So I hate to sound repetitve in my dislike of the ranking system, but this week was just another kicker for me. I didn’t think Texas had to get the number one ranking, but it is acceptable. I also thinking Oklahoma only dropping a little is understandable because they got beat by the now number one team in the country. LSU deserved to drop as far as they did because they got totally beat down. And while Missouri dropped a little farther than I may have expected, it was not totally crazy. There are however two aspects of the polls that didn’t sit well with me.

First of all, the obvious one: how on earth can ANYONE still vote for Notre Dame as a top 25 team. While they did not make it in they did receive votes. Is someone paying those voters or something. I have the utmost respect for the history and tradition of the school, but let’s be honest, right now they suck. They barely beat a pathetic Michigan team that handed them the game. They squeaked past a San Diego State team that is not exactly exceptional, and Purdue and Stanford are not exactly at the top of their conferences. I love the movie Rudy as much or more than the next guy, but some people need to get a grip on reality.

The other unsettling ranking was how far Oklahome State jumped. They are having a great year, and won a huge game against a highly ranked opponent, but most people will agree Missouri is not playing as good as they did last year. A nine spot jump is just a little insane after one game. Lets just hope that when the visit Austin and other Big 12 towns they get beat and drop back down to a more realistic ranking.

This week’s Amazing Race took place almost entirely in Bolivia where the teams had to deal with high altitudes. The episode held a few surprises, plenty of cat-fighting among teams and an ironic ending. Sadly, though, there were no sightings of Phil’s package. I think it’s been absent all season thus far. CBS is holding out on us!

We get started with Kelly & Christy accusing Starr of throwing Christy’s sports bra off a balcony ledge at the pit stop. Starr denied it and Nick had a talk with Kelly & Christy assuring them his sister wouldn’t do such a thing. There was no footage of this, so I’m assuming Starr was telling the truth. Funny, though.

Some observations from the teams interviews prior to leaving on their first leg of this race:

• What the heck is up with Tina’s shirt? It’s all entirely too tight with some weird strappy action criss-crossing in all the wrong places. Just strange and totally off-putting.
• Sarah has finally realized this is a race… against actual other teams. And I’ve suddenly realized she is a mad gum-chewing cross between Molly Shannon and Julia Louis Dreyfuss. Am I right?
• Andrew thinks he’s sexy with a great body. Interesting.
• Aja & Ty have surprised me so far with their relationship. I thought they would be hating on each other long before now as the strain of being together 24/7 wore through their long-distance relationship bliss.

All the teams start tonight on level playing ground. Their flights were at similar times, putting them all at the next station to wait for newspapers to be delivered. The papers get dropped off and the teams resemble a flock of pigeons fighting for peanuts as they each grab their paper to find the next clue.

The clue tells teams to make their way to a hat shop and to hold onto their hats. We’re shown footage of Kelly & Christy reading that last important line and I wonder if it’s foreshadowing. These two botched their clue reading pretty bad last week – surely they learned their lesson? Apparently this wasn’t a huge deal (or all the teams simply got it right) because there was no further mention of the hats as they arrived at later stops along the race.

After arriving at the hat shop and choosing a hat, the next clue informed teams that a Detour and U-Turn was up ahead. If a team is U-Turned, after completing the initial Detour task, they must go back and do the other one before moving on. Harsh! Much worse than a Yield where they are stopped for 1/2 an hour. In this Detour, teams chose between riding some wooden bikes or leading a marching band through the city.

Along the way to the Detour, we learn that Terence & Sarah and Mark & Bill both didn’t fully read their clue which specifically stated they must walk to their next destination. Both teams took a taxi. Terence & Sarah realized their mistake midway through the ride and turned around. Mark & Bill, regrettably, did not.

Arriving at the Detour first, Mark & Bill chose the bikes and headed out after donning some pretty ridiculous gear consisting of lots of feathers. I feared for their lives as their bikes raced downhill towards traffic, picturing both of them as roadkill – their feathers splayed and stuck to the ground. Surprisingly, neither of them crashed.

