TAR2 teams--- Hope & Norm
The ClubHouse: Archives: TAR2 teams--- Hope & Norm
Car54 | Wednesday, February 13, 2002 - 08:11 am     Hope & Norm Hope and Norm were 20 years old when they met in Clinton, Tennessee. It was July 1983, the summer before their junior year in college. Norm played it cool, waiting about a month before asking Hope out. After dating Norm for three years, Hope moved to Clinton and the two were married. They've done a little traveling together, and both have enjoyed the adventure and the quality time together. Hope and Norm decided to team up for THE AMAZING RACE mostly for the challenge and the adventure. According to Hope, "I would not have signed up with anyone else! Norm could complete the race with anyone and have a great time. Our strengths are that we compliment each other's weaknesses." When thinking about how participating in THE AMAZING RACE will affect their relationship, Hope says, "We think that the Race will make us stronger and will add to our memories of one another that will last a lifetime." QUESTIONAIRE What strengths and weaknesses do you bring to the Team? HOPE: I'm driven, good at scheduling, and have good communication skills. However, I tend to make decisions impulsively. I have no foreign language skills and no sense of direction. NORM: I'm competitive and have good listening skills, but I have trouble making decisions. What strengths and weaknesses does your teammate bring to the Team? HOPE: Norm is extremely patient and kind, as well as physically strong. He likes to keep his options open, and is able to look at situations and see lots of choices. Norm's weakness is his strength. He has a hard time asserting his way with others and will put someone else before himself, rather than risk hurting that individual or treating them with disrespect. NORM: Hope is very organized and can make decisions fairly quickly, with adequate sleep! She is physically strong and has a lot of courage. Her weakness is that she is too open and wants to trust people. She tends to include others in decisions and therefore weakens our advantage. What is your favorite film? HOPE: True Lies NORM: Braveheart What is your favorite TV show? HOPE: SURVIVOR NORM: Discovery: Science of Travel Who is your favorite actor? HOPE: Mel Gibson NORM: Mel Gibson Who is your favorite actress HOPE: Goldie Hawn and Meg Ryan NORM: Michelle Pfeiffer What is your favorite band? HOPE: Rick Braun and Bouncy James NORM: N/A What comfort item from home will you miss the most? HOPE: Fuzzy slippers and my bed NORM: Sons Jared and John Luke |
Grooch | Wednesday, March 13, 2002 - 08:55 am     Clinton couple find their footing after 'Amazing Race 2' gig By Terry Morrow, News-Sentinel television writer When "Survivor" champion Tina Wesson urged Clinton couple Norm and Hope Davis to apply to be on a show called "The Amazing Race 2," they had no idea what she was talking about. "Neither he nor I had even seen 'The Amazing Race,' " says Hope. Once they realized it was a reality show in which 11 pairs of contestants trek around the world and the first one to the finish line wins $1 million, the Davises got interested. The show - which had mediocre ratings last fall when it debuted - was having a hard time casting for the second edition. According to the Davises, the show needed to fill a slot with a happily married couple. The Davises fit the bill nicely. "We were married over 10 years, with children, and who could both leave because we're both self-employed," says Norm. "We could be gone six to eight weeks because of that." And most importantly, they were competitive, type "A" personalities. The Davises met in college. Hope, who is originally from Louisiana but went to school at Middle Tennessee State University, met Norm, who attended the University of Tennessee, during a summer break in the mid-1980s. They dated for three years, married in 1986 and have two sons. Hope, 38, works in real estate, and Norm, 39, works in sales. "They called me the Boy Scout," says Norm, who is a troop leader. "I have always been known as Nice Norm, the guy who never cut line." That doesn't cut it in "The Amazing Race 2," where contestants must one up one another in order to stay in the game. "Race" requires its contestants to go 55,000 miles in 28 days, a longer distance in a shorter amount of time than the first "Race" did. Norm says he found the game to be easier than he anticipated; Hope found it more difficult. They didn't argue during their harried adventure. "We travel pretty well together," Hope says. Norm says they travel well because they understand how to handle the stress of it. Both their jobs require they deal with people under stressful conditions, he says. When they are traveling normally, "we are away from all the stress and anxiety of work," he says. "We just relax," she says. Though the Davises cannot tell how well they did or provide exact details of the game, they did say forming alliances were difficult, and they tried to play by the rules of the game. Likewise, they say they are proud of the way they played the sometimes-ruthless game. Their biggest