Wednesday, December 14, 2005

TARCon: The Short Story

Well, my worst fears were confirmed about three hours ago. Reality Remix was in the house, and nobody knew how bad that show, as well as correspodants Lynn & Alex, stunk.

All right, it could've been worse. Kennedy could've made it out here. Or Mark Long. It's just that when I saw Lynn & Alex, I got grumpier than Judd Seargent in a room full of howler monkeys. But screw it...a few hours before all that, we fans got an early Christmas present: the Weavers crashing, burning and finishing third. Bonus: the closest finish this side of Chris & Alex racing past Tara & Wil on TAR2, as one of the Linz boys barely surpassed Wally Bransen in a geography-based Roadblock.

The finish was awesome. Rather than have Phil jack up a team for finishing last in the penultimate leg, we got the double leg, with a hunt for charter flight tickets in Olympic Stadium in Montreal. And as much as I hated the Weavers, I understand their breakdown. I've been to Olympic Stadium. That place could break anybody.

There's probably a million things that happened, but I've forgotten most of it. The best news was a peek at TAR9, which airs in Feburary. Teams of two! Five continents! It's like going home again! And the nerd guy kinda looks like me...poor bastard. Now, if he can outgeek Gary from TAR2, that would be something else.

As for the Racer turnout? I think all TAR8 teams came except for the Weavers...and unlike Freddy & Kendra, I totally understand why they didn't stop by, and I don't hate them for it. Now, if they finished first, would I feel the same way? Honestly, I don't know. But I feel that the door sould be open for them in the future. All they need is some perspective, and the knowledge that we forums dwellers only go after teams that suck, and that we'd probably go after somebody far worse by March. But yeah...I think all the other teams came over, as well as a few former Racers (Avi, Meredith, Lena, Jon & Al). Weirdest part was the Clowns wrestling Brian Paolo around. I have no clue what that was about. And I met a guy who's writing a book on TAR entitled (and I am NOT making this up) "My Ox Is Broken." Sadly, he hasn't gotten to Colin yet. I'd love to see his reaction.

I didn't take as many pics, and I left early. But I will say this...even though Planet Hollywood was a smaller venue, I'm glad there was a TARCon, and I'm glad I went. I'm also happy that I shared a table with three ladies and a guy who listened to me babble on about reality TV and my time in Toronto without bailing. Much love to Kelley, her friends, and the one dude whose name I didn't get.

I'll be poking around the forums before going to bed...gotta record the Linzes getting their check tomorrow morning. And after seeing an endless swarm of Linz relatives tonight, something tells me that money will be half-gone after Christmas.

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