Sport Today

There have been 84 ballots received, a good number of which reflect
experience
on European rides.

Ballot: 2001 Internet Steel Tracked Roller Coaster Poll

NEW: You may rank your favorite coaster riding sensations among the
six options given.  This will allow additional rankings to be calculated

based only on each preference, and allow the preferences themselves to
be compared.  Preferences will also be listed with each completed ballot
on
the website.

NEW: You may place your name on your ballot for inclusion on the
website's
completed ballots section.  This will make it easier for you to find
your
completed ballot on the website for verification and allow others to see

your favorites there.

   The following ballot contains steel tracked rollercoasters
that operated worldwide in 2001.

    The coasters are listed alphabetically
by state, with non-U.S. coasters listed at the end.

INSTRUCTIONS:

PLEASE NOTE: When copying and pasting to e-mail you must
ensure that all spacings within a line of the ballot are preserved.
Using a straight text editor (such as notepad) and sending the ballot
as an attachment is the most foolproof way of doing that.

TYPOS/CORRECTIONS:  If you find one, by all means let me know so
that it can be fixed for the future but DO NOT fix it yourself in
your ballot as doing so will prevent that coaster from being recognized
on your ballot by the vote counting program.

In past years there have been a few people who have found the
instructions cumbersome, so I have added the following visual example
of the voting process.  The actual ballot and written instructions
follow.

Example Ballot before:

NAME FOLLOWS THIS LINE (LEAVE THIS LINE)_____
~"your name between quotes"
RANK THE FOLLOWING RIDING SENSATIONS       <-LEAVE THIS LINE AS IS
Abrupt Airtime_____________________________ y y 0
Floating Airtime___________________________ y y 0
Lateral Forces_____________________________ y y 0
Out of Control Feeling/Directional Changes_ y y 0
Positive G's/Loops_________________________ y y 0
Sensation of Speed_________________________ y y 0
COASTER NAME        PARK                LOC<-LEAVE THIS LINE AS IS
Favorite Wood Coaster Any Park Anywhere  ** n n 0
Batman The Ride/Clone SF & Other Parks   ** n n 0
Fav Arrow Corkscrew   Any Park Anywhere  ** n n 0
Desert Storm          Castles N' Coaster AZ n n 0
Quicksilver Express   Bonfante Gardens   CA n n 0
Top Gun               Paramount's Great  CA n n 0
Riddler's Revenge     Six Flags Magic Mo CA n n 0
------------------------------------------------0 <--Please leave this

Example Ballot after:

NAME FOLLOWS THIS LINE (LEAVE THIS LINE)___
~"Joe Coaster Rider"
RANK THE FOLLOWING RIDING SENSATIONS       <-LEAVE THIS LINE AS IS
Abrupt Airtime_____________________________ y y 1
Floating Airtime___________________________ y y 2
Lateral Forces_____________________________ y y 3
Out of Control Feeling/Directional Changes_ y y 4
Positive G's/Loops_________________________ y y 5
Sensation of Speed_________________________ y y 6
COASTER NAME        PARK                LOC<-LEAVE THIS LINE AS IS
Favorite Wood Coaster Any Park Anywhere  ** y y 4
Batman The Ride/Clone SF & Other Parks   ** y n 3
Fav Arrow Corkscrew   Any Park Anywhere  ** y n 3
Desert Storm          Castles N' Coaster AZ y y 1
Top Gun               Paramount's Great  CA y n 2
------------------------------------------------0 <-LEAVE THIS LINE
                                            ^ ^
                                            | |
  Marked all you have ever ridden 'y'-------  |
      Marked all ridden this year 'y'---------

Note: you ranked the six listed riding sensations 1-6(against each
other),
you have deleted all coasters that you have never ridden,
you added your e-mail address to the first line, (e-mail addresses will
be kept confidential)
you added your name to line two,
rated favorite coaster as '1' etc.,
rated Favorite Wood Coaster, etc as if it were your
favorite of that type but did NOT change the name,
you left delimiting lines in as instructed.

HERE ARE THE FULL WRITTEN INSTRUCTIONS:

Step 1: I recommend using your browser's "File/Save as" option to save
this ballot as a pure .txt file before editing it as such. Using the
Notepad editor that comes with Windows (usually in the accessories
folder)
is a foolproof way of doing this as it can only edit text files.

