# The Amazing Race 2/26: "You Know I'm Not As Smart As You!" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 27, 2012, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-2-26-you-know-im-not-as-smart-as-you/614107 "2012-02-27T02:11:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**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:** [February 27, 2012, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-2-26-you-know-im-not-as-smart-as-you/614107/21 "2012-02-27T13:56:03Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > How the hell does a bus window just disintegrate? When we were in Peru, travel guides we read said that it was not uncommon for locals to chuck stones at tourist-class busses, especially the overnight ones. There’s some resentment felt by local people living in the highlands, who can be desperately poor, toward relatively rich tourists who drop money in Lima and Cusco but don’t do anything for the communities in between except roll on through during the night. The way the glass was shattered inwards, and the fact that it happened during the night, made me think Argentina might have the same issues. ---
**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:** [February 27, 2012, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-2-26-you-know-im-not-as-smart-as-you/614107/22 "2012-02-27T14:06:19Z")
> [@tsm](#): > > It doesn’t take much to set her off. She’s like a 3-year-old sometimes. Before they are gone (which can’t come soon enough for me) she will complain about another team doing something that she thinks is not fair, but she’ll end up doing the same type actions herself. He is a whiner also, and a big-time enabler for her (witness how he went into all the “baby, it’s ok” stuff when she started crying over his innocuous comment that she got upset about). Also notice earlier in the ep when she was saying something like, “I’m stupid. I’m not good at anything.” She did stuff like that all the time on Big Brother to get Brendon or whoever else would fall for it to give her the “no you’re not. You’re great” business. Ah-HA! Thanks, I was about to post about what the hell that was. He was (in this ep) perfectly fine. His behavior to her during that challenge was above reproach and her breakdown was completely inexplicable. So I was thinking “What the fuck??”. I hate when The Amazing Race, which is normally pretty classy (by Reality TV standards at least) thinks it’s fun to put mentally ill people on to watch them disintegrate. They did it with Jonathon (of “and Victoria” fame), Adam (hornhair), the kinda mentally challenged deaf kid with the mommy issues and now her. Poor taste, TAR. Poor taste. I’m glad the clowns are gone. I mean, yeah–I like that they have a good relationship, hooray for them that he survived cancer (TWICE!!!) but…shut up. Woody Allen “I’m such a dumb loser” humor isn’t really all that funny from him, and if she’d said “Tears of a clown” once more (once last episode, at least twice this one) I would have had to reach through the screen and punch her in the throat. I’m glad that you’re both nice people but shut up and good riddance. The hicks were less annoying this time around. Still, they really need to take it down about 10 notches. The border patrol guys have really gotta chill–they’re strong and competent, but at the same time, damn, one of them freaks out easily. One team that’s kind of caught my attention is the big muscle guy and his girlfriend (the “They’re both divorced from other people! Can they find love…_together_?” team). They’re not freaking out, they’re strong and steady…they’re possible final three material And I’m surprised so many people took the “build it” option. Yeah, there was an animal on the other task, but it was only for a mile…the fact that the border patrol guys got lost for 20-30 minutes and _still_ came in second? Wow. ---
**Author:** ![lorene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/65b543/32.png) [@lorene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lorene)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2012, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-2-26-you-know-im-not-as-smart-as-you/614107/23 "2012-02-27T14:12:50Z")
> [@Fenris](#): > > The hicks were less annoying this time around. Still, they really need to take it down about 10 notches. Yeah, but…I was annoyed when they were reading the clue and one of them said, “The only language we speak is country!” Your unwillingness to expand your narrow life view not something to be proud of, dudes. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2012, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-2-26-you-know-im-not-as-smart-as-you/614107/24 "2012-02-27T14:48:33Z")
Both Brendon and Rachel are complicit and codependent in the whole thing…if the Amazing Editors don’t give him a Prince Charming edit, you’ll see it in future eps. There’s a whole bowl of contempt pudding underneath that very thin skin of patience and understanding when it comes to Rachel. She’s a drama queen, but I don’t _loathe_ her the way I do Brendon, and there’s a reason for that… ---
