Amazing Racers

I just listened to an interview on Fresh Air with Mel and Mike White, the father-son team who ran (and were recently eliminated from) this season's Amazing Race. Both men are gay; Mike is a screenwriter, actor and director (he wrote School of Rock, among other things), and Mel is a Christian activist for gay, lesbian and transgender people. Mel comes off as one of the warmest, even-tempered guys on earth throughout the high-stress legs of the Race, which is impressive in its own right. But listening to him talk to Terry Gross, and hearing the anger in his voice when he talks about how churches treat the GLBT community -- well, I find myself even more impressed.


And bonus: Unlike too many other Amazing Racers, Mel and Mike didn't dress alike.

Rob

Dropkick Me, Jesus

We got to see a complete episode of The Amazing Race last night, and I enjoyed it as much as ever. And one team—the married Episcopal ministers—said something I really appreciated: “We’re very religious, of course, but we have no illusions that God cares whether or not we win this.”

Man, that’s a breath of fresh air.

One of the many reasons I don’t watch sports is that I can’t stand—literally have no stomach at all for—anyone who praises Jesus for getting a ball into a net or over a wall or past a chalk line. Because for every guy Jesus “helped” win, there’s a dozen others he did jack-all for. No one ever blames Jesus for letting him get sacked again and again. He’s either on the team or he’s not—and if he is, then the team you’re playing against are obviously infidels. If not by definition, by deduction.

Football becomes a holy war. The winners are right and just and in God’s favor, and the losers are banished from Eden. If Jesus loved them—really loved them—wouldn’t they have made that field goal?

Nah. Keep God out of games. If we can do that, maybe we’ll eventually be mature enough to keep him out of wars, too.

Rob

CBS is really pissing me off.

I was jazzed to watch The Amazing Race 12. Sat down for dinner tonight, clicked onto our Tivo'd premiere episode.

And once again, CBS let football run long, so 60 minutes ended late, so we get half a 60 minutes episode and half Amazing Race.

We can't add time to buffer our recording; Desperate Housewives comes on right afterward, and the Tivo has to switch. And unlike many of its shows, CBS doesn't make the full episodes available online.

I'd love to watch The Amazing Race. I really enjoy the show, and it's the only reality show we watch, making it a great change of pace from our usual fare. But...

THERE'S NO POINT IN WATCHING A RACE IF YOU NEVER SEE ANYONE WIN.

CBS deserves a middle finger right in its goddamn eye.


Rob