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The Amazingly Rigged Amazing Race

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puddin:
The Race is over and U&J won , the Romber haters are Happy the Romber Fans are not ..I guess it all depends on who were rooting for . Now that all is said and done we can never assume anything , point Rob and Amber would have had a good two hour lead on the other teams, there would have been no exciting race to the final Pitstop if not for " The Powers That Be " ( American Airlines is indeed a TAR Sponser ) ..however if Rob & Amber were the team that were let on the plane by "TPTB" the final result would most likely have been the same .


Article~
The Amazing Race: The Finale: The Airport Of Dreams
Last Updated: Sunday, May 15, 2005 - 08:43 AM


Yes, the spectacular seventh season of The Amazing Race has ended. It was an interesting, powerful ride punctuated by high Nielsen ratings, bold strategic tricks, controversies over spoilers — one which proved wrong, one correct — crashes and injuries, interpersonal squabbling, sacrifice and stoic good will, the curious lack of extreme challenges (bungee jumps, sky diving), another humdrum Pit Stop Finale (nothing like Season One, or Two), India!, and, the most knotty flash point of them all... the querulous attitude of some teams, and some members of the viewing public, to the presence of a team consisting of Survivor: All Stars winners Rob Mariano and Amber Brkich.

By David W. Taylor (Email Me)
Reality Reel Media
05.16.05

The Disclaimer: I wanted Rob & Amber to win The Amazing Race 7. I know that makes me some sort of Faustian lunatic — and one of maybe three people on the planet that will freely admit to this shame — but, yes, I did. Why? Simply put, I like fierce competitors in a competitive setting. I like to see people make commitments and stick to them come hell or high water. And I don't like whiners. The team of Rob & Amber routinely exemplified fully all three of these elements; and they consistently fought tooth and nail to complete each leg in the first position. Uchenna & Joyce, and Ron & Kelly (rounding out the final three) while also competing exceedingly well, did not master the rudiments of the game as succinctly nor as wantonly.

The Rub: The fact that Rob & Amber both appeared previously on Survivor on two separate occasions and pocketed considerable amounts of money makes no impression on me other than respecting their considerable achievements. I would no longer hold their past Survivor successes against them in seeking participation on a show like The Amazing Race than I would begrudge someone like, say, Brad Pitt from acting in future motion picture projects because he's already made a few films, banked untold millions of dollars and has become a household name.

The Quarrel: Bandied about by many is the inference (okay, the stampede) that Rob & Amber didn't deserve to be on The Amazing Race in the first place, because they previously appeared on a television show. This is absurd on its face. I cannot fathom any precedent for such lunacy — banning successful people from further success? — unless it's hitched to arcane, delusional class warfare agitprop or dumbed-down Marxian ethics. If Rob & Amber should be excluded on that basis, why should any person who achieves a personal triumph be allowed to strive towards another? Much of this rancor may literally come down to base jealousy.

Just as in any competitive business environment — of which the entertainment industry is certainly a thriving member — there will be a limited number of people cast on a Reality Television show due to certain, maybe unfair, abstract variables. And among people cast, there will be a sizable majority who make their appearance and return to their previous lives without much fanfare. In a very few cases, again for reasons that may be as undefinable and nebulous as reading tea leaves in a voodoo hut, some of the participants will achieve some sort of sustainable notoriety or even, possibly, true stardom.

Certainly Rob Mariano and Amber Brkich are two people that have achieved some small sliver of celebrity. Finding themselves on the cover of a magazine in South Africa or running into passionate fans in Peru, or England, or South Africa on the Race... is certainly a stardom of some order. Having initially appeared on two separate Survivor seasons and then both being selected to appear on a season of Survivor: All Stars, and then winning this Herculean contest as an engaged couple, was a hefty accomplishment I would think few of us could quibble with (though some do).

Bottom Line?: Disliking Rob Mariano for being rapaciously hardcore in his cold-blooded calculating on Survivor (or The Amazing Race) is another issue altogether. I leave that testy subject to the likes of, well, maybe, Lynn & Alex. Or Patrick. Rob certainly is a practitioner of an old school, politically incorrect, brand of sorcery which smells more union thug than hospice social worker. This could be some of the irritation from some corners... he's a fast fading cultural remnant... the unfeminized American male.