Step 1A: Put your email address on line 1 of the ballot (REQUIRED)
E-mail addresses will be kept strictly confidential and used only
to mail ballot receipt acknowledgement (within 48 hours), final results
(upon conclusion of the poll), and eventually, next year's ballot.

Step 1B: Put your name in the quotes on line 2 of the ballot (OPTIONAL)
(putting your name here will make it easier for you to find and
verify your processed ballot, and allow others to see whose list
of favorites it is on the website.)

Step 1C: Rank the list of six riding sensations (OPTIONAL)
(Doing so will allow rankings to be done based on riders
that prefer each type of ride, another ranking to be done showing how
these
sensations were ranked against each other, and enable people who may
have similar likes/dislikes to see which coasters on your ballot they
may or may not like if they get the chance to ride them.)

Step 2: Mark All The Coasters That You Have Ridden

   Please delete all coasters from your ballot except those that you
have ridden.

   Please change the first 'n' at the end of a line to a 'y' for each
of the coasters you have ridden.  Change the second 'n' to a 'y' for
each coaster you rode in 2001.  It is important that you mark ALL
coasters you have ridden.

   Please try to keep each line 'as is' except for the aforementioned
changes.  You may change the ordering of the lines if that makes it
easier for you to complete the ranking.

   A ">" in column 1 as often happens in a reply is OK.

Step 3: Rank The Coasters You Have Ridden Using Method A or B.

   Treat the line  "Favorite Wood Coaster Any Park Anywhere  ** n n 0"
(and other lines that represent a favorite of a type of coaster) as if
it were your favorite of that type and rank it accordingly.
DO NOT change the line except for the n's and the 0.

DO NOT,
Repeat: DO NOT change it to the real name of the wood coaster.

If you can't place your favorite wood coaster in relation to
steel coasters, just delete that line.  The idea is simply to
see where the average poll respondent would rank their favorite
wood coaster in relation to the steel coasters.

Method A: Individual Ranking
  Replace the '0' in the last column with a numeral representing its'
 rank, '1'=best through '500'(or however many you have ridden)=worst
e.g.
Steel Force           Dorney Park        PA y y 4
Magnum XL-200         Cedar Point        OH y n 2
Shockwave             Six Flags Over Tex TX y y 3
Favorite Wood Coaster Any Park Anywhere  ** y n 5
Medusa                Six Flags Great Ad NJ y y 1

Method B: Group Ranking
  If you cannot decide between two coasters or a group of coasters,
give them the same rank.  You may choose to group as many or as few
as you want.
e.g.
Steel Force           Dorney Park        PA y n 2
Magnum XL-200         Cedar Point        OH y y 1
Shockwave             Six Flags Over Tex TX y y 2
Favorite Wood Coaster Any Park Anywhere  ** y n 1
Medusa                Six Flags Great Ad NJ y n 2

You may combine the two methods.
e.g.
Medusa                Six Flags Great Ad NJ y y 1
Favorite Wood Coaster Any Park Anywhere  ** y n 2
Steel Force           Dorney Park        PA y n 3
Magnum XL-200         Cedar Point        OH y y 3
Shockwave             Six Flags Over Tex TX y y 3

Method A is preferable if you can do it, as more of your individual
coaster vs. coaster preferences can be gleaned from it.

In any case, PLEASE RANK AS MANY AS YOU CAN.

NOTE: All coasters you give a numerical rank to, even if that rank is
"999",
are treated as ranked better than any coasters left ranked as "0".

trouble
in the past keeping the lines as pure text (including all spaces), I
recommend
sending your ballot as a .txt file attachment to the e-mail.

NOTE: if using 'reply' from r.r-c you must remove "DELETE" from my
address.

  As well as posting the results to the website,  I will e-mail a copy
of the
results (using bcc: for privacy) to all those who took the poll unless
they indicate on their ballot that they do not wish to receive the
results
via e-mail.

A LITTLE ABOUT HOW THE BALLOTS WILL BE TABULATED

   Coasters will be ranked by best head to head record against all
others. Ties will be broken by head to head preference between those
tied.

