“The Amazing Race” concluded Sunday night, and the cowboy tandem of Jet and Cord McCoy finished the marathon around the world with the Reserve Champion title.
“There are things that are more important than money,” Jet said in the post-race interview. He had “the experience of being able to travel around the world with my best friend and my brother, and in the end, having our character and our integrity in tact. We can walk out of here with our heads held high and look people straight in the face and tell them we won second.”
Through the 12 episodes of the CBS-TV reality series, the brothers won four legs and were saved from ejection when they finished last in one of the three non-elimination stages of the race. They won four trips – to Patagonia, Alaska and Maui – and a couple of sailboats.
More importantly, they won the hearts of reality-TV fans all across the country.
Sunday’s episode began with a little strife, and the theme continued until the other brother tandem, Jordan and Dan Pious, won the $1 million first-place prize. Although starting third, the Piouses scooted into second place as they got to the ticket counter at the Shanghai airport when Jordan put his backpack behind race leaders Brent Horne and Caite Upton. That caused the burrs to rise in the cowboys’ saddles.
“Y’all are trying to cut; I can see it,” Cord McCoy said to Jordan.
Jet: “You were here six hours after us, and Jordan’s trying to check in before us.”
Jordan: “I think I am.”
Cord: “That’s not going to work.”
Jordan: “I put my backpack behind theirs, so … Nice little line. You guys had yours over there.”
Cord: “What’re you thinking, Jet?”
Jet: “You know what I’m thinking.”
Cord: “Yeah, but I don’t think you can actually grab his backpack and throw him backwards in the airport. You’ll get in trouble.”
Jet: “I think I’ll get in trouble for kicking his teeth in.”
Cord: “Yeah, that wouldn’t go over so good.”
Jet: “If that’s the way they want to run the race … If they want to drop the gloves, I’ll drop the gloves.”
That’s as far as that altercation went, but the Piouses, made another strong move on the plane when they moved to first class and to the front of the aircraft while en route to San Francisco. That gave the Rhode Island brothers an advantage they kept through the remainder of the competition.
“I didn’t really trust Jordan to begin with,” Jet said. “It was a wakeup to me that these people don’t care about people much, that they care more about money.”
The final stretch of the race saw the final three teams traversing San Francisco. Cord made his way up the Coit Tower, a 120-foot vertical rope climb to the tower’s archway.
“It’s pretty up here, Jet,” Cord yelled to his brother. “You’re missing out.”
Then they got up close and personal with George Lucas’ creations at Industrial Light and Magic. There one player served as direct and the other a searcher in a virtual world. When the McCoys got into position, the Piouses were nearing the end of their challenge, so Cord gave some mock directions in hopes of knocking the competitors’ concentration out of whack.
While in the virtual world, Jet was limited in movement while Jordan stood still awaiting on Dan to finish the puzzle. “Jordan’s in front of me,” Jet said.
“Give Jordan a wedgey and get him out of the way,” Cord told his brother.
Then Cord prompted Dan to direct Jordan out of the way, and that didn’t go over so well. Dan’s words – apparently cursed – were bleeped, and Cord posted a comical threat to his competition.
“I’m going to get one of these ‘Star Wars’ guys to take you out, man,” he said.
They made their way to Tonga, one of the nation’s first tiki bars, and carried large trunks from there to the American Music Hall, where they had to hang posters of the other teams in the race and the order in which they were eliminated. Just ahead in the game, the Piouses finished quickly and made their way to Candlestick Park for the final piece of the prize puzzle. The McCoys settled for second place.
“I don’t think there’s a single leg of the race that me and him both didn’t say, ‘I sure am glad to have you with me,’ ” Jet said.“He’s a good man,” Cord said of his brother. “He’s my best friend and my big brother.”
