# The Amazing Race 4/12 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 13, 2005, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-4-12/299064 "2005-04-13T02:03:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![rockle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/73ab20/32.png) [@rockle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rockle)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2005, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-4-12/299064/61 "2005-04-13T18:23:39Z")
> [@Quint](#): > > The last thing I want to see is another cat-fight over some reality TV hunk. Still, I have to agree that **Uchenna** is class personified. Did anyone else notice that he was pedaling their rickshaw/pedicab _from the back seat!_ The little guy up front had his feet on the bike frame while Uchenna powered them along. That _is_ studly. Ron was telling their driver to “Hurry we’re in a race” while Uchenna quietly made things happen for his team. I’m officially rooting for them (U&J) due to that event alone. For the record: **Draelin** & I are usually able to work out mutually agreeable custody arrangements for our TV boyfriends. 😉 I was just hoping Uchenna’s actual factual real-life wife, Joyce, wouldn’t get offended that the best word I could come up with to describe him is “stud” (because of the infertility problems and all). I really like those two, and I would not want to hurt either of their feelings. ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2005, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-4-12/299064/62 "2005-04-13T18:33:43Z")
> [@rockle](#): > > For the record: **Draelin** & I are usually able to work out mutually agreeable custody arrangements for our TV boyfriends. 😉 How will he work into the rotation with Tom and Ian? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Draelin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@Draelin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Draelin)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2005, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-4-12/299064/63 "2005-04-13T18:44:35Z")
> [@BiblioCat](#): > > How will he work into the rotation with Tom and Ian? 😉 I think we’ll just have to do a rotating schedule, now that we’re up to five. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![annieclaus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5a626/32.png) [@annieclaus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/annieclaus)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2005, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-4-12/299064/64 "2005-04-13T19:13:07Z")
> [@SCCajun](#): > > Please tell me this is about something other than a new episode of The Amazing Race that was aired on Tuesday, April 12. My TIVO said there weren’t any new episodes (which I thought was odd), and an incredibly busy weekend and week have kept me from my normal TIVO check to make sure everything is as it should be. Chuck your TIVO. It’s giving you very wrong information. > [@](#): > > (PS. what is a Yield? and are there any other neat tricks I don’t know about besides the Detour - Choose between two activities and the Roadblock - Only one team member can do the activities.) > > Thanks A YIELD allows a team to impose a time penalty on a team that is following it. The YIELD does not have to be used and only appears a limited number of times during any race season. The benefit of using the YIELD is that it slows up a competing team. The downside is that the team that is yielded knows exactly who used the YIELD and retribution may follow. ---
**Author:** ![Draelin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@Draelin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Draelin)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2005, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-4-12/299064/65 "2005-04-13T19:17:10Z")
> [@annieclaus](#): > > The downside is that the team that is yielded knows exactly who used the YIELD and retribution may follow. What’s worse, there’s a smiling, happy picture of the team who Yielded you staring up at you the whole time you’re waiting, looking smug. ---
**Author:** ![Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2005, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-4-12/299064/66 "2005-04-13T19:26:04Z")
Bah. The yield is thoroughly useless unless you’re team next-to-last and you need a ten-minute lead to ensure your position. I’m also getting minorly annoyed with the [leaderboard](http://www.cbs.com/primetime/amazing_race7/show/ep02/route/leader/), which is showing a big gaping hole for this week’s ep. Not only do we have the Ray/Deana last place finish when they used the fast forward, but now we’re just in limbo? With 5 episodes left and only ONE team left to eliminate? Quit annoying me CBS. That said, I _loved_ seeing Uchenna pedal his own rickshaw. Way to show you’re in a race. But I think teams made a major mistake in not breaking down the coal. Really, why would anyone choose to go three miles through India when you can pick a closer option? And Gretchen-- who the hell buys a backpack in an _airport_? Who buys anything besides trinkets in an airport? And what’s in your damn backpack anyway? Your Depends supply? ---
