Topic: Amazing Race: 9th place teams.

[misterblah]

I noticed that a lot of teams that had potential to win finished 9th. 

Examples: Heather and Eve -eliminated due to penalty
                  Jim and Marsha- missed flight connection             
                  Debbie and Bianca -got lost
                  Marianna and Julia -helped another team
                  Mark and Bill -penalty
                  Brad and Victoria -missed flight connection
                  Zev and Justin- lost passport
                  Monique and Shawne -struggled at both tasks.
                  Steve and Josh and Pat and Brenda -despite coming in first on the previous leg, they were eliminated the next.

Curse the 9th place finish!

[Jobby]

I noticed that a lot of teams that had potential to win finished 9th. 

Examples: Heather and Eve -eliminated due to penalty
                  Jim and Marsha- missed flight connection             
                  Debbie and Bianca -got lost
                  Marianna and Julia -helped another team
                  Mark and Bill -penalty
                  Brad and Victoria -missed flight connection
                  Zev and Justin- lost passport
                  Monique and Shawne -struggled at both tasks.
                  Steve and Josh and Pat and Brenda -despite coming in first on the previous leg, they were eliminated the next.

Curse the 9th place finish!

Many of my favourites are gone due to the 9th place curse. With the most significant one being Lena and Kristy! How could you forget them...

I wouldn't say that all the 9th place teams had the potential to win.. but i definitely agree that most of the 9th place teams went too early.

[Hooky]

Oh, yes indeed. The 9th-place curse.

I would add Wanda & Desiree to your list. They had strong showings on the first two legs. It was the German highway that did them in.

I've also noticed that recently there's been kind of an 8th-place curse too in recent seasons. Rob & Amber, Lorena & Jason, Amanda & Kris, and Joe & Heidi have all fallen victim to that one (but it's less common overall).

[Coutzy]

Out of the list, I think Pat and Brenda & Monique and Shawne were the ones who had the worst deal out of them. With all of them, they were avoidable (reading the clues better, realising that the Andes are not near the ocean ) but Pat and Brenda got done in by an intentionally ambiguous clue (Imagine if they did that today) and Monique & Shawne were killed by physical limitations.

[nathandg0924]

I've also noticed that recently there's been kind of an 8th-place curse too in recent seasons. Rob & Amber, Lorena & Jason, Amanda & Kris, and Joe & Heidi have all fallen victim to that one (but it's less common overall).

Yeah but this is all a coincidence, and some of our faves fall victim to this so called "curse"

[redskevin88]

How about Amazing Race Asia? Had Sophie picked a more competent teammate or had more trust  (sorry I got to say this) I bet her team wouldn't have gotten eliminated. And had Brett taken his girlfriend rock climbing...

Sahil & Prashant did an early version of Kelly & Christy (to find a girl on a swing means to find A GIRL ON A SWING!). Aubrey & Jac were an early version of Maria & Tiffany... hopeless.

[Snooky]

Add Wanda and Desiree to that list.
 

[Coutzy]

Hold on a second...

How did we all manage to overlook Lena & Kristy?

[Jobby]

Hold on a second...

How did we all manage to overlook Lena & Kristy?

We didn't. It was discussed in the second post by me.

And yes, add Wanda and Desiree to the list!!!!

[misterblah]

I didn't add wanda and desiree to the list since I didn't watch amazing race 9. But yes, I'll add them to the list.

[mswood]

I noticed that a lot of teams that had potential to win finished 9th. 

Examples: Heather and Eve -eliminated due to penalty
                  Jim and Marsha- missed flight connection             
                  Debbie and Bianca -got lost
                  Marianna and Julia -helped another team
                  Mark and Bill -penalty
                  Brad and Victoria -missed flight connection
                  Zev and Justin- lost passport
                  Monique and Shawne -struggled at both tasks.
                  Steve and Josh and Pat and Brenda -despite coming in first on the previous leg, they were eliminated the next.

Curse the 9th place finish!

God, I wouldn't agree that many of these teams had the potential to win, except for the very base fact that all teams have the statistical potential to win.