The same can not be said of Kelly & Christy, however. Christy crashed her bike twice – the second time smacking her head and hand right into a cement wall. Ouch! I was surprised she wasn’t more seriously injured and was able to continue on with racing.

All of the teams except for Pink Velour Tracksuit and Andrew & Dan chose the bikes. Aja discovered first-hand that Ty is ultra-competitive. He must be a great coach, too, because he had her chanting, “I am the master of my fate. I am the captain of my soul,” to finish up the bike race she claimed she couldn’t. Another interesting thing happened on their bike ride as Nick & Starr breezed past them, they asked Aja & Ty to U-Turn Kelly & Christy. Why would Aja & Ty do such a knucklehead move? Why would Nick & Starr think anyone would do their dirty work for them? I really don’t like them.

The teams all head to the next station which turns out to be a Roadblock. This Roadblock is particularly awesome because everyone has to get into a costume and wrestle a “Fighting Cholita”. Ken & Tina arrive first and Ken decides he will be the fighter. Each team member who does the Roadblock first has to attend a training session where they learn a routine which consists of 6 wrestling moves. Once they’re satisfied they know the routine, they enter the ring and give it their best shot. If they mess up a move, they have to go back to training and re-try.

Ken comes out in his costume and I am giggling right along with Tina. I’m also left wondering why Tina is so desperate to keep this guy. That costume was hardly filled out at all if you know what I mean. Despite lacking in the package department, Ken did a great job and he and Tina were off to the pit stop. They grow on me more and more each week after really not liking them much at all in the beginning.

Despite some car issues with Aja & Ty and Terence & Sarah stopping for a flag they thought was a marker for the fight – but wasn’t – the rest of the teams all filed into the wrestling area in close proximity of each other. Mark decides to be the wrestler for their team and to say his looks in the costume were unfortunate would be an understatement. Even worse, though, was his performance. It took him three tries before he finally finished the task, putting them in 7th place heading to the pit stop.

Marisa – of Team Pink Velour Tracksuit – dons the costume for her team and I’m a bit surprised about how she looks in it. A hard body she is not. [Catty!] She also has trouble completing the task right on the first try, but finishes it before Mark and leaves the arena in 6th place.

Next up was Dallas, leaving his mom to be his cheerleader. How funny – we’ve got two Dallas Cheerleaders on the show this time. I’ll be here all night, folks. Dallas looked hella good in his costume and whipped out the routine like he’s been doing it all his life.

At this point, it’s a flurry of activity of people entering and leaving the ropes. Sarah takes two attempts to get it right. Mark takes oxygen. Dan, Nick, Kelly, and Ty all complete the task right on their first attempt. Dan was either in a hurry to get out of there or he really liked his costume because he still had it on in the taxi on the way to the pit stop. Love!

Not surprisingly, Ken & Tina make it to the pit stop first – winning a week-long vacation to Mexico. I hope they stay together long enough to enjoy the trip. The other teams fall in not long behind with Mark & Bill coming in 8th and Kelly & Christy bringing up the rear in last place.

Mark & Bill incur a time penalty, though, for not reading the clue correctly and they get eliminated. Bummer. I really liked them. And what a sense of irony it is that they lost due to not reading the clue properly when the last team to arrive before them was Kelly & Christy – who really should have been eliminated last week for their mistakes.

While I’m disappointed that Mark & Bill were eliminated, I’m glad that another team where it’s hard to know who is who is gone. I spend each episode wondering, “Is that Mark? Or is it Bill? Which one is that – Kelly or Christy? Marisa or Brooke? Andrew or Dan?” I think I’ve got Kelly (brunette) & Christy (redhead) and Andrew (redhead) and Dan (dark haired) figured out. I don’t know that I’ll ever sort out Marisa & Brooke. Let’s hope I don’t have to for much longer.

Next week Aja & Ty finally succumb to the pressure of being in close quarters for so long and Starr – breaks.her.arm. ??? Delicious! Er, I mean, wow. That’s awful.

Until then!