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Oy Vey, indeed, Phil. Oy vey, indeed. Last week, the team I pegged to win it all with unparalleled dominance crashed and burned in glorious fashion. John was a one-man wrecking crew hell-bent on ruining their chances of winning a million dollars, probably because as he said, “I don’t need a million dollars anyway.”

With this flameout in the Race and likeability, I’m stuck with only three teams that I like (Hockey brothers Bates & Anthony, Sock’er Moms Mona & Beth and misfortune magnets Dave & Connor) and a gaggle of teams that I either don’t care about or actively dislike…looking at you Team Cape Fear Max & Katie.

Before we head out of Bali and on to Vietnam, I say “thanks” to Kim and David for filling in for me last week and “you’re welcome” for finally having my vacation coincide with an actual elimination leg for them to recap.

Enough of that…on with the Race. Despite the dark cloud that apparently follows around our father/son team, Dave & Connor are once again leaving in the enviable pole position. Leaving the mat at 5:01 a.m., they are heading to Hanoi, Vietnam, and the Rap Cong Nhan Theater, but there is still the looming threat that pop’s injury will prove to be their Achilles’ heel (yeah, I went there). The doctor recommended getting Dave’s injury into surgery in seven days, so they have made the decision to just travel to Vietnam and allow themselves to be eliminated. Hey, let’s put another stamp in the passport on The Amazing Race’s dime.

Team Chameleon Pam & Winnie are number two off the mat 20 minutes later. They have slowly begun to create an Amazing Race identity for themselves but still easily and often fade into the background. Unbeknownst to them, the girls’ wish for the alliance of John & Jessica, Team YouTube and Sock’er Moms to be broken up has been fulfilled with John & Jessica’s epic failure last leg.

Cape Fear leaves next a few minutes later and the likelihood of this team not grating on my or each others’ nerves two legs in a row is slim to none. When discussing the pending U-Turn on this leg, Max strategizes using it on John & Jessica to “smoke out” the Express Pass. Their obliviousness to the dating couple’s fate illustrates how pathetically John truly performed last week.

The travel agency powwow with Cape Fear and Pam & Winnie is telling in that both sides view the aligned teams as the prime targets of U-Turning. We’ll see if that comes to pass but Max seems pretty undeterred in that plan for him and Katie.

Cowboy Royalty Jen & Caroline leave at 7:20 a.m. and isn’t it cute that the girls think they will be targeted for the U-Turn. Now if it was their relatives John Wayne and Daniel Boone on the Race, I could see people viewing that team as a threat but Jen & Caroline…no so much. Forty-six minutes later, Team YouTube Joey & Meghan depart the Pit Stop a few minutes before Sock-er Moms Mona & Beth and Team Slapshot Bates & Anthony.

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