The mat was on a giant floating platform. I’m going to guess they all thought (or were told) jumping was a bad idea.
They did it last week, too, though maybe it was of a piece with the “no running” thing. If I DVRed the eps, I’d go back and see if they did it in the 1st and 2nd eps, also.
ETA: And that giant floating platform has soccer games played on it, so I’m guessing it’s stabilized enough to handle two people hopping onto the mat.
I sort of wonder if the mat thing is to make it easier to get the reaction shots. If they’re on the mat and get too close to the greeters, their camera operator would not as easily catch them. Adding a little space might give them a better shot. Or maybe Phil just doesn’t want to be touched anymore. (I imagine an AD prison guard saying “No Touching!”)
I realized that about five minutes after I posted what I posted.
That floating stadium made me wonder just how many soccer balls are at the bottom of the ocean in that area. Do soccer balls float?
As someone noted upthread, they ARE full of air.
This video gives a little bit of history about the unusual football pitch.
Yes, Soccer balls float very well ~80+% above the water.
“Wilson!!”
I don’t know. It seems like if that were the case they might just place the mat farther away from Phil.
I think it would be easier to move Phil. He looks like he doesn’t weigh more than about 180, tops.
I have an image of one of those custom packing cases, with the foam cut out into a Phil silhouette. And the producers just pack everything up to move from city to city during the race.
Didn’t someone do a really bad face-plant on the mat in the last few seasons? Maybe when it’s wet/damp/etc, they tell the contestants to step on the mat?
Great point, looks like I was just being cynical. (Though the blonde twins are a million times hotter than those fugly showgirls, your point stands.)
No, popular, hot, interesting, it’s NOT all the same. Hot girls would specifically attract the NFL viewing audience who otherwise wouldn’t give the first shit about popular or interesting TAR contestants. I don’t know why you are so married to your strawman, but please get over it.
Perhaps because the feet are considered profane in Thailand? It will be interesting to see what happens once they leave there.