The Amazing Race 11/30/04 "Counting Bears Is Not Rocket Science"

Cafe Society
41

No kidding…
of course, I’m sitting in a room full of IKEA furniture, all of which I assembled myself. But, how on earth anyone could have looked at those bins and not run to helpful IKEA instructions and precut and drilled boards is unfathomable.
Especially after miscounting the first time.

These were really good tasks - the only other reality show I watch is the Apprentice where the tasks are often questionable. But these seemed ok.

Lena seriously impressed me by keeping going hours after the last team left. only 20 in 200 bales and she just kept picking the wrong ones…

Fenris I had noticed that. I honestly thought he was going to hit her in the cab.

42

How did they do the counting? At first I thought it was just count each item, ie each toy and each set of pots. But everyone kept coming up 1000 short. Then a couple of the teams started counting everything, as in every pot, and some of them had two pots and some looked to have three. If they didn’t tell them that’s kind of sneaky.

I’m not so sure I’d want to build the shelf either. I’ve done a number of them, and while they are not that hard, it does take a couple of hours. Plus they said no left over parts, including screws, I always have four or five screws left over. I’d really hate to put the whole thing together correctly and have a couple left over and then be told, nope sorry you have two screws left over, start again!

43

I also wondered about that. They should have counted each set of pots as “one” to my way of thinking. I got the impression that a couple of the teams started out counting them as individual items a couple of times; that’s why their counts were so far off.
I never would have done the counting. Building the desk would have been so much easier for me.

44

That was one of the most deliciously evil legs in a long time. I hate that the sisters are out. I always like teams that seem nice and calm and actually want to be in the race because of the experience. Losing like that has to be awful. I could live with being outraced by another team. I could pretty quickly get over losing by a mistake I made. I would have the hardest time getting over losing due to insanely bad luck. That said, those sisters made an amazing showing when a whole bunch of other people would have been broken down by that point.

Having people count or build something is fantastic in a race like this. Both tasks are much easier to accomplish when you take your time and focus on precision rather than speed. But, by having all of them together, most teams focus on what everyone else is doing and where they are in the progress chain. Totally screws with their concentration. Fantastic work on that one.
Things we learned from weeks 1-2:

  1. Befriend the locals.
  2. Ask for a senior citizen’s discount, should one apply to you.
  3. Practice driving a stick, an automatic, a bike, roller skates, and any other mode of transport you can think of.
  4. Learn 3 or 4 simple phrases in 5 major languages.
  5. Race.

Things learned in week 3:
6. If counting is an option, do the other unless you are physically unable to do so. Counting has always gotten teams into trouble. Some excel at it, but you don’t really know whether you will until too late. Avoid the trouble and do the other task.
7. If luck of the draw is killing you, accept it and just keep trying. Yelling and screaming won’t help and neither will moping. Effort is the only thing on your side. The sisters showed this to a remarkable degree.
8. Don’t be afraid to reconfirm directions. Gus and Hera lost a lot of time finding the ice bar because they went with what one person said and didn’t ask anyone else until they were far off course. The moment you feel lost, you probably are.
9. Don’t say you are running the race to show what ______ can accomplish and then try to use that crutch to your advantage. Bad show Don. I know your spirit was pretty broken but whining that your old so you should get a break is weak. You can’t have it both ways.

45

I thought we were going to see a tactical use of the Yield this episode. I know with Bolo and Lori and Don and MJ if I was either of those teams I would have yielded the other when I hit that box. They both know that they’re fighting to stay out of last and the Yield would have helped. I guess the wrestlers didn’t want to appear to be afraid of old people.

46

Lori and Bolo were also waiting off-camera cheering Don and Mary Jean on when they landed on the mat. I think those two couples have become friends, and Lori and Bolo just didn’t want to Yield their friends. Which is big-hearted, if naive, of them.

47

Actually, Team Roid Rage was still on the mat when Team Geritol arrived, because Phil shooed them off of it when Don and MJ got there. Which means that they were a lot closer together finishing the Roadblock than the editing made it look.

48

Ok. Within the last 48 hours (thanks to TiVo and a busy holiday season), I have watched 4 hours of TAS. It was the first exposure of the show I have ever had.

Thanks to the second emmy win (those do help ratings, I guess) and our wonderful discussions in the Apprentice threads, I decided to give TAS a look.

Until Episode 3, I was concerned. Sure, I liked the concept. Especially the fact that, as Fiver notes, the RACE determines who goes home. My concern was with all the bitching. I HATE Jerry Springer inspired reality TV. I don’t believe healthy people act that way, and I don’t want to watch a bunch of freaks chosen to yell for my amusement. It ain’t amusin’!