   This method avoids the arbitrary point assignments AND the bias
towards
more ridden coasters that is inherent in total point ranking schemes and

to a lesser extent, in average point ranking schemes.  After all, voters

are trying to rate RIDE QUALITY when they take the time to fill out a
ballot,
not RIDER QUANTITY.

DEADLINE:

Ballots will be accepted until the end of February, results will be
posted
very soon thereafter.  I look forward to receiving your ballot.

   Results from previous years and much more about this annual
poll can be viewed at http://www.geocities.com/wcoasterpoll

NOTES: (S) or (SBNO) indicates coasters that did not operate in 2001.

  Those of you with websites can help 'get out the vote' by posting a
link to the poll http://www.geocities.com/wcoasterpoll on your site.
The results become more meaningful with each additional person's ballot
that goes into them.

  Special thanks to Bill Bussone for updating the steel ballot, and to
Dave Althoff, Bill Buckley, Ralph Latotzki, Rich Bonner, and Duane
Marden
for proofreading and fact checking ...

read more »

OK, I'm filling out my ballot now (nothing like waiting till the last
minute) and I can't find the Ice Mountain Bobsled at Enchanted Forest
in Turner, OR.  Is this an inadvertent omission or am I just not
seeing it?  It's definitely unique and doesn't fit in a clone
category.

-Janna

But then, no one noticed it on the couple of times I posted the list when it
was under consideration, either.

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-Wolf

-Janna

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-Wolf

-Matt

IMPORTANT: Please remove "STOPSPAM" from my address when
replying via e-mail.
REMEMBER THE OPPORTUNISTIC BIGOTS WHO TRIED TO TURN TRAGEDY INTO PROFIT!
"I really believe that the pagans, and the ***ists, and the
feminists, and the gays and the ***s who are actively trying to make
that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People For the American Way -
all of them who have tried to secularize America - I point the finger in
their face and say "you helped this happen."
      -- JERRY FALWELL, blaming Americans for the terrorism of Sept. 11
"Well, I totally concur, and the problem is we have adopted that agenda
at the highest levels of our government. And so we're responsible as a
free society for what the top people do.
      -- PAT ROBERTSON, agreeing with Falwell on his 700 Club on 9/13

We have room for around 300.

Now, clones cover a good 200 or so coasters. Restricting to *** coasters
dumps about another 500.

That still leaves 300 spaces for 500 coasters.
If you pass a list of what you rode to me or Mitch, we can try to get it
included next year, though.

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<0 0>
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-Wolf

------------------------------------------------------------------
    Come visit the Joyrides website <http://SportToday.org/>,
a photo gallery celebrating the joy and beauty of amu***t rides!

-Matt

-Matt

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Rastus O'Ginga

Winner of the 2nd Annual C. Montgomery Burns Award for
Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Excellence.

ANTI-BED-WETTING-LIBELRAL DISCLAIMER:
The content of this post, and all previous posts made by this user, is 100%
opinion.  Any similarity between this post and the truth is purely
coincidental.  Anyone who reads this post and draws conclusions about it is
doing so by their choice.  How they use those conclusions to direct their
own lives and opinions from that point forward is absolutely a result of
their own cognitive abilities and is in no way related or legally binded to
this poster.  NO individual, business entity, or legal authority should use
the content of this post, or any other post by the originator, in whole, or
in part, to assist in making a decision that could affect the lives of any
of the inhabitants of planet Earth, since the content may not be true.

The clone listing has never claimed to be comprehensive (although it has
tried to be).

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<0 0>
=(o)=
-Wolf

Rastus O'Ginga

Winner of the 2nd Annual C. Montgomery Burns Award for
Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Excellence.

ANTI-BED-WETTING-LIBELRAL DISCLAIMER:
The content of this post, and all previous posts made by this user, is 100%
opinion.  Any similarity between this post and the truth is purely
coincidental.  Anyone who reads this post and draws conclusions about it is
doing so by their choice.  How they use those conclusions to direct their
own lives and opinions from that point forward is absolutely a result of
their own cognitive abilities and is in no way related or legally binded to
this poster.  NO individual, business entity, or legal authority should use
the content of this post, or any other post by the originator, in whole, or
in part, to assist in making a decision that could affect the lives of any
of the inhabitants of planet Earth, since the content may not be true.