Hilltopper39

Looks like Artest gets a 7 game suspension, should have been 50 but 6 playoff games is fairly significant. What's everyone's predictions for the playoffs? I still like Miami in the East but wouldn't be surprised one bit if Chicago, or Boston found a way to make the finals. Also wouldn't be shocked if New York found a way to beat Miami in the first round. The West, no clue, I could see any of the top 5 teams making the finals. Looking forward to the Lakers OKC match up in the second round, should be an intense series. I'd also love to see Orlando make a miracle run deep into the playoffs without Dwight Howard behind the excellent coaching of Stan Van Gundy just completely screw the situation up more than it already is. For my finals predictions 'd like to see Boston vs LA one more time, but I'll predict Miami vs OKC in the finals.

^Haha yeah, sounds about right. 5 stories is a long walk though.....

I'm not really a "car guy" but the subject is somewhat interesting to me and I do enjoy reading this thread from time to time as a closet car fan. Anyways, I stumbled across this story and thought it was pretty funny. As a native Kentuckian I'm slightly offended at the way this guy insults my state, but considering the offense took place in Louisville I'm going to assume the perpetrator was actually from Indiana and his insults were false accusations. The Moral of the story is don't park your Lambo in Louisville because it might get pissed on by someone from Indiana...... In Kentucky, your Lamborghini might get pissed on

Yeah, it was brutal but Bynum's was arguably more brutal. The Artest play was so weird, the first 2 or 3 times i watched the replay it happened so quick while he was celebrating that it almost looked unintentional even though there's no way that it was. They may wait to see how bad Harden's injury is before they announce his suspension. But i agree with adding an extra 20 games just on the account of his idiotic name, that guy is a nut job.

^ Should be interesting to see what kind of suspension he gets in comparison to the 5 games Bynum got last year for his foul on Barea. The fouls were fairly similar in nature but with Artest's history and the timing before the playoffs I wouldn't be surprised if he gets a few more games.

Kings Island has blue (blue berry flavored maybe) soft serve ice cream in Hanna Barbarra/Nickelodeon/Camp Snoopy/Kidzville or whatever it is now that is a fairly famous local treat. I always get a blue cone every time I'me at Kings Island.

^ To reiterate me point, the NFL released their schedule last night and the Broncos have 5 games in Primetime this upcoming season as opposed to 2 last year. The leading story on sports talk radio this morning was the NFl schedule and week one Steelers at the Broncos. The only reason Denver is even being discuessed by anyone 5 months away from the start of the season has everything to do with a guy named Peyton Manning, $96 million doesn't seem so outrageous when you think about it like that.

^Apples to oranges, and I'm pretty sure Belichek didn't lie to the commissioner. I agree that the penalty for Sean Payton is a little bit stiff but in all reality the one year suspension is for covering up the bounty program and denying it multiple times more so than the bounties program itself. Don't lie to the commissioner, and if you do and get caught, expect to be made an example of. It's a lot of money, but i can guarantee you that manning is worth a hell of a lot more to the organization than the $96 million dollars they are going to pay him. Think of all of the extra jerseys, season tickets, merchandise etc they will sell just because of him. All of the extra press and attention Denver will get every day on Sportscenter just because Manning play for them now, the increase in ratings for Broncos games just because Manning is on the field, all of the advertising that he will do in a Bronco Uniform. Denver will get their money's worth whether Manning wins or not.

^I guess I'm in the minority here but I preferred he back row on Wild Eagle. I only got one ride in the front and the unobstructed views were amazing but the back row felt a lot more forceful to me and the air time on the first drop in the back was great. I also loved sitting in the back row and seeing the rest of the train in front of you navigate the course, it really gives you a chance to appreciate how massive the trains are and just looks awesome.

I'm not a Christian music fan or anything but it is good to see Holiday Worlds starting to host special events. I'm can't to see what they do with the Happy Halloweekends Event this fall, the night rides should make that even worth the trip alone!

Rode a crappy SDC Galaxi at the Clay County Fair last weekend, actually not that bad as far as transportable fair coasters go and had magnetic brakes which was kind of cool.

This project just gets more and more impressive with every update, can't wait to hear some reports from opening day and maybe even get up there sometime this season if I'm lucky.

^Disagree, if the suspect were a temporary or permanent Gainesville resident they would have most certainly already consumed the illegal substance or had a better plan in place for hiding it in an emergency situation. The perpetrator is clearly from either Apopka or Lake City.

