Coaster story in The Other Paper (Columbus)

Today's issue of The Other Paper, Columbus's alternative paper, has a ranking of Ohio's roller coasters. Their top 5 are 1) MF; 2) The Beast; 3) X-Flight; 4) Magnum; 5) Raptor. Coasterbuzz is mentioned.

http://www.theotherpaper.com/substory2.html

Vanity note: The "enthusiast" quoted in the descriptions of The Beast and Screechin' Eagle is me. The writer did not name me, since I work for the same company as him. However, he did ask for my advice in the rankings, and many of my description snippets that I gave him made it into the descriptions in the story.

I told him to put Raptor first and FoF third but he didn't listen.

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He let the contents of the bottle do the thinking; can't shake the devil's hand and say you're only kidding.

*** This post was edited by Den on 5/23/2002. ***

Honestly, I would have ranked SOB 3rd or fourth out of that list but thats just my humble opinion

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http://www.islandguide.8m.com
SOB crew in twenty 02

Nice job Den :) Thanks for giving Americana's rides a mention :)

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Off with the trims!
My fellow Americans; Let's Roll!
Woodencoaster.com

7. Wicked Twister, Cedar Point: Those who have ridden this brand-new coaster agree it beats Six Flags' Superman in the battle of the helixing, U-shaped coasters.

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Ok that is so stupid. This ride deserves to be in the top 5 AT LEAST! Otherwise great job Den!

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The former Newbie to coasters. Ridden 100 coasters. Not so new anymore :)

I'm reading the article now (while on break at the competition) and love it, even though Sea Dragon's important history isn't even hinted at. Who says you can't start someone out on a great ride like that? Apparently these people. And loops are still cool.....
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Brad Sherman
Don't.....look.....back! The Headless Horseman awaits you in 2002!
Model coasters and rides

I just read the article and I think the rankings are crap. Why? Because one simple faux pas completely blows away all the credibility those rankings might have had. The problem lies near the bottom of the list:
#29: Beastie
#34: Teddy Bear
#35: Sea Dragon
Those three rides have virtually identical layouts, although Sea Dragon is a mirror image of the other two. Teddy Bear is about half the size of Beastie and Sea Dragon, and Beastie and Sea Dragon are pretty much the same size. Sea Dragon has a semicircular loading platform while Beastie puts the loading platform where the final brake run should be. Okay, so Beastie is at Kings Island, it has a tunnel and an on-ride photo system. It also has a particularly nasty trim brake on the turnaround, and has had its final dip before the brake run removed. It also has outdated sleeved-bolt couplers which means that when the train hits any of the fin brakes on the ride (including the trim) the cars telescope together and beat the crap out of your knees. PKI also did a particularly ugly hatchet job when they installed the seat belts a couple of seasons ago.
By comparison, the Sea Dragon has NO mid-course trim brake, still has its final dip on the run for the station, has updated ball-joint couplers that eliminate the slop between cars just like on the big rides, and last year at least was an exceptionally well-running coaster. Oh, and it still has no seat belts if that sort of thing matters to you.
Given the fact that Sea Dragon is in better operating condition than the Beastie (just because of its lack of trim brake and last-hil unprofiling) how could any sane reviewer not rank it ahead of Beastie? I can perhaps see why the 15-foot Teddy Bear might be better than the 35-foot Beastie, but that would be highly subjective. Beastie and Sea Dragon are nearly identical rides, with Sea Dragon clearly the better of the two. Hence the rankings as they stand do not make sense.
(Not to mention that there are at least two kiddie coasters...The Brat at Erieview park and an unnamed Bradley & Kaye kiddie coaster at Tuscora Park, that somehow didn't make the list at all...but then neither did Jr. Gemini, Rugrats Runaway Reptar Roller Coaster, Taxi Jam, Scooby Doo's Ghoster Coaster, Boa Squeeze, or the Pepsi Python...)
--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Dave - take a few things into account here:

1) The writer has probably never even ridden all of these rides. He's just a reporter. That's why he asked me for advice.

2) Sea Dragon was rated where it is because it's kinda the "thing" to make fun of Columbus, and that's our only coaster. Then Americana called and said, "Hey, we have the Serpent, too." The writer asked me where it should go, and I said last. So he just stuck it on.

I told him to leave off all the kiddie rides, but he didn't do that. I assume this was just a survey of the "main" parks, thus the omission of Coney Island, etc. The kiddie rides you mentioned originally were listed, all in one entry near the bottom, but the editor must have removed them.

I wish they'd have let *me* write it!!

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He let the contents of the bottle do the thinking; can't shake the devil's hand and say you're only kidding.

Hey Dave, your letter to The Other Paper is running in tomorrow's edition. Congrats!

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He let the contents of the bottle do the thinking; can't shake the devil's hand and say you're only kidding.

Cool! I hoped it had just enough attitude to fit in with all the "Dear John" letters... :)

(note: Some years ago, Other Paper music critic John Petric generated so much hate mail that The Other Paper gave him his own letters page. Now Petric is back, but not his hate mail page. Not yet, anyway. So the Letters page tends to fill with people complaining about Petric's reviews.)

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

That's Ok Den, we know you meant well! ;)
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Brad Sherman
Soon park benches will have seatbelts!
Model coasters and rides