The Amazing Race > The Racers

TAR 16: Louie Stravato and Michael Naylor--Detectives

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Dånooky:

--- Quote from: Hooky on March 22, 2010, 05:15:25 PM ---
--- Quote from: DavidMV on March 22, 2010, 01:38:33 PM ---I think this is the first time EVER to see such a recover like this. I haven't read spoilers and have seen Michel and Louie as a strong team. However, they started third-to-last, second-to-last and second-to-last, and noone not reading spoilers wouldn't have bet for them to last any longer. However, they have recovered, and are now the strongest team in the race after getting more wins than the same cowboys!

I'm really hoping they do not make the season a bit foreseeable, and we can have different teams winning legs. IMO, I hope they win.

--- End quote ---

They are strong, but not necessarily the strongest, IMO. According to mswood and the departure times for Leg 6, Louie & Michael were one of the slowest teams in Leg 5. I think much of the reason they have come in first so much is because they had a good head start and are good at maintaining their current position. I don't think they are that great at catching up from the back, though. It seems that it was mainly the flight choice on Leg 4 that brought them to the front.

They are consistent, but not the strongest team in the race. Honestly I'm not sure that any of the teams remaining hold that title. Thankfully, we have a good balance of teams that are all about equal in relative racing strength this season (except for maybe Jody & Shannon, Jeff & Jordan, and Brent & Caite if they don't get their act together soon).

--- End quote ---

I have a feeling that Brent & Caite will have their Tammy-&-Victor-lost-in-Romania moment where they'll suddenly solve their issues and star working effectively.

Back on topic. To further analyze Mike & Louie's performance in the race, we'll have to check the differences between them and CarBra since it'll be too hard to compare them to teams that got lost. But as you've said, they're good at keeping their lead which is exactly what they need in this position. And having luck with not getting wrong directions helps a lot as well. Kudos on their hat trick

Caelestor:

--- Quote from: Dånooky ✟ on March 22, 2010, 09:34:27 PM ---
--- Quote from: Hooky on March 22, 2010, 05:15:25 PM ---
--- Quote from: DavidMV on March 22, 2010, 01:38:33 PM ---I think this is the first time EVER to see such a recover like this. I haven't read spoilers and have seen Michel and Louie as a strong team. However, they started third-to-last, second-to-last and second-to-last, and noone not reading spoilers wouldn't have bet for them to last any longer. However, they have recovered, and are now the strongest team in the race after getting more wins than the same cowboys!

I'm really hoping they do not make the season a bit foreseeable, and we can have different teams winning legs. IMO, I hope they win.

--- End quote ---

They are strong, but not necessarily the strongest, IMO. According to mswood and the departure times for Leg 6, Louie & Michael were one of the slowest teams in Leg 5. I think much of the reason they have come in first so much is because they had a good head start and are good at maintaining their current position. I don't think they are that great at catching up from the back, though. It seems that it was mainly the flight choice on Leg 4 that brought them to the front.

They are consistent, but not the strongest team in the race. Honestly I'm not sure that any of the teams remaining hold that title. Thankfully, we have a good balance of teams that are all about equal in relative racing strength this season (except for maybe Jody & Shannon, Jeff & Jordan, and Brent & Caite if they don't get their act together soon).

--- End quote ---

I have a feeling that Brent & Caite will have their Tammy-&-Victor-lost-in-Romania moment where they'll suddenly solve their issues and star working effectively.

Back on topic. To further analyze Mike & Louie's performance in the race, we'll have to check the differences between them and CarBra since it'll be too hard to compare them to teams that got lost. But as you've said, they're good at keeping their lead which is exactly what they need in this position. And having luck with not getting wrong directions helps a lot as well. Kudos on their hat trick

--- End quote ---

The bunching will really see if these guys can keep up with the pack. I expect them to drop to maybe third or fourth this week.

redskevin88:

--- Quote from: Caelestor on March 26, 2010, 01:09:04 PM ---The bunching will really see if these guys can keep up with the pack. I expect them to drop to maybe third or fourth this week.

