Aaron Lucas asked:


Aaron Lucas

Ashlyn C Williams

1101-001

12/10/08

What is Automotive Design and Engineering?

The art of designing a car or a truck is nothing short of a miracle.  In this piece I am looking at personal motor vehicles, those that are made with both form and function in mind.  This, to some people, is a very daunting task.  The amount of perfection that people demand in today’s market is almost unfair but somehow all of the engineers and designers can keep up.  People want a vehicle that can reach at least one hundred and thirty miles an hour, zero wind noise, twenty five miles to the gallon minimum, and a sleek attractive body to top it all off.  All the engineers and designers are the people with the amazing minds that create these amazing pieces of art.  What they do is what I want in this piece.  (Fujimoto, 3-24)

            To understand the reason for this paper, you need to know a little bit more about me.  I know this is unconventional but it’s the only way that this paper will make any sense as to why some one would ever want to investigate such a vast field.  Also, why stick to convention if you really want to live.  I am a first year mechanical engineering student at UNC Charlotte.  After I get my bachelors degree in mechanical engineering I hope to get masters in business administration.  With all this work I hope to become the head of automotive design for any car company.  (GM Announces, par.1)

            There is a distinct difference between designers and engineers.  The designers are the people that draw the fancy little pictures of what everyone wants a car to be; big wheels, big engines, and radical lines that could never be made on mass scale for consumer consumption (with today’s technology).  The engineers are the people that take that design and make it doable.  In short the designers are Van Gogh and engineers are Leonardo De Vinci.  Meaning that even though what the designers create is beautiful and simply amazing it has no real purpose and can’t be produced or even function on a custom scale.  Engineers make beautiful things that work like so many of Leonardo De Vinci’s inventions.  (Bob Boniface, par.7)

            There are many aspects of designing a vehicle and designers do play a major part in some of them, mainly in the ascetic aspects of it.  Two of the areas that they have the most say in are the exterior and interior of the car.  But both have to fit the engineer’s numbers for tolerances and so forth.  With the Exterior there are three things that have to be heavily considered besides the obvious safety of passengers and pedestrians and that is aerodynamics, ergonomics, and styling.  Aerodynamics is a highly refined science that vies for position with the other key vehicle design considerations, styling and ergonomics.  (Fujimoto, 223-230)

Early aerodynamics started as more of an art then a science.  Fish were one of the first things to really inspire an aero dynamic design. This is also were the “teardrop” approach evolved from.  But most of the early developments were based on trial and error.  Today there are definite basic principals that every designer and engineer follow to create an aerodynamically efficient vehicle.  Some of the basics are that the underbody should be as smooth as possible.  There should be no sharp angles and the front windscreen should be raked as much as possible.  The front end should start at a low stagnation line and curve up in a continuous line.  That is just a taste of the basic principals but the general idea is to make everything line and contour flow as best it can.  The more interruptions the more drag so if things like door handles and mirrors can flow better or even disappear then designers will jump on it.  (Car Design Online, Aerodynamics, par.1-2)

The interior, unlike aerodynamics, has relatively few things to be held back by.  An interior number one has to fit inside the body of the car and safely hold the passengers in their seats with seat belts and in case of a crash airbags to further protect them.  After that budget and ergonomics are the biggest things that a designer has to worry about.  With an endless list of materials to choose from all with different properties this is one of the biggest factors in designing an interior.  Also one needs to consider how many people can comfortably be sat in the space given.  But ergonomics is not to be forgotten.  People vary dramatically in size and proportion around the world.  And standardizing the production process is the biggest factor of keeping the cost of cars down.  So the main parts of the passenger’s arrangement are adjustable, today more than ever.  Today’s seats can adjust in at least 6 different ways and the streering wheels are no longer just tilting but telescoping as well.  This is were the wheel doesn’t just go up and down like it has but can move in and out to allow the steering wheel to be set to your specific wants.  But things like the gauges and stereo controls are not adjustable in production cars.  In some concept cars they are experimenting with adjustable gauges that would adjust with your height that would be read by a sensor near the sun visor. (Car Design Online, Ergonomics, par. 2-3)

For Engineers there job in creating this vehicle are all the parts that one can’t see but are crucial for the car to work, things such as the engine and transmission.  The engine of the car is an infinitely complex piece of engineering.  Today’s cars, normally, use one of three engines, piston with gas, piston with diesel, or the rotary engine.  The two piston engines are almost exactly the same except for how they combust their fuel.  Gas engines use spark plugs while diesel engines use pure pressure to cause spontaneous combustion.  Though some will use glow plugs (heating element) to help the process along.  Both of these engines have many moving parts that have to work in perfect unison for it to do what it has to do.  Things like springs, belts and pumps can break at any time.  That’s where the rotary motor comes in.  Also known as the Wankel engine after its creator Felix Wankel.  It has an oval like housing with a rounded triangle or epitrochoid shape inside it that rotates around the oval.  It has vastly less moving parts and so is both smaller and lighter.  But it has its disadvantages as well.  While it is more reliable in the short run it wears out much faster then a piston engine and is not as efficient as a piston engine.  So the largest automobile use for this type of engine is for racing but the automobile maker Mazda still has a major investment in personal vehicles with rotary engines.  (Fujimoto, 85-88)

Another unseen component that plays a major part in a vehicles success is the chaise and suspension.  For both there are acceptable variations depending on the application.  The differences for both are directly related.  The Stiffer either the suspension or chaise is the better the vehicle will handle but the worse the ride of the car will feel.  This is because vibrations travel through solids much better then non-solids.  When you have a softer suspension and chaise then the ride will be very comfortable but the body of the car will roll and this shifting weight will throw the handling of the car right out the window.  All of these things are variables that an engineer has to consider when working with the designer to make a great vehicle.  (Fujimoto, 99-105)