Pat & Brenda were so not going to be in it, and only started the so well due to the Fast FOrward being available in every leg (minus the finale) yet their first leg showed no evidence that that they excelled at any aspect of this race.

Steve & Josh only did well in two circumstances one was working with a group of two other teams, and taking a Fast Forward, on their own not so much.

Marianne & Julia sorry but this team did exceptionally poorly at nearly every aspect of each leg they were in.

Wanda & Desiree had one solid leg, after that they did poor to worse (and this includes both aspects of a double leg).  Fatigue was already hurting this team.  No way would they have managed.

Jim & Marsha neve showed on any of their legs any great strides or a level of performances that would indicate they would have faired well.

Heather & Eve started fairly solid but didn't improve, I don't think I could see this team surviving the fatigue.  And unlike say Teri & Ian I don't feel either had the drive (love them or hate them Teri & Ian had drive, even when they sucked).

Mark & Bill (I like them, a lot), but do I think this team could take the fatigue of the journey and be competitive???  Well at least their race was a week shorter then earlier season so less killer fatigue to deal with.

Brad & Victoria (I loved this team) and I do think they had the drive and physical ability to handle the fatigue.

Zev & Justin, I honestly don't know.  Fatigue and strength were a real problem with this team.  How well would they have managed, later...  Tasks choices could really, really kill this team (and its another I really liked).

Monique & Shawne felled by the physical nature of tasks, and early never a good sign for how you would handle the stress and fatigue and how that effects you down the line.

Debbie & Bianca did great on one leg, did medicore on the next and fell apart the next.  But this is one team that I really think could have recovered, I think they could have been a final three team.

Then we have Lena & Christy another team that did fairly well (nothing great), but got killed on one task.  I never pictured this team as final three material for their season, but I did figure top 5.

[apskip]

I agree with mswood on his ratings of potential for 9th place finish teams. I think Debbie and Bianca, Lena and Christy and Brad and Victoria all could have done well if they had a second chance.

[mswood]

Its very difficult to judge the  racers in the first few episodes, but to me as long as we see a team generally thinking (smart), staying focused and having a solid drive behind them, is what gives me my opinion.  And most of the teams don't on this list.  I stick by my three.  I think if Debbie & Bianca had survived they would have learned from their mistake (in navigation and being so over confident not to double check), I think Brad & Victoria easily had th edrive and the strength they just made a terrible choice in flights (especially at that stage of the race), Lena & Christy, showed promise and a lot of character, but out of the three teams here, they worried me down the road with fatigue, but I think they had a shot.

[misterblah]

Well not obivously all the teams but I think all these teams had potential to stay at least halfway throught the race.

[mswood]

Well not obivously all the teams but I think all these teams had potential to stay at least halfway throught the race.

Thats actually on first glance where I figured most of these teams would end.

[DeafRacer]

Y'all thought Mom and I would be 9th place team or first team eliminated 

Victoria mentioned that there's no way that Brad and Victoria would make it to Final Three due to her hip injury from running down the mountains in Leg Two. Poor her

[georgiapeach]

Y'all thought Mom and I would be 9th place team or first team eliminated 

Victoria mentioned that there's no way that Brad and Victoria would make it to Final Three due to her hip injury from running down the mountains in Leg Two. Poor her

She would now though!! Her hip is better than new!!

[Hooky]

Y'all thought Mom and I would be 9th place team or first team eliminated  

Not true at all. Spoilers helped, though. But even if I hadn't been spoiled I still would've expected you to make it far after your team's strong performance on Leg 1 combined with the strong edit the editors gave you.

Oh yeah, and the pre-race hype the promos gave you as well. Your team, Tammy & Victor, Mel & Mike, and Mark & Michael(?) all got promos and the rest of the teams didn't, I believe. So it was pretty obvious who would go far right from the start.

[TARAsia Fan]

Y'all thought Mom and I would be 9th place team or first team eliminated 

Not at all! And your strong finish in the 1st leg proved you would be a team to be reckoned with!

