scotandrsn** or me with you. The team’s relationship could be “Snarky Internet Message Board Members / Otherwise Random Strangers.” ---
**Author:** ![Draelin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@Draelin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Draelin)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-family-12-6-the-family-christmas-card/334379/67 "2005-12-08T18:52:17Z")
> [@rockle](#): > > I’d vote for you, if you promised to take either **scotandrsn** or me with you. The team’s relationship could be “Snarky Internet Message Board Members / Otherwise Random Strangers.” I would be on 24-hour call to look up directions for you–you find a cell phone, you give me a call. Otherwise, I’ll be hanging out on my couch. Good luck with Flotillas vs. Chinchillas, and I promise not to make fun of you when the show airs. Much. 🙂 ---
**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 8, 2005, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-family-12-6-the-family-christmas-card/334379/68 "2005-12-08T18:59:43Z")
I already have one friend I’d like to enter with (and another friend who would be very upset with me if I entered with the first friend). She lives in Seattle, though. Among the entry requirements are a videotape with both team members and a recent picture taken together, so we haven’t been able to get everything together to submit an entry. There was an internet-dating couple a few seasons ago, wasn’t there? I don’t know how they managed it. Draelin, how would you know it was me? ---
**Author:** ![rockle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/73ab20/32.png) [@rockle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rockle)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-family-12-6-the-family-christmas-card/334379/69 "2005-12-08T19:03:28Z")
> [@Robot Arm](#): > > I already have one friend I’d like to enter with (and another friend who would be very upset with me if I entered with the first friend). She lives in Seattle, though. Among the entry requirements are a videotape with both team members and a recent picture taken together, so we haven’t been able to get everything together to submit an entry. There was an internet-dating couple a few seasons ago, wasn’t there? I don’t know how they managed it. > > Draelin, how would you know it was me? She’s know it was ME. And you mean to tell me, **Robot Arm** , that you don’t believe in Photoshop? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Tiger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Mama\_Tiger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Tiger)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-family-12-6-the-family-christmas-card/334379/70 "2005-12-08T19:39:56Z")
Re the location of the curling and whitewater rafting from the previews: There’s an article I saw elsewhere today that talks about the Bransens and Weavers being seen in Toronto. The article is [here](http://jam.canoe.ca/Television/2005/12/08/1344282-sun.html). And it identifies where several other locations seen in the promos are. ---
**Author:** ![scotandrsn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a4c791/32.png) [@scotandrsn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scotandrsn)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-family-12-6-the-family-christmas-card/334379/71 "2005-12-08T20:23:55Z")
> [@rockle](#): > > Exactly. Which is why I said, _“Boo Rules!”_ Just because you _can_ do something doesn’t mean you _should_. The intentional walk is perfectly legal, but it leaves a bad, unsportsmanship _(heh!)_ kind of feeling in my mouth, and I don’t like it. I think it’s bad for baseball, as are artificial turf, the DH, and Bud Selig. But that’s another rant, I suppose. Ya think? 😉 > [@rockle](#): > > The point is, I think the changes made to the Roadblock rules are bad for the Race. And I think “rules lawyering” is the last refuge of the true chickenshit, to tell you the truth. I tell you what: the Linzess would have done the Meatblock. And made stupid sexual comments the whole time. (Like how it turned it around, and got back on topic?) Well played. But I think the fact that the Weasels are not gone is casting a pall over the thread. It’s the camel-toed, apple-core throwing, garbage-collector-disdaining, cyclist-abusing elephant in the room. > [@rockle](#): > > … that we’re the only ones with any sense, obviously. 🆒 If you’re ever in the greater Philly metro area, we have to get together for a beer and a real cheesesteak. Haven’t been to Philly in over twenty years, but you never know. I’ll take you up on that when I’m there. > [@Robot Arm](#): > > I’m a Bostonian by circumstance (but not quite at heart). So which of the 14 (11? 23?) villages of the Garden City of Newton has circumstance placed you in? (Former Needhamite here, for the record.) ---
**Author:** ![Draelin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@Draelin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Draelin)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-family-12-6-the-family-christmas-card/334379/72 "2005-12-08T20:25:16Z")
> [@scotandrsn](#): > > So which of the 14 (11? 23?) villages of the Garden City of Newton has circumstance placed you in? (Former Needhamite here, for the record.) Ah, Newton. I used to work right across the street from the Sheraton … and I had to park a mile down the road. Newton in January. Good times. :eek: ---
