12/4 TAR 19 Show Thread Episode 11 **West Coast Spoilers**

[Bearcata]

I have absolutely NO idea what kind of season ANY team is having - what Bob Irsay did to Baltimore in 1984 totally killed any interest I had in professional football.

What's this got to do with the Amazing Race?

[Bearcata]

Another possible solution to the good/bad taxi driver scenario. Maybe members of the Amazing Race staff could be assigned as drivers with a vehicle assigned to each. They would not be permitted to help with directions. The teams would have to direct them to the place they thought the clue was leading them to (they all have maps). The teams could still direct the driver to stop at a hotel or some other place with internet capability, but there would be no "luck of the draw" aspect to taxis, and it would eliminate the "follow them" direction. Of course this would elminate the scenes of teams in the back seat screaming, "Go faster. We're in a race!"

I will have to disagree with this suggestion because most television production brings needed money into the local economy.

[Tribal Speak]

Another possible solution to the good/bad taxi driver scenario. Maybe members of the Amazing Race staff could be assigned as drivers with a vehicle assigned to each. They would not be permitted to help with directions. The teams would have to direct them to the place they thought the clue was leading them to (they all have maps). The teams could still direct the driver to stop at a hotel or some other place with internet capability, but there would be no "luck of the draw" aspect to taxis, and it would eliminate the "follow them" direction. Of course this would elminate the scenes of teams in the back seat screaming, "Go faster. We're in a race!"

I think one of the main ideas behind TAR is racing through a world that is as real as possible. Which includes cab drivers who know and talk to each other. Hence a "reality" show. If they started using TAR staff for transportation, or anything else for that matter, now that would be a jump the shark moment for me.

[AZChristian]

Okay - you guys have convinced me that using production staff to drive is not in keeping with the spirit of the game. I humbly withdraw the suggestion.

Regarding the Bob Irsay/1984 comment. The link to this season of Amazing Race is real for me and at least one other FoRT member. In 1984, Bob Irsay, owner of the BALTIMORE Colts, snuck the team out of town - literally in the middle of the night - and moved them to Indianapolis. This was done in spite of the fact that city officials and fans matched every offer that Indianapolis made to keep our team. It was bad enough that they left under less-than-honorable circumstances, but when they kept the team name, the logo . . . everything, it was like a knife in the heart to true football fans in the city.

That's the night my love for football died. I have liked some of the people who have coached or played for the team since then, but to hear their names tied to the word "Colts" just always brings that memory to the forefront. The running joke at our house is that if I walk into the living room while hubby is watching a game, if the Colts are playing, I tell him, "You KNOW that team is NOT allowed on the TVs in our house." He (not a Baltimorean) says, "You need to get over it." I always reply, "Never. You just don't understand."

Nevertheless, go Marcus and Amani!

[jmb]

I think one of the main ideas behind TAR is racing through a world that is as real as possible. Which includes cab drivers who know and talk to each other. Hence a "reality" show. If they started using TAR staff for transportation, or anything else for that matter, now that would be a jump the shark moment for me.

They could have the teams walk, take public transportation, bicycle, or drive themselves everywhere... just no cab drivers??

[Duckyface]

They could have the teams walk, take public transportation, bicycle, or drive themselves everywhere... just no cab drivers??

I actually think it would be a good idea to have them drive themselves anywhere that it was safe to do so. The local economy would still get money from the rental of cars and buying of gas and all, but the race would depend more on the contestants themselves and less on lucky or unlucky cab driver draws.

[spockwhat]

The cab drivers being good or bad ones is a part of the race and personally I don't mind them as part of the race.

I think where Amazing Race had a miss in this instance was they should have had one of those people there to confirm whether or not you had the correct location before you left the dancing girls. I'm sure they were looking for some excitement with people heading for the wrong locations, but they ended up with what felt like an unfair situation because of it.
It's quite possible the finish would have been the same with the boarders losing. I could have handled that in this instance, because it feels fair. Even if, say, Ernie and Cindy cheated and simply followed a team to the pitstop and then had to go back and give the right location and THEN still beat the boarders... I could have handled that too.

I would just like it if the race were based a little more on the teams abilities and a little less on luck. Production could tighten that up a little, to be sure.
Some examples:
Racers must confirm that they got the right answer in a task before they move on. If someone helps them get an answer they should be assessed a penalty at the pitstop. This would help reduce undue ganging up on teams.
Racers must figure out the correct location themselves, either with the help of their cab driver or with locals. If another team helps however, they should be assessed a penalty.
If a team does not figure out a location, and simply follows another team to the pitstop or wherever... penalty or return to the location and come back. (I understand this can work either for or against a team, but at least the team has to do the work themselves, even if they chose a wrong location.)

I just think I would find the race more likeable if the best racers had a little more of a chance to make it to the finale. These rules wouldn't eliminate luck as a part of the race, and racers will still get screwed by bad taxis or just plain bad luck sometimes. Also, there is the U-turn to use at some point against racers one finds as threats. But there would be a better chance of the best racers making it through to the finale.

[Jaceegirl]

I'm very sad that the boarders are out........granted they did direct their taxi driver to the incorrect place originally. But I found it 'unfair' that the taxi drivers for Amani and Marcus and Cindy and Ernie choose to take their passengers to a place they did not ask to go to. Jeremy and Sandy were the only ones of that group that actually figured out the destination of the pit stop.

I further am still upset that there was not penalty assessed to Ernie and Cindy when they boarded the train in an earlier episode without tickets. Weather they bought them or not they didn't have them when the got on the train. Any where else and they would have had to present them and would have not been allowed on the train. I think that they should have been penelized at the 'to be continued' leg. This would have been totally different because this week's show would have had Bill & Cathi racing instead of one of the other teams (E&C or A&M).

I love the Amazing Race and have never missed an episode, but I may skip the finale this season.....

I agree with you completely. I was one of those hoping the snowboarders would go all the way. They were fantastic racers and did make it look easy. The snowboarders and Bill and Cathi were my two favorites. Either one of them for the final would have been great. I don't think it was fair that Cindy and Ernie weren't penalized for losing the tickets and lucked out because the conductors never asked for their tickets.