You're doin' fine, Oklahoma!

Back to one of my favorite topics - reality TV. The newest season of Amazing Race is on. This season, as usual, includes some interesting couples.

Eleven pairs left Los Angeles for Chile. This year's group includes all the usual combinations - black, Asian, old, middle-aged, pretty but clueless, smart but weak, strong but dumb, et.

The "hick" couple is two brothers from Oklahoma. The brothers, cowboys both, always wear their felt hats (with plastic protectors for the rain), custom belt buckles and jeans. They talk with an "Okie twang." (I can say that, I'm from Oklahoma.) There's nary a curse word from their lips. Instead, you hear "good gravy" a lot.

Most of the contestants acted like the cowboys had cooties and were a little "slow." The editing of the first episode, when the cowboys had some rough spots, did leave you wondering how savvy they could be.

But in the second leg of the race - yeeow! Forced to take a later bus, they found one with a different detour, but an earlier arrival time. They sailed through the rest of the course and finished first, so far ahead that no one else knew.

A particularly obnoxious couple, busy being pompous and setting up alliances, assumed they were finishing first and were shocked at their second place. They grilled the cowboys later, purposely using "big" words in the conversation, thinking that was somehow intimidating. The cowboys just nodded and smiled. All the contestants seemed to think it a fluke that the cowboys finished first.

The third episode has just ended, and the cowboys finished first again, making it from Chile to Argentina. Ayipieeay!

What the other contestants and we viewers are finding out is that the cowboys are confident, patient, independent, shrewd and full of common sense. You might even say they're the "real McCoy."

Oklahoma, OK!

Jet and Cord

Brothers/Cowboys

Cord McCoy

Age: 29
Hometown: Tupelo, Okla.
Connection to your teammate: Brother
Current Occupation: Professional Bull Rider
Pet peeve about your teammate: He likes to voice his opinion
Favorite hobbies: Riding horses
Achievements: Rode world champion bucking bull, “Big Bucks”
Lifelong to do list: Get married, have lots of babies and live happily ever after
If I could switch places with someone: I wouldn't trade with anyone.
Role Model/Hero: My parents
What are you passionate about: My beliefs
What would you do if you won the million dollars: Buy a big ranch
People would be surprised to learn: I don't have a television or a radio in my house
Favorite place you have ever visited: I love visiting everywhere, but home sweet home is always the BEST
Biggest challenge you and your teammate will face on the Race together: Choosing one idea and going with it
What did you hope to accomplish by running the Race (other than winning one million bucks): Spending time with my best friend and brother

Jet McCoy

Age: 30
Hometown: Ada, Okla.
Connection to your teammate: Brother
Current Occupation: Cowboy
Pet peeve about your teammate: Punctuality or lack thereof
Favorite hobbies: Reading
Achievements: Making it on THE AMAZING RACE
Lifelong to do list: To remain a cowboy
If I could switch places with someone: Nobody, I am happy being me … I haven't worked out all of my own problems so I wouldn't want to start on anyone else's
Role Model/Hero: Cord would be my hero
What are you passionate about? Horsemanship
What would you do if you won the million dollars? Pay off my house
People would be surprised to learn: How much I read. I read every single day
Favorite place you have ever visited: Texas
Biggest challenge you and your teammate will face on the Race together: Communication
What do you hope to accomplish by running the Race (other than winning one million bucks?) To broaden my horizons and gain a better appreciation for the world in general