Wednesday, April 11, 2007

 
WEST BRACKET ROUND ONE RESULTS

Voting is now closed in round one of the West bracket. For each match-up, the "non-qualified" votes were thrown out and the percentages calculated based on the total number of votes that both coasters received. Winning rides are in bold. Here's how the voting went:

1. Tremors, Silverwood, ID (85%)
32. Wildcat, Frontier City, OK (15%)

16. Mega Zeph, Six Flags New Orleans, LA (44%)
17. Outlaw, Adventureland, IA (56%)

5. Timber Terror, Silverwood, ID (79%)
28. High Roller, Valleyfair!, MN (21%)

9. Giant Dipper, Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, CA (85%)
24. Arkansas Twister, Magic Springs, AR (15%)

4. Ozark Wildcat, Celebration City, MO (78%)
29. Timberhawk, Enchanted Village, WA (22%)

13. Roar, Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, CA (51%)
20. Giant Dipper, Belmont Park, CA (49%)

10. Cyclops, Mount Olympus, WI (70%)
23. Judge Roy Scream, Six Flags Over Texas, TX (30%)

6. New Mexico Rattler, Cliff's, NM (78%)
27. Zippin' Pippin, Libertyland, TN (22%)

8. Cyclone, Lakeside, CO (82%)
25. Tornado, Adventureland, IA (18%)

3. Avalanche, Timber Falls, WI (91%)
30. Roller Coaster, Lagoon, UT (9%)

14. The Legend, Arnolds Park, IA (52%)
19. Timber Wolf, Worlds of Fun, MO (48%)

12. Roller Coaster, Puyallup/Western Washington Fair, WA (38%)
21. Screamin' Eagle, Six Flags St. Louis, MO (62%)

11. Texas Giant, Six Flags Over Texas, TX (57%)
22. The Boss, Six Flags St. Louis, MO (43%)

7. GhostRider, Knott's Berry Farm, CA (91%)
26. Roller Coaster, Joyland, KS (9%)

15. Zingo, Bell's, OK (30%)
18. Zeus, Mount Olympus, WI (70%)

2. Hades, Mount Olympus, WI (89%)
31. Rattler, Six Flags Fiesta Texas, TX (11%)


ANALYSIS

The West bracket yielded more interesting results than did the Midwest / South bracket. Let's start with the three upsets. In the ever-unstable 16 vs. 17 seed match-up, the low seed pulled it out again as the Adventureland Outlaw beat the SBNO Mega Zeph by four votes (as you may note, the only upset in the Midwest / South bracket came in the 16 vs. 17 seed match-up). The second most likely match-up to yield an upset also did so, as the 18-seeded Zeus showed no mercy to 15-seeded fellow "Z" coaster Zingo. It wasn't even close...talk about kicking a ride while it's down, given Zingo's dismemberment at it's current location. The big shocker, though, came in the 12 vs. 21 seed match-up as the 12-seeded Puyallup Roller Coaster was sent packing in the first round at the hands of the Screamin' Eagle. Despite the fun factor and classic simplicity of it's trains, I guess Roller Coaster just couldn't overcome the fact that nobody can ever pronounce "Puyallup" correctly.

In addition to the three actual upsets, there were two more match-ups that came within three or less votes of becoming upsets number four and five in the West bracket. The 20-seeded Belmont Park Giant Dipper would have advanced with just two more votes over the 13-seeded Roar (west) and the 19-seeded Timber Wolf was just three votes away from knocking off the 14-seeded Arnolds Park Legend.

On top of that, the West bracket will likely go down as the only first round bracket in the tournament to not advance a coaster unanimously. In fact, the least number of votes any ride received in this bracket was four (the 30-seeded Lagoon Roller Coaster, which fell to the 3-seeded Timber Falls Avalanche).

All this would indicate that the West may be one of the most wide-open brackets in the tournament, perhaps prone to even more upsets going forward. On the other hand, there were a fair number of blowouts, mostly in the more uneven match-ups. Examples include the top-seeded Tremors beating the 32-seeded Frontier City Wildcat by a nearly 6:1 margin, the 9-seeded Santa Cruz Giant Dipper taking down the Arkansas Twister by a similar margin, the 7-seeded GhostRider destroying the 26-seeded Joyland Roller Coaster by nearly a 10:1 margin, and the 2-seeded Hades downing the 31-seeded Rattler by nearly an 8:1 margin.

Another notable match-up was the 11-seeded Texas Giant against the 22-seeded Boss. Texas Giant, which in its heyday was capable of being a number 1 coaster on many folks lists, had to hold off an aggressive attack by the Boss, a ride that many scorn for its poor trains and roughness. The Giant came out on top, but only by a margin of eight votes.

Another Six Flags Over Texas coaster, the 23-seeded Judge Roy Scream had been giving the 10-seeded Cyclops a run for its money in the early voting, but much like The Beast in the Midwest / South bracket, Cyclops pulled away, finally beating the Judge by a convincing 25-vote margin.

It's interesting to note that the state of Wisconson was added to the West bracket at the last minute in order to make the mathematics of this tournament feasible. It would seem to turn out that that addition has really strengthened the competition in the West, as all four Wisconsin coasters invited to compete won their first round battles with pretty impressive percentages (70% or better for each). That won't happen in round two, as inter-park rivals Zeus and Hades will go up against each other. This and other information follows in a preview look at the...

WEST BRACKET ROUND TWO MATCH-UPS

1. Tremors, Silverwood, ID
17. Outlaw, Adventureland, IA

5. Timber Terror, Silverwood, ID
9. Giant Dipper, Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, CA

4. Ozark Wildcat, Celebration City, MO
13. Roar, Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, CA

6. New Mexico Rattler, Cliff's, NM
10. Cyclops, Mount Olympus, WI

3. Avalanche, Timber Falls, WI
8. Cyclone, Lakeside, CO

14. The Legend, Arnolds Park, IA
21. Screamin' Eagle, Six Flags St. Louis, MO

7. GhostRider, Knott's Berry Farm, CA
11. Texas Giant, Six Flags Over Texas, TX

2. Hades, Mount Olympus, WI
18. Zeus, Mount Olympus, WI

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