**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:** [February 27, 2012, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-2-26-you-know-im-not-as-smart-as-you/614107/25 "2012-02-27T15:08:51Z")
> [@zut](#): > > **Taxi Assessment:** Thanks for coming back. If you hadn’t done this, I was about to. > [@](#): > > **“Rapido! Por Favor?”** - or, making meaningless ineffectual comments from the back seat, but in no immediate danger. > _Nary & Jamie_ (women Feds) Nary & Jamie seem pretty competent, but I haven’t yet figured out just how much their real-world skills translate into TAR skills. I haven’t figured out why their real-world skills are worth lying about. And why kindergarten teachers? > [@](#): > > **In the Passing Lane** - or, ahead of the pack, but not quite comfortably. > _Art & J.J._ (Border patrol) Art & J.J. seem to be a step behind Dave & Rachel, but that means they’re several steps ahead of pretty much everyone else. They had a little issue with navigation on this leg, but they also had a clear reason to choose the Fire Detour, which actually wound up more than making up the time they lost. I would not rank this team so highly. They seemed to get way too focused on the fire Detour. The classic pitfall for alpha-male/military type teams is to be too headstrong; make one bad decision and then make things worse rather than admit you were wrong. I see them having that tendency. It worked out for them this time, but it won’t always. When things go a little bit wrong for them, they miss a trail marker or a clue somewhere, see if they’re able to catch the mistake and correct it. Then they’ll be top-three material. ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2012, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-2-26-you-know-im-not-as-smart-as-you/614107/26 "2012-02-27T16:10:47Z")
If I was doing the stockyard challenge, I’d go to the next pen up, where I could count the cattle in peace. Then I could do the divsion of the weight as soon as the auctioneer gave it. How could the BoyClown have forgotten _how_ to divide? StG ---
**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:** [February 27, 2012, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-2-26-you-know-im-not-as-smart-as-you/614107/27 "2012-02-27T16:26:04Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > I haven’t figured out why their real-world skills are worth lying about. And why kindergarten teachers? Because they’re idiots. As has every other team who’s thought to be sooper-sekrit about their profession because “telling the truth would paint a big target on our backs so we’ll try to get them to underestimate us” It’s never, ever been a help to the team participating in the “cover-up”, it’s always come out eventually, and in a few cases at least, it’s unnecessarily pissed off other teams. Usually it’s caused by people who watched too much Survivor and don’t realize that TAR is _a different show_—you can’t really “target” people here. With a few exeptions of people being such dicks that they make the Race miserable for everyone else, U-Turns and Yields and similar player-given penalties are given to targets of opportunity (“I _know_ they’re behind me, so I’m going to u-turn them just so I don’t come in last.”). As far as I know, there’s never once been a case where someone was U-Turned because of their profession. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2012, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-2-26-you-know-im-not-as-smart-as-you/614107/28 "2012-02-27T16:45:44Z")
Yeah but if two teams are behind you, the kindergarten teachers and the golfers, you’d probably U-Turn the golfers simply because you’d expect them to be more physically capable on challenges. If the choice is federal agents and golfers, U-Turn the agents. ---
**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:** [February 27, 2012, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-2-26-you-know-im-not-as-smart-as-you/614107/29 "2012-02-27T16:55:47Z")
U-Turns rarely happen before the 5th leg or so, so that by the time a U-Turn comes into play, you’ll know the teams which have been playing better and if the “kindergarten teachers” are kicking the asses of the professional golfers on challenge after challenge, you’re going to turn them. The job title doesn’t matter by that point, only the performance. ---
**Author:** ![sir\_viks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4af34b/32.png) [@sir\_viks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sir_viks)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2012, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-2-26-you-know-im-not-as-smart-as-you/614107/30 "2012-02-27T16:56:55Z")
Thank God! No more clown jokes. ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2012, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-2-26-you-know-im-not-as-smart-as-you/614107/31 "2012-02-27T17:09:49Z")