**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 8, 2005, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-family-12-6-the-family-christmas-card/334379/73 "2005-12-08T21:09:51Z")
Where real estate is so insane that they build a high-rise hotel _over_ the freeway. I’m only about a quarter mile from there. Franklin Street, if you know where that is. **rockle** , I’ve already got one RL friend I’m committed to entering with, and another who thinks I am, so an internet team is probably not going to happen. And the number of people on this board who watch TAR and know what I look like is small, so I’ve always thought I could slip in unnoticed. And in the time it would take me to learn Photoshop to do a decent job, I could just fly out to Seattle, do a tape and pictures, and see all my old friends. I wish CBS would have more notice when they’re accepting entries. There isn’t enough time to pull everything together. I’m going to try to get out there in the spring or summer and get the stuff we need ready in advance. ---
**Author:** ![rockle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/73ab20/32.png) [@rockle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rockle)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2005, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-family-12-6-the-family-christmas-card/334379/74 "2005-12-09T00:05:37Z")
OK, **Robot Arm** , fine. _sulks_ **Draelin** , you in with me, then? We can be Team Reality TV Boyfriend. I’ll be cute blonde one, and you can be the … uh, _other_ cute blonde one, who drives stick. ---
**Author:** ![Raygun99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Raygun99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raygun99)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2005, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-family-12-6-the-family-christmas-card/334379/75 "2005-12-09T00:26:42Z")
> [@rockle](#): > > The point is, I think the changes made to the Roadblock rules are bad for the Race. I believe I’ve said this before on this board, but I don’t really see any evidence that they were changed. Momily in Season 1 got a 24 hour penalty for skipping a **Detour** (since they could have tried for the other option), whereas Rob got a penalty for starting, then failing to complete, a Roadblock. ---
**Author:** ![rockle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/73ab20/32.png) [@rockle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rockle)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2005, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-family-12-6-the-family-christmas-card/334379/76 "2005-12-09T00:31:53Z")
> [@scotandrsn](#): > > But I think the fact that the Weasels are not gone is casting a pall over the thread. It’s the camel-toed, apple-core throwing, garbage-collector-disdaining, cyclist-abusing elephant in the room. How did I miss this earlier? And how did you forget “bad-hair-having?” ---
**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 9, 2005, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-family-12-6-the-family-christmas-card/334379/77 "2005-12-09T00:44:04Z")
I think Rob really did try. I think he ate at least half of that meat, maybe more. He just knew it wasn’t possible for him, but kept on going. He saw other people doing as well, or better. Didn’t that kid finish it, the one doing the race with his mom? He kept throwing out feelers about quitting, and then after figuring out what the penalty would be, he finally he gave up. ooh, oooh! I’ll do the race with ya \*\*Rockle, \*\*if \*\*Draelin \*\*bails. But I don’t know how to drive stick. Anything to get away from work for a month. ---
**Author:** ![rockle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/73ab20/32.png) [@rockle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rockle)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2005, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-family-12-6-the-family-christmas-card/334379/78 "2005-12-09T01:21:13Z")
> [@The Big Cheese](#): > > ooh, oooh! I’ll do the race with ya \*\*Rockle, \*\*if \*\*Draelin \*\*bails. But I don’t know how to drive stick. Anything to get away from work for a month. OK, you’re on the shortlist. Can you learn to drive stick soon? I’ve already tried, and I wrecked three transmissions. ---
**Author:** ![BigDummy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee59a6/32.png) [@BigDummy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigDummy)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2005, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-family-12-6-the-family-christmas-card/334379/79 "2005-12-09T01:29:27Z")
> [@The Big Cheese](#): > > I think Rob really did try. I think he ate at least half of that meat, maybe more. That’s the thing; I suppose I’d have to watch again, but I’m pretty sure he **didn’t** really try, that he quit pretty early on. Smart, well within the rules, but for a lot of people not at all in the spirit of the competition. > [@rockle](#): > > I tell you what: the Linzess would have done the Meatblock. And made stupid sexual comments the whole time. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; I really wish them redneck boys had made it to that task. That would have been effin sweet. ---
**Author:** ![rockle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/73ab20/32.png) [@rockle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rockle)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2005, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-family-12-6-the-family-christmas-card/334379/80 "2005-12-09T01:49:00Z")
> [@BigDummy](#): > > I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; I really wish them redneck boys had made it to that task. That would have been effin sweet. Ryan and Chuck? _Hell yeah!_ I miss them. Ryan and Chuck were cool. Sometimes, just for a minute at a time, I wish TAR was like Survivor, and _any-damn-body_ can come back under the auspices of being the self-proclaimed “Favorite. Racers. Ever!” But then I remember: Wil and Tara. Jonathan and Victoria. Teri and Ian. I _don’t_ want them back on my TV. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-family-12-6-the-family-christmas-card/334379.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-family-12-6-the-family-christmas-card/334379.md?page=5)