So, Rob & Amber's decision to seek participation in The Amazing Race 7 was certainly a hopeful (and understandable, surely) scheme on their part to cart off additional cash and also to sustain their noteworthiness; their bankability. If you can blame this pair for that, you might as well condemn much of human nature and the freedom of expression in American society. Rather than mocking the pair for pursuing an expansion of their horizons — it isn't, after all, illegal to plug after success (at least not yet anyway) — for, in a glib trope, as they say to "Go for it!", I simply salute them. More power to them.

Yet, objectively, signing on to this venture was also a gamble. If Rob & Amber — these notoriously shrewd, bombastic Survivor winners! — had shared the same fate as Big Brother 4 finalist Alison Irwin, and her boyfriend Donny, did on Amazing Race 5 (getting knocked out in the second leg), then much of their luster as Reality champions would have faded. In fact, I suspect that if Rob & Amber had been eliminated in one of the early rounds, plans for their televised wedding might have been pulled.

Casting this pair was also a calculated gambit shouldered by The Amazing Race producers to gain crossover viewers from Survivor with two well known fan favorites. I can only say Thank God! Not only because of the millions of new viewers added to The Amazing Race fan base, which will only increase the likelihood of future seasons, but the additional benefit — thanks to the predatory showmanship of Rob Mariano — of widening the parameters of Amazing Race sport.

Again, there are some who take note of a ripple in the "sporting" nature of The Amazing Race now that Rob & Amber have plowed into the game... thinking this particular Reality Show should remain some sort of gentlemanly game of croquet governed by Victorian Rules of Decency which, in reality, it never has remotely been. There has always been bold deception and falsehoods. In Season One, the team consisting of Bill & Joe (Team Guido) used a hyped ruse and a luggage cart to block teams from entering an airport customs entry so they might miss a departing flight. This move turned into a frightening mess and Team Guido were a thorn despised thereafter. For all of his uncivil deception, I would propose that Rob Mariano himself would not stoop to such a crude tactic.

Another sore point among Rob & Amber detractors is the proposition that their celebrity somehow helped them attract assistance during various legs in the Race. However, while this is certainly true up to a point, as Amber pointed out on at least one occasion, this might have been as much a hindrance as a help — with people stopping you in your tracks to say hello, shake your hand or ask for an autograph, or something else distracting. And, it has to be pointed out once again: this sort of help has been sought after before, by past Race contestants without any celebrity status whatsoever — other than being followed around by a camera and a boom mike. In Season One, comical oddball frat brothers, Kevin & Drew, hooked up with some new acquaintances during an overnight in China and coaxed a local female to meet with them the next morning to help them through a Roadblock. None of the foundations of Rob's manipulations were new. He merely finessed it, flaunted it. Led with it. His influence, if it transcends past AR7 at all, can only tighten the Race and increase the fireworks. What can possibly be wrong with that?

And even with all the ill will being loosed on Rob & Amber... Hey! They didn't even win. The good guy won. Getting back at Enron won. The sacrificing gal won. Unselfishness won. Taking care of the old people won. Being honest won. Faith won. Money for In Vitro or Adoption won. Baldness won. Compassion won. The new American male won. The Good Team won.

You have to give it to Uchenna & Joyce. They stuck with it — without funds or clothes or nicknacks — until the very end; and remained the incorruptible, almost monkish new-age pair, serenely resigned to providential will and destiny. Observing Uchenna, in particular, throughout the finale was to watch a Gandhi-like figure passing through an earthly Dantesque crucible with tranquil aplomb and a pastoral sense that calmed even an increasingly jittery Joyce.