Well, as was demonstrated in the first episode some people are just going to not like you because you’re cops or federal agents. When push comes to shove the border patrol guys probably aren’t going to get help from the guy who said he hates the border patrol. I probably wouldn’t bother lying but I can see why someone might. As for the freakout, I don’t have enough evidence (having never watched Big Brother). Sure, she didn’t handle the frustration well (most people don’t handle it well when a simple task with a lot on the line eludes you). But while TAR isn’t so steeped in it as many other reality shows, they want people who won’t always handle it well, who will have interpersonal challenges. There’s a reason the application form asks you what you’re biggest fears are, what you suck at, how your partner has disappointed you in the past, etc. But if word is she’s a flake from Big Brother I’ll assume it’s so and not just a less-than-friendly edit. That said, this was one hell of a boring episode. Bunch everybody together to wait, give them a task that everybody will do in about the same amount of time, essentially random distribution on buses and watching people try to divide 1830 by 22. Once I realized the cows were unlikely to dramatically rearrange the pack and that the show’s only drama (not suspense) would be a random mechanical failure I started hitting the 30 second skip on the remote. At least the team collusion didn’t devolve into one person just giving the answer to a bunch of other teams, getting to pick who advanced. Though personally I would have taken the donkey loading since in my life I have never seen anybody get a solar oven to do anything other than cause people to stand around in a circle watching nothing happen. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2012, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-2-26-you-know-im-not-as-smart-as-you/614107/32 "2012-02-27T17:19:57Z")
I agree with Robot Arm about the Border Patrol agents. Their social game is horrible and before too long they’ll be on an island. Based on the amount of collusion that goes on in TAR, that can be a death sentence. ---
**Author:** ![McDeath\_the\_Mad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a3d4f5/32.png) [@McDeath\_the\_Mad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/McDeath_the_Mad)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2012, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-2-26-you-know-im-not-as-smart-as-you/614107/33 "2012-02-27T17:54:58Z")
I’m not a fan of Brendan and Rachel, but I respect their skills. They both have a lot of experience in competing in challenges that were basically do-or-die on Big Brother. Everyone hated them on BB, so they had to basically win almost every challenge they competed in or go on the chopping block. No other people on TAR had had the same experience in one-on-one challenges they have, so don’t be surprised if they don’t start killing on the roadblocks and detours. MtM ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2012, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-2-26-you-know-im-not-as-smart-as-you/614107/34 "2012-02-27T23:00:07Z")
I felt bad for the clowns. I don’t like it when a group helps each other but conspicuously leave one person out. I get it’s a contest but it just seems mean. It happened last season with the older couple when they had to count statues but in that case he beat them all and I laughed and laughed. In other news my crush on Vanessa continues unabated. ---
**Author:** ![tsm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/db5fbb/32.png) [@tsm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tsm)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2012, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-2-26-you-know-im-not-as-smart-as-you/614107/35 "2012-02-27T23:05:44Z")
> [@McDeath\_the\_Mad](#): > > Everyone hated them on BB, so they had to basically win almost every challenge they competed in or go on the chopping block. To be fair, they brought on themselves with their behavior. ---
**Author:** ![TheBoltEater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/779978/32.png) [@TheBoltEater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheBoltEater)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2012, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-2-26-you-know-im-not-as-smart-as-you/614107/36 "2012-02-28T04:34:27Z")
> [@Lamar\_Mundane](#): > > The Argentinian guy at the mat was [Diego Maradona\*](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diego_Maradona), one of the most famous people in the world. It’s a good thing there was a pro soccer player on the race, because not a single other racer had a clue. That would have been a classic “Ugly American” moment. > > - It’s not like if an Australian version of the show landed in San Francisco and nobody knew who Joe Montana was - he’s virtually unknown out of North America - Maradona is known to billions across the globe. Yeah… there’s nothing “Ugly American” about failing to be fooled by a terrible Maradona impersonator in a cheap knock-off kit. I know he’s had his troubles over the years, but I’m reasonably certain that he can still get a hold of an Argentina jersey that actually has the national team badge with the two stars above it. After all - he _is_ responsible for one of those stars. And for the record, Phil Keoghan confirmed the fakery on his [twitter](https://twitter.com/#!/philkeoghan). ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2012, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-2-26-you-know-im-not-as-smart-as-you/614107/37 "2012-02-28T05:16:33Z")
