The Amazing Race 8: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, Episode 7

Completely off-topic – I’d like to congratulate Tough Enough 3 co-champion Matt Cappotelli for winning the OVW Heavyweight title Wednesday night. It’s a well-earned honor for Matt, and it’s still only the beginning. I’ve said it from the moment I saw the guy, there are big things in his future. It’s nice to see it happen to such a friendly, warm, and humble guy.

Now, I know you’re just DYING to know – yes, I DID get an apology email! Supposedly, I would have gotten it earlier, but there was the little snag of me putting an old email in the column. Whoops. Thought I fixed that, sorry. It might explain why I was getting zero emails for a couple weeks there. Or maybe those articles sucked, who knows.

Thanks to Rachel in CA for having the guts to admit that she was wrong. I don’t think she was one of those who threw their superior opinions in my face in the first couple weeks. She seems to have a lot more common sense than they did.

I got a couple people defending the Weavers. Really. One person liked them because they were underdogs. Yeah, they’re running one of the best races, last week notwithstanding, and being alone by choice by not making alliances. Sure. Underdogs.

If you haven’t read Heathyr’s Insider article, make sure you do. Besides the fact that it’s awesome, it might give you a new perspective. Remember that five bucks that the Weavers gave the Godlewskis out of the kindness of their hearts? Forget the fact that ALL the teams gave them five bucks, the Weavers went and demanded a favor from them later, telling them that they owed them a map. Very Christian. I wonder if the Weavers camp out outside The Salvation Army headquarters to get every penny of value from their red kettle contribution.

However, the best pro-Weaver email came from a very level-headed guy named Bryan. He made the great point that, if you strip away all the crap, the hypocrisy, everything I rant about, they’re still a solid racing team who support each other. I can’t argue with that, but I still think the bad far outweighs the good.

I had emails agreeing with me, of course, most of them hitting on the point that being a Christian is more than invoking Jesus and wearing crosses. Most of the positive emails thanked me for voicing the venomous feelings they have. And most of those positive emails were from Christians. The best comment was that the Gaghan family were everything the Weavers pretend to be.

I’ve saved the best for last, though. A Christian reader named Mindee, frustrated by the Weavers’ behavior, had a tremendous idea. At the beginning of every episode, she thought CBS should run the following disclaimer:

The views and opinions expressed by the Weavers are not necessarily those of the Christian community. The Christian community accepts no responsibility for their behavior and in fact would like to disassociate completely.

I agree wholeheartedly. Personally, I admire anyone who can live a Christian lifestyle. That’s why I don’t like the Weavers.

On another note, much is being made about the fact that this season stinks. I predicted this way back before the season ever started, but I was wrong about the reason. I thought the family aspect would bog the show down and there would be too much dead weight in the teams of four. Nope – the family aspect is, in my opinion, one of the best parts of the show. And it’s not because they’re not leaving North America, as I explained in my first column. The tasks suck, pure and simple.

The Good:

Back in the USA: I’m glad the Race is back in the USA. But then, regular readers should know that. They did nothing in Latin America that they couldn’t do here, except maybe the cool volcano.

Air Biscuit: The aerobatics roadblock was without a doubt the coolest one this year. I would have absolutely loved to do it, personally, and I’m terrified of heights. And hey, they did it in Arizona – so maybe the fact that this season stinks has more to do with the lack of creativity in the tasks than it does with location. Yeah, OK, I’ll shut up about that.

I love the Linzes: No team has made me laugh this season as often as the Linzes. They get along well, they support each other as only siblings can, and they have fun along the way. Between the mooning, telling the cop they were in a race, and Nick’s comment of “Maybe the Godlewskis will share some of their ‘prizes’ with us later,” we may need a special RNO award for them.

No Time for Love, Dr. Godlewski: Am I the only one who did a double-take at the Godlewski sister’s proclamation that there would be no love for them on the Race? Considering the horndog Linz boys, I have to wonder if that wasn’t a little bit of foreshadowing.