--- End quote ---

Don't forget the possible physical coconut detour.


--- Quote from: Dånooky ✟ on March 22, 2010, 09:34:27 PM ---
I have a feeling that Brent & Caite will have their Tammy-&-Victor-lost-in-Romania moment where they'll suddenly solve their issues and star working effectively.

--- End quote ---

If it doesn't doom them first....

Sailing:
http://www.tvguide.com/News/Amazing-Races-Michael-1018049.aspx?rss=news&partnerid=spi&profileid=05#comments

--- Quote ---Amazing Race's Michael and Louie: "Mr. Know-It-All" Joe Needs to Get Over the U-Turn
Louie Stravato, 47, and Michael Naylor's enemies were already eliminated on The Amazing Race, so they decided to keep their competition — Daniel and Jordan — close, working with them for the first half of the second leg in Shanghai. "I said, 'If we go head-to-head, I think we can beat them out,'" Michael, 45, tells TVGuide.com. They didn't, as the brothers edged them for the last spot in the final three. Still, the self-described "Porn-stache-ioed cops" stick by their decision, just like they do with their choice to U-Turn Heidi and Joe — who "needs to get over it."

TVGuide.com: How far behind Dan and Jordan were you?
Michael: I feel we were 10 minutes behind. I spoke to Daniel after. He had a horrendous cab ride as we did. He reacted a little differently to his cab ride. It felt like forever and watching it again, it felt like forever. I want to say 10 — 20 minutes tops. We finished [the Roadblock] right after them. ... [The Roadbloack] was just looking for a needle in the haystack. At one point, I was taking everything out of the case and leaving them out, but I was told you couldn't do that. You had to put them all back.

TVGuide.com: Why didn't you do pork dumplings?
Louie: There were prior episodes from prior seasons where you had to order the food in that language, so I was worried about that. I think Mike and I brought that up. We decided not to risk it. ... But looking at it now, it looked kind of easy. ... [When we saw Dan and Jordan were still at the Roadblock,] we were very motivated. I was pumped to see them still there, still searching. I was like, "We can do this. We've got this."

Amazing Race's Jeff and Jordan: We like to make mistakes

TVGuide.com: Why were you willing to work with them at the beginning of the leg?
Michael: When the brothers came back to get us, I was ecstatic. Louie had more of a feeling that he wanted to leave them and go on our own. We work better alone, but I wanted our competition with us. ... It would've worked had we gotten a little bit more of a break. We're not going to sit and whine about it afterward. It's the game.
Louie: My whole thing with Dan and Jordan being with us was that I drilled them with a million questions before searching the area [for the Garden Bridge], and one of them was, "Did you use the translation service?" Dan said, "Yes, I did." But they didn't have any answer of where it was or what it was. When we found, maybe an hour later, a taxi and asked for the translation phone, the [translator] was like, "Yes, it's a bridge. You have to drive there by taxi." ... That's when I got really mad.

TVGuide.com: What did they use before hooking up with you guys?
Michael: They went on the Internet. They did a lot of research during the two hours. After the Fashion House being right under our nose in the last episode, I was really going to scour the area. We only had $20 for that leg, so I'm saying, "It's got to be pretty close." What you didn't see was that there was a giant bridge that we were on and it had shrubs that led to these gardens. Inside the gardens were five other bridges. Dan and Jordan already checked them, so that saved us time. But they didn't know about the translation service or they didn't remember it the way I used it. So Louie in hindsight is like, "If we did that [by ourselves], they would still be left out in the cold." But hindsight's 20/20.

Amazing Race's Joe and Heidi: Morse code challenge was "an impossible task"

TVGuide.com: Did you ever think about ditching them?
Louie: I was kind of excited in the cab ride when we were in front, and they got stuck at the light and we lost them. I thought they were going to get lost. I was kind of pumped at that point, but obviously that didn't happen. It is what it is. I get a lot of phone calls: "Oh, the brothers really used you guys." I said, "No, they played the game."

