According to some other boards, Rob and Amber have been getting some extra help,I didnt write the following, these are some messages that have been appearing on the internet.1. THREE prizes were given to teams for arriving at a pitstop
first (out of, I believe, EIGHT pit stops).
2. Rob and Amber arrived first at pitstops THREE TIMES.
3. The THREE TIMES R&A arrived first at pit stops were THE SAME THREE
TIMES prizes were being given away.
IMHO the odds against this were so high that it was suspicious.
In response to this, somebody posted what they'd heard. I said it made sense (DIDN'T say I believed it, awipe) and that we'd know for sure if it happened again.
It happened again. We're now up to FOUR times R&A arrived first at a pit stop, and FOUR TIMES they've won a prize.
If I remember my high school math right, the odds of this happening are 1 in 2**9, or 1 in 512. This is the equivalent of getting four of a kind at video poker, which pays $125 for a dollar bet. (source)
http://www.fastodds.com/game_odds/video_poker.htm)
Week after week, Rob and Amber have gotten special breaks. Planes held for them. Local guides apparently just waiting to help them.Objects that other teams had to search for put in plain sight for them.
CBS has signed a contract with Rob and Amber to make their wedding into a prime time special. They weren't about to let them get eliminated from the race and diminish the ad revenues that special will generate. They may not win, but I do think there has been manipulation to keep them in the game until the finale.
And even if there were no overt efforts to help them, the mere fact that one team of celebrities is up against teams of unknowns means there is not an even playing field. When people have rushed to help them because they knew them from Survivor, they were given an advantage no other teams got.
The World Series was once fixed. Olympic atheletes have cheated. Elections have been stolen. Why is it hard for people to believe that the outcome of a reality show might be manipulated?
At first I was thinking that Rob and Amber were just incredibly lucky with finding stuff, getting help from locals, etc. But last night's episode made me think twice. Specifically when the teams were doing the roadblock.
At one point Uchenya started helping Gretchen and Meredith push their boat, to which Gretchen said stop because no one could help teams with the roadblocks . . . makes sense (with the exception of the elephant push which, as part of local custom, people help with).
However, when Rob and Amber were doing the clues roadblock they had their English guide basically answering all the riddles for them - isn't that the same sort of help? Why weren't they penalized for that? It wasn't as if they read the clue and figured out for themselves that the famous street was Baker Street and then asked someone for directions (appropriate), instead they read the clue to their guide who deciphered it for them and then led them - seems inappropriate to me.
I was refering to the help they were getting from their Brit guide while doing the riddle detour. It seems to me (and I'll admit I haven't watched many of the past Races with full attention) but if there is a rule that Uchenay couldn't help push the boat for M&G, then Romber ought to have not been able to elicit help in deciphering the riddles during their detour. As I said, it would have been one thing if Romber would have read the clue and figured out it meant for them to go to Baker Street Station and then ask someone directions, rather than read the clue and have someone figure it out (which is the whole purpose of the detour) for them.
Looking back on the detours of this race - would it have been ok for them to get 10 guys in India to go in the office and find the people to deliver the tea to? Or have an African woman mash corn or one of the gouchos ride the horse for them? No. The purpose of the detour - as I understand it - is for the team to complete a task alone, unless, as with weighing people or pushing an elephant, it is specified as part of the task.
Sorry, don't mean to be too pedandic, but it it just seems to me that getting help is one thing, having people do all the work for you is another . . .
that maybe, just maybe, Rob and Amber are not in the race to win it but were put in the race by the producers to add some extra drama and to give a bit of extra motivation to the other teams. The sheer number of times that they've managed to come upon a person willing to serve as their "guide" in almost every country they've been in so far is just too fishy. These guides aren't simply people who point Rob and Amber in the right direction or help them to a particularly difficult to find location, these people practically run the race with them.
They stop just short of getting on a plane with Rob and Amber. I've been wondering if maybe the producers have come up with a plan to keep Rob and Amber at the head of the pack in order to spur on the other teams. Maybe in the end there will be a "twist" and it will be revealed that Rob and Amber were not eligible for the million dollars but will be allowed to keep whatever prizes they've won for coming in first at the Pit Stop. But therein lies the problem with my theory. If this were to turn out to be the case it would be damned unfair to the teams that have been eliminated so far; any of whom might have gotten to the Pit Stop ahead of Rob and Amber had those two not been "guided" around.
This would be a dumb move on the part of the producers but executives do occasionally come up with really bad ideas that end up blowing up in their faces. Remember BlockBuster Video and it's "No More Late Fees" promotion. Dumb.
Week after week, Rob and Amber have gotten special breaks. Planes held for them. Local guides apparently just waiting to help them. Objects that other teams had to search for put in plain sight for them.
CBS has signed a contract with Rob and Amber to make their wedding into a prime time special. They weren't about to let them get eliminated from the race and diminish the ad revenues that special will generate. They may not win, but I do think there has been manipulation to keep them in the game until the finale.
And even if there were no overt efforts to help them, the mere fact that one team of celebrities is up against teams of unknowns means there is not an even playing field. When people have rushed to help them because they knew them from Survivor, they were given an advantage no other teams got.
This really is the first time that this shows integrity has come into question, and I hope that CBS never has a "celebrity" couple on the show again. One of things that separated TAR from other reality series, despite it being so exciting, is that it's integrity never seemed to be in question, like some of those Mark Burnett reality series. I think that there is no doubt that is something fishy going on here.
I would like to see them implement a rule that a team cannot ask for a stranger to "guide" them. You can ask questions, and ask for directions, but nothing further then that.
I don't think Rob and Amber should have been in this race to begin (especially when you hear rumors that they begged to be in the race), but they have enjoyable watching at times (Rob does get under my skin, didn't appreciate him calling Uchenna stupid). I'll look forward to seeing them loose next week.
When in the history of air travel has a plane ever been held up? In one of the earlier episodes, the 930am flight got held up, thier luggae was first off, they had the best cab driver
they had helpers that knew them from survivor, in south africa and england. Were the helpers actually plants, there is having luck and then there is special help. Perhaps CBS want higher ratings for thier wedding special, so they want to keep them in the show longer.
At worse the show is rigged, at best its unfair.
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