The whole spectacle at the San Juan Airport, Puerto Rico, was a creepy, skin crawling apocalyptic nightmare, that is if you were pulling for Rob & Amber (or Ron & Kelly). If Uchenna & Joyce were your team... the Airport Miracle was the Heavy Hand of God descending upon the gate agents — who had to decide to radio a ramp coordinator who had to decide to radio the cockpit — and into the mind of the American Airlines Captain who — in a highly irregular move — ultimately opted to have a gate agent reopen the jetway security door, reposition the jetway to the aircraft and reopen the aircraft door (resetting the departure time) to allow Uchenna & Joyce to continue to compete in The Amazing Race.

This does happen in regular airports, on regular commercial airlines, with regular travelers, and it is done at the Captain's sole prerogative (if you can get past the gate agents), but it isn't something that is done on a regular basis. Once that aircraft door is closed and that jetway is motored back, that's usually it. Whatever forces were put in motion to finally flip the switch that green-lighted Uchenna & Joyce's fashionably late boarding on that delayed flight to Miami, it was plainly their propitious moment in the Race. One maybe had a quick flashback to a sun-bleached Hindu Temple slab on the banks of some lake in India and Joyce kneeling down for her Hindu Good Luck Ritual head shave... it was all swirling together, like unseen angels, into a purposeful meditation redolent of some childhood fairy tale. At that moment, the spoiler rang true.

As Uchenna & Joyce walked down the aircraft aisle they passed Rob & Amber. I've never seen Rob look so bleak and dumbfounded. There were no smiles or high-fives — his game had been crushed by whimsical happenstance. He had been found out and followed. Peekaboo. The Amazing Race Finale lead of the century smashed.

In Miami, Rob & Amber left their backpacks on the plane and maniacally fought for a lead that was finally broken due to the usual mundane drip-drops of Amazing Race tragedy... taxi drivers and language. At one point, in Little Havana, Rob Mariano was utterly lost, whizzing askance in a fog in that Cuban cultural conclave. A zig-zag vein on his temple was popping out like a balloon, his eyes dazed. At one point, his taxi disappeared. He took out a necklace medal of St. Anthony from under his shirt and kissed it, pleading for heavenly assistance in finding that goddamned cigar store. But the Karma was already set. An American Airlines pilot and a Miami taxi driver had entered the lives of Uchenna & Joyce and moved them to realize their good fortune.

Amazing. At the Final Pit Stop entrance — yards to the Finish Line — Uchenna, even here, remains his Christ-like (even Zach-like) self... refusing to run to the Mat until he has paid his meter tab to his wonderful taxi driver in full. It was sublimely touching and almost too much goodness to witness. I almost expected him to walk off and volunteer at some local soup kitchen. I just wonder if Rob & Amber had REALLY been on his tail, whether he would have begun passing around the hat for his driver or would he have just grabbed Joyce and split? If Uchenna, in that instance, would've stayed and done his duty, he could've started a new religion.

Uchenna & Joyce became the symbol of everything Rob & Amber supposedly were not. It was a battle to the end of the old order and the new cultural age. Perceived lightness and Dark. My only problem with the whole thing playing out in the Finale was the short clip of Patrick, Susan's irksome gay son, standing there with the other contestants in front of the Mat and Phil, and he's gazing down a path awaiting the team who will claim the million dollar prize. His hands are clasped together, eyes ablaze, and he's chanting, "Uchenna & Joyce, Uchenna & Joyce..." This was nauseating, pandering and patronizing.

And this is besides the point of who could care a flip who this useless, whining contestant, Patrick, would want to win in the first place? Was he speaking for everyone? Phil? After calling Rob Mariano, "Dumb as a rock," in Peru, I suppose his pissy rants were suddenly credible.

This utterance signaled plainly that The Amazing Race story editors and producers had handpicked Uchenna & Joyce as the only worthy team to win the Race and made a garish attempt to shove this point across. If you had other favorites you were just wrongheaded! It was Uchenna & Joyce's sob story of corporate oppression, financial woe, and reproductive issues that had become the political force behind their exaltation to deserving beings of our collective charity. One has to wonder why, if this was the buzz, why they just weren't given one million dollars outright.

