Coasters' Choice Award winners announced

No comment

Very well done. Definitely unique. What stations does Clear Channel own in the DC area?

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2001- the year of flight!

Wow Jeff, now I know why you were in the radio biz...I mean with that voice. :)

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(Who at 16 years of age would be more than willing to pay a $15-$25 dollar subscription in order to keep this site running)

CP is a good park for the 4 coasters it has (Magnum,MF,Raptor and Mantis) Everything else isn't nearly as good as something at MM and I think MM should have won best park easily. I know like almost everyone here is from the Mid-west and I am origionally so I loved CP and still do but I had my mind set that it would be better than MM and when I went to MM i was suprised to find it the other way around. Anyone living in the mid-west if you have the time and money it is well worth the trip!!!
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magic mountain and CP rule

That's not my voice... see above. If you want to hear my "radio voice," listen to this:
http://www.popw.com/jeff/wzjm56.ram

Scott: The geography is far different than you think. Ohio and Michigan traffic accounts for only 11% of all traffic. SoCal accounts for about 8%, Chicago is about 5%, and the area from Baltimore down to the Carolinas accounts for more than 25% of traffic. In other words, the poll is not heavily skewed to Ohio.

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Jeff
Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com

Good job! Very cool!

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I pledge defiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republicans, whom I can't stand, one nation, under smog, indespicable, with liberty for just us, not all.

Jeff says:

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, Chicago is about 5%

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I am proud of that. It shows this site is growing throughout the country. I wasnt surprised by the results of the awards. I do know that us Chicago area peeps make a good dent in the coaster world. We may only have 1 big park but we do make a difference.

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"SAVING THE WORLD BEFORE BEDTIME" Powerpuff girls

I did not know that. In the early days it was the other way around.

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Scott W. Short
scott@midwestcoastercentral.com
http://www.midwestcoastercentral.com

Oh, my mistake...

I still wonder how many people that voted had actually been to more than 1 or 2 of each category(I've been to all but SFMM & BD). I don't think more than 5% total have actually been to SFMM and CP both. Or SFMM and BGW or BGW and CP. And I still can't figure out how a park with middle to low class woodies and 50/50 low/high class steel can even come close to a top position. Just my view. It would have been much more accurate if done in the fashion of the poll at http://www.hitchhikers.net/wcoaster. It may be difficult, but I guess the poll is just fun and can't be taken any more seriously than a NAPHA or Amusement Today poll.

For those outside the US however there was nothing to vote for the only nomaniee i had seen/done was Busch Gardens in Florida. I therefore voted for the underdogs in each catagory. Shouldn't Europa Park have been nominated for Best theme anyway

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JawCoasters - Site for UK Coasters
www.wilkes2536.freeserve.co.uk

Hey Jeff, your voice is still definitely a "radio" voice! ;)

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(Who at 16 years of age would be more than willing to pay a $15-$25 dollar subscription in order to keep this site running)

Jeff!!! I didn't know you were the DJ of my favorite radio station. Too bad it's not on the air anymore :(

Anyways great job on the awards!!! That is the most innovative idea I've seen. You outdone yourself again. the upbeat music really adds to the flavor!

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***Why can't all parks have a Millennium Force?***

Koaster King: You must not have read the FAQ or the thread that appeared in the suggestions forum. It doesn't matter who has been to what parks (that's coaster snobbery, dammit). The poll is a popularity contest, and I've never represented it as anything else. "Accuracy" was never my intention or goal.

How can Cedar Point win with two mediocre woodies (and that's being kind)? Easy, the majority, the people who choose winners in popularity contests, apparently don't feel that the lack wood detracts from the experience. Personally, I've never had the opportunity to be bored at that park. Regarding your comment about steel coasters, well, 50/50 "high class" rides is still six, and that's more than most parks I've been to.

As for Hawker's poll, good idea, worthless sample size. A couple hundred responses isn't scientific at all. I also have a hard time with a poll that names a coaster number one based on the opinion of the 15 respondents who have been on it.

Is Coasters' Choice any better? No, not at all, but I'm comfortable with the results of 2,500 people, without any regard to who they are, where they live or how many coasters they've been on.

Yes, I was a jock at Cleveland's shi... I mean, hit music station. It wasn't as cool as you'd think. I have a T-shirt that says "I survived The Macarena at a CHR station."

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Jeff (who doesn't really have such a shirt, but feels he deserves one)
Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com

In any of the scientific experiments I've run, I would have sold my soul to get 50 volunteers, let alone what Mitch draws. We've normally had to make do with less, but still come out with verifiable results. Just have to use stingier T values.

The point being, the way Mitch runs his poll, basing a coaster's result on 15 votes isn't as silly as it would initially seem. While I'd hesitate to call it an unequivocal number 1, I don't think it'd be going out on a limb to say it's probably a pretty darn good ride. It'd certainly be better to have more votes, but it is enough of a pattern that you just can't dismiss it off hand.

Incidentally, a year or two ago I posted to R.R-C a little math exercise I did in which I basically posited that the entire state of Ohio, having ridden every coaster in the state, could vote in Mitch's poll and not dramatically affect the outcome. That, in case you're wondering, is a good thing (in the context of what Mitch's poll is trying to accomplish). :)

And yes Jeff, I know this has absolutely nothing to do with your awards. You're not trying to accomplish the same thing Mitch is, and I acknowledge and respect that. But I think Mitch's poll deserves a little more respect than you're giving it.

mike (full of wacky ideas)

If all 15 people who put Zeus as tops are from France, then it's a flawed poll. My wife is a biologist and could never get away with having a sample that small for anything she's ever done.

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Jeff
Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com

I just think it's kind of odd that you can vote such and such as your favorite park, if you've not been to another park on the list not to mention maybe not another park at all. I get and knew your point, but your poll was meant to be fun(right?), but accuracy could show completely opposite results. Just an extra question Jeff, were the other 2 SROS close to be nominated if you remember?

Also, I wasn't being/trying to be a coaster snob, I was just saying, adding a comment, voicing my opinion if you will. Not accepting that is snobbery. I never say/think I know more about coasters, because I've been I more. But I obviously know more about a coaster/park if I've been to it, compared to someone that hasn't ridden/been to it.

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PKI-Wooden, Helix, and Kiddie Coaster Capital of the World!
The First and Only Gigabuzzer bigger than Millie, rising Faster than Maggie, and pulls more BS than MS ever will!!!

Yes, the SROS mirrors were close, and if together were nominated as one, would have easily made the top five nominees. However, because one opened in 2000, the other before that, they weren't eligible for the same category (one was "new" the other wasnt').

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Jeff
Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com
*** This post was edited by Jeff on 4/26/2001. ***