The Amazing Race 33: Meet the Teams Part 3

 

Going into this I didn't realize how many of the teams already had their 15 minutes of fame. We carry on ...

AKBAR AND SHERIDAN

First off ... shout out to more New Jersey in da house! Now, this couple live in very suburban Martinsville, near my old workplace. I didn't connect. Oh, d'oh! He's that school principal in a really bad part of Newark who was in all the papers a while ago. He's done some amazing things there and is such an advocate for the children! I hope he and his wife can indeed be amazing on the race!

Like the singing cops, he was on Ellen ...

This article is well worth the read.

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ANTHONY AND SPENCER

I searched all over and could not find the official TAR cast introduction video for this team. What that means, I do not know. However, I found a lot of other things about them. They too had their 15 minutes and heroic ones at that. I recall reading and hearing about the terrorist shooting on a train in Paris thwarted by a few heroes. There was even a movie made about the incident. Well, guess who?

They are shown in this overall cast video --

And, guess what? They were on Ellen also!

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CONNIE AND SAM

I suppose I should do a thorough search just to make sure they haven't made previous national news, eh? Oh, geez. First YouTube search comes up with a video with this caption --  "Four years ago, Sam Greiner made national news when he led Harding to its first state title in 53 years. Now he goes back as the head coach at rival West Charlotte." Okay. Now, this is one I wouldn't know at all because I don't follow football at all.

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RAQUEL AND CAYLA

Now, don't tell me two flight attendants have made national news. I guess I better go look! While there are other people with their names, they aren't them. Phew! Normal kind of people! 

Don't forget! Tonight's TWO-HOUR season premiere begins at 8PM ET/PT. The blog pool listing will be included in the blog party post. I hope to see you there!     

The Amazing Race 33: WARNING - Blog Pool Sign Up Closing Soon!

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The Amazing Race 33: Meet the Teams Part 2

Not only do we have the "Internet Famous Three" teams I already spoke about in my previous post, but we do also have some other teams who might be well-known by some. Not by me, but by some!

CARO AND RAY

I don't watch Love Island, so I have/had no idea that these two were on the show. He is part of my shout-out for New Jersey in the house as he's from Toms River. No, there is no apostrophe in Toms. I didn't create the town. I'm not responsible.

RYAN AND DUSTY

Ryan has an interesting albeit kind of tragic backstory and is probably famous around Columbus, Missouri. The case was also fodder for many investigative television shows. I looked up the arrest and incarceration along with its eventual innocent outcome after ten years in jail. Eep. You can check that out here at the Wikipedia article about it.

LULU AND LALA

More Jersey in the house! That said, I don't ever listen to IHeart radio, so I have never heard of these twins. Now, this could just be me and I might be just a bit too judgmental, but I find the names Lala and Lulu just a tad cringe-worthy. They are very identical. I know right now when one is doing a Roadblock I will be stymied which one if I miss it listed on screen.

ARUN AND NATALIA

There is something about father/daughter teams which make me smile. Had life been different decades (scores!) ago, I would have loved to run the race with my own father. Due to Covid, I doubt we'll see his stickshift skills in India; hopefully he has taught her how to drive manual. She has watched the show since the age of eight with her Dad. Hopefully the Superfan sense will kick in for them!

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The Amazing Race 33: Meet the Teams Part 1

My apologies for the delay in posting about the teams. I cut my finger quite badly and it's been limiting my ability to type! No, not life threatening or anything of the sort ... just a cross between painful and awkward. I'm going to cheat on these intros and use videos I found online.

We have three teams who are somewhat "internet famous." I was only familiar with one of them -- Kim and Penn Holderness.

Here is their show intro video -- 

Here is an example of their humor from their YouTube channel. It's usually more her than him. I find them funny for the most part although a bit of the humor is hit or miss with me. I just wonder what they will be like not "on" all the time.

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The next "internet famous" team would be the "singing cops" from Buffalo, New York. That would be Michael Norwood (tall one) and Armonde "Moe" Badger (shorter one, duh).

The video I'm including of them is from their appearance on Ellen a while back although there are many videos of them online. I am a bit worried that, due to their jobs, they could be one of the two teams who couldn't return. Police officers have been needed so much throughout the pandemic and the civil unrest. They look like they will be a fun team.

 

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The last of the "internet famous' teams would be Taylor Green-Jones and his husband Isaiah Green-Jones. No, I never heard of them, and it seems the only thing on YouTube of them is the video I'm posting below the show introduction. If TAR has a dance challenge, my money would be on them!

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The Amazing Race 33: What's Up With This Season?

This season of TAR will be like none other. It started filming pre-pandemic and made it to the third pitstop. Then it stopped for what Phil is calling "the longest pitstop ever." At the beginning, the cast was the usual eleven teams of two racers each. However, over a year went by before they could pick up the filming and two teams couldn't reschedule their lives to return. So, post-pandemic (although we are not only still in a pandemic but it's getting worse again), only seven teams returned instead of nine. 

Another big "post" change is now they have their own jet plane so they won't be scrambling at airports. Teams also could no longer use public transportation and could only mingle with tested and/or vaccinated locals. The countries visited were cut down and limited to Mediterranean countries with low infection rates.

I hope they all know how to drive cars with manual transmissions! I'm thinking public transportation could include taxis. If that's the case, then no team will lose due to a bad taxicab ride. 

Here are the eleven teams who start the race ...

Akbar Cook Sr. (45) and Sheridan Cook (44) - Married educators from Martinsville, N.J.

Anthony Sadler (29) and Spencer Stone (29) - Childhood friends from Sacramento, Calif.

Arun Kumar (56) and Natalie Kumar (28) - Father and daughter from Detroit, Mich.

Caro Viehweg (23) and Ray Gantt (25) - Dating from Los Angeles and Toms River, N.J., respectively.

Connie (37) and Sam (39) Greiner - Married couple from Charlotte, N.C.

Kim (45) and Penn (47) Holderness - Internet personalities from Raleigh, N.C.

Marianela “Lulu” (37) and Marissa “Lala” (37) Gonzalez - Twins and radio hosts from North Bergen, N.J.

Michael Norwood (36) and Armonde “Moe” Badger (42) - Singing police officers from Buffalo, N.Y.

Raquel Moore (31) and Cayla Platt (30) - Flight attendants from Chicago, Ill. and Gulf Breeze, Fla., respectively.

Ryan Ferguson (37) and Dusty Harris (38) - Best friends from Columbia, Mo.

Taylor Green-Jones (38) and Isaiah Green-Jones (31) - YouTube personalities from Portland, Ore.

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First, let's just say it now, loud and proud ... NEW JERSEY IS IN DA HOUSE! (Had to get that out of my system.) I'll be exploring each team a bit in upcoming posts. The season premiere is next Wednesday, January 5 at 8PM ET/PT.

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