[DeafRacer]

Y'all thought Mom and I would be 9th place team or first team eliminated  

Not true at all. Spoilers helped, though. But even if I hadn't been spoiled I still would've expected you to make it far after your team's strong performance on Leg 1 combined with the strong edit the editors gave you.

Oh yeah, and the pre-race hype the promos gave you as well. Your team, Tammy & Victor, Mel & Mike, and Mark & Michael(?) all got promos and the rest of the teams didn't, I believe. So it was pretty obvious who would go far right from the start.

It was Jaime & Cara that got the promo, not Mark & Michael. I remember when all four teams' promo came out, all people said to me, "All of you guys are the Final Four!!!!!!"  I was shocked of how it came out that way by leaving other teams out and only showed four teams that were in the Final Six. It was so obvious   

I remember the spoiler! Y'all thought I was a woman according to my ankle size from a picture in Thailand! 

[georgiapeach]

We still      about that....   don't rub it in.   Cutest calves in town!!

[DeafRacer]

We still      about that....   don't rub it in.   Cutest calves in town!!

 

Any chance you guys still got that picture? I would like to save it and print it and put in my photo album 

And about the pictures of teams being spoiled at Bangkok Airport, how come Mom and I weren't in any of it?? That's shame it wasn't shown before the season aired then y'all would thought that Mom and I would have been eliminated earlier!! That would have been a big surprise, haha.

[georgiapeach]

I'll look for you this week Luke... 

[slayton]

Luke, there are 3 different versions of the picture from these two links:

http://forum.realityfanforum.com/index.php/topic,17788.msg361317.html#msg361317
and http://forum.realityfanforum.com/index.php/topic,17805.0.html

[georgiapeach]

Thank you slayton!!

[Hooky]

Y'all thought Mom and I would be 9th place team or first team eliminated  

Not true at all. Spoilers helped, though. But even if I hadn't been spoiled I still would've expected you to make it far after your team's strong performance on Leg 1 combined with the strong edit the editors gave you.

Oh yeah, and the pre-race hype the promos gave you as well. Your team, Tammy & Victor, Mel & Mike, and Mark & Michael(?) all got promos and the rest of the teams didn't, I believe. So it was pretty obvious who would go far right from the start.

It was Jaime & Cara that got the promo, not Mark & Michael. I remember when all four teams' promo came out, all people said to me, "All of you guys are the Final Four!!!!!!"  I was shocked of how it came out that way by leaving other teams out and only showed four teams that were in the Final Six. It was so obvious  

I remember the spoiler! Y'all thought I was a woman according to my ankle size from a picture in Thailand!  

The funny thing with that season is that even though we had one of the easiest to predict Top 6 teams based on hype and promos, Kisha & Jen had no sightings beyond Leg 2 or 3, but managed to go all the way to 4th place. I think it's interesting in hindsight that they didn't get a promo either.

[redskevin88]

What do you think of Connor & Jonathan guys? Do you think they would have gone far?

[maf]

What do you think of Connor & Jonathan guys? Do you think they would have gone far?

No, not really. Did you notice that Connor did all the road blocks for that team? Teams who go far tend to try to distribute them more evenly (at least since Lex Flo&Zack if I remember correctly).

[theschnauzers]

I'll buy the idea than Connor and Jonathan made one too many mistakes on the Sweden lag that caused them to be eliminated earlier than they might have, and with their musical backgrounds they might have made it past the two St. Petersberg legs, but probably not much further than that.

[Mug Costanza]

I don't think Connor & Jonathan could've won the whole Race, but really, the only two things I can think of that got them eliminated in Sweden were not getting on the earlier flight and waiting too long to change Detours. If they only make one of those mistakes instead of both of them, they might still be in the race, but probably wouldn't make it past the final 5, in my opinion.

[Platrium]

TAR23's tragic 9th place finisher

[stekay]

TAR23's tragic 9th place finisher

Worst flight luck, but were they the bringers of their own downfall? Firsts to worsts are always incredibly unlucky.

