Wednesday, May 30, 2007
FINAL RESULTS!
Well folks, this is it...the results of the final showdown are in and it shakes out like this:
MIDWEST / SOUTH 1. The Voyage, Holiday World, IN (57%)
NORTHEAST 3. Phoenix, Knoebel's, PA (43%)
The winner of the first-ever Wood Coaster Madness is the coaster we all thought would wind up on top, The Voyage. Congratulations to The Gravity Group and Holiday World for earning yet another (turkey?) feather in their cap for this outstanding ride. That said, Voyage fans, don't rejoice too soon. Even though Voyage won this match-up (and this tournament), it was actually trailing to the seemingly unstoppable Phoenix by as many as two or three votes as late in the game as Sunday. A late surge after a "get out the vote" posting to Theme Park Review resulted in Voyage pulling ahead for good by a total of five votes. The final vote total was Voyage 20, Phoenix 15. As such, kudos to runner-up Phoenix for earning second place in Wood Coaster Madness...and "earning" is the operative word, as Phoenix defeated two 1-seeded rides to get this far.
There were some other questions to be settled, so without further ado, let's get to it....
The consolation match-up to determine third place pitted the two rides eliminated in the Frightening Four against each other. The results were:
INTERNATIONAL 1. Balder, Liseberg, Sweden (40%)
WEST 2. Hades, Mount Olympus, WI (60%)
So Hades is our third place ride, while Balder will have to settle for fourth. Add another "thumbs up" to Gravity Group's resume for having conceived two of the top three rides in the tournament.
The four-way battle royale for fifth place featured the four rides eliminated in the Exciting Eight round of the tournament. Here's how it went down:
WEST 1. Tremors, Silverwood, ID (8%)
NORTHEAST 1. Boulder Dash, Lake Compounce, CT (33%)
MIDWEST/SOUTH 3. Thunderhead, Dollywood, TN (48%)
INTERNATIONAL 6. Colossos, Heide Park, Germany (11%)
With nearly a majority of the vote among the four, Thunderhead earns the final spot in the top 5. From the looks of things, only me and one other voter consider Tremors to be the best of the four. Congrats to Dollywood and GCI on Thundie's impressive performance throughout Wood Coaster Madness.
So which coaster was the (theoretical) worst coaster to be invited to compete in Wood Coaster Madness? Two U.S. coasters were eliminated in the first round without a single vote. I asked which of the two you liked better and this was how you voted:
NORTHEAST 30. Big Dipper, Camden Park, WV (52%)
MIDWEST/SOUTH 32. Twisted Twins, Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom, KY (48%)
By one vote, you prefer Big Dipper over Twisted Twins, making the Six Flags siblings the least favorite U.S. coaster in the tourney. Though I'm sure living in the shadow of Holiday World and The Voyage can't help, congratulations (?) anyways to Six Flags for, well, reminding us why we, um, "love" Six Flags.
As for the future of Wood Coaster Madness, the majority of you think that the tournament should be repeated, saying that you "loved everything about it." The next most popular response reflects the fact that, apparently, you don't want me to shut up (and in most regards, I suspect you're the exception, not the rule), requesting that I continue to provide analysis of the match-ups once completed. I will take this into consideration going forward. Alas, not a single one of you were willing to pay me to run this thing, so I suspect that any extra frills will be on a "if I'm feeling up to it" basis in the future. It was a pretty dead-even split between those that wanted the International rides to stay in and those who wanted them gone, so there will be some deliberation going forward on that issue. Similarly, it was pretty even between those who liked a sense of order to the seeding and those who would like to see a more random approach to the match-ups, so I'll also have to think on that one a bit as well. Only six of you (out of 40) wanted the field to open at 64 instead of 128, but for logistical purposes, I may still consider doing this in the future. Only three naysayers thought I shouldn't run the tournament again at all, with one not stating a reason and the other two thinking it was a waste of time.
