The Weekend In Review

Who Says You Can't Go Home?
Saturday night at the historic Coliseum at the Ohio Expo Center in Columbus, Lancaster HS basketball told Cincinnat's own Elder Panthers just that, as they beat Elder 52-49 in front of several thousand, more than half supporting the Lancaster team, who goes onto the Division I basketball semifinal at Schottenstein Center on Friday. They will face Trotwood Madison, who knocked off another local team, Lakota West, also this past Saturday Night at Cintas Center.
I made the trip up to Columbus for that game, hoping for a magical run for the Panthers. While the game was exciting, the finish was a downer (no, Rachel Dratch was not in attendance).

Again, NO, I did not attend Elder High School, but have met some friends who did, especially Eric Wood, who is center of University of Louisville Cardinals' football team, who had a great first season in the Big East conference last fall. When Jim Scott said "The guys swing Big Wood in the morning," he was referring to my boy Eric... whatever the hell that means.


Proof that I can be an ass(hat):
I've said often that individual businesses, corporations, and consumers should regulate smoking policies at restaurants and bars, and not government. I watched an Channel 9 I-Team segment about the pollution levels caused by second-hand smoke in area bars and restaurants - some ranged from 'Moderate 'to 'Dangerous.' Even with the bad levels, despite state-of-the-art ventillation systems at some places, as well as good Smokeeters... some of these establishments will sink if they go smoke-free - either by choice or through regulations. The libertarian in me wants to keep things status quo around here, but the health and moral side says, for the best interest in the public, children, and employees, says to support a general ban.

However, at some places, while they have large non-smoking areas, the TVs showing NCAA tournament games are located in the bar areas - almost all bar areas with TVs are smoking-designated. Because I have skin issues right now, going a few places close to home, trying to find one that havs TVs in NON-Smoking areas, was a real pain in the ass today. I settled upon Willie's in West Chester today, where while they have a bar and some seating that's designated for smoking, there are Smokeeters that make it comfortable for non-smokers like me. Honestly though, I've been to Willie's a lot, and would like to try something else once in a while.

If anyone knows of another place on the northern suburbs of Cincinnati that:
- Has lots of TVs
- Has good food
- Is smoke-free or has many TVs in the non-smoking area physically separated from smoking
Let me know!


Mixed Bracket
Bad: I picked many of the higher-ranked teams to advance, into the Sweet 16. Unfortunately, Syracuse, Kansas, Marquette, Illinois, North Carolina, Ohio State, and Oklahoma (Kevin Bookout's size wasn't enough... or too much for the Soonners), left earlier than I picked.

Good: My Final Four remains intact. Gonzaga, NOT Memphis, will be the winner of the Oakland Region. Villanova will beat Connecticut to reach the championship game at RCA Dome, but Duke will be the sole champion of 2006.

Tuesday night at 9pm is UC versus Minnesota in the second round of the NIT. I may be picking the Bearcats over the Golden Gophers, but I wish I lived closer to the historic Williams Arena "the Barn" rather than the stale Fifth Third Arena.


Another Great 'Point' to visit this website:
Cedar Point just updated their website. Not only do I think it's the best amusement park around, they quite possibly have the best official website for a park. You can see (and download!) good quality videos of their roller coasters, as well as check out their Blog, OnPoint! It's been updated with an actual photo of Tony and Tyler. And on the front page is the top banner - you can see many of the park's rides come to life! The latest addition, Skyhawk, is shown in the top banner, but has not "run" yet.
For more info, especially to see what others are saying, also check out PointBuzz, the top non-official Cedar Point site.


Why I envy some people
This past Saturday, a winter construction tour was held at Holiday World to see the progress on the behemoth coaster, The Voyage. Paul Drabek's great site, Negative-G, chronicles this tour, and is quite possibly the most comprehensive set of photos I've seen of Voyage so far. (If you don't know, Paul lives in Santa Claus, Indiana, just minutes from the park)
While it looks like Voyage will be up and running for the park's opening day in May, some attractions in the new Thanksgiving section won't quite be ready yet, such as the restaurant, and the Gobbler Getaway interactive dark ride. But you can't go wrong with Voyage!

Today, Beech Bend Park, located near Bowling Green, Kentucky was also scheduled to have a construction tour of their new GCI wooden twister, Kentucky Rumbler. Beech Bend is located about two hours or so from Santa Claus, IN, so it was convenient for enthusiasts to travel and do both in the same trip. Inexplicably, however, it was more than a simple construction tour. NOPE! Paul submitted a photo from today's tour - showing him SEATED in a MOVING train on the new wood coaster. It's not even May - let alone APRIL, and Drabek has 10 rides so far on a brand new coaster in KENTUCKY!