obstacles in the "Race": they had not been out of the country before and couldn't speak a foreign language. Hope describes this "Race" as "a combination of 'Jerry Springer' meets 'Survivor.' " The Davises were gone more than a month to do the show last January. They are in New York this week, where they watched the debut of the show on Monday night with the crew and other contestants. The race began in Las Vegas and went on to South America. "We were surprised" to be picked for the show, Hope says, "but not as surprised as we should have been. ... We didn't really feel honored at first until we started talking to the other contestants. "They wanted someone on there that anybody could relate to. Obviously the retirees are going to pull for the gutsy grannies, and the gay community may root for the gay couple. I think our appeal is to the family who is struggling with kids. "I think our emphasis was for the younger, middle-age couples." Though their contract with the show prohibits them from getting an agent for the next year, the Davises would like to get into show business. Norm, in particular, would like to parlay his 15 minutes of fame into acting. |
Grooch | Wednesday, March 13, 2002 - 08:59 am     'Amazing Race' with Clinton duo airs tonight by Cathy Ziegaus Oak Ridger staff It was almost too much of an adventure for Hope Davis, but her husband, Norm, said he would gladly do it again. The former Oak Ridgers who now live in Clinton recently returned from a month-long competition on "The Amazing Race." The show's second season premieres at 10 tonight on CBS, WVLT-TV, Channel 8. The couple was among 11 teams competing for $1 million. If you don't win the million, certain legs of the race pay off, like a trip to Hawaii. A 24-hour penalty is applied if you don't complete a leg. On the last leg, three teams compete for the finish line. Cast members are not allowed to disclose the outcome of the show before it's aired. Hope said she and Norm traveled 52,000 miles and finished the race in 28 days. They found out by reading TV Guide that the teams were to fly out of Las Vegas on Jan. 3. Norm is a residential contractor and a licensed agent for insurance, investments and securities. Both are Realtors with Coldwell Banker Wallace and Wallace in Knoxville. Norm lived in Oak Ridge until he was in the eighth grade, and his parents, Norm and Pearl Davis, built a new home in Clinton. Hope's parents, Liz and Tom Lee, also live in Clinton. It would be hard to imagine another couple more physically qualified for this competition. The Davises, with their two sons, Jared, 12, and John Luke, 9, love hiking, backpacking, mountain biking and canoeing. In addition, Norm is an assistant Scoutmaster with Troop 222 in Marlow in which Jared is a member. Norm said John Luke will become a Webelo this summer. The couple are also volunteers for the Eco Challenge adventures at the Life Development Center in Oak Ridge. One of the adventures the Davises volunteer for is the Breakaway Access Program of the Anderson County Health Council. Hope described it as a survival-type trip at Big South Fork for juveniles. "We take kids and hike for four days, backpacking through trails, sleeping on the ground -- I love that. I'm used to that," said Hope, "but not for 30 days." She said last year's shows filmed people in motels, spending money in restaurants, but this year the amount of money given the teams was lessened. "You never know how long a leg of the race will be so if you don't have enough money, you have to find work or beg," Hope said. The teams also had to pay for their camera crews' cab rides. "We cut way back. I was afraid to spend any so we did very little sleeping in hotels and ate very little food." Hope said doing without sleep was probably hardest for her. "I didn't think a 23-hour bus ride would be the best sleep I would get that month," she said. ... "There was always a lot of noise at the pit stops. ... I was very disoriented when I returned home." After returning home, she said she woke up in the middle of the night for a week. "I'd hear a dog bark and think 'I've got a dog. Oh yeah, I am at home'; or, 'I've got a table like that ...'" "It was funny to see reactions of people when we came running through the airports," Norm said. "They didn't know what we were doing and we couldn't tell them. ... Besides, if you did talk to someone, to ask directions or something, you had to get a waiver from them to use their names if they gave you a verbal answer." He said 65 to 70 people boarded the plane, with each team member loaded down with a backpack, and camera crews carrying even more. The teams weren't told where they were going. Hope said they realized shortly after landing they were in Rio de Janeiro. "The production people go ahead of you and try to remove as many clues about the location as they can," she said. She said it's ironic now but her mother asked months ago if she had seen the show and told her it looked like something she and Norm would like to do. "I hadn't seen it and didn't think I'd be interested in doing a reality show. ... But the producers tell you