As far as an Amusement Park Madness tournament goes, there once again were only three "no" votes. The rest of you would like to see one, so I shall work on that. The one thing that seemed to strike a chord the most with you is a desire to see the parks arranged by size/attendance rather than geography to make for a more fair tournament. There were 12 votes for this option vs. only five for geographical arrangement (and I think a couple of people voted for both options, not knowing that the logistics of doing both is nearly, if not completely, impossible). Once again, the international parks issue was left unresolved, as it was nearly a dead even split between those wanting international parks removed, those wanting them limited in number, and those wanting full representation for them. As for a time frame, most of you didn't express a preference one way or the other, but a couple more of you liked July/August better than March 2008, so that's what I'll likely look into.
Time permitting, I may compile a final ranking of all 128 rides (with rides losing by a narrower margin ranking higher than those losing by a wider margin in the same round). Check back to see if/when that happens.
Well folks, this is it...the results of the final showdown are in and it shakes out like this:
MIDWEST / SOUTH 1. The Voyage, Holiday World, IN (57%)
NORTHEAST 3. Phoenix, Knoebel's, PA (43%)
The winner of the first-ever Wood Coaster Madness is the coaster we all thought would wind up on top, The Voyage. Congratulations to The Gravity Group and Holiday World for earning yet another (turkey?) feather in their cap for this outstanding ride. That said, Voyage fans, don't rejoice too soon. Even though Voyage won this match-up (and this tournament), it was actually trailing to the seemingly unstoppable Phoenix by as many as two or three votes as late in the game as Sunday. A late surge after a "get out the vote" posting to Theme Park Review resulted in Voyage pulling ahead for good by a total of five votes. The final vote total was Voyage 20, Phoenix 15. As such, kudos to runner-up Phoenix for earning second place in Wood Coaster Madness...and "earning" is the operative word, as Phoenix defeated two 1-seeded rides to get this far.
There were some other questions to be settled, so without further ado, let's get to it....
The consolation match-up to determine third place pitted the two rides eliminated in the Frightening Four against each other. The results were:
INTERNATIONAL 1. Balder, Liseberg, Sweden (40%)
WEST 2. Hades, Mount Olympus, WI (60%)
So Hades is our third place ride, while Balder will have to settle for fourth. Add another "thumbs up" to Gravity Group's resume for having conceived two of the top three rides in the tournament.
The four-way battle royale for fifth place featured the four rides eliminated in the Exciting Eight round of the tournament. Here's how it went down:
WEST 1. Tremors, Silverwood, ID (8%)
NORTHEAST 1. Boulder Dash, Lake Compounce, CT (33%)
MIDWEST/SOUTH 3. Thunderhead, Dollywood, TN (48%)
INTERNATIONAL 6. Colossos, Heide Park, Germany (11%)
With nearly a majority of the vote among the four, Thunderhead earns the final spot in the top 5. From the looks of things, only me and one other voter consider Tremors to be the best of the four. Congrats to Dollywood and GCI on Thundie's impressive performance throughout Wood Coaster Madness.
So which coaster was the (theoretical) worst coaster to be invited to compete in Wood Coaster Madness? Two U.S. coasters were eliminated in the first round without a single vote. I asked which of the two you liked better and this was how you voted:
NORTHEAST 30. Big Dipper, Camden Park, WV (52%)
MIDWEST/SOUTH 32. Twisted Twins, Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom, KY (48%)
By one vote, you prefer Big Dipper over Twisted Twins, making the Six Flags siblings the least favorite U.S. coaster in the tourney. Though I'm sure living in the shadow of Holiday World and The Voyage can't help, congratulations (?) anyways to Six Flags for, well, reminding us why we, um, "love" Six Flags.
As for the future of Wood Coaster Madness, the majority of you think that the tournament should be repeated, saying that you "loved everything about it." The next most popular response reflects the fact that, apparently, you don't want me to shut up (and in most regards, I suspect you're the exception, not the rule), requesting that I continue to provide analysis of the match-ups once completed. I will take this into consideration going forward. Alas, not a single one of you were willing to pay me to run this thing, so I suspect that any extra frills will be on a "if I'm feeling up to it" basis in the future. It was a pretty dead-even split between those that wanted the International rides to stay in and those who wanted them gone, so there will be some deliberation going forward on that issue. Similarly, it was pretty even between those who liked a sense of order to the seeding and those who would like to see a more random approach to the match-ups, so I'll also have to think on that one a bit as well. Only six of you (out of 40) wanted the field to open at 64 instead of 128, but for logistical purposes, I may still consider doing this in the future. Only three naysayers thought I shouldn't run the tournament again at all, with one not stating a reason and the other two thinking it was a waste of time.