**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:** [April 13, 2005, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-4-12/299064/67 "2005-04-13T19:47:33Z")
> [@Gangster Octopus](#): > > Do I think Rob is a great racer? Not particularly, they don’t do the little things really to win the race, but they don’t do the stupid things either that lose the race (like stop at the wrong water tower). They are pretty damn competent. Honestly I don’t see how they end up second worst in **Zut’s** ratings. Well, the _big_ thing that seperates them from the other four teams (to me at least) is that Ron and Kelly don’t seem to have a good intra-team dynamic. Rob and Amber are all lovey-dovey and enjoying themselves, Meredith/Grethen and Uchenna/Joyce have been married long enough that they work together well within their teams, and Lynn and Alex have been nothing but supportive of each other. On the other hand, Kelly just seems to constantly bitch at Ron, and Ron’s kind of oblivious to any attempt by Kelly to be – y’know – a _couple_. It’s this kind of behaviour that’s only going to get worse and worse as the race goes on and fatigue sets in, and how can you expect to win a race if you’re spending all your energy arguing with your partner? So I see Ron and Kelly’s _future_ performance as likely to deteriorate much quicker than that of the other teams. Nonetheless, I _did_ consider keeping Ron and Kelly at a higher rating (after all, they’ve got a better average placing than Lynn and Alex), but the thing that swayed me was that, IMO, their not-second-place in this leg was pretty much solely due to getting plane tickets from Rob. If I was watching closely enough, I don’t think the three trailing teams _ever_ caught up to the top two, either at the Roadblock or the Detour. There’s nothing wrong with getting tickets from Rob, of course, but you’ll need some individual initiative here at the end of the race. ---
**Author:** ![BigDummy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee59a6/32.png) [@BigDummy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigDummy)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2005, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-4-12/299064/68 "2005-04-13T20:21:57Z")
> [@shijinn](#): > > i don’t see it. here’s two examples i can’t picture the others on this race do 1) where he got out of the car to investigate a traffic jam and helped push away the offending vehicle. 2) where he helped repair the truck that broke down. 3) where he totally ate all the meat that Debbie/Bianca was able to finish. You can’t see Uchenna or Ron pushing a car out of the way? Really? I sure could. Or the brothers, or the rednecks, for people who are gone now. I could see any one of them doing it in the same situation. Heck, the rednecks got out & pushed their bicycle taxi for a bit when the guy was struggling (god, I miss them too). And on preview, what **Quint** said. Don’t recall the truck thing, but either way, I could see any of those other guys I mentioned doing that too, assuming they knew enough about cars to be helpful. Didn’t Debbie/Bianca actually finish their lunch? Instead of quitting almost immediately? Granted, they didn’t have the luxury of quitting due to their highly developed sense of direction, but still, they finished. Never said the guy can’t bring it when he has to. I said, he’s got skills. It’s just that a few times here he hasn’t, he’s picked the easier task. Not always, but seems like more than some other teams. I guess I’m one of those people who think there should be a heck of a lot more than a 4 hour penalty for quitting. Despised the pizza brothers for doing it 2 seasons ago, had nothing but respect for the Mormon girls not quitting last season, and lost pretty much all the respect I had for Rob when he did it. Still respect him some as a contestant, just not a person. YMMV > [@zut](#): > > If I was watching closely enough, I don’t think the three trailing teams ever caught up to the top two, either at the Roadblock or the Detour. I thought at least U&J caught up on the detour. Just starting as the leading two were finishing, but at least caught up. Could be wrong though. But I can’t help believing that if they’d gone with the coal they’d have caught up all the way. ---
**Author:** ![\_Deep\_F\_ied](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/_/7cd45c/32.png) [@\_Deep\_F\_ied](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/_Deep_F_ied)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2005, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-4-12/299064/69 "2005-04-13T20:22:37Z")
Did anybody else notice the scene where the voice over of Ron talking about how the race is bringing them together or some-such-BS and it shows him trying to playfully grab and hug Kelly and she _full-on_ is not into him and pushes him away to escape? I can totally see what **zut** is saying. I smell a melt down. ---
