HIGHWAY 18 - Slow Play Is Not An Option

[whip_it_out]

Someone should shoot the producer... the obviously term should have been "mulligan". Can't believe they didn't see/say that.

wow, thats, brilliant. ha, youre right i cannot believe they didnt bring that up.

Should start protesting

[jrode]

Damn, forgot to watch it yesterday.

I'm sure they'll repeat it a hundred times though before the week is over.

[Q.Q.Quillume]

Damn, forgot to watch it yesterday.

Although "100 times" might be slightly hyperbolic, your point is well taken.

[Three Putt]

Just watched it on DVR, I liked it.

Plus last year my oldest son and I were at the fort in St. Augustine for his 4th grade field trip, it was cool remembering all the different rooms they went through in the fort.

Never met a guy named "Peach" though....

That's worse than a boy named "Sue".

As you would guess....I like the good ole' boys from NC to win the deal.

[jking]

It was okay, not great. Hoping it gets more interesting as it progresses. I guess the double elimination is to stretch it out to more than 5 episodes, but I would have preferred more teams vs. the double eliminations. I guess they only had so many cameramen to go around.

I wasn't a big fan of the father/son team. The son seemed to be quite arrogant.

I liked the NC guys already, but they became my favorites with the respect they showed to Mr. Palmer.

The girls earned my respect as well with their reaction to Mr. Palmer. I guess it was me stereotyping them, but I expected them to barely know who he was.

As for the other two teams, meh. The brother/sister combo are okay, but I can see myself getting annoyed with them at some point. And unfortunately I didn't get much of a sense of the Raul/Jameica combo, simply because they seemed to be running behind the whole time.

[Q.Q.Quillume]

I thought I heard somewhere that Jameica was a Duramed player...

A couple of minutes on the Duramed Futures Tour website revealed:

* Jameica Duncombe played in three Futures Tours events in '06 (avg. = 82.67) and one Futures Tour event in '07 (avg. = 84.50) and zero Futures Tour events in '08. * Charlotte Campbell made the cut in 9 of 16 Futures Tour events in '07 and has made the cut in 3 of 10 Futures Tour events so far in '08.

[Spectrums]

Hopefully they'll go to other places than Florida...

[rudygu]

I thought the first episode was kinda boring, but I'll keep watching. Amazing Race always gets better after you become familiar with the contestants.

Like others, I found Jay and Peach very, very annoying. As a son, I would never speak to my dad like Jay does. As a dad, I would never let my son speak to me like that. Based on the first episode I have zero respect for those guys.

The brother and sister team seemed pretty bland to me, as did Raul and Jameica. I liked the NC boys and Ashley/Ashleigh - hopefully they'll hang around for awhile or the show could get old real fast.

[Awsi Dooger]

I appreciated that the trivia questions were challenging. Even on Jeopardy the sports-related categories always seem so juvenile compared to the level of the rest of the show.

The first week was interesting but I'll skip anything related to Gator football so no chance I'm watching next week. I have no respect for them. Maybe when they summon the guts to schedule Miami annually, or play an out of conference out of state road game for the first time since being thumped at Syracuse in '91, I'll feel differently.

[Golfgal]

I thought it would be fun to hear from Jameica and Raul about their experience of being the "first strike" victims so I interviewed them both today. I think you'll enjoy what they had to say.

A new strategy is in play...

No more playing by the rules...

Behind the scenes info is revealed that surprised me - these teams are joined at the hips - almost

See you tomorrow night after the show!

Golfgal

[montru]

Interesting, but I think I prefer The Big Break, I think they should do another one like the one in scotland (I think it was BB III) USA vs European players.

Mike

[Golfgal]

Hi Mike
Yes, I really enjoyed Europe versus US BB. I hear the next BB will be with men and women - possibly teams of two again like they are doing for HW 18, but not entirely sure. I do know that who ever it is, I'll be following it closely and talking to the contestants after the show like I am doing with this show.

Gayle

[shortgrass lover]

the blonde "Ashleigh n Ashley" girls are kinda annoying

[polodinks]

my brother who lives in gainesville calls me and watches it with me on the phone....... of course im a seminole and he is a gator...... its a fun rivalry..... but since they are in "the swamp" he thinks hes got 1 on me but we'll see what happens soon

[Golfgal]

the blonde "Ashleigh n Ashley" girls are kinda annoying

Actually I think they are a hoot! Those girls hold nothing back.

I did my after-episode interviews with Ashleigh and Ashley and they were pretty honest about the day and some of the things they wish they had done differently. But tricking Parker and Andy was not one of them. I wish we could hear from those two good ole boys about what Trouble and Sunshine did to them at that light. That was sooo funny. I think you should give them another chance. No doubt we'll see more antics from the two of them as they try to battle back next week and prove to everyone there (and here) that they have what it takes to win. And I think there is much more to winning this competition than being a good golfer. Gayle

[Alex B]

But tricking Parker and Andy was not one of them. I wish we could hear from those two good ole boys about what Trouble and Sunshine did to them at that light. That was sooo funny.

I did not find it funny, but rather rude and unsafe. In addition to possibly endangering other drivers and pedestrians (the van driver who slowed down is responsible for this as well), the girls breached a fundamental aspect of the decency and etiquette that defines golf and competition in general: they disrespected their competition and used unfair and dangerous means to beat them. They violated the competition's spirit.

I also noticed that when the girls passed Rob and Charlotte in the right lane (a maneuver that was not only dangerous but likely illegal), they were breaking one of the show's rules. From Jay Reynolds's blog at http://www.thegolfchannel.com/core.aspx?page=23863 :

Driving safety is another thing that was heavily stressed at the meeting. For obvious reasons, we can't be speeding around Florida putting ourselves and the camera crews in danger. So the speed limit is, in fact, going to be our speed limit. We will not be permitted to drive over the speed limit without risking penalty.

To pass Rob and Charlotte, it is virtually certain that Ashley and Ashleigh would have had to drive well over the speed limit, breaking one of the competition's rules.

And I think there is much more to winning this competition than being a good golfer.

Yes, and there is more to competition in general than winning at all costs. Perhaps it is not fair of me to be so critical of Ashley and Ashleigh after only two episodes; so far, however, they have come across as petty and disrespectful.

[Golfgal]

Hey Alex

Thanks for this. I never really looked at it that way. This reminds me of car rallies in the old days and we did a lot of pretty sneaky things back then. This was pretty tame in comparison to what we used to do, I have to admit. But it brings up a very good question.

I'm going to ask this in tomorrow's interviews with Keri and Raul and Jameica. I'm curious about what they thought and whether A&A; received any feedback on their antics from any of the contestants or producers.

Gayle

[HiMyNameIsMichelle]

I pretty much leave the golf channel on 24/7 and I keep seeing the same one! And I still watch every time. We should get something together and have our own little game like that! Hehe.