As far as an Amusement Park Madness tournament goes, there once again were only three "no" votes. The rest of you would like to see one, so I shall work on that. The one thing that seemed to strike a chord the most with you is a desire to see the parks arranged by size/attendance rather than geography to make for a more fair tournament. There were 12 votes for this option vs. only five for geographical arrangement (and I think a couple of people voted for both options, not knowing that the logistics of doing both is nearly, if not completely, impossible). Once again, the international parks issue was left unresolved, as it was nearly a dead even split between those wanting international parks removed, those wanting them limited in number, and those wanting full representation for them. As for a time frame, most of you didn't express a preference one way or the other, but a couple more of you liked July/August better than March 2008, so that's what I'll likely look into.
Time permitting, I may compile a final ranking of all 128 rides (with rides losing by a narrower margin ranking higher than those losing by a wider margin in the same round). Check back to see if/when that happens.
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
THE FINAL MATCH-UP IS NOW OPEN FOR VOTING!
The Final Match-Up ballot is now available for your voting pleasure. In addition to the final match-up, you will find consolation match-ups as well as questions regarding the future of this tournament. Voting will remain open in this ballot until at least 5:00pm EDT on Wednesday, May 30. As always, the voting procedure (which hasn't changed any throughout the tournament) can be found among the first day's postings to the tournament blog. Click here (link deactivated due to voting being closed) to go to the Final Match-Up ballot.
Here's what's on this final ballot:
A. CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH-UP! MIDWEST / SOUTH 1 seed vs. NORTHEAST 3 seed
B. Consolation Match-Up. INTERNATIONAL 1. Balder, Liseberg, Sweden vs. WEST 2. Hades, Mount Olympus, WI
C. Consolation (four-way) Match-Up. 3. Thunderhead, Dollywood, TN vs. WEST 1. Tremors, Silverwood, ID vs. NORTHEAST 1. Boulder Dash, Lake Compounce, CT vs. INTERNATIONAL 6. Colossos, Heide Park, Germany
D. Humiliation Match-Up between two U.S. coasters that were eliminated in the first round of the tournament without a single vote. NORTHEAST 30. Big Dipper, Camden Park, WV vs. MIDWEST/SOUTH 32. Twisted Twins, Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom, KY
E. Meta Question 1. Should Wood Coaster Madness be repeated next year?
F. Meta Question 2. Would you be interested in an Amusement Park Madness tournament?
The Final Match-Up ballot is now available for your voting pleasure. In addition to the final match-up, you will find consolation match-ups as well as questions regarding the future of this tournament. Voting will remain open in this ballot until at least 5:00pm EDT on Wednesday, May 30. As always, the voting procedure (which hasn't changed any throughout the tournament) can be found among the first day's postings to the tournament blog. Click here (link deactivated due to voting being closed) to go to the Final Match-Up ballot.
Here's what's on this final ballot:
A. CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH-UP! MIDWEST / SOUTH 1 seed vs. NORTHEAST 3 seed
B. Consolation Match-Up. INTERNATIONAL 1. Balder, Liseberg, Sweden vs. WEST 2. Hades, Mount Olympus, WI
C. Consolation (four-way) Match-Up. 3. Thunderhead, Dollywood, TN vs. WEST 1. Tremors, Silverwood, ID vs. NORTHEAST 1. Boulder Dash, Lake Compounce, CT vs. INTERNATIONAL 6. Colossos, Heide Park, Germany
D. Humiliation Match-Up between two U.S. coasters that were eliminated in the first round of the tournament without a single vote. NORTHEAST 30. Big Dipper, Camden Park, WV vs. MIDWEST/SOUTH 32. Twisted Twins, Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom, KY
E. Meta Question 1. Should Wood Coaster Madness be repeated next year?
F. Meta Question 2. Would you be interested in an Amusement Park Madness tournament?
FRIGHTENING FOUR RESULTS
Voting is now closed in the Frightening Four of Wood Coaster Madness. 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:
MIDWEST / SOUTH 1. The Voyage, Holiday World, IN (85%)
WEST 2. Hades, Mount Olympus, WI (15%)
INTERNATIONAL 1. Balder, Liseberg, Sweden (19%)
NORTHEAST 3. Phoenix, Knoebel's, PA (81%)
In case you're as surprised by the fall of Balder to Phoenix (especially by this huge a margin) as I am, I've included a screen shot of the results as they are displayed to me by the survey program above. So then, this is the...
