Contestant Daniel Pious retrieves a clue by climbing a rope during 'The Amazing Race.' (CBS)

Caite Upton is headed in the right direction on “The Amazing Race.”

The former Miss Teen South Carolina, who infamously flubbed a 2007 pageant question involving maps, and her boyfriend, Brent Horne, are among the three remaining teams competing Sunday for the CBS reality series’ $1 million grand prize. The often bickering dating duo experienced a rough start on the around-the-world race but have managed to avoid elimination.

“I think one of the most exciting things is that Brent and Catie are still there in contention, against the odds,” said host Phil Keoghan. “Right from the very beginning, I don’t think the other teams saw them being at the end. Catie has really taken a leadership role and really driven this team. I think she’s really been the dominant factor for their team.”
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Eventual 'Race' winners Meghan and Cheyne count up poker chips in lightning-quick fashion during the final leg in Las Vegas. (CBS)

Earlier: Meghan, Cheyne take home ‘Race’ victory

As you’ve seen coming over the news wires this morning, The Amazing Race ended Sunday with Cheyne and Meghan winning and taking home $1 million.

Many of us in the media/blogosphere were partial to Brian and Ericka, but Cheyne and Meghan ran a tremendous race, and I raise a glass to them.

We slagged on this duo for so many reasons, I think — they were blonde and good-looking California kids, they seemed to win almost every leg, and let’s face it, they were seemingly somewhat lacking in the personality department.
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Getting the clues from the phones was the easy part for Big Easy -- after that, it was like watching a slow-motion train wreck. (CBS)

The duo of Globetrotters on The Amazing Race made a “judgment call” in the penultimate leg of the 15th season.

Unfortunately for them, it was a bad call.

In sports, you hear about teams, coaches and players making “mental mistakes”. These can easily be the difference between winning and losing.

In 2003, Boston Red Sox manager Grady Little left a tired Pedro Martinez in too long during a key playoff game – result, a Yankees win. In 1993, Michigan star Chris Webber called a timeout in the Final Four when his team didn’t have one – result, a North Carolina win.

In 2009, Big Easy of the Globetrotters’ team decided he’d be better off taking a four-hour time penalty than trying to decipher a scrambled word.

Result: Not good.
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Flight Time and Big Easy arrive right after Sam and Dan at the Prague pit stop -- and Sam and Dan didn't smile ALL the time. (CBS)

“Oh no… here come the Globetrotters!”

“They ruin everything.”

OK, this was actually NOT a direct quote from Sam and Dan on this week’s episode of The Amazing Race. It only seems like it.

The budding rivalry between Sam and Dan and Harlem Globetrotters Flight Time and Big Easy – which to this point seemed very one-sided, as Sam and Dan would let the Globies get to them for some reason – took off in Estonia when Big Easy and Dan tangled and fell before getting to the pit stop.

So I’m expecting … well, maybe not a knockdown drag-out brawl, but certainly some words. Should’ve realized our Globies would smooth things over on their end, while Sam and Dan continued their eyerolling jealousy.
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The rivalry between brothers Sam and Dan and Globetrotters Flight Time and Big Easy looks like it's heating up. (CBS)

It’s been building for weeks, and now the rivalry between the duo of Harlem Globetrotters and brothers Sam and Dan is set to boil over.

This season of The Amazing Race, Sam and Dan have made little secret about their disdain for Big Easy and Flight Time. There’s no real telling why or exactly when the team of gay brothers had their fallout with the Globies, only that it’s been going on for a while now.

Until this episode, however, it seems like the rivalry was one-sided. The Globies were competitive, but never seemed to be antagonized. However, the first signs of a full-blown battle were suddenly cropping up as Big Easy talked about his disgust for Dan yelling at Sam during the hay-bale challenge in Sweden.

Still, things were on simmer as the five remaining teams headed to the Baltic republic of Estonia. For the first 40 minutes of the episode, four of the teams were having minor issues at best.
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Sam and Dan -- doing it wrong until Dan figured out how to act. (CBS)

Longtime viewers of The Amazing Race know of one of the most difficult challenges in the show’s history: In season 6, competitors had to unroll more than 200 hay bales on a Swedish farm to find one of 20 clues.

In one case, a pair of racers were in that field for more than 8 hours before host Phil Keoghan finally fetched them.

They brought it back for season 15. And it’s no easier.

First of all, when I talk about hay bales, I’m not referring to the little rectangular bales you may remember. No, these are huge, circular bales.

So there’s a lot to hate about this challenge:

1. It’s heavy.

2. It’s playing havoc with allergies

3. It’s hay and it’s getting everywhere.

And you end up hearing this:

“Shut up, Dan! Shut up!”

“I can’t do this anymore!”
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Brian and Ericka show that they have what it takes to possibly win it all. (CBS)

For the second week in a row — and I believe this to be a first for The Amazing Race — a team decided to give up on a challenge.

At first, I was going to harp on Maria and Tiffany, the pro poker players, for quitting on the race just a week after Mika let fear get the better of her and also basically leave the race as well.

However, where I feel a little let down by our card-playin’ pair of ladies, I think instead I’ll be positive about how another team just may have proven to be the toughest of all, given the challenges they had to face.

I’m talking about Brian and Ericka — and it wouldn’t surprise me at all if these two finished in first place.
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Mika and Canaan, at a remarkably less stressful point during the race. (CBS)

At the heart of almost any reality competition, it seems, is fear and the ability to overcome it. Heck, there was a whole show based on it — who could forget Fear Factor?

(Certainly not the contestants — have any of those guys been able to look at a cockroach and not think, “I ate one of THOSE?”)

The Amazing Race has made sure to include fear among their challenges — whether it’s water or animals or, my big one, heights. It’s a classic — and it always seems to lead to a classic battle between one’s fear and one’s desire to win $1 million.
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Lance (right) begins working on his VCR alongside fellow competitor Canaan. It wouldn't be long before Lance pulled out the hammer and HULK SMASH!! (CBS)

For a show that can be quite tough with the rules, I thought The Amazing Race may have played a little loosely.

This week, with 10 teams in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, one of the two challenges was to break down two VCRs at a Vietnamese electronics recycling store.

From what I understood, the idea was to use all the tools given — hammer, pneumatic screwdriver and wire cutters (I think) — to take the VCRs apart and separate them into piles.

And then along comes Lance — aka half of Team Boston Rob II. Having already proven to be easily the race’s most annoying team with Lance and fiance Keri’s constant bickering, the duo heads to the VCR challenge, electing Lance to take part.
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Matt, a.k.a. Pinky, herds ducks like a champ on his way to a Round 2 win. (CBS)

The winners of a challenge in Vietnam were a classic-rock loving farmer and his son, a metal fan with pink hair and piercings.

Ladies and gentlemen, it’s time for The Amazing Race once again.

The two-hour season opener had a huge twist right away.

After all of the teams are introduced (and I’ll give you a rundown of the remaining teams — and their new nicknames — in a little bit), host Phil Keoghan drops a bombshell: One of the teams isn’t even going to make it to the starting gate.
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