[gamerfan09]

I would say TAR 19's 9th placer is the best.

[stekay]

I would say TAR 19's 9th placer is the best.

Kaylani & Lisa

[Jobby]

I officially declare most of the 9th place teams have the WORST luck/elimination story ever.

Heather and Eve from 1st to last because of a penalty
Jim and Marsha for being completely left behind and placed on the very last flight
Lena and Kristy, nuff said
Debbie and Bianca getting lost for hours and ate loads of meat and still lost to 4 teams who quit the Roadblock
Mark and Bill arriving 8th and receiving a 30 mins penalty and dropping to last place
Brad and Victoria with their flight connection
Zev and Justin for losing their passport
Connor and Jonathan from 1st to last
Jaime and Cara completely losing it in China/U-TURNed
Caitlin & Brittany arriving at the pitstop in 6th accidentally, didn't get U-TURNed but checked-in last anyway
Jessica and John Y U NO USE EXPRESS PASS
Chester and Ephraim MEGA BAD LUCK BRIAN FLIGHTS moment

  And to be honest, I thought that many of the ninth place teams had potential but were done in by just one mistake that cost them the game. Many of these teams had really good leg placements before they were doomed by really bad luck/decision on the 3rd leg.

[stekay]

Great list Jobby, Zev & Justin checked in first in that leg if I recall

 Some great teams there who I would've liked to see last longer

[Platrium]

I officially declare most of the 9th place teams have the WORST luck/elimination story ever.

Heather and Eve from 1st to last because of a penalty
Jim and Marsha for being completely left behind and placed on the very last flight
Lena and Kristy, nuff said
Debbie and Bianca getting lost for hours and ate loads of meat and still lost to 4 teams who quit the Roadblock
Mark and Bill arriving 8th and receiving a 30 mins penalty and dropping to last place
Brad and Victoria with their flight connection
Zev and Justin for losing their passport
Connor and Jonathan from 1st to last
Jaime and Cara completely losing it in China/U-TURNed
Caitlin & Brittany arriving at the pitstop in 6th accidentally, didn't get U-TURNed but checked-in last anyway
Jessica and John Y U NO USE EXPRESS PASS
Chester and Ephraim MEGA BAD LUCK BRIAN FLIGHTS moment

  And to be honest, I thought that many of the ninth place teams had potential but were done in by just one mistake that cost them the game. Many of these teams had really good leg placements before they were doomed by really bad luck/decision on the 3rd leg.

This...  I also see most 9th placed teams' potential.

[SamualDude]

I officially declare most of the 9th place teams have the WORST luck/elimination story ever.

Heather and Eve from 1st to last because of a penalty
Jim and Marsha for being completely left behind and placed on the very last flight
Lena and Kristy, nuff said
Debbie and Bianca getting lost for hours and ate loads of meat and still lost to 4 teams who quit the Roadblock
Mark and Bill arriving 8th and receiving a 30 mins penalty and dropping to last place
Brad and Victoria with their flight connection
Zev and Justin for losing their passport
Connor and Jonathan from 1st to last
Jaime and Cara completely losing it in China/U-TURNed
Caitlin & Brittany arriving at the pitstop in 6th accidentally, didn't get U-TURNed but checked-in last anyway
Jessica and John Y U NO USE EXPRESS PASS
Chester and Ephraim MEGA BAD LUCK BRIAN FLIGHTS moment

  And to be honest, I thought that many of the ninth place teams had potential but were done in by just one mistake that cost them the game. Many of these teams had really good leg placements before they were doomed by really bad luck/decision on the 3rd leg.

This...  I also see most 9th placed teams' potential.

Well we did get to Zev & Justin's true potential on Unfinished Business!

[Hooky]

Well we did get to Zev & Justin's true potential on Unfinished Business!

Exactly! Even though I wasn't here when TAR 18 was airing, I finished watching it for the first time a few months ago, and I have to say, I was very impressed by how well Zev & Justin did their second time around. But I won't deny that long before TAR 18 was thought of I had always believed they could do that well.