FINAL MATCH-UP
MIDWEST / SOUTH 1. The Voyage, Holiday World, IN (Gravity Group)
NORTHEAST 3. Phoenix, Knoebel's, PA (PTC/Schmeck)
The ballot for this match-up will be posted shortly.
HOW THEY GOT HERE
To get to this point, one win away from being crowned champion, The Voyage and Phoenix had to defeat six tough (?) opponents in previous match-ups. Let's look back upon the path these two monsters of the midway took to get here.
The Voyage defeated (Round, Bracket, Seed #, Name, Location, Opponent % of Vote):
ROUND 1 MIDWEST/SOUTH 32. Twisted Twins, Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom, KY (0%)
ROUND 2 MIDWEST/SOUTH 17. Blue Streak, Cedar Point, OH (5%)
ROUND 3 MIDWEST/SOUTH 5. Rampage, Visionland, AL (13%)
SWEET 16 MIDWEST/SOUTH 4. Raven, Holiday World, IN (19%)
EXCITING 8 MIDWEST/SOUTH 3. Thunderhead, Dollywood, TN (33%)
FRIGHTENING 4 WEST 2. Hades, Mount Olympus, WI (15%)
Phoenix defeated (Round, Bracket, Seed, Name, Park, Opponent % of Vote):
ROUND 1 NORTHEAST 30. Big Dipper, Camden Park, WV (0%)
ROUND 2 NORTHEAST 8. Wild One, Six Flags America, MD (11%)
ROUND 3 NORTHEAST 19. Racer, Kennywood, PA (9%)
SWEET 16 NORTHEAST 7. Cyclone, Astroland, NY (34%)
EXCITING 8 NORTHEAST 1. Boulder Dash, Lake Compounce, CT (38%)
FRIGHTENING 4 INTERNATIONAL 1. Balder, Liseberg, Sweden (19%)
Can Phoenix rise to the occasion of stopping the heavily favored Voyage from becoming the first-ever champion of Wood Coaster Madness? Your votes will decide!
Voting is now closed in the Frightening Four of Wood Coaster Madness. 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:
MIDWEST / SOUTH 1. The Voyage, Holiday World, IN (85%)
WEST 2. Hades, Mount Olympus, WI (15%)
INTERNATIONAL 1. Balder, Liseberg, Sweden (19%)
NORTHEAST 3. Phoenix, Knoebel's, PA (81%)
In case you're as surprised by the fall of Balder to Phoenix (especially by this huge a margin) as I am, I've included a screen shot of the results as they are displayed to me by the survey program above. So then, this is the...
FINAL MATCH-UP
MIDWEST / SOUTH 1. The Voyage, Holiday World, IN (Gravity Group)
NORTHEAST 3. Phoenix, Knoebel's, PA (PTC/Schmeck)
The ballot for this match-up will be posted shortly.
HOW THEY GOT HERE
To get to this point, one win away from being crowned champion, The Voyage and Phoenix had to defeat six tough (?) opponents in previous match-ups. Let's look back upon the path these two monsters of the midway took to get here.