It all fit in with the Dehumanization of Rob & Amber. (I also wonder why Ron's plan to distribute his winnings to injured soldiers of the U.S. Military got such short shrift). I suppose it was a knee jerk politically correct patch job after Freddy and Kendra's win in Amazing Race 6... after all they were a pampered white couple, models!, who spoke disparagingly about third world squalor and birth rates. Oops! You don't know what it's like to be on the bad side of the Early Show's Harry Smith!

I thoroughly enjoyed this seventh season of The Amazing Race. It was sure wrapped up with a nice pretty ribbon. It's my favorite show. Yet, whatever the reasons behind this FIRST EVER team-specific rah-rah boost from the Finale sidelines, it was totally uncalled for. It had no place in a free-for-all competition. Leave that stuff for a syrupy melodramatic come-from-behind tear-jerker on Oxygen. I can figure things out myself, thank you.

http://www.realityreel.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1209&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0

puddin:
‘Amazing Race’ finale
created lots of questions
Plane, cabbie and money
are on readers’ minds
After finally begging enough money to pay their cab driver, Uchenna and Joyce Agu sprinted to the finish line, and the million-dollar prize, on "The Amazing Race."
MSNBC
Updated: 4:45 p.m. ET May 17, 2005We've received umpteen questions about "The Amazing Race" since its finale one week ago, so we're devoting this week's column to investigating your three main questions. CBS did not respond to a request for comment by press time.


 
We received dozens of variations on three main questions:

BACKING UP THE PLANE
"How real was it that the pilots let Uchenna and Joyce on the airplane to Miami? If they hadn't gotten on, the race would have essentially been over with Rob & Amber the winners. Did the producers have a hand in the flight being re-opened? It seems highly unlikely that that would have happened in today's security climate without outside influence."    —Billy

PAYING THE CABBIE
"Uchenna and Joyce waited to go to the mat to win so they could beg for the money they needed to make good with the cabbie for his fare.  Is it a requirement of the show that they did that or was that more of a moral choice for Uchenna?" —Becky

WHAT DO SECOND- AND THIRD-PLACE FINISHERS WIN?
"I love ‘The Amazing Race’ and have always been curious if there's any money for finishing second or third."     —Anonymous


A: The two-time Emmy-winning series “The Amazing Race” has always been popular with a core group of fans. But the show is now officially a hit, as the finale of the seventh season was watched by a record number of viewers (16.01 million).

With popularity comes scrutiny, and this season’s finale had a few moments that made some think the show didn’t play fair during its season finale. Immediately after Joyce and Uchenna Agu won the $1 million prize, conspiracy theories about the outcome began to surface.

 
Some theories show ignorance about the race; for example, the bridge-jumping task in San Juan was 87 miles away from the airport and closed until morning, which permitted Joyce and Uchenna to catch up. That seemed like a plot against Rob and Amber to some, but these “equalizers” have frustrated some fans since the first season. They both increase drama and make the production possible (otherwise teams could be in, say, four different countries at once).

DA PLANE, DA PLANE
The main conspiracy theory centers on the final plane ride. Rob and Amber boarded a flight in San Juan, and thought they were safe when the doors closed.  Joyce and Uchenna were close behind, but at the gate, they were denied entry. The gate agent radioed to the pilot, who decided to let the couple on the plane, creating a two-team race to the finish in Miami. Add to that the fact that American Airlines has been a sponsor of the race, and those unlikely events seem like a conspiracy to some.

Rob and Amber helped fuel these rumors. Rob told TV Guide he “was yelling and screaming at the producers on the plane” and says this “was a bit sketchy to me ... it wouldn’t have been too dramatic if only one team was running to the finish line.”

CBS, of course, says these claims “are completely without foundation.” A spokesperson told The New York Post, “Reality series are always breeding grounds for conspiracy theories. Only an understanding gate agent and the goodwill of the pilot returned the Jetway back to the plane. Uchenna and Joyce treated everyone with kindness and respect throughout race, and that karma was returned at a crucial moment.”

PAYING UP
Others accuse the show of creating drama when Joyce and Uchenna, just steps away from the finish line, had to beg for money to pay a cabbie. Although tension was definitely manufactured by the editors — ultimately, Rob and Amber checked in about 30 minutes after Joyce and Uchenna — the situation was not.

