Ruth Myles: Oh my gravy! Cowboys Jet and Cord McCoy talk elimination from The Amazing Race All-Stars
May 7, 2014. 4:01 pm
Things got real for the McCoy brothers on this week’s episode of The Amazing Race All-Stars.
Jet and Cord McCoy were eliminated on this week’s episode of TV series that sees teams race around the world, competing in challenges and hoping to cross the finish line first. After all, there’s $1 million up for grabs.
The chat started with some good-natured ribbing about our various accents . I reminded them of an article written when they were in Calgary about how they thought we northern cowboys talked funny, to which Cord said, “I’m a hillbilly, too, so don’t worry about it.”
The Oklahoma-based brothers have been to this rodeo before: Cord, 33, competed in bull riding at the Stampede in 2005 before returning as parade marshal alongside his brother in 2010. (Cord was back in the chutes at the Stampede that year, too.) He hung up his spurs last fall so now both McCoys are ranchers when they’re not racing around the world.
Jet McCoy, left, and his brother Cord were the parade marshalls at the 2010 Calgary Stampede.
But the fan favourites were last to the mat on this week’s episode. The pair had some issues navigating their way to the Zurich airport and then lost their way again in Spain. A missed clue in a challenge with pretend bulls (oh, the irony!) and being U-Turned sealed their fate.
Question: How tough was the competition you faced on The Amazing Race this season?
Jet: It was really tough. Cord and I were saying it was one of, if not the most, competitive cast that we have ever raced against. Everybody there was tough. It’s like Dave and Connor – and I mean this really as a compliment – but they definitely do not look very formidable when you first see them. And they’ve won four legs and they’re in the final four. Just to see them walk up, they’re not one of the teams that you would peg as competitive as they have been. Everybody on this cast is extremely experienced and competitive and hard to beat.
Q: You two take the race seriously: heads down, focused and trying to get all the information that you can. How did you prepare for your third time on the Race?
Cord: It was the same thing. I think the biggest thing is getting in shape for it. You are in a race around the world. I’d throw my backpack on and run down the gravel road. People must have thought I was late for school every day. You have to train for it. Training your mind might be the hardest thing because a lot of it is not what you know. It’s getting in front of a situation you don’t know anything about and (then) how you work your way through it is one of big deals on the Race.
Q: Do you think that the shorthand you share as brothers worked to your advantage?
Jet: I definitely feel like it’s an advantage. There were lots of times on the race especially looking back over three seasons, where Cord and I could look at each other and we knew what the other one is thinking. We didn’t have to spend a lot of time squabbling about it; we just knew what was best for us in that situation. I think there were lots of situations where that happened, where we didn’t have to stop and talk it out and whatever else we had to do. We could just get on with our race.
Q: What was the toughest task on this edition of the Race?
Jet: I would say for me it was the sewing. I never thought sewing would be so difficult. It definitely took me the longest. It was one of the tasks (where) I had to spend the most time to just concentrate, slow down and get through it. I never thought making a shirt would be so hard.
Cord: I think the jumping (on a trampoline in Malaysia to reach a clue). It felt like it was 100 degrees and humid. I think about the 47th jump, if I’d jumped two more times I believe I would have made my 50th jump naked, so I’m glad it ended when it did.
Cord, near the front, and his brother Jet had to perform a Flamenco-based task after being U-Turned on The Amazing Race All-Stars.
Cord, near the front, and his brother Jet had to perform a Flamenco-based task after being U-Turned on The Amazing Race All-Stars.
Q: What was the most fun this season?
Jet: I really enjoyed the raft. It was interesting watching that show back and seeing how much trouble everybody had. Me and Cord, growing up on a ranch, we know how to tie a knot. Putting the raft together didn’t seem like that big a deal. As long as your raft stayed together going down those little rapid things, you didn’t have a lot of trouble with it. Except for the rapids part, the water was kind of calm. It was just floating along. That was just kind of a neat experience to be able to take a raft down the river there (in Malaysia).
Q: We’ve got the second season of The Amazing Race Canada coming up. What advice would you give the teams?
Cord: I think on The Amazing Race, if you plan on being tired, lost and hungry, if you plan on those three things you’ll have a really good time because there won’t be any surprises. Other than that, have a good time.
Jet: I would say my best advice is smooth is fast. It’s not necessarily the fastest team as much as it is the team that makes the fewest amount of mistakes. If you can just be smooth and get good directions and get where you need to get. There are always so many variables that you can’t control. When you do come to a task, there are just some things people will be better at than others. If you can just smooth all the way through and maintain that, you can be the team that wins.
Q: What do you think of the amount of co-operation going on this season with teams playing the game by banding together?
Cord: It’s crazy, ain’t it? (Laughs) You know only one team is going to get the million dollars. I think they are planning on legs that are going to get jerked out from underneath them eventually. It’s going to be interesting to see how it shakes out.
Brendon and Rachel are the target of other teams on The Amazing Race All-Stars.
Brendon and Rachel are the target of other teams on The Amazing Race All-Stars.
Q: How do you feel about the celebrity the show has brought you? People are naming their horses and children after you.
Cord: Oh, is that something or what!
Jet: Somebody named their kid after you?
Cord: Yeah, can you believe that?
Jet: Holy cow! Poor kid.
Cord: Jett and I have talked about it several times. The Amazing Race and being on TV has maybe not changed our home life that much. Working with cattle and horses, they don’t know much about reality TV. But seeing people telling you ‘Good job’ is nice. A lady about 75 years old bought my lunch for me today because I guess she felt sorry for us that we got eliminated off the Race. You’re ‘Wow, that’s pretty neat that we got a pat on the back for that.’
Q: In some press materials, it said that the top two places you wanted to go were Spain and Rome. And you did. Where else is on the list?
Jet: I thought that was crazy. Obviously, we filled out all that stuff out before we went on the Race . . . We’ve been on the Race twice (before) and have never been there. It’s interesting that we got to go to both.
Cord: London!
Question: Who gets that trip (which the pair won on the fourth leg of the Race)?
Cord: We haven’t worked that out yet.
Jet: I’m not going to vacation with Cord if that’s what you mean.
Q: One of you got Maui (from a previous win on an earlier Race)?
Cord: Jet actually gave me and my new wife Maui for a honeymoon. On the second Amazing Race, I got married on Saturday and we took off to race around the world the next day, so Jet kinda owed me that one.
http://blogs.calgaryherald.com/2014/05/07/ruth-myles-oh-my-gravy-cowboys-jet-and-cord-mccoy-talk-elimination-from-the-amazing-race-all-stars/