The Voyage defeated (Round, Bracket, Seed #, Name, Location, Opponent % of Vote):
ROUND 1 MIDWEST/SOUTH 32. Twisted Twins, Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom, KY (0%)
ROUND 2 MIDWEST/SOUTH 17. Blue Streak, Cedar Point, OH (5%)
ROUND 3 MIDWEST/SOUTH 5. Rampage, Visionland, AL (13%)
SWEET 16 MIDWEST/SOUTH 4. Raven, Holiday World, IN (19%)
EXCITING 8 MIDWEST/SOUTH 3. Thunderhead, Dollywood, TN (33%)
FRIGHTENING 4 WEST 2. Hades, Mount Olympus, WI (15%)
Phoenix defeated (Round, Bracket, Seed, Name, Park, Opponent % of Vote):
ROUND 1 NORTHEAST 30. Big Dipper, Camden Park, WV (0%)
ROUND 2 NORTHEAST 8. Wild One, Six Flags America, MD (11%)
ROUND 3 NORTHEAST 19. Racer, Kennywood, PA (9%)
SWEET 16 NORTHEAST 7. Cyclone, Astroland, NY (34%)
EXCITING 8 NORTHEAST 1. Boulder Dash, Lake Compounce, CT (38%)
FRIGHTENING 4 INTERNATIONAL 1. Balder, Liseberg, Sweden (19%)
Can Phoenix rise to the occasion of stopping the heavily favored Voyage from becoming the first-ever champion of Wood Coaster Madness? Your votes will decide!
Thursday, May 17, 2007
THE FRIGHTENING FOUR (aka REGIONAL PLAYOFFS) IS NOW OPEN FOR VOTING!
The Frightening Four ballot is now available for your voting pleasure. Voting will remain open in this ballot until at least 5:00pm EDT on Wednesday, May 23. As always, the voting procedure (which hasn't changed any throughout the tournament) can be found among the first day's postings to the tournament blog. Click here (link deactivated due to voting being closed) to go to the Frightening Four ballot.
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
EXCITING EIGHT RESULTS
Voting is now closed in the Exciting Eight of Wood Coaster Madness. 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:
MIDWEST / SOUTH
1. The Voyage, Holiday World, IN (67%)
3. Thunderhead, Dollywood, TN (33%)
WEST
1. Tremors, Silverwood, ID (36%)
2. Hades, Mount Olympus, WI (64%)
NORTHEAST
1. Boulder Dash, Lake Compounce, CT (38%)
3. Phoenix, Knoebel's, PA (62%)
INTERNATIONAL
1. Balder, Liseberg, Sweden (79%)
6. Colossos, Heide Park, Germany (21%)
Congratulations to regional champions The Voyage, Hades, Phoenix, and Balder! We're just two more ballots away from crowning a grand champion. Here are the match-ups for the...
FRIGHTENING FOUR (aka REGIONAL PLAYOFFS)
MIDWEST / SOUTH 1. The Voyage, Holiday World, IN (Gravity Group)
WEST 2. Hades, Mount Olympus, WI (Gravity Group)
INTERNATIONAL 1. Balder, Liseberg, Sweden (Intamin [Prefab])
NORTHEAST 3. Phoenix, Knoebel's, PA (PTC/Schmeck)
The ballot for these two match-ups should be posted within the next 48 hours (probably sooner, possibly much sooner).
Voting is now closed in the Exciting Eight of Wood Coaster Madness. 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:
MIDWEST / SOUTH
1. The Voyage, Holiday World, IN (67%)
3. Thunderhead, Dollywood, TN (33%)
WEST
1. Tremors, Silverwood, ID (36%)
2. Hades, Mount Olympus, WI (64%)
NORTHEAST
1. Boulder Dash, Lake Compounce, CT (38%)
3. Phoenix, Knoebel's, PA (62%)
INTERNATIONAL
1. Balder, Liseberg, Sweden (79%)
6. Colossos, Heide Park, Germany (21%)
Congratulations to regional champions The Voyage, Hades, Phoenix, and Balder! We're just two more ballots away from crowning a grand champion. Here are the match-ups for the...
FRIGHTENING FOUR (aka REGIONAL PLAYOFFS)
MIDWEST / SOUTH 1. The Voyage, Holiday World, IN (Gravity Group)
WEST 2. Hades, Mount Olympus, WI (Gravity Group)
INTERNATIONAL 1. Balder, Liseberg, Sweden (Intamin [Prefab])
NORTHEAST 3. Phoenix, Knoebel's, PA (PTC/Schmeck)
The ballot for these two match-ups should be posted within the next 48 hours (probably sooner, possibly much sooner).