And it seemed that either the folks chosen were crazy or the editors were hilighting the negative. I was worried it would be more about “SHUT UP!” than the contest. NOT VERY AMAZING!

But in episode three, it was only part of the story. I can handle that.

Episode three made me realize that I am in it for the long haul.

The editors found some real emotion instead of artificial “stress.”

When Team Geritol and Team Steroid couldn’t get out of the IKEA, I believed their frustration.

When Team Spy/Kid couldn’t find the bar, I felt a twing of anxiety.

And when Team Utah simply lost to fate, I even got misty.

And I don’t get misty (unless I am watching “Rudy”!)

Afterwards, I told my wife that I think this is going to be appointment television for us from now on. She said she hopes I don’t “act like a woman” every week!
PS- Talk about good product placement for IKEA. Not only do they turn it into an interesting part of the show, a Hallmark of GOOD P.P., but the contestants really helped sell the brand. “Even if you can’t count, you can still put together our furniture.”

I’m not sure how this jives with the slogan “You don’t have to be rich, just smart”, but I think the marketing team will take it.

49

A question about the yields from a newcomer. Can you only yield someone BEHIND you?

It would seem so.

50

I’m new to this show, but it seemed like the whole IKEA thing was a commercial for IKEA, so naturally they would have devised something that shows that putting IKEA furniture together is easier than counting bears. I was gratified when Gus and Hera immediately went for the furniture; now that the girls are gone I’m rooting for G&H as the underdogs.

I hate Dickhead. The fact that he even raises his arm that way implies that those violent impulses are going through his head, which to me implies that he’s gone further than that in private. (Also, Old Couple really lost karma points when the guy tried to play the Age Card).

51

Yep. We were talking in TWoP chat last night that they should at least make the Yield anonymous. But it might be interesting to make it a forward Yield, that you couldn’t check in until the timer ran out.

52

We have achieved perfect synergy; problem & solution, adjacent posts in the same thread.

:slight_smile:

53

As mentioned before you can only Yield someone behind you and that makes it very difficult to use. Last season there was apparently one on every leg but it was only used once in the race. It was such a non-factor that after turning up in the first episode it didn’t get any mention until the tenth episode. Since only one team can use the Yield and they can only do it once per race you have to both know that someone is right behind you and know that it will cause a signifigant chance of them being eliminated.

The one time before where we’ve seen it used was with the infamous Colin and Christie. Brilliant racers but they had a near J&V level of disturbing behavior. They had been dominating the race coming in first by a signifigant ammount of time in over half the legs. Then in the second to last episode all four remaining teams were on the same plane. C&C got out of the airport last and the other three teams simultaniously rushed the Yield box and the next task to Yield him. And this lead to the complete and total breakdown of the team. We’re talking a meltdown like Chernobyl. If it wasn’t for a first time ever non-elimination leg in the next to last episode they would have been knocked out of the race from it.

So the Yield can be a huge factor but it’s got to be used at the right moment…

54

Wouldn’t it then have been a good call for the Roid team to yield the geritol team?

They were close the whole race and Roid Guy doesn’t have the best of legs (despite the old guy’s comment.)

A little safety net would have been nice.

If the girls hadn’t had bad luck, it could have gotten ugly between Geritol and Roid. They were at the pitstop at nearly the same time. If Team Utah hadn’t been cursed, and Geritol had been a step or two quicker, Lori would be in prison right now for killing Bolo.

55

Yeah, but you have to remember that they had the opportunity to yield BEFORE they found out what the Roadblock was, and they had no clue that it would be that close leaving for the Pit Stop. It’s easy to underestimate senior citizens, especially if you’re in the prime of your life and in pretty good shape.

56

That’s really not fair; it annoys me that some in this thread are writing this.

Did Don ask the Swedish lady for special treatment due to his age? No, he did not. He was simply tired and frustrated and envious of the youth that (his perception) gave his rivals more endurance.

57

Fiver, I kind of felt he was asking for a pass. Like he was asking her to give him the number.

I don’t give him bad karma points because I think he was asking FOR the help for the reason you site. It was fatigue and frustration. I’m glad they made it in time. I think at this point, they have accomplished everything they set out to accomplish.

It would seem after three cuts, you can at least claim moral victory.

58

Sorry, gotta disagree, he was definitely trying some sort of sympathy ploy, IMO.

59

Wow, last night when I was watching the episode and we came to the hay bale challenge, I almost said something about a roll in the hay with Phil. (Then I remembered that my husband was sitting next to me).
Can’t believe no one else has come up with that particular (lame) joke.

60

Yeah, we thought of that too. Mwror!