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Laurence & Zac (Father/Son) - This is the only parent/child team this season and they may just be the most Race-equipped parent/child team there has been. Unfortunately, the best such a team has ever done is second place and that was only once. Both of the guys have extensive travel experience with Zac being a record-setting boat captain, with skills he obviously learned from pops, who is a yacht manager. It is hard to argue with this assessment by Zac: “My experiences dealing with sleep deprivation, foreign countries and charting will be valuable skills on The Race.” I want to place them higher but I can’t get past the history. I will place them at fourth place.

Amani & Marcus Pollard (Married) – The married couple from Georgia looks like a strong team on paper. They have been married for years and have already survived having (and raising) four children. As a former NFL player and current high school football coach, Marcus should prove to highly competitive. For me, the bigger asset will be that the years of marriage and parenting together should have prepared them for working as a team intensively. Even though married couples have only claimed first of second place three times, I am going to put Amani & Marcus with a third place finish.

Andy & Tommy (Friends) - This pair of professional snowboarders and former Olympians could prove to be a combination of previous teams runners-up Globetrotters and winning hippies BJ & Tyler. They appear fairly easy-going and have the history of being together on a team (granted snowboarding isn’t exactly a team sport). From a viewer standpoint, I just hope they are turn out to be more fun/entertaining and have less of the "look at me…I am so funny" shtick that grates on my nerves. Considering five sets of "Friends" have won and three sets have taken second place; I am placing them in second place.

Ethan & Jenna (Dating) - You may argue this is an easy pick for the top spot and I would agree with you. We have seen both of these people compete and win on Survivor and we know that Ethan has fought and beaten cancer. So he is a "Survivor" in both regards. While Survivor the show is very different than The Amazing Race, their successes prove they will not give up, know how to win and can also play up the minimal social aspect of the race. Remember Rob & Amber successfully duped the other teams to follow them in taking a time penalty on a challenge. They also seem to balance each other out with Jenna being more cutthroat and Ethan more trusting. To cap it all off (at least in my mind), they have the benefit of being a "Dating" team; so history is in their favor.

So let’s get this season started. I’ll throw this over to Phil and we will see you on Sunday night at 8/7 pm. Barring any NFL-induced overtimes, of course.

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