it's not really a reality show, it's unscripted TV." She said she didn't think much about that conversation with her mother until later when Norm had his own conversation about the show. Dale Wesson had been at one of the Eco Challenge adventures and his wife, Tina, a $1 million winner of "Survivor," came with him. The producer of "Survivor" also produces "The Amazing Race." Tina told Norm that the show needed another couple and she thought she could get them on. "She said the producer was having a hard time filling the 'Happily married over 10 years' category," Hope said. "Tina asked Norm if he needed to talk to me first but Norm said 'Just tell them we'll do it and I'll talk Hope into it.'" During the race, the couple found negotiating the detours and roadblocks was fairly easy. Hope said the biggest barrier was language. "I think Norm and I were the only couple who didn't speak a foreign language," Hope said. "So we just smiled a lot and nodded our heads," she laughed. "I had a class in Spanish in the eighth grade and that was way back. ... Negotiating travel arrangements was the hardest part." "We've talked about learning another language," Norm said. "At least I would probably try to learn a few key words." Hope wouldn't give details about their adventure but security was on the minds of everyone. "There was one incident that happened a place we were scheduled to go," Hope said. "Security was there in seconds and they re-routed the race course. I never worried after that." The Davises' sons will have to wait with everyone else to see who won the race. "We made a mistake by telling everyone we were flying out to audition for the show and found out later we weren't supposed to tell anyone," Hope said. "I had to come back and tell everyone we didn't make it. ... I didn't want to lie to the boys and swore them to secrecy. I think they did very well for third- and sixth-graders. ... This time, no one knows anything." The more adventurous Norm said he'd love to do it again but with a few changes, like making the roadblocks more exciting. "They were thrilling but I'd make them more for the athlete. ... If you are a more well-rounded competitor you could distance yourself -- then that would pay off." Norm is working on a competition for this area. He wants to get the "Survivor" cast members to compete against teams from "The Amazing Race." "They've all said they would come down. It's just a matter of scheduling," Norm said. "I said we should do it for something worthwhile, maybe like a benefit for the state parks." He said he's approached CBS with the idea and they've expressed interest if he can get the cast together. "I've got half of them together already," he said, "including Tina." |
Tksoard | Wednesday, March 13, 2002 - 09:33 am     Me thinks they said alittle TOO much!! Hope said they went 52,000 miles in 28 days!! I don't think she was allowed to say that!! OH OH!!  |
Aussiedeb | Wednesday, March 13, 2002 - 09:52 am     Yeah TK I was thinking that as I was reading it..oh oh, or unless its a curve ball aimed at all of us addicts and viewers. So who knows, maybe it is true and they made it far or maybe a red herring meaning they didnt go far? Time will tell |
Grooch | Wednesday, March 13, 2002 - 10:08 am     Norm did say that he would have liked the road blocks more challenging. That he found them boring. Sounds like he was on quite a few of them. |
Spygirl | Wednesday, March 13, 2002 - 11:42 am     Well, well! Wasn't THAT interesting! |
Sadiesmom | Wednesday, March 13, 2002 - 05:20 pm     Well if they won, they just lost. Don;t they have to pay a milllion if they accidently answer? |
Demeter | Wednesday, March 13, 2002 - 06:31 pm     It could have been the reporter's interpretation of what they said. They may have said something like "the teams travel 52,000 miles..." Just a thought. |
Spygirl | Wednesday, March 13, 2002 - 07:05 pm     WOW!!! I got suckered!!! LOL |
Julieboo | Wednesday, March 13, 2002 - 08:13 pm     Sad to see them lose. I really admired how much they love and respect each other... |
Britchick | Thursday, March 14, 2002 - 09:06 am     Hope and Norm were totally my favourites and I was very sorry to see them go. I thought it was great how much in love they still are... |
Tntitanfan | Friday, March 15, 2002 - 06:14 am     How did they get behind? I don't remember them being further back than third from the end!! Did I doze off? |
Tksoard | Friday, March 15, 2002 - 06:19 am     TTF, in their interview, they said that the cab driver was SO slow!! I remember then they were in the cab and kept telling the driver to go faster, but he wouldn't. I really liked them!! I guess what was said ^^ was hog wash!!  |
Tntitanfan | Friday, March 15, 2002 - 08:51 am     Thanks, Kathy! I know they can't show every minute of each team's travel, but that one kind of came out of the blue for me!! |
Tksoard | Friday, March 15, 2002 - 09:24 am     Well, sometimes when you blink, you miss something important. That's why I tape everyone of them. I usually watch it again, and see so much more!!  |
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