DNFU

I used to love The Biggest Loser.

I know reality television is trashy. I know that the contestants represent a small, unrealistic population, I know the methods used are completely unreasonable. I loved it anyways.

I was especially happy with this season’s cast since they seemed to be in it to truly lose weight and get healthy, not for the money.

Apparently the black team missed the memo.

A little background:
Each week after a contestant is voted off, there’s a “Where are they now?” segment which shows how they’re adjusting to life at home, and incorporating their weight loss routine into their life.
Dane and Blaine are cousins who made up the original black team. Not to be confused with Jillian’s black team.

After Blaine was voted off, in his WATN segment he said he was training for an Ironman triathlon. Too bad his race is an F-ing OLY.

Let’s be clear about this: An Ironman is a 2.4 mile swim, a 112 mile bike, and a marathon which is a 26.2 mile run (paying attention to that last one Dane?). Period.

Wanting to sound cool does not justify flat out lying about what you’re training for. And NBC needs to get some integrity and find a fact checker.

After Dane was voted off, in his WATN segment, they depicted him finishing a marathon in 3:53.
Two problems:
The clock didn’t actually read 3:53. It read 5:53. NBC blamed burned out bulbs (snort), other sites say it’s obviously photoshopped. Draw your own conclusions.
They didn’t run the entire marathon. I don’t mean they took walk breaks. I mean they pulled a Rosie Ruiz, and were given a ride (some say for 3 miles) and then dropped off so NBC could get their money shot.

Dane gave a statement saying how proud he was to have run the entire marathon with his wife, and how proud he was to have finished in 3:54. Kind of shoots a hole in the burned out bulb excuse.

After several people who really did run a full marathon complained, Dane and later NBC came out with apologies over misleading viewers.
Dane said he went back later and ran the ridden miles so he could say he finished the whole marathon, but good luck trying to get anyone to believe that. He also blamed producers for pushing him into it.
Dane, you are a grown adult. YOU choose how you live your life and how you are perceived. YOU are responsible for your actions. The “Producers made me do it” excuse might have worked for the first reality show, but by now we’re all aware of the game.

The worst is the explanation that the film crew wanted a shot of them finishing, and they were worried they wouldn’t finish in time. Seriously? I think when you come with cameras and a big name network, the race will work around that for you. Or you could film the finish before the marathon starts- provided you actually run it. This is some f-ed up Jeffrey Dahmer logic.

Dane’s actions cheapened the accomplishments of people who actually did gut it out to the finish, regardless of how long it took them to finish or how few people would still be around to see it.
It’s offensive to the people who ran the race and finished fast. Their accomplishments have been overshadowed by your reality show media circus.
And it’s offensive to those who really did go home and achieve dreams they had put off while struggling with their weight.

They both disgust me.

Blaine can have a karmic misdemeanor for his offense, since it might have been an honest misunderstanding. Plausible, but I still call bullshit.
Dane has continued to display a lack of integrity previously only seen on episodes of “Rock of Love”. And I’m being generous here.

He refused to return the medal for a race he didn’t finish. And his wife made statements saying it isn’t a big deal since they received a ride for “only” three miles.
So, Dane, if I show up to a college football game, can I say I won the Heisman? Or does that only work when it’s you.

His wife also referenced “being in the industry”. I can only conclude that it was a publicity stunt from the beginning, and they never intended to finish the whole marathon.

Usually I have to have dated or worked with someone to hate them this much. You’re lucky it’s Lent or I’d put you on the Christmas List.

Links to form your own opinion. Feel free to cheer for anyone else if you decide to watch the finale. The thought of one of these cheaters winning $100 grand makes me want to vomit.


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29490063/
http://tvwatch.people.com/2009/03/03/biggest-loser-dane-addresses-his-controversial-marathon-run/