(And while we're on the subject, can I just say that Amanda & Kris were ROBBED! Again!)

Great list Jobby, Zev & Justin checked in first in that leg if I recall

That is correct, technically they finished first on that leg. It just didn't count.

[SamualDude]

It honestly won't surprise me if Chester & Ephraim are brought back.

[stekay]

I don't think they will be, unless it is like a Redemption season

[SamualDude]

I don't think they will be, unless it is like a Redemption season

That is what I think they will label it as.

[stekay]

Me too *high 5s*

[SamualDude]

They've had All Stars, They've had Unfinished Business. Redemption sounds cool but they stole it from the game I'm hosting xD

[stekay]

Off Topic:  Most of the spec'd teams have redemption of some sort so it makes sense.

[Jobby]

Isn't Redemption... almost similar to Unfinished Business?

And isn't this a ninth placer discussion thread? Shouldn't TAR 24 discussion (that's meant to be spoilers) not go here?

[Platrium]

TAR26: Terrible flight.

[Declive]

Joey & Meghan - had no taxi close to them
Michael & Scott - injury
Harley & Jonathan - bad flight

[TARloveit]

TAR1- Pendulum
TAR2- Horrible flight
TAR3- "I think it means we have to walk to the Pit Stop."
TAR4-
TAR5- Flight
TAR6- Haybales 
TAR7- Directions
TAR8-
TAR9- Directions
TAR10- Detour
TAR11- Directions
TAR12- Detour
TAR13- Taxi
TAR14- Flight
TAR15- Passport 
TAR16- Lasso RB
TAR17- Detour
TAR18- Dinosaur Skeleton RB
TAR19- Taxi
TAR20- Detour + RB
TAR21- Tuk-tuk
TAR22- #EPFail
TAR23- Flight
TAR24- Taxi
TAR25- Directions
TAR26- Flight

Teams taken out by a flight: 5
Teams taken out by directions: 4 (5 if you include Pat & Brenda's pendulum incident)
Teams taken out by a taxi (including walk to Pit Stop penalties caused by taking a taxi): 4 (5 if you include the tuk-tuk)
Teams taken out by a Detour: 4 (5 if you include John & Jessica's fail to use the EP)
Teams taken out by a Roadblock: 4 (5 if you include John & Jessica's fail to use the EP)

[Platrium]

I was watching an episode of TAR, and surprisingly, I didn't know what season that was.
Anyway, I was watching a leg held at a mountainous archipelago. There were 9 teams, and the last team (F/F) departed few hours after the 8th placer. There was no equalizer that leg, which means the last-to-depart team was quite far behind.
There was a task involving racers being blasted off to different parts of an island, and they have to look for their partners in the labyrinthine caves of the island. Once they have found their partners, they can look for the pit stop on the very top of the island.
Apparently, the last team to depart arrived 8th at the pit stop right before sunset, and the last placed team was not able to check in because both racers only found each other a few hours after the last team checked in, when it was already very dark in the caves and outside. The host (not sure if it was Phil) found them in the cave and eliminated them in there.
I then realized that all of it was a dream, but I can conclude that my favorite coincidence and curse in TAR still remains true and coincidental in my dreams. 

[claude_24hrs]

TAR1- Pendulum
TAR2- Horrible flight
TAR3- "I think it means we have to walk to the Pit Stop."
TAR4-
TAR5- Flight
TAR6- Haybales 
TAR7- Directions
TAR8-
TAR9- Directions
TAR10- Detour
TAR11- Directions
TAR12- Detour
TAR13- Taxi
TAR14- Flight
TAR15- Passport 
TAR16- Lasso RB
TAR17- Detour
TAR18- Dinosaur Skeleton RB
TAR19- Taxi
TAR20- Detour + RB
TAR21- Tuk-tuk
TAR22- #EPFail
TAR23- Flight
TAR24- Taxi
TAR25- Directions
TAR26- Flight

Teams taken out by a flight: 5
Teams taken out by directions: 4 (5 if you include Pat & Brenda's pendulum incident)
Teams taken out by a taxi (including walk to Pit Stop penalties caused by taking a taxi): 4 (5 if you include the tuk-tuk)
Teams taken out by a Detour: 4 (5 if you include John & Jessica's fail to use the EP)
Teams taken out by a Roadblock: 4 (5 if you include John & Jessica's fail to use the EP)

TAR4 - Directions, Steve & Josh lost on their way to Detour location
TAR8 - Directions also, The Rogers family struggled to navigate while on their way to Washington D.C.

