Sarah: I’m thinking about shaving my head. If I incur even a fraction of the fortune that Joyce, half of the baldest team ever to win The Amazing Race 7 received, it would be worth it. Joyce agreed to lop off every last strand of her hair when she and husband Uchenna were in India and in hot pursuit of a Fast Forward. It was one of the best moments of the season. After the initial trauma of watching her mini braids fall to the ground in a clump, Joyce soon realized that hairlessness was a great way to beat the heat and show off her big, gorgeous eyes. And Uchenna, ever supportive spouse that he was, rightfully told her that she looked beautiful.
Murtz: You’re in a race for $1 million. I could have anyone from uglypeople.com as my partner and I would rave about them being the hottest person in the world, so long as they do not influence my chances at the money. Was it a nice thing to say? Definitely. Do I believe it? Nope.
Sarah: When the season began, I would not have predicted that this kind-hearted, optimistic couple from Houston would emerge as a dominant team and end up winning the race. Armed with the belief that history is the best predictor of the future, I had my money on the more ruthless duos, like Deana and Ray or Romber. But as they progressed in the race, Uchenna and Joyce developed a more competitive edge, all the while sticking to the principles of good gamesmanship and mutual respect. They also appeared to have incredible stamina and enthusiasm, as was apparent when, on one of the last legs of the race, Joyce started jumping up and down at the prospect of traveling to Puerto Rico. I sat on my sofa thinking to myself, “Wow, the woman’s been trekking all over the globe for weeks now and is still psyched to visit another new place.”
Murtz: I had a feeling that we would be disagreeing a lot in our Amazing Race post-mortum, and I was right. I think my disdain for Uchenna and Joyce has been quite apparent during the season, and this is finally the forum that I was waiting for to explain my problem with the team.
I think my main problem is that I do not feel that they were deserving winners. While I believe that anyone reading this, knows who I was rooting for personally, I would have preferred Meredith and Gretchen as my second choice. I think that Uchenna and Joyce got a lucky break and before readers out there start e-mailing with how people kept helping Romber around the way, I still believe that this was random.
The American Airlines pilot that allowed Uchenna and Joyce back on the plane, single-handedly decided the winner of the race and he has since been rumoured to have had more of a personal interest in mind when he allowed the Houston couple aboard. He broke company policy and that makes me ill. In addition, while Uchenna and Joyce may be nice people (although I am not sold on that either), they definitely definitely definitely were not the best racers this season. So Joyce likes Puerto Rico. I would too…
Sarah: Unlike many of the contestants, who devoted much of their mental energy to worrying about the whereabouts of Rob and Amber (cough, Lynn and Alex), Uchenna and Joyce focused on their own actions and took setbacks in stride. I have a tremendous amount of admiration for the way that they conducted themselves on the race. They were a class act to the very end, when they scrounged up enough money to pay their cab driver before sprinting to the finish line. It would have been so easy to just ditch the guy and go collect the prize, but they were willing to risk losing the million dollars to do the right thing.
Murtz: Sarah, Sarah, Sarah. Come on! You are my reality tv dodgeball partner! How can you so blindly believe what we saw at the end of that show was legitimate? It is precisely because they were a class act, that I do not feel they did whatever it takes to win and are therefore, undeserving winners. Many people hail Uchenna and Joyce’s victory as proof that nice guys really can finish first. I personally believe that it is just an example of a network using the best and most entertaining team that played dirty as table-setters for another team to win so that America would be happy with the choice. I cannot respect that kind of “champion.” Did they try to get enough money to pay the cab driver? Yes. But did it really go on for that long? I seriously doubt it.
Sarah: Luckily, it appeared as though Rob and Amber weren’t too close behind them. Very few reality TV fans find themselves indifferent to the prince and princess of $1,000,000 game shows. Some say they’re brilliant schemers, fully deserving of every prize they take home, while others are annoyed that these two were given their fourth collective shot at the jackpot (their previous chances, fulfilled or not, included Survivor seasons in the Marquesas, Australian Outback, and All-Stars). They even got to CBS to foot the bill for their lavish beach wedding in the Bahamas and the luxurious honeymoon that followed. While Rob and Amber consider themselves extremely lucky, I’d also say that they are persuasive opportunists who have used their charm to get what they want.
Murtz: Luckily, schmuckily. I was horrified that the best team didn’t win. While I have become used to that in Survivor, it still irritates me and never more than it did during this season of the Amazing Race. Persuasive opportunists? Hardly. Networks were clamouring to air the wedding and that’s not because Romber can sweet-talk. It’s because they are the most entertaining people currently on TV.
