Anyway, the boys love the footie thing and so would I. I'm not a huge follower of Premier League Football but I know about it and how it works. Even have my fav team (Arsenal). But the Liverpool thing would have been great. The boys also show that they have some skills and kick some quick goals. And as they do, the Country Singers show up. They can't kick a ball to save their lives so they try their charms on the keeper. That might work, well it does because after some terrible shots, he seems to let in a few easy ones.
And as he does this, the other teams arrive and Leo and Jamal get done. They have to find some oddly named bridge in Wales. Drive and drive. And they get lost. Not a good sign. For the Mormons, Connor sucks worse than the girls. Good thing his dad can score, but he has to score as well. For Big Brother, both of them do relatively decent and score. But in time, the keepers will relax and let the other teams score. So everyone leaves with Big Brother in second, Country Singers in third and the Mormons bringing up the rear. But as she leaves, Caroline gives a hug to the keeper and says "Love you long time." I wonder if she's aware she's quoting a line said by a prostitute in the movie Full Metal Jacket? Hmmm.
Moving on. Teams drive up to Wales but the Afghanimals are lost and ask folks at a gas station with no luck. Big Brother show up at the same gas station and get a map. Man, bad move boys, maps are better. So they decide to follow Big Brother but fall for a fake-out by Brendon and end up on the wrong road. Yikes. Meanwhile, the Country Singers are doing well, find the place first, just ahead of Big Brother. And the task is a Roadblock. Memorize a Welsh poem in Welsh, cross a Welsh bridge and recite the Welsh poem to some nice old Welsh lady. Various shots of players trying to get their tongues around Welsh. Soon the remaining male teams show and try their hand. This is a tough task, maybe better suited for Gord cause he's slightly better at languages than me.
All the players blow their first attempt, while the Leftovers (those not doing the task) make all nicey-nicey and hug. Still, only one team can win so while it's good to hug, it doesn't mean the competition won't be tough. Brendan is done first, followed by Caroline. Oddly, there's no description from Phil of where they're going next. Only once the Afghanimals get done, after a bunch of tries, do we discover they have to find Bolesworth Estate. More driving. And Big Brother get there first, followed quickly by the Country Singers and the Mormons.
Next task is a Detour. Shoot It. Or Boot It. In Shoot It, you get to go skeet shooting. Once you hit 16 clay pigeons with your shotgun, you move on. In Boot It, you have to play some throwing game with boots that seems to be inspired by Monty Python. Big Brother take Boots while the other teams take Mormons take Shoot. The girls believe their genetics will help. (one is descended from John Wayne while the other is related to Daniel Boone). While Connor is an Eagle Scout with a merit badge in shooting shotguns. For some reason, I'm not overly surprised at this. But his first shots miss while the girls are hitting a bunch. If you're wondering, I believe Gord and I would take Shoot. That would be more fun instead of throwing boots around. We've got kids, we've seen enough of that.
Back at the Boot camp, in the clue it states you have to grab a size 9 or size 11 boots. Brendon even says it out loud as Rachel is searching so she grabs a size 10. Seriously, this far in and still people aren't reading clues? Moronic. And they start the game, oblivious to their predicament. Meanwhile, the Afghanimals are lost. So much so that the Country Singers and the Mormons are done before they get there. The next clue is the pitstop at Peckforten Castle. On the way out of the estate, the girls go right to look for directions and the Mormons go left. And then the Afghanimals pull up.
Just as Big Brother are finishing up. They are keen to move on but the judge says they did it wrong with their size 10 boots and have to do it again. Rachel finally loses it, lamenting on why didn't they read the clue? "Why? Why? Why?" she cries. Yeah, why didn't you read the clue? How many times does this have to be said: First Rule of Amazing Race - Read the Clue. Second Rule of Amazing Race - READ THE DAMN CLUE!
So this allows the boys to catch up a bit and they start shooting while Big Brother start tossing boots again. Although Brendon was being a bit of a jerk by yelling at Rachel. Gord and I know from our parenting experience that the worse way to get someone to stop crying is to yell at them to "Stop Crying!" Yeah, that never works. Ever.
Still, Big Brother get done, moments before the Afghanimals. Or was that the editing? Meanwhile, at the pitstop, the Mormons arrive in first and are in the Final Three, right where we predicted they would be. Overall they played a solid race, although they did whine a bit too much about being U-turned. It's part of the game, get used to it. They win a prize to Fiji. Coming in second, with a solid leg, are the Country Singers. The girls play well when they do their own thing so hopefully they'll stick to that. Although no one's gonna help in the Final 3. Or at least they shouldn't. Brendon and Rachel come in third, luckily getting in. And Rachel says now they'll pay attention and read the clues. Now? In the final leg you'll start reading clue? I really hope so. Still, save for the bit of a meltdown after the boot mixup, they've played a good game, and deserve to be in the Final 3.
But sadly, the Afghanimals are out, again in the second last leg. Their own fault really with the bad navigation in the UK. And I'll really miss them. These guys are one of my fav TAR teams of all time. They remind me of Gord and I, guys who want to have fun, but understand how the game is played, will play hard and are willing to be sneaky (or maybe unhelpful is a better word) but realize that it's nothing personal, you're just playing the game. Too bad they aren't in the Final 3 but you can't make that many navigational errors and expect to move in, especially in the final legs.
So see ya next week. No video this week cause both of us are out of town. But I'll try to put up a simple poll instead. Check it out on the video page.