KW Swing Shot

Check this out:

http://www.wpxi.com/news/8833199/detail.html

Boy is WPXI clueless.

Swing Shot
What a Pop
Even if it is a Flop
Still Pittsburgh Pendulum to me....

Take off the title and it's your typical article.

That was my beef with it. The title has NOTHING to do with the rest of the article. Plus, the supposed "article" from the Wall Street Journal doesn't seem to exist. First off, why would the WSJ report on a small, semi-thrilling flat ride at a small park in a city which has very little impact on Wall Street? Search for Wall Street Journal Kennywood, you get no results ...

I'm shocked that the rider poll has more than 50% of people not wanting to ride it.

Actually the WSJ just did do an article on thrill rides. I'm not sure it's the same article, but:

Rethinking The Thrill Factor

You need to be a member to read the whole article.

On the Fox News at 10 last night (in Pittsburgh, WPXI is the NBC affiliate, but does the 10pm news on Fox - I dunno, you figure it out) they ran a short piece that promo'd the ride. Talking about what it does and how it works and had Mary Lou showing all kinds of stuff. Pretty much covering what the article says and containing no negative angle at all.

The title certainly seems out of place.

That title is the kind of irresponsible sensationalist journalism (and I use that term loosely) that one might expect to see in the New York Post, but WPXI. I'm disappointed, and I've told them so.

gm AT wpxi.com is probably your best bet if you wish to write in and complain. The full list of station contacts can be found on the following page:

http://www.wpxi.com/station/1906729/detail.html

Man they actually have two other ones other than skyhawk. Man that is amazing.... jk. Still good to see the others one mentioned, but bad publicity does it no good. If papers and news actually did research then this article would be good news.

I just noticed by watching the video link, that the receiver tanks for Swing Shot are inside the compressor building while SkyHawk's at CP are standing vertical beside the ride. Wonder why the difference. Size of tank vs. available room to build a building big enough to hold the tank? The KW installation looks cleaner because of it.

I would imagine it is to keep the noise down for the neighbors.

That was actually a point of contention during construction from what I hear. Kennywood wanted no part of above-ground tanks, and the building was the best compromise they could come to.

WTF? Are they implying that intensity has something to do with safety?

At what point does an attention grabbing headline go too far?

Sounds like something JJJ would say in a Spiderman movie.

Edit...After all these years on CB, I still can't spell. *** Edited 4/22/2006 1:15:51 AM UTC by dexter***

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eightdotthree said:
I would imagine it is to keep the noise down for the neighbors.

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Nah, they're just ugly.

(The tanks, not the neighbors.)

I actually got a reply from WPXI regarding the story. It's a stock reply, but at least someone glanced at my email:

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From: O'Connor, Louise (CTV-Pittsburgh)
To: Greg Legowski
Cc: Harding, Corrie (CTV-Pittsburgh) ,
Jena, Julie (CTV-Pittsburgh)

Dear Mr. Legowski,

Thank you for writing.

Your feedback is welcome, and we want you to know that we appreciate the time you have taken to write to send us your thoughts and opinion about the Kennywood ride story on our wpxi.com website.

Louise O'Connor
Administrative Assistant
WPXI-TV News Department
412-237-4930

-----Original Message-----
From: Greg Legowski
Sent: Thursday, April 20, 2006 7:53 PM
To: WPXI-TV Comments (CTV-Pittsburgh)
Subject: "Is New Kennywood Ride Too Dangerous?"

I am very disappointed in WPXI. That title is the kind of irresponsible, senationalistic "journalism" (and I use that term loosely) one might expect to see in the New York Post.

The attention-grabbing headline has very little bearing on the actual article, and it is sad to see WPXI stoop to this level.

Sincerely,
Gregory Legowski

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Heh, its not like that building is some work of art!

Too SCARY woulda been fine, IMO...

"Dangerous" actually implies that there's a REASONABLE fear of getting hurt, and this ride comes from S&S, not some other nameless company that builds rides I *love*...nice e-mail Greg, not too surprised that "your feedback is welcome", though.

*Restraint* doesn't only refer to lapbars and OTSRs, editors can use it too... ;)

My girlfriend's mother saw that on the news the otherday and had my girlfriend thinking that the ride is unsafe. I explained to her that KW would not let people ride if it was unsafe and how we would be reading about a big lawsuit in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette if S&S sold KW an unsafe ride.