Uchenna said paying the driver “was all about honor,” but really, they had no choice. “Amazing Race” rules stipulate that teams can’t break local laws, and that would include stiffing a driver. Teams can certainly bargain — hence Joyce and Uchenna’s deal with a Jamaican cabbie who drove them around for just $40 — but they can’t walk away. And their driver wanted his money.

COMING IN SECOND
Once they were able to coax enough cash out of strangers, Joyce and Uchenna claimed the $1 million, and Rob and Amber followed them onto the mat. So what do Rob and Amber win? “Survivor” contestants are paid on a sliding scale, but “The Amazing Race” never has officially revealed what non-winning teams receive for their accomplishments.

While we don’t know for sure, the TARflies Times reports that they “have heard rumors that the second-place prize for some seasons has been $25,000 or $50,000, and third place was $10,000 or $25,000."

Even if we don’t know what their second-place prize was, Rob and Amber did quite well, racking up prizes after most of their five first-place finishes. And, of course, CBS paid for and is broadcasting their wedding on May 24. While second place probably wasn’t the outcome Rob hoped for, he and Amber are doing just fine.    —A.D.


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7632857/

puddin:
Readers furious about ‘Race’ finale
Many insist CBS fixed the show's endingMSNBC
Updated: 4:49 p.m. ET May 17, 2005Readers are still buzzing about “The Amazing Race” finale and its unanswered questions. Many have chosen sides: Either you’re for Rob and Amber and you think CBS fixed the race so that Joyce and Uchenna would win, or you think Rob and Amber had advantages all along and are pleased that Rob and Amber didn’t take home another million.


 
It’ll be interesting to see if this controversial ending taints the buzz about the Emmy-winning “Race,” long considered one of the most fair reality shows on television.

Some of your thoughts:

ROB AND AMBER ALSO HAD PLANE WAIT
“If people would think back. A pilot had done the same thing for Rob and Amber earlier in the season by reopening the gate so they could board a plane that was already closed. Rob needs to quit his crying. He cheated and manipulated his way through the whole race. At least the other teams didn't have personal escorts from each stop to take them where they needed to be to gain the advantage over everyone else. Rob is a poor sport. And his comments through the whole show about "they" already won Survivor. If I remember correctly, Amber won not him. He was a disgrace to the show and I'm sure the cause of making several people skeptical of watching. I think there would have been umpteen million questions regarding the outcome had Rob and Amber won. He's had his moment in glory, he needs to move on. What a jerk.”    --Amy

ROB AND AMBER WERE ROBBED
“I've watched all the Amazing Races and no way would anyone be allowed on the plane after they closed the gate. I really liked Joyce and Uchenna and had picked them as one of my "hope they win" teams at the beginning but Rob and Amber were obviously robbed. Which could explain why their wedding is being paid for.”    --Mark

ROB AND AMBER HAD ADVANTAGE
“When Rob and Amber was recognized at one of the country they visited, the natives made sure that they got everything they needed.  And one lady actually walked with them to the mat.  So if the pilot decided to give Uchenna and Joyce a break.  It's all in who can beg the loudest and if someone decides to give another person a break.  No one cried foul when someone else got a break.  So let's just be happy for all the winners.”    --JB

DON’T LET GROUPS CATCH UP
“Yeah, I'm a little concerned with the way the Amazing Race ended. I think Rob and Amber should have won. This turning the plane back just doesn't happen in this day in age, and the point of the Amazing Race and all the other reality shows is the strongest survive. I could care less if one team runs with all the clues and gets three days ahead, that's just the way it should be instead of letting all the groups catch up. This is a dog eat dog world. And if you're not the strongest person, then you should get out.”    --Melinda

RACIAL ISSUE?
“Why is it that since two black couples have amazingly won The Amazing Race are there suddenly questions of conspiracy? How was it fair for Rob and Amber to get so much help from natives during the race?”    --Denise

