Amazing Race: All Stars

[Ghoulish Delight]

Originally Posted by Nephythys

I love Rob and Amber-I did not enjoy watching last night and will miss them. I think they went out with more grace than many other teams do-

I agree. They didn't complain, they didn't accuse anyone else of cheating or screwing them over. They knew they blew it and that was that. They may be cocky and a little arrogant, but as far as I'm concerned, they've earned it. They've shown time and time again that they know how to succeed at these games. They didn't fair so well this time, but, counting the 3 seasons of Survivor between the two of them and now 2 seasons of Amazing Race, they were competitive in 4 out of 5 of their opportunities. That's hard to argue with. Heck, you can't even really call this time around a poor showing seeing as they were in first for the first 3 legs.

For those that watch the show regularly, is there usually this much bitching about other people taking advantage of opportunities? I mean, these teams have all played before and they seem completely shocked that someone might, gasp, use information they overhear to their advantage. Or even, dear lord, lie to other teams to get ahead. Call me naive, but that's really starting to turn me off of the show more than anything.

[Matterhorn Fan]

Originally Posted by Ghoulish Delight

For those that watch the show regularly, is there usually this much bitching about other people taking advantage of opportunities? I mean, these teams have all played before and they seem completely shocked that someone might, gasp, use information they overhear to their advantage. Or even, dear lord, lie to other teams to get ahead. Call me naive, but that's really starting to turn me off of the show more than anything.

I wonder something similar...why don't more people play this way? Why doesn't one tribe loot their rival's camp when they're at tribal council? Why do AR teams cooporate? Why, when someone's having trouble with a quest, don't the people having trouble simply stand two inches behind someone else and do what they do?

[Prudence]

I was actually significantly less annoyed by Rob and Amber this time than in their previous outings. This time they seemed more out to have a good time and confident, but not obnoxiously so. Maybe they've matured into their fame or something. In the past, they've bugged me more. And it's not even really their fault - of course they're going to talk about themselves during their interview moments. But the producers chose to give them way more air time than other people. Maybe this time there were other equally notorious teams who shared the air time, so there was more of Romber playing well and less of Rob talking about how he's the most amazing stud since Secretariat.

[mousepod]

At least with Survivor, there's the whole idea that the losers (and ultimately the winners) are chosen by the peers, so the illusion of "fair play" is necessary to a point. For AR, I am amazed at the way some of these teams play the game.

Farewell, Rob and Amber. I enjoyed rooting for you. I wonder if they'll ever go to the Philippines?

[Ghoulish Delight]

Originally Posted by Matterhorn Fan

I wonder something similar...why don't more people play this way? Why doesn't one tribe loot their rival's camp when they're at tribal council?

On Survivor I'd imagine that they have some rules in place against that. But who knows.
ETA: Oh yeah, and what MP said. There are far more direct consequences to pissing the other contestant's off in Survivor than in AR.

Why do AR teams cooporate?

There is occasionally a good reason. For example, it made sense for Rob and Amber to work with the beauty queens when they were both stuck on the sign post quest. They knew there were other teams behind them, so rather than worry about beating that one team, it made sense to strike a deal and say, "We'll help you guarantee you're at least ahead of the other teams."

Why, when someone's having trouble with a quest, don't the people having trouble simply stand two inches behind someone else and do what they do?

To some degree I see a kind of unspoken agreement of convenience. Basically, if all the teams were trying to peak at everyone else's work, that would just lead to all the teams doing a better job of hiding their work. So it would kind of be a self-defeating strategy, so the teams probably just naturally don't even bother (kinda like there's an unspoken thing in baseball that says that a batter won't turn around and look at a catcher's sign). But that shouldn't mean you get pissed when you get sloppy and someone does catch sight, or is within earshot, of one of your answers (again, like baseball, there's no such courtesy when a batter's on second base, it's up to the catcher to do a better job of disguising his signs in that situation).

[JWBear]

Originally Posted by Nephythys

...I don't get the hate for them- why are they so worthy of loathing? Good lord there are people who hog the spotlight alot more than those two people...

Why do I hate Rob? He’s a self-absorbed a$$ who thinks he’s clever and charming, and expects us all to love him and his antics because he’s such a charming scamp (not!). I can’t stand is arrogant attitude. I don’t find him the least bit charming, and every time I hear him speak, it’s like fingernails on a chalkboard.

Originally Posted by Nephythys

...The horror. Honestly-the only thing I can chalk it up to (the hatred online for them) is jealousy. Pure and simple.

It has nothing to do with jealousy. It has everything do with finding his slimy personality abhorrent.

[Jughead P. Jones]

I think a part of Rob and Amber's charm wasn't so much how they played the game, but how other teams COMPLAINED about how they played the game. Seeing teams like Charla/Mirna whine and complain and freak out over how Rob and Amber were playing the game actually made Rob and Amber rise in my ranks, because as self-absorbed and high and mighty as they seemed to be on the race, they never once complained about anyone else's game and how everyone else was screwing them over, because what other teams thought was never a concern to them. Rob and Amber basically ran their own race the whole time, making short-term alliances to try and advance in the race. It's one main reason why they were the runners-up in season 7, after all. And, I think it's why a lot of people seem to respect their GAME PLAY.

I can't really comment on their personalities, though. I've never met Rob and Amber, and in all likelihood, I probably won't either.

[Jughead P. Jones]

Originally Posted by Ghoulish Delight

For those that watch the show regularly, is there usually this much bitching about other people taking advantage of opportunities? I mean, these teams have all played before and they seem completely shocked that someone might, gasp, use information they overhear to their advantage. Or even, dear lord, lie to other teams to get ahead. Call me naive, but that's really starting to turn me off of the show more than anything.

If you thought this season was bad, you really should have watched Season 8 (the family edition) with the holy-rollin' Weavers. At one point, one of the Weaver kids was upset and made the statement "Nobody likes us because we're Christians!"

I'm sure you can get the gist of what the rest of the season was like for them.

Usually, every season has one or two teams that whine and yammer about the advantages other teams seem to get. Unfortunately, many of the teams in the All-Star season were ones that did just that in their respective seasons.

[JWBear]

Originally Posted by Jughead P. Jones

I think a part of Rob and Amber's charm wasn't so much how they played the game, but how other teams COMPLAINED about how they played the game. Seeing teams like Charla/Mirna whine and complain and freak out over how Rob and Amber were playing the game actually made Rob and Amber rise in my ranks, because as self-absorbed and high and mighty as they seemed to be on the race, they never once complained about anyone else's game and how everyone else was screwing them over, because what other teams thought was never a concern to them. Rob and Amber basically ran their own race the whole time, making short-term alliances to try and advance in the race. It's one main reason why they were the runners-up in season 7, after all. And, I think it's why a lot of people seem to respect their GAME PLAY.

I can't really comment on their personalities, though. I've never met Rob and Amber, and in all likelihood, I probably won't either.

Teams complaining (and obsessing) is not new to Rob & Amber. In most of the past seasons there was a front-runner who the other teams talked about. I suspect that the reason we see more of it with them has to do with editing. Other teams from season 7 have said that there was a lot less “Ramber” obsessing going on than was shown - it was edited to make it look like it was constant.

As far as respecting their game play goes, while I acknowledge that they are excellent racers, I just can’t get past his personality. I tend to root for teams I like, regardless of how well they are racing.

[Ghoulish Delight]

Visible mojo for JPJ. I'm not saying I'd ever want to have Rob and Amber over for tea, but I completely respect them as competitors.