> [@TheBoltEater](#): > > Yeah… there’s nothing “Ugly American” about failing to be fooled by a terrible Maradona impersonator in a cheap knock-off kit. I know he’s had his troubles over the years, but I’m reasonably certain that he can still get a hold of an Argentina jersey that actually has the national team badge with the two stars above it. After all - he _is_ responsible for one of those stars. > > And for the record, Phil Keoghan confirmed the fakery on his [twitter](https://twitter.com/#!/philkeoghan). If 20 (22?) Americans on a TV show come to your country and none of them show even a hint of recognition of the national hero of that country (fake or not), that is the very definition of Ugly American. The term “Ugly American” refers to the title of a novel about the American presence in South East Asia just before Vietnam, and is about the American diplomats and government officials who the locals saw as buffoonish and ignorant of native history and customs. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2012, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-2-26-you-know-im-not-as-smart-as-you/614107/38 "2012-02-28T06:49:56Z")
WTF? Not knowing who a soccer player is does not make someone an “Ugly American.” ---
**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:** [February 28, 2012, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-2-26-you-know-im-not-as-smart-as-you/614107/39 "2012-02-28T10:49:52Z")
> [@Lamar\_Mundane](#): > > If 20 (22?) Americans on a TV show come to your country and none of them show even a hint of recognition of the national hero of that country (fake or not), that is the very definition of Ugly American. > > The term “Ugly American” refers to the title of a novel about the American presence in South East Asia just before Vietnam, and is about the American diplomats and government officials who the locals saw as buffoonish and ignorant of native history and customs. Wrong. Have you ever _read_ the book? > [@From Wikipedia](#): > > The “ugly American” of the book title fundamentally refers to the plain-looking engineer Atkins, who lives with the local people, who comes to understand their needs, and who offers genuinely useful assistance with small-scale projects such as the development of a simple bicycle-powered water pump. It is argued in the book that the Communists are successful because they practice tactics similar to those of Atkins. > > According to an article published in Newsweek in May 1959, the “real” “Ugly American” was identified as an International Cooperative Agency technician named Otto Hunerwadel, who, with his wife Helen, served in Burma from 1949 until his death in 1952. They lived in the villages, where they taught farming techniques and helped start home canning industries.[1] And while, yeah, the term has come to refer to the loud, buffonish government employees in the novel and not the hero, it has nothing to do with not knowing who a soccer player is–I wouldn’t recognize Joe Montana or Tim Tebow on sight either. If the Racers were told “This person is so-and-so, the world’s greatest soccer player and national hero of Argentina” and had been dismissive or rude to him, _then_ they’d fit the definition you’re using of “ugly American”. But to simply not recognizing some guy on sight…let alone an impersonator? That’s trivia-contest fail, not ‘ugly Americanism’. And frankly, to drag this back on topic, with a few exceptions that are notable because they’re exceptions, the Amazing Race has, from day one, been doing it’s damnedest to break that stereotype. As a whole, the Racers have been (or have been shown at least) to be polite, courteous (except to cab-drivers), and appreciative of other countries. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2012, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-2-26-you-know-im-not-as-smart-as-you/614107/40 "2012-02-28T11:52:28Z")
The idea that TAR racers could be criticized for not recognizing the local sports heroes of a country they found out they’d be traveling to the day before is laughable. Are all non-Americans expected to learn what the top 10 stars of the NFL, MLB and NBA look like before they cross the US border? Of course not, that would be stupid. The same logic works both ways. It doesn’t matter in any way that soccer is followed by many countries; that’s a completely irrelevant piece of trivia. To expect someone to know a local sports figure when they come from a country that doesn’t care about that sport is arrogance, plain and simple. Defending that arrogance by citing how many _other_ people do care is also arrogance. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-2-26-you-know-im-not-as-smart-as-you/614107.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-2-26-you-know-im-not-as-smart-as-you/614107.md?page=3)