It's great to see B&M doing some unique custom inverts again, it seemed like for the longest time every new B&M invert had the same inversions in almost the same sequence with little variation. This looks like a completely new layout and looks like a lot of fun, and the surrounding area looks great.

I'd be interested to see how many Fast Lanes Cedar Point (or any Cedar Fair park for that matter) actually is willing to distribute each day. I wonder if it is a set amount of passes per day or if it fluctuates as a percentage based on the number of guests in the park on a given day.

^Yeah, but Blue Streak's line does get pretty out of control, 20-30 extra people at one time might make that 5 minute wait an unbearable 10 minute wait.

This will be an absolute must for me the next time I get to Cedar Point (or any Cedar Fair Park from now on really). Pricing seems pretty reasonable for the amount of rides included in it too, I wonder in the future if they will include brand new attractions on Fast Lane during their opening year? Glad more parks in general are starting to adopt these ride reservation systems like Qbots, and Flashpasses, and Fast Lanes, it really makes a day at the park much more enjoyable and probably will be a constant cash cow for the parks that adopt them. Welcome to America, where you can buy your way to the font of the line!

Wow, this sounds fantastic. First the tequila bar in mexico, now a wine bar in Italy, I've got my fingers crossed for a scotch bar in the UK Pavilion before January.

^Those people over there are absolutely insane, it's pathetic really.

This looks like a weird mini version of Montu, but still looks good.

Depending on how far north you are coming from you can take Exit 29 off of I-75 in Corbin, Kentucky and take US25E Cumberland Gap Parkway all the way to I-81. I took that route a few weeks ago on my way back south and it's probably about 30 minutes to an hour longer but is a beautiful drive through the Cumberland Gap tunnel and over the mountains on a very nice and not all that curvy 4 lane road that connect to I-81 about 20 miles east of the Pigeon Forge Exit. You could probably even find a back road that connects from I-81 into Pigeon Forge the back way and by-pass the traffic in Sevierville which can get ridiculous at times. If you are coming from North of Corbin I would consider that route, it's a little bit longer but is a beautiful drive on a safe road that should completely bypass the traffic delays.

Great report Steve, I was there Friday of opening weekend, and that place is just amazing, gets better every time I visit. I had pretty much the same opinion of my trip as you did on everything except operations at Thunderhead didn't seem that slow to me, but the ops at everything else in the parks especially Wild Eagle were pretty bad. It was opening weekend, so I only expect that things will get better. The Q-bot is by far the best deal I've ever had at a park anywhere, if anyone goes to Dollywood this season, GET ONE!!! It will be worth it for short lines on Wild Eagle alone and everything else will be a bonus. I still don't understand why more parks haven't begun to offer that service yet. Thunderhead was running freakin great on Friday, that thing was in my top 5 from when I rode it opening year and then again about 5 years ago and it it definitely still one of the best wooden coasters in the country, so good in every seat. Why do Tennessee fans wear orange? So they can watch the Vols on Saturday and then pick up trash on Sunday.......

There's a difference? Jesse Ventura is the only exception.

This is semi unrelated to where the mysterious green track might be going (I really have no idea), but did anyone else find it strange that Wild Eagle at Dollywood is being promoted as America's first wing rider style coaster even though X-Flight at SFGAM is opening just a few months later? Is it possible that Six Flags might have signed a 2 or 3 (or more) coaster deal with B&M for some Wing Riders? I just find it odd that Dollywood is promoting it as as America's first while, while it technically is first but in all reality its not that big of a deal. it's like Dollywood bought Wild Eagle and planned it's marketing campaign around being the only Wing Coaster in America for a year or more, then B&M decided to sell a second wing coaster (maybe more) in the same year which kinda screws that part of it up.

That kind of event does look pretty cool. I think KISS and Kid Rock do similar events every year, KISS is doing theirs this year over Halloween on the Norwegian Pearl, and Kid Rock does his on the Carnival Destiny. All Kid Rock and Carnival jokes aside (and I know there are a lot of them), seeing any artist you like in this type of setting would be a pretty unique experience. Would be cool to see more artists try this in the future. Maybe a RCCL Lady Gaga's Monsters Cruise, or join Elton John in 2014 aboard the Celebrity Solstice for the 2nd annual Saturday Night's All Right For Cruising Cruise.... Kid Rock's 3rd Annual Chillin The Most Tour KISS Kruise II