**Author:** ![annieclaus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5a626/32.png) [@annieclaus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/annieclaus)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2005, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-4-12/299064/70 "2005-04-13T20:28:49Z")
> [@«Ðëëp¤F®ïêd»™](#): > > Did anybody else notice the scene where the voice over of Ron talking about how the race is bringing them together or some-such-BS and it shows him trying to playfully grab and hug Kelly and she _full-on_ is not into him and pushes him away to escape? > > I can totally see what **zut** is saying. I smell a melt down. I agree. Kelly’s body language is almost always negative towards Ron. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. I think she’s in it for two reasons: a) national TV exposure and b) the possibility of half of $1 million. ---
**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:** [April 14, 2005, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-4-12/299064/71 "2005-04-14T00:11:04Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > I don’t see the point of To Be Continued – why not just make it a NEL? Was this another Hungarian Production Screwup? Allegedly, the double-long leg last season was an accident: they were going to go to…somewhere…that they couldn’t go to and ended up with the double-leg by accident. However, apparently the double-leg was horrible and grueling for the contestants AND had the added bonus of generating meltdowns. I believe that CBS decided to see if they could replicate the meltdowns. And I’m a huge pro-war, pro-soldier. hawk and pointed out Ron as the guy I was planning to root for since he was ex-military to a buddy of mine. But he’s just such a dick. I _can’t_ root for him, much as I want to. ---
**Author:** ![middleman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@middleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/middleman)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2005, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-4-12/299064/72 "2005-04-14T00:25:50Z")
They need to do something to pep up the earlier yields. No one EVER seems to use them. A few suggestions: (1) Unlimited Yielding- You can use as many yields as you want on the race. No need to save them for later. (2) Anonymous Yielding- No one knows it was you (unless you are the only team ahead of them, of course). (3) Reach Ahead Yielding- This one is trickiest. You can yield someone that has already passed the yield if no one has used it. The penalty is lessened (ten minutes) and it assessed when the team gets to the pit stop. This would REALLY encourage the first place team to use the yield. Or, just remove the darn thing. ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2005, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-4-12/299064/73 "2005-04-14T01:29:00Z")
I think the yield could use some tweaking, since too many teams pass it up in the early stages of the game. Unlimited yielding just means teams that tend to get ahead would have the option of picking off teams that lag behind. That would mean teams would race faster to get to the yield at all costs, but frontrunners would compound the efforts of people who have fallen behind in a previous leg or who have fallen behind because of plane delays and car trouble. Anonymous yielding = bad idea. It removes the capacity for revenge unless the yielded team is able to somehow deduce who yielded them. Reach ahead yielding would penalize lead teams wouldn’t it? “Congratulations, Rob and Amber – you’re the first team to arrive! However, the five teams behind you have each opted to use the reach-ahead yield on you. The aggregate time is 50 minutes. Please sit down. The next team to arrive in the next 50 minutes, will be the winners of this leg. If all five teams make it, you will be eliminated.” I dunno – it is petty as hell, anti-effort, too prone to luck and is the antithesis of most of the actual racing of TAR is about. This is the one I’m most excited about seeing put in place. ---
**Author:** ![rockle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/73ab20/32.png) [@rockle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rockle)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2005, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-4-12/299064/74 "2005-04-14T01:42:20Z")
> [@Fenris](#): > > Allegedly, the double-long leg last season was an accident: they were going to go to…somewhere…that they couldn’t go to and ended up with the double-leg by accident. However, apparently the double-leg was horrible and grueling for the contestants AND had the added bonus of generating meltdowns. They were going to have a non-elimination leg in Hungary, but the producers didn’t find out until they were already there that begging is illegal. They had to turn it into an über-leg on the fly. ---