SHOW LOST A FAN
“It was incomprehensible that Uchenna & Joyce did not seek a connecting flight that might arrive earlier in London from Istanbul, when they lead the pack by doing just that the leg before. … That and the completely unfair inclusion of "celebrities" Rob & Amber, who were escorted through several tasks by admirers, have lead me to conclude that there is NO "reality" only packaged entertainment in this genre.  I also found it odd that the boyfriends twice got the only cab drivers that could not get them to their destination properly--maybe they were being deliberately dumped? I stopped watching when the planes left Istanbul and will probably not watch the series again.”    --Ron

PLANES DO WAIT
“I would like to know why people do not question all of the special treatment Rob and Amber got during the entire season?  Why has this just come up with Joyce and Uchenna?  I have traveled extensively for business and have had an airline have a plane wait for me.  People need to get over it!”    --Mardi

GET OVER IT
“This whole conspiracy theory wouldn’t even be there if Rob and Amber  won....if the plane had opened for them do you think Rob and Amber would be playing the karma card....Rob is just bitter he didn’t win...if they did due to the plane opening for him, he wouldn’t care in the least about a conspiracy...Rob..dude...you got CBS's money for 2nd place, you got Amber's money from Survivor, and they are paying you for your wedding...get over it!”    --Kim
NO TICKETS?
“My question is a follow-up to the plane backing up for Joyce & Uchenna — not only did that happen but they also boarded the plane without tickets — Rob & Amber got stand-by tickets at the ticket counter and Joyce & Uchenna did not. They were told the plane was closed and they ran to the gate with only tickets for the later flight.   In this day no one would ever be allowed to board a plane without a ticket.  How can the network explain that one?”


 
CONSPIRACY THEORY
“I think the race was fixed to pander to the ratings game. I do not care what the CBS producers say or deny, this fix is similar to the quiz show scandals of the 50s. Money is involved here. In a post 9/11 environment at federal installations, including airports, the producers claim that they didn't intervene doesn't wash. Will the FCC investigate this? Was the wedding deal a 'consolation prize' to soften the blow to Rob & Amber? I know that this race was filmed shortly after AR 6 was done. The timeline fits for my conspiracy theory.”    --Robert

DID ROB AND AMBER THROW THE RACE?
“I'm not a fan of conspiracy theories, but the finale of Amazing Race had me wondering. In addition to Uchenna and Joyce catching the plane, once in Miami things started to smell fishy. Rob and Amber, who displayed an incredible cunning all season, suddenly gave up their time tested methods. They didn't recruit a local guide, or do any advanced planning. They just bumbled around Little Havana. I'm fairly certain Rob showed some Spanish skills earlier in the season. Why were the best team ever to be on the Amazing Race imploding just before the mat? I would hate for this to be true, but it almost felt like they were throwing the race. How much money did CBS give them to film the wedding anyway?”    --Kate

BACKPACKS
“Wondering about the fact that Rob and Amber left their backpacks on the plane to Florida.  I would find this to be more of a security issue then letting the winning couple on the plane, not to mention against the rules of the series since it is illegal to do so.”  --Tina

© 2005 MSNBC Interactive

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7887730/page/2/

Bluetickmaggie:
Puddin do you enjoy posting these articles?  I am afraid what this might do to Amazing Race's future, they had just started getting the ratings they deserved and the respect they deserved.  And what about its Emmy chances has that gone down the drain.  They did not rig the ending to TAR 7, it was sloppy editing.   Are these articles coming out every day because I hope this goes away fast.  BVM and Elisa love their show and would not do anything to jeopardize it.

puddin:
Are you talking to me Btm ? First of all  I post articles that I think are interesting and also just about every TAR news that I can find and anyone here as a member is free to do the same thing .
Second of all do you think a small Reality Form can in anyway influence the Amazing Races future or ratings ? What about a Major News Network such as MSNBC or TV Guide ? They ran the articles I copied it and brought it here as did countless other TAR message boards  .. that is there right and its mine .


--- Quote ---They did not rig the ending to TAR 7, it was sloppy editing. 
--- End quote ---
How do you know ? Were you there ? Did you hear all of the conversation between U&J and the ticket girl  , did you see U&J eavesdropping on R&A at the ticket counter ? Did you even bother to read the articles ?

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