Thoughts on the Amazing Race

After watching (and almost finishing) 2 seasons of the Amazing Race (seasons 13 and 14)--the most AMAZING show ever, here are some of my thoughts.

Important Lessons:

• Read the clues CAREFULLY and THOROUGHLY. If it says not to take your cow costume off before you get to the next destination, DON'T TAKE YOUR COW COSTUME OFF. If it says to get to a place by foot, DON'T TAKE A TAXI. (That said, if you're not sure about something, RE-READ the task)
  
• Bring EVERYTHING with you when you're doing a task. DO NOT assume you will have a chance to come back. This has screwed 2 teams over...
  
• THINK before you choose to do a fast forward. E.g. If you have dietary restrictions, and the fast forward involves eating...DON'T DO IT.
• Do not attempt a fast forward unless you're VERY confident you can do it.
• Try to stick to one detour and don't give up on it unless you absolutely have to. Don't think of the other detour as another choice.
  
• Always stay positive and encourage your partner. This is the most important thing. And it may seem obvious, but when you're not winning, it's really easy to blame the other person, or say things to put them down. This can get ugly really fast and hurt both your morale for the rest of the race.
  
• Never give up. This one is pretty obvious too. But when you haven't been doing well and always come in last or near last, it's pretty easy to not want to try anymore. BUT, you never know. Someone could be behind you. Always always try your best.

Logistical Observations:

• There's at least one camera man following each team everywhere. So I'm surprised at points where two or more teams merge, you don't see a bunch of cameramen filming... I guess they either must be very careful, or have one camera man take over and film the whole thing?
• I always found it funny that sometimes a team will miss something (e.g. an object they're supposed to look for or a sign), and the cameraman will pan to that thing and zoom in. I swear, the teams should pay more attention to what the cameraman is filming. Or maybe they filmed that at a different time?
• I always wonder how Phil knows whether a team has violated the rules. I guess the cameraman must have called it in before they get to Phil.
  
• The show always makes the last two teams seem like they're neck and neck. But I doubt that's the case. I feel like it's probably pretty spread out.

Other comments:

• Despite the fact that a lot of the time, teams are at the mercy of cab drivers, I don't think that affects the ultimate outcome at the end of a leg too much, since it's probably pretty likely that more than one team, if not a few, will encounter an incompetent driver. The editing always makes it seem that the cab driver is going to screw people over, but I doubt it's actually like that. If one team's stuck in traffic, so are other teams.
  
• I think my perception of "frat brothers" DEFINITELY changed after watching Dan and Andrew in the 13th Season.