**Author:** ![annieclaus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5a626/32.png) [@annieclaus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/annieclaus)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2005, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-4-12/299064/75 "2005-04-14T03:20:42Z")
I really HATE the Yield. Almost as much as I hate the Non-Elimination punishment of No Money. I don’t think it does anything but slow down the action of the race. Racing should be about how well you and your partner navigate the twists and turns that the producers throw at them. It should not be about screwing other racers. ---
**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:** [April 14, 2005, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-4-12/299064/76 "2005-04-14T03:29:41Z")
> [@](#): > > But I think teams made a major mistake in not breaking down the coal. Really, why would anyone choose to go three miles through India when you can pick a closer option? Multiple ex-racers have said in interviews that they don’t know how near or far the various detour options are. We at home are told distances, but all they’re told is “go to X address and do this.” So they really have to guess based on how difficult the task sounds in the description, but they have no way of knowing distance – with a few rare exceptions; I know that in TAR6, Joe & Avi in an interview at [www.tarflies.com](http://www.tarflies.com) said that the ice floe search boating detour option was directly across the road from where they got their clue, so it seemed smarter to not waste any travel time. ---
**Author:** ![shijinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2005, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-4-12/299064/77 "2005-04-14T04:35:21Z")
> [@shijinn](#): > > … i don’t see it. here’s two examples i can’t picture the others on this race do 1) where he got out of the car to investigate a traffic jam and helped push away the offending vehicle. 2) where he helped repair the truck that broke down. 3) where he totally ate all the meat that Debbie/Bianca was able to finish. … 1. yeah, for a moment there i suffered from the Lynn/Alex (“I just can’t understand why he didn’t Yield us!”) tunnel vision. 2) they showed it in the recap episode. 3) i need smileys. the Yield as it is might work. people will think twice about using ‘survivor tactics’, as we all know Lynn/Alex would have surely used the Yield on Romber if they were able- hey, can more than one team Yield on a single team?! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![BigDummy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee59a6/32.png) [@BigDummy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigDummy)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2005, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-4-12/299064/78 "2005-04-14T05:02:46Z")
1. My bad, I figured that out _ **way** _ late. :smack: 2. Ah. I missed most of that. 3. s’OK. I guess I can see how that could happen 😉 How long is the yield exactly? ---
**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:** [April 14, 2005, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-4-12/299064/79 "2005-04-14T12:00:39Z")
> [@Fenris](#): > > And I’m a huge pro-war, pro-soldier. hawk and pointed out Ron as the guy I was planning to root for since he was ex-military to a buddy of mine. But he’s just such a dick. I _can’t_ root for him, much as I want to. I dunno about that. Seriously, Ron strikes me as kind of doofy, and his relationship with Kelly is awkward, at best, but he really doesn’t seem like a dick. He’s got a tin ear as far as Kelly is concerned, but I think that stems more from them being squashed together, 24/7, in a high-pressure environment, during what appears to be the early stages of their relationship (you could also say it’s the _later_ stages of their relationship, if you get my meaning, but let’s not confuse the issue). He’s just not used to Kelly and not sure how to deal with her, and has a tendancy to say the wrong thing. I think that if Ron had gone on TAR with, say, an Army buddy, then they’d probably make a formidable team, _and_ Ron would leave a much better impression. Conversely, I can’t imagine Kelly racing with _anyone_ and not eventually melting down. > [@shijinn](#): > > people will think twice about using ‘survivor tactics’, as we all know Lynn/Alex would have surely used the Yield on Romber if they were able- hey, can more than one team Yield on a single team?! I think not, or surely _all_ the other teams would have Yielded Colin and Christie in the famous “Broken Ox” ep of TAR 5. ---
**Author:** ![annieclaus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5a626/32.png) [@annieclaus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/annieclaus)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2005, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-4-12/299064/80 "2005-04-14T12:18:11Z")
> [@BigDummy](#): > > 1. My bad, I figured that out _ **way** _ late. :smack: > 2. Ah. I missed most of that. > 3. s’OK. I guess I can see how that could happen 😉 > > How long is the yield exactly? I don’t think we know exactly how long the Yield time is. It looks to be about 20-30 minutes from the size of the hourglass, I’m guessing. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-4-12/299064.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-4-12/299064.md?page=5)