[NMC]

TAR Canada 1 - Penalty
TAR Canada 2 - 
TAR Canada 3 - Lost Passport

TAR Aus 1 - First to Worst, U-Turn
TAR Aus 2 - Directions, Lost for Hours, Didn't find Pitstop
TAR Aus 3 - Injury

[BritishTARFan]

TAR Canada 1 - Penalty
TAR Canada 2 - Lost in Wan Chai Market
TAR Canada 3 - Lost Passport

TAR Aus 1 - First to Worst, U-Turn
TAR Aus 2 - Directions, Lost for Hours, Didn't find Pitstop
TAR Aus 3 - Injury

When did Elizabeth or Todd injure themselves 

[BritishTARFan]

TAR Canada 1 - Penalty
TAR Canada 2 - Lost in Wan Chai Market
TAR Canada 3 - Lost Passport

TAR Aus 1 - First to Worst, U-Turn
TAR Aus 2 - Directions, Lost for Hours, Didn't find Pitstop
TAR Aus 3 - Injury

When did Elizabeth or Todd injure themselves 

[Keepcopz]

I'd say Detour for Todd & Elizabeth. Had they went for the pool Detour first, they're very likely to survive that leg since the Fitness Moms spend massive amount of time finding that RB location.

(This reminded me how Elizabeth intentionally block other team members from going upstairs at the counting RB. So <33 )

[NMC]

TAR Canada 1 - Penalty
TAR Canada 2 - Lost in Wan Chai Market
TAR Canada 3 - Lost Passport

TAR Aus 1 - First to Worst, U-Turn
TAR Aus 2 - Directions, Lost for Hours, Didn't find Pitstop
TAR Aus 3 - Injury

Elizabeth injured her arm falling out of the boat IIRC?  This may not have been the sole reason for their elimination, but it would've resulted wasted time when the medic checked on her, and patched her up.

When did Elizabeth or Todd injure themselves 

[Platrium]

TAR27: Good performance throughout the leg; too far behind.

[Platrium]

From Scott & Blair's contestants thread:

If they were eliminated this leg, their 9th place curse would've been due to the unfair leg design of sending all the teams up to Chamonix just for the pit stop.

Also the 9th place curse are for same-sex teams so why them?

That was never mentioned. I'll look into that in a moment.

Interestingly, only Seasons 5, 10, 14, and 22 had victims of the 9th place curse which are M/F teams.

[Platrium]

Brittany & Jessica were left behind by the train within seconds. It was right in front of them iirc.
Had they gotten on it, they would not have missed a 9-way footrace to the pit stop, which can likely mean they would've survived.

[toanglobal]

VN1 Team was begging money
VN2 Effect of MFE penalty
VN3 lost clue
VN4 no 9th place because only 8 teams in this season

[Platrium]

Update:

Brittany & Jessica were left behind by the train within seconds. It was right in front of them iirc.
Had they gotten on it, they would not have missed a 9-way footrace to the pit stop, which can likely mean they would've survived.

The editing only made them look like they missed it by seconds. The real role of the curse was them missing the location of their original detour choice. Had they not missed it, they could've been working with the others at the roadblock, even beating Scott & Blair to it.

[Marionete]

Platrium, why tf are you including instamodels into the 9th place curse, they didn't look like a team that had potential at all to me

[Platrium]

Not all teams who end up in 9th have potential. They way they were eliminated is what usually matters.

[Marionete]

From what I've heard/seen/read, the 9th place curse eliminates a team in 9th place even though they could have gone a really long way otherwise. Usually M/M teams, but not always.