Friday, May 11, 2007
THE EXCITING EIGHT (REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS) IS NOW OPEN FOR VOTING!
The Exciting Eight ballot is now available for your voting pleasure. Voting will remain open in this ballot until at least 5:00pm EDT on Wednesday, May 16. As always, the voting procedure (which hasn't changed any throughout the tournament) can be found among the first day's postings to the tournament blog. Click here (link deactivated due to voting being closed) to go to the Exciting Eight ballot.
The Exciting Eight ballot is now available for your voting pleasure. Voting will remain open in this ballot until at least 5:00pm EDT on Wednesday, May 16. As always, the voting procedure (which hasn't changed any throughout the tournament) can be found among the first day's postings to the tournament blog. Click here (link deactivated due to voting being closed) to go to the Exciting Eight ballot.
WINNER DECLARED IN INTERNATIONAL 2 SEED VS. 6 SEED MATCH-UP
In the Sweet 16 International bracket match-up between 2-seeded Aska and 6-seeded Colossos, the votes were tied at the end of regulation. As such, voting was kept open for one more day in this match-up in order to seek out a winner. One more vote was cast during this "overtime" period, meaning we now have a winner! By a margin of 8-7, the outcome of this match-up is as follows:
2. Aska, Nara Dreamland, Japan (47%)
6. Colossos, Heide Park, Germany (53%)
This means that the International bracket championship will be contested between:
1. Balder, Liseberg, Sweden
6. Colossos, Heide Park, Germany
Voting will be open in the Exciting Eight very shortly.
In the Sweet 16 International bracket match-up between 2-seeded Aska and 6-seeded Colossos, the votes were tied at the end of regulation. As such, voting was kept open for one more day in this match-up in order to seek out a winner. One more vote was cast during this "overtime" period, meaning we now have a winner! By a margin of 8-7, the outcome of this match-up is as follows:
2. Aska, Nara Dreamland, Japan (47%)
6. Colossos, Heide Park, Germany (53%)
This means that the International bracket championship will be contested between:
1. Balder, Liseberg, Sweden
6. Colossos, Heide Park, Germany
Voting will be open in the Exciting Eight very shortly.
Thursday, May 10, 2007
SWEET 16 RESULTS
Voting is now closed (well, mostly, anyways...more on that later) in the Sweet 16 of Wood Coaster Madness. 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:
MIDWEST / SOUTH
1. The Voyage, Holiday World, IN (81%)
4. Raven, Holiday World, IN (19%)
2. Shivering Timbers, Michigan's Adventure, MI (32%)
3. Thunderhead, Dollywood, TN (68%)
WEST
1. Tremors, Silverwood, ID (67%)
4. Ozark Wildcat, Celebration City, MO (33%)
2. Hades, Mount Olympus, WI (71%)
3. Avalanche, Timber Falls, WI (29%)
NORTHEAST
1. Boulder Dash, Lake Compounce, CT (80%)
13. Jack Rabbit, Kennywood, PA (20%)
3. Phoenix, Knoebel's, PA (66%)
7. Cyclone, Astroland, NY (34%)
INTERNATIONAL
1. Balder, Liseberg, Sweden (78%)
5. Grand National, Blackpool Pleasure Beach, England (22%)
2. Aska, Nara Dreamland, Japan (50%)
6. Colossos, Heide Park, Germany (50%)
Yes, you're reading that right...for the first time in the tournament, there is a tie at the conclusion of regular voting. As a result, the International bracket 2 seed vs. 6 seed match-up is going into overtime! Voting in THIS MATCH-UP ONLY will remain open for an additional 24 hours. The results of the other seven match-ups are locked to what you see above, so if you vote in any of them, your vote will NOT be recorded. I'm frankly a little surprised by how many people claim to have ridden both Aska and Colossos given the geography (seven votes each), but if we can find one or three or five more, it would help a lot. If there's still a tie at the end of overtime, a winner will be chosen by me per the guidelines set out in the first day's postings to the tournament blog. So, here's what we know thus far about the...
