The Amazing Race: They're just not that into you

Dear Cho Bros:

You're nice guys. You're nice guys who take pride in being nice guys. A couple of nice guys is who you are. We get it. So it hurts me to break it to you, but I feel I must. Lynn and Karlyn: They're just not that into you. Oh sure, they'll send some love your way when it's convenient, but maybe you've noticed their pattern of consistently ditching you at every opportunity. Maybe, in your hearts, you can see that you were always a couple cans short of a six pack, and now that Dave and Mary are gone, well, it's silly to even talk about "the pack". Not only are you missing a few cans, you don't even have that plastic thingy that holds the cans together and poses a threat to wildlife once it ends up in the landfill. It's over, guys. Best to do your mourning in private and move on. Maybe you could funnel the hurt you're feeling into some competitive energy and actually TRY to do well in this race. How about it? You can show those heartless women what they're missing. You go, boys!

As for the race in general: watching this season has become a bit weird for me. See, I think the producers have done a great job setting it up, and I've really enjoyed watching the creative, relevant, and sometimes brutal challenges. Locations also have been great. But I'm finding I just don't much care who wins. And that's a problem when you're watching a contest. As a spectator, you've got to have a proverbial dog in the fight to get engaged in the action. Pulling for one team over another is what makes it fun. Hoping for one team to lose is even more fun. But when you don't care one way or another, you're just not going to experience that kind of heart-pounding, edge-of-your-seat excitement that you get when you care about the outcome.

So, to keep me in it, I've decided I have to pick a team. Let's see: The models are bland, and I can never, ever cheer for the young athletic dudes. It would be like cheering for the Yankees. The Chos are hopeless. I can't cheer for incompetence. Bama is outclassed. The McBickers are entertaining but far from likeable. Not much to work with there. That leaves the Blondies. Yes, they're sketchy. Yes, it's off-putting how they refer to Team Bama as "The Sistas" behind their backs. Yes, they're Beauty Queens (lame). But dammit, they're competing. And they're competing with glee. They act like they actually want to win. So that's that: against all odds, I'm going with Team T&A.