By Jim Memmott
Amazing Race, Season
23, Episode 3
Santiago, Chili/Lisbon,
Portugal – Last week they were riding high; this week they’re
 |
| Chester and Ephraim |
The Amazing Race
is not for people who aren’t used to booking their own flights.
Consequently, the most engaging of this season’s teams,
former NFL teammates Chester and Ephraim, are out in a disappointing
development that surely took race fans by surprise.
They had such a bad outing that they didn’t even get to take
on any of the challenges. No tile-puzzle solving, no map measuring, no shooting
arrows in King Arthur’s Court. (And no asking what King Arthur’s Court was
doing in
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| King Arthur |
What led to the NFLers downfall?
Well, when they were playing football professionally, someone
else made their travel plans. So, in this episode, they trusted a
travel agent who, by accident, booked them on the wrong day for their trip from Chili to Portugal.
Feeling terrible, the agent course corrected, giving them a new
itinerary that turned into a traveler’s nightmare. Delays, lonely waits, etc. (Note to Race producers: As drama goes, airport angst gets old, real old.)
When they finally arrived in Lisbon the footballers were so far
behind that Phil Koeghan, the Amazing host,
left the pit stop and met them at the airport. (I'm not sure this has ever happened.)
 |
| Ricky Bobby |
The guys took their elimination with grace, Ephraim drawing
consolation from the all-or-nothing words of the Will Ferrell character in
Talladega Nights.
“To quote the great Ricky Bobby,” he said, “if you’re not
first, you’re last.”
(Their pool sponsor, Team Walkworth, thus loses, too, their seemingly savvy pick not turning out
well.)
Married (to each other) emergency room doctors Nicole and
Travis won the episode, in part because they got the flight the NFLers should have
 |
| Nicole and Travis |
been booked on. They were followed closely by the dating couple, Jason and Amy.
Credit the strong finishes to the fact that the docs and the daters teamed up on a
Detour that asked them to measure Magellan’s route when he sailed about the
globe. (Key to this challenge: Remembering the world is round.)
Nicky and Kim, the baseball wives, finished a strong third, having proved they could play hard ball when they held their
place on a waiting list for a flight. And they had no trouble with the other
Detour choice, piecing together a life-sized tile puzzle.
Their grit irritated the ever-irritable Marie of the team of
Marie and Tim
“As far as our relationship with the Bunnies, we hate them
now,” Marie said, referring to Nicky and Kim.
When she wasn’t dissing other teams, Marie either dissed Tim
(her ex) or brooded about whether they should skip a challenge by using the
express pass won on the first episode. They decided to hold onto the pass
and survived by finishing eighth, next to last.
“I’m sorry to tell you, you are the last team to arrive,”
Phil cruelly told Marie and Tim, before adding the words, “Except one.”
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| Ice Crew at Work |
In other news, the love affair between the Afghanimals, Leo
and Jamal, and L.A. Kings Ice Crew members, Ally and Ashley, continues. (Marie has dubbed them the Iceganimals.) They flew together, competed together, laughed together. Stay
tuned. There’s bound to be a breakup.
Though the NFLers are out, two other good buddy teams
survived: The hippies, Brando and Adam, and the Okies, Tim and Danny.
The Okies, especially, began to show some personality and
sneaky smarts. (Wisely, they didn’t fall for some fake friendship from the
Afganimals.)
Overheard:
Nicole: Travis, do not get frazzled. Do not get frazzled
Chester (lamenting his bad luck): In the NFL, how you worked out, how you trained,
determines how you do.
Brandon: We live in the woods. What else do we have to do but make puzzles?
Tim: I forgot the dang zero.
Adam: I don’t like touching his sword.
Marie (to Tim): Are you productively doing anything?
Order of Finish
1) Nicole and Travis
2) Jason and Amy
3) Nicky and Kim
4) Tim and Daniel
5) Brandon and Adam
6) Leo and Jamal
7) Ally and Ashley
8) Tim and Marie
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