The racing aspect of the race itself gave way for Margie & Luke on the ninth leg of "The Amazing Race 14," to the physical conflict between Luke and Jen of the sisters' team during the runups to two different clueboxes.
It's just my opinion (others may vary) but I tend to believe that the primary fault on those situations went to Luke. It's granted that Jen did technically push first during the initial conflict though not hard enough to cause any issue. For Luke to respond with an attempt at a backwards elbow jab seemed way out of proportion to the incident.
In the second situation, Luke did appear to pull up but not before helping to hurdle Jen into the cluebox. The competitiveness which Luke has displayed is an admirable quality but the clueboxes themselves are not Pit Stops. There is no need to go in almost completely unrestrained for only meaningless microsecond advantages. To later temporarily walk away from the Pit Stop during questioning just seemed bush league.
It's beyond my call to know if Luke was being trivialized because of his deafness. I that's the case Margie & Luke were both right to call Kisha & Jen out on it. Luke should be taught though tht competitiveness does not and can not justify physicality on TAR or anywhere else that actually risks literally hurting other people. There's some level of adult consideration for other adults that Luke may not have fully developed.
Dramas not withstanding, Margie & Luke remain one of the most competitive teams of TAR14 through nine legs. While Tammy & Victor would still have the advantage over them, the mother & son would still have a good claim to contend for ultimate victory. They have to just let tensions with Kisha & Jen not get in the way of that goal.
_________________________Labels: margie and luke, tar 14.9, tar14 teams, the amazing race, the amazing race 14