Sarah: While I’m not always a huge fan of Rob’s conniving ways (or his macho reluctance to dance), I do admire his brains and his chutzpah. He’s undeniably a first-rate strategist. His ability to hook up with hot women (Sarah in the Marquesas, Ambuh 4evuh) sans deodorant and dental floss is impressive. And since Rob tends to wear his emotions on his sleeve, it was highly entertaining to watch him deal with the betrayals and pitfalls he faced on Survivor and the Race.
Amber, on the other hand, is more of a closed book. I’ve always gotten the feeling that there was plenty going on underneath the surface with her. Her ability to withhold her every thought and feeling made her a great Survivor contestant and allowed Rob to take the heat when they aligned in All-Stars. She seems like an outwardly nice person, although she definitely hasn’t been afraid to take advantage of situations that may step on people but advance her own game. Amazing Race example: deciding jointly with Rob to drive by Brian and Greg’s accident in Botswana. Survivor example: giving Lex the boot in Panama after he spared her from being voted off the Mogo Mogo tribe.
Murtz: Agreed.
Sarah: So who are these two, really? Even though I’ve watched every single minute of their time on the national stage (and devoured any magazine article I found about them), I don’t know them any better than the next reality TV enthusiast. But thanks to Mark Burnett and Jerry Bruckheimer (producers of Survivor and The Amazing Race, respectively), I started to believe that I knew them. Burnett and Bruckheimer are master puppeteers, working behind the scenes to manipulate hundreds of hours of footage into compact little shows which only give viewers a tiny glimpse into the situations they see on TV. All of my observations and judgments of these two are based on the carefully selected behaviors and situations I’ve been privy to.
And if these two are even half as in love with each other as they claim to be, they should have a wonderful future together. Although I felt like a sucker for watching their wedding special last week, I found my eyes misting up as they exchanged their vows. I’m a sucker for a good love story, and there’s no denying that the way Rob and Amber got together was extraordinary. Best of luck to them.
Murtz: Sarah. For someone who seemingly doesn’t care about Romber and can see past their “persuasive opportunism,” you have talked mainly about them in our wrap-up of the Amazing Race, admitted to watching the wedding special, complimented Rob’s chutzpah and Amber’s conniving abilities and said that you devour anything written about them. I think you are a shining example of all the closet Mariano fans out there and there is no need to hide your admiration. Wear the Boston cap with pride.
Sarah: Same to Ron and Kelly, although I honestly think they’d be better off without each other. They’re not a good match for a variety of reasons. First of all, they’re clearly at different places in their lives. If Kelly wants to get married and start a family, she should break up with Ron and start answering her fan mail, as I’m certain that there were thousands of men out there who would jump at the chance to wed the former pageant queen and worship the ground she walks on. And if Ron feels he has a few wild oats to sow before committing to one woman for life, there are undoubtedly any number of female viewers who would happily help him out in that department. I don’t find either of them particularly appealing, but that’s just my personal taste. Put anyone on TV, and someone will be at home drooling over them. Hell, look at all of the women who signed on to romance Adam from the first season of Average Joe.
The second reason I would object to a show called Ron and Kelly Get Married is that they didn’t treat each other well during the race. There was way too much name-calling and disrespect. These two need to grow up and realize that people who truly love each other don’t interact that way. That’s not to say that healthy relationships are devoid of conflict or frustration, but there are more productive ways of relating to one another. Constant negativity, as displayed by several teams on the show (Ron/Kelly, Ray/Deana, and Jonathan/Victoria from season 6), is a guaranteed setup for failure.
Murtz: We disagree once more. Freddy and Kendra argued a lot on the last season and won. Jonathan and Victoria bickered, but still had quote an impact on the game. And Ron/Kelly won the bronze medal this season, despite their problems with each other. I don’t think fights on the race are that bad, as long as they are used to motivate the team into performing to their highest capabilities.
Sarah: Given how upbeat Uchenna and Joyce were during their adventures, it’s not surprising that they worked so successfully together. Ditto for Rob and Amber who, although deceptive and crafty towards their competition, supported each other throughout the race. Having weathered these stressful experiences together has no doubt strengthened the bonds between these couples. And since both pairs also have a million dollars in the bank, they won’t be arguing about credit card bills and car payments. Sounds like a fairy tale ending to me.