EXCITING EIGHT (aka REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP) MATCH-UPS
MIDWEST / SOUTH
1. The Voyage, Holiday World, IN (Gravity Group)
3. Thunderhead, Dollywood, TN (GCI)
WEST
1. Tremors, Silverwood, ID (CCI)
2. Hades, Mount Olympus, WI (Gravity Group)
NORTHEAST
1. Boulder Dash, Lake Compounce, CT (CCI)
3. Phoenix, Knoebel's, PA (PTC/Schmeck)
INTERNATIONAL
1. Balder, Liseberg, Sweden (Intamin [Prefab])
TBD: 2. Aska, Nara Dreamland, Japan (Intamin) OR 6. Colossos, Heide Park, Germany (Intamin [Prefab])
Voting is now closed (well, mostly, anyways...more on that later) in the Sweet 16 of Wood Coaster Madness. 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:
MIDWEST / SOUTH
1. The Voyage, Holiday World, IN (81%)
4. Raven, Holiday World, IN (19%)
2. Shivering Timbers, Michigan's Adventure, MI (32%)
3. Thunderhead, Dollywood, TN (68%)
WEST
1. Tremors, Silverwood, ID (67%)
4. Ozark Wildcat, Celebration City, MO (33%)
2. Hades, Mount Olympus, WI (71%)
3. Avalanche, Timber Falls, WI (29%)
NORTHEAST
1. Boulder Dash, Lake Compounce, CT (80%)
13. Jack Rabbit, Kennywood, PA (20%)
3. Phoenix, Knoebel's, PA (66%)
7. Cyclone, Astroland, NY (34%)
INTERNATIONAL
1. Balder, Liseberg, Sweden (78%)
5. Grand National, Blackpool Pleasure Beach, England (22%)
2. Aska, Nara Dreamland, Japan (50%)
6. Colossos, Heide Park, Germany (50%)
Yes, you're reading that right...for the first time in the tournament, there is a tie at the conclusion of regular voting. As a result, the International bracket 2 seed vs. 6 seed match-up is going into overtime! Voting in THIS MATCH-UP ONLY will remain open for an additional 24 hours. The results of the other seven match-ups are locked to what you see above, so if you vote in any of them, your vote will NOT be recorded. I'm frankly a little surprised by how many people claim to have ridden both Aska and Colossos given the geography (seven votes each), but if we can find one or three or five more, it would help a lot. If there's still a tie at the end of overtime, a winner will be chosen by me per the guidelines set out in the first day's postings to the tournament blog. So, here's what we know thus far about the...
EXCITING EIGHT (aka REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP) MATCH-UPS
MIDWEST / SOUTH
1. The Voyage, Holiday World, IN (Gravity Group)
3. Thunderhead, Dollywood, TN (GCI)
WEST
1. Tremors, Silverwood, ID (CCI)
2. Hades, Mount Olympus, WI (Gravity Group)
NORTHEAST
1. Boulder Dash, Lake Compounce, CT (CCI)
3. Phoenix, Knoebel's, PA (PTC/Schmeck)
INTERNATIONAL
1. Balder, Liseberg, Sweden (Intamin [Prefab])
TBD: 2. Aska, Nara Dreamland, Japan (Intamin) OR 6. Colossos, Heide Park, Germany (Intamin [Prefab])
Thursday, May 03, 2007
THE SWEET 16 IS NOW OPEN FOR VOTING!
Yes, from the starting field of 128 wood coasters, we've finally arrived at the Sweet 16! The ballot for the Sweet 16 is now up and running. Voting will remain open until at least 11:59pm EDT on Wednesday, May 9. As always, the voting procedure (which hasn't changed any throughout the tournament) can be found among the first day's postings to the tournament blog. Click here (link deactivated due to voting being closed) to go to the Sweet 16 ballot.
Yes, from the starting field of 128 wood coasters, we've finally arrived at the Sweet 16! The ballot for the Sweet 16 is now up and running. Voting will remain open until at least 11:59pm EDT on Wednesday, May 9. As always, the voting procedure (which hasn't changed any throughout the tournament) can be found among the first day's postings to the tournament blog. Click here (link deactivated due to voting being closed) to go to the Sweet 16 ballot.