TVGuide.com: You weren't concerned about the Speed Bump possibly slowing you down and putting you behind them — which it didn't since that was the easiest Speed Bump ever.
Michael: [Laughs] Not really because I really had the feeling that we would conquer that Speed Bump. That took Louie about four turns and me about six or seven turns. The toughest part was that our fingers were frozen. But it was quick and we were right back with [Dan and Jordan].

TVGuide.com: Mike, what was so hard about the puzzle last week?
Michael: Don't break my heart, will ya? [Laughs] I have puzzles all over my desk! I have puzzle text messages now. "Do you want to do puzzles with my kids?" [In the first leg] when we were painting the house, I was going, "Louie, this is the right color!" He said, "No, it's not!" My wife has been telling me for years that I'm colorblind and I'm starting to believe it! The outside of the puzzle, I was able to do it. ... I got to the middle — I couldn't see the colors. I couldn't see the blend. It was like a dragon with spines. I kept praying that the puzzle was wrong so I wouldn't look so foolish. But I'm the fool!

Amazing Race's Steve and Allie: Elimination was "hard to swallow"

TVGuide.com: You U-Turned Joe and Heidi, and he's still not over it, judging from the Elimination Station videos.
Michael: He needs to get over it. I'll be honest with you. That was the only time on the show that the edit wasn't 100 percent because I had to talk Louie into U-Turning them. I had my heart set on Joe and Heidi from the beginning. It was 50 percent business, 50 percent "I couldn't stomach 'em." One of his [passport stamps] was China. I thought, "There's a possibility we could go to China," so do I want to bring somebody who speaks Mandarin to Asia? No way! Then there's the whole thing on the bus — he was a negative factor. Other people didn't like him. He was mean to Daniel and Jordan. He needs to get over it. Joe is hung up on Joe.
Louie: Every single Elimination Station video, he's out of control. People are posting, "Give it up. Let it go, Joe." C'mon! He was negative all the time and he was like a Mr. Know-It-All. He'd make comments on the bus about everyone, and me and Mike are sitting right in front of him. Like, "Dude, we're right here."

TVGuide.com: What did you say to each other at the finish?
Michael: We talked about it a little bit. I said it's part of the game. Jet and Cord said to me, at the final four, I think, "Mike, if a U-Turn comes up and we get there first, we're U-Turning you." I laughed. I said, "I think that's a compliment." If they or anyone else U-Turned us, I would say, "Great move." It is what it is. We thought Carol and Brandy were a threat — not physically — but because they were world travelers. They were in decent shape, but everywhere we went, they were like, "Oh, I know somebody from Singapore, I know somebody from here who speaks French, who speaks Spanish."

Amazing Race's Carol and Brandy: Caite "very clearly had a problem with us as lesbians"

TVGuide.com: They thought you were friends and were "blindsided" to learn that you trained Brent and Caite to U-Turn them. How would you characterize your relationship with them?
Michael: Well, to us, they were just people that we knew. I don't remember hanging out with them very much — a couple conversations, but I wouldn't consider that good friends. My definition and theirs are different, I guess. We ended up being real good friends with Jet and Cord, Steve and Allie, Monique and Shawne, Daniel and Jordan, and Brent and Caite. We had longer conversations with them. Maybe [Carol and Brandy] thought we had some, I don't know.
Louie: The cowboys are tough competitors. Everyone's asking, "Why didn't you target them?" We just wanted positive people with us at the end. We were so sick of the negative people, it was insane. If any of the other teams beat us and were in the final, we said so be it.
--- End quote ---

Sailing:

http://www.realitywanted.com/newsitem/3226-the-amazing-race-16-exclusive-interview-with-michael-naylor-louie-stravato


--- Quote ---The Amazing Race 16: Exclusive Interview with Michael Naylor & Louie Stravato

by David McAlpine and Gina Scarpa

Last night, on The Amazing Race, teams battled the language barrier to complete their tasks in China. The road block had them counting over 500 statues, while the detour had them searching for a needle in a haystack. Louie and Michael, who were the last team to arrive at the last pit stop, had to also deal with a speed bump along the way. They made it all the way to a footrace with Dan and Jordan to the pit stop but didn’t make it there in time and were eliminated from the race. Today, Louie and Michael spoke to RealityWanted in an exclusive interview about their experiences on the race.

