By Jim Memmott
Amazing Race, Season 25, Episode 3
Oxford/Shetland Islands –
You might say I took a Dixie.
Actually, I might say I
took a Dixie, now that I know what the phrase means.
Various sources suggest it
can mean took a vacation or a siesta, which is what Cindy and I did the day
after Episode 3 aired last Friday.
Headed off to Albany,
Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Peaks Island. Saw the foliage, ate well, had fun, didn’t write
the blog, took a Dixie.
What I didn’t do was
sprain my ankle, which is what happened to Boston firefighter Scott Strazzullo early
in the episode. “I just took a Dixie,” he told his teammate Michael Ward after he sprained his ankle. “I
took a huge Dixie.”
 |
| Michael and Scott |
Which may, or may not,
have been the correct usage of the term. But hey, the guy was in pain, and so
am I, sort of.
The firefighters seemed
like good guys; they were loud, fun. And now they’re gone. They were eliminated
(along with poolster Allison Chanler) because of a bum ankle and the bad
decision to get directions from a guy in a bar rather than an expert in a
museum.
And with the firefighters
gone, my worry escalates about Season 25.
In short, the competition
is getting lop-sided.
Jim and Misti, the self-absorbed
dentists, finished first, as they did in episode one. Their only non-win was a
strong second in episode two.
“I'd love to prove ourselves
as the most dominating team on the Amazing
Race history,” Jim proclaimed, taking a verbal victory lap.
But, let’s face it,
domination on the Amazing Race is dull. You remember Rachel and Dave from
Season 20. They took home the $1 million after winning eight of 12 episodes.
Actually, you may not remember them, which is my point.
Right now, the only clear
competition for Team Dentistry would seem to be Adam and Bethany, the duo with
a compelling story (she lost an arm to a shark) and something close to
humility.
 |
| Opportunity to party |
And after them, who knows?
I like the bicyclists, Alli and Kym, if only because they alone chose to party
hardy in England. “The other teams are
square,” Kym lamented before they hit the pubs. “They’re just boring.”
And, to their credit, Tim and Te Jay, college sweethearts, brought some comic relief by baying or braying
or barking at the sheep in a failed attempt to lure the critters into a pen.
The wrestlers, Brooke and
Robbie, did have trouble bending a nail, that was fun, though not a good omen for challenges to
come. Still, I was happy that Robbie once again referred to himself in the
third person. (“Robbie and Brooke and fire don’t mix well,” Robbie said.)
But, OK, I’ll stop my
whining, if only because the race went far north to Scotland’s Shetland
Islands, the setting for a terrific series of mysteries by Ann Cleeves.)
The Amazing Race’s Shetland Islands seemed a little sunnier than that
of Cleeves – less fog, fewer murders – but there was the obligatory peat
farming and zany island rituals. (You live on an island where the winter nights
are nothing but dark, you drink, you howl at the moon, you boil wool.)
Enough. I took a Dixie,
and I’m hoping the Race didn’t, too.
Come on Shelley and Nici and all the other also-rans. Step up your game. Floss
the dentists. Compete.
Overheard
Jim:
The most successful people in life fail forward ... And that’s what I’m going
to do
Michael:
The world is small, go out and see it.
Misti:
The one Shetland I’ve met, he was sassy.
Robbie:
I barely know how to use a lighter, let alone make a torch.
Scott:
I’m never counting sheep again
Order of finish
1) Jim and Misti
2) Adam and Bethany
3) Keith and Whitney
4) Shelley and Nici
5) Amy and Maya
6) Brooke and Robbie
7) Alli and Kym
8) Te Jay and Tim
