Amazing Race 7 finale tonight – “Karma can only be portioned out by the cosmos!*”

I’m probably going to set up my laptop and type for two hours straight tonight, so let’s do the season review & predictions now.

First, here are all my recaps in order: episode one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten.

And, lest we forget, here’s how the teams have finished up so far:

#11 – Team Redneck – Ryan & Chuck
#10 – Team Paris & Nicole – Megan & Heidi
#9 – Team Friends Forever – Debbie & Bianca
#8 – Team Mom/Son – Susan & Patrick
#7 – Team Karate – Ray & Deana
#6 – Team Spicoli – Brian & Greg
#5 – Team Showtunes – Lynn & Alex
#4 – Team Codger – Meredith & Gretchen

Which leaves the final three:

Team Survivor – Rob & Amber
Team Africa – Uchenna & Joyce
Team America – Ron & Kelly

Prediction: Let me just state for the record that, despite the presence of Team Survivor, this has been a great season of the Amazing Race. The competition has been phenomenal with some genuine “race to the mat” moments, unbelievable locales, and some really interesting race dynamics. The last five episodes (since Team Karate got the boot) have been awesome.

I think tonight’s game is going to come down to karma: Team Survivor has had too much good luck and Team Africa too little.

I’ve been annoyed throughout the season at the sight of Rob & Amber, not least of all because they’ve already won a million dollars on a reality TV show. Throughout the Race, they’ve capitalized on their celebrity in a way no other team could. Several times, they’ve managed to get star-struck bystanders to abandon their lives for a day and guide them through a task. As a result they’ve come in first place four times and every time they’ve received a prize for their top finish.

Meanwhile, look at Uchenna & Joyce. First of all, they both lost their jobs at Enron and WorldCom and they’re having trouble conceiving. But they’ve pulled it together as a team and came in first place twice. The first time was after Joyce had to shave her head – no bonus prize. The second time they were #1, Ron & Kelly won a $20,000 Travelocity prize after coming in last.

There must be cosmic realignment. There must be justice. Therefore my prediction is as follows:

Winner of the Amazing Race 7 – Team Africa – Uchenna & Joyce
#2 - Team Survivor – Rob & Amber
#3 – Team America – Ron & Kelly

In case I’m too overloaded to update my post tonight, be sure to check Dummocrats, Brainster’s Blog, along with TAR fans Lorie Byrd and David Wissing.