Q. David, RealityWanted: Whose idea was it to try out for The Amazing Race and what motivated you to do it?

A. Louie: It was my idea. I'd been watching the show since the beginning and I couldn't think of a better partner than Michael. It always intrigued me.

Q. David, RealityWanted: You ran a really good race. What do you attribute your success to?

A. Michael: We stay in the moment and we stay present. We decided we were going to deal what we're dealing with. It's so similar to our job--you don't need to overthink it. We weren't really good in the beginning because we were analyzing everything. But around leg three, we decided that we've got this.

Q. David, RealityWanted: What was the toughest leg of the race?

A. Louie: I think it was when I was carrying the incese up to the temple. I learned that I have asthma and yeah, my cardio did suck. Crawling through the trenches was tough too.

A. Michael: South America was a smack in the face. I couldn't get my groove, couldn't get comfortable--I just wasn't letting myself go. The first three legs were really hard, just figuring out how everything worked.

Q. David, RealityWanted: You were aligned with Brent and Caite for some of
the time. How did the two teams benefit one another?

A. Michael: They were really nice people. When you have 8 or 10 hours in an airport with nothing to do, you want to talk to nice people. They didn't really help us other than the U-Turn, but they were nice kids.

Q. David, RealityWanted: Brent and Caite wanted Carol and Brandy out for personal reasons. Why did you want them out of the race?

A. Michael: I really, truly believed that when we were getting down to the end that they were going to be a threat. Carol had worked with malls or something and everywhere we went, every city, she knew something about where we were. We were looking to the future and trying to make sure everyone was on a level playing field.

Q. David, RealityWanted: Which team did you feel was the biggest threat? Why?

A. Michael: I didn't see a threat in the other three teams. I thought we were all evenly matched; everyone had their strengths and everyone had their weaknesses. At the beginning, I definitely thought Shawn and Monique and Steve and Allie were threats at the beginning, though. You know, Steve never slept on the plane and he was always getting information. He was a professional coach--I really thought Steve would get to the finals.

Q. David, RealityWanted: Were you relieved when you saw that the speed bump was not an incredibly difficult task?

A. Michael: So relieved! Our fingers were absolutely frozen but I can remember Jordan stomping his feet going 'That wasn't much of a speed bump!'.

Q. David, RealityWanted: How close were you to Dan and Jordan heading to that pit stop this week?

A. Michael: We were maybe 10 to 20 minutes behind them; really, really close. We were at the point where we were calling them our step children, we liked them. They were real good kids and we enjoyed being on the race with them.

Q. David, RealityWanted: How difficult was it for you to be eliminated so close to the final leg of the race?

A. Louie: It was so difficult, but we had no regrets, we ran a great race. I guess it looked like I was smiling on the mat, but I was smiling because we accomplished to much. We went around the world and I went around the world with my friend.

A. Michael: I was very disappointed and I knew it was going to kill me to come home and watch it with my son and my daughter, especially when they're thinking I might have won a million dollars.

Q. David, RealityWanted: What’s the biggest thing you’ll be taking away from your experience on The Amazing Race?

A. Louie: Showing my children that anything can be accomplished as long as you can put your heart and soul into it. And other stuff, too, like other places in the world. People have negative thoughts about places like France, but the people there couldn't have been nicer to us.

A. Michael: It was so great to be around these people. The world's a great place and I definitely want to travel more. My kids know now that you can do anything--give it a shot, who cares? There wasn't one time during this that I said to myself, 'I hope my kids don't see me act like this," and that's what I was proud of.
--- End quote ---

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