To get in this industry where perfection is demanded is not an easy task either.  For the engineers there is a lot of school time involved.  Some have compared getting an engineering degree to pre med for doctors.  With the countless amount of math classes that one has to take just to get his bachelors.  The natural talent that is needed to become an engineer is usually apparent.  Though it is not needed it is usually only those that posses it that make it through all the schooling to a great job.  Most engineers are at least good at math but one of the dead give a ways is the undying need to know how things work.  And to get up to the higher levels of the corporate engineer, like any other job not much helps more then having some good connections.  (GM Announces, par. 2)

With designers it takes a bit less schooling but a lot more natural talent.  The drawings that they have to do for their original design are phenomenal and are almost identical to the end product and have to be.  One example is Bob Boniface he started off his career as an accountant with a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology and economics from Vanderbilt.  But drew cars in the evenings.  He was eventually talked back into going back to school to College of Creative Studies in Detroit, Michigan and graduated with a bachelor of fine arts. He started at Daimler Chrysler but is now with GM working with Chevrolet concept vehicles.  (Bob Bonifice, par. 1-5)

Another successful designer that I would like to mention, to get an idea of what it takes to become a designer, is Bryan Nesbitt.  His father took him to the campus of the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California when he was 12 because he said that he could see his talent.  After studying architecture and industrial design at Georgia Institute of Technology he went to the school that his father took him to and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in industrial design.  He also interned at Daimler Chrysler and was later hired by them in 1994 and designed them the PT Cruiser.  In April 2001 he joined General Motors as Chief Designer for Chevrolet. In January 2002, he was appointed Executive Director, Design, Body-Frame Integral Architectures, for all of GM’s North American Brands.  Then in February 2004 was named Executive director of GM Europe Design.  Which means that he is responsible for all Opel, Saab, and Vauxhall design activities.  So as you can see it takes some schooling but a lot of talent.  (Bryan Nesbit, par. 1-10)

When personal motor vehicles first came along back with Henry Ford and others the only way to plan out the design was to draw it out.  There have been many innovations since then.  Some low tech and others mind bogglingly high tech.  One thing that a lot of designers do today well before production is make clay models.  There are several stages to producing a clay model.  First, the scale of the model is determined by using drawings and sketches.  They then make a rig based on these dimensions and they will scale it to be either smaller then the actual size or to the exact actual size of the vehicle.  They put the clay on the form that is part of the rig, a foam core to reduce the amount of the expensive and heavy clay that they have to use.  When it comes to shaping it there used to be only one way to go about it.  That was by hand, manually carving out the model using system of 10-lines. These are the reference points that they use to transfer from the drawings to the model.  From there the designers can either strictly follow their drawings or use templates or they can begin to experiment and develop the form freely.  That’s the beauty of using clay; it can always be reworked and adjusted in tangible form.  (Car Design Online, Modeling, par. 1-3)

In today’s technological world laboring over the clay for weeks is unnecessary.  With today’s technology most of the designing can be done on computers with CAD.  CAD stands for ‘Computer Aided Design.’  These designs done on the computer can give you automatic measurements and can be sent to machines that can recreate them with no manual work.  This technology has even brought clay modeling forward.  Instead of the designers having to carve the entire clay model them selves taking weeks a machine can give the rough out line and then designers can come back and prefect it and change it all they want.  And with the giant leaps with materials they don’t even have to use clay any more to make large three-dimensional models.  After the designers are happy with what the have done in CAD and have made any changes to a clay model and then put that new information into the computer they can make a machine mill down a block of high density foam into a exact replica of the vehicle.  (Car Design Online, Modeling, par. 4)

The Future of design most defiantly lies in computers.  The things we see in the movies are not that far off.  For those who have seen the new movie “Iron man” (2008) when you see him using holograms to make his suit and move it around before he produced it that is a example of were the industry could be in a couple years (Paramount Pictures).  If we ever do reach that point then we may not need to use materials at all before production.  But it’s going to be hard to replace the ability to truly feel what you are working on (Car Design Online, Modeling, par. 4-5).

All of these major tasks have to be completed before a vehicle can even be considered for production.  The way that this paper was worded might have let on that there are only a few people that work on a vehicle at a time but in reality there are full teams of engineers and designers that all have to work one vehicle.  And even with these large teams creating an entirely new vehicle can take years.  And to become one of these few it takes much more then just schooling or talent, it takes determination and patience.  As it does to create one of these works of art.  (Car Body Design, Manufacturing Processes, par. 1-3)

The true importance of this has come painfully apparent over the last couple of months.  The big three of Detroit, General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler, are begging congress to bail them out of their swift fall from being a big as they once were.  This is a perfect example of the free market system; the company with the better product started small but found its way on top of the former big dogs.  I am of course talking about the two big boys from Japan, Toyota and Honda who are now on top of all of Detroit’s big three.  (Fitzgibbons, Patrick, par. 1-2)

There are some very distinct reasons for this.  One of the biggest ones is the rise in energy costs.  The Japanese cars more often then not are more efficient on gas then the American cars.  Also Japan was the first to really capitalize on the Hybrid cars, leaving America to play catch up with their well-established models.  Another big factor was the sub-par quality that was produced back in the 80’s.  The Japanese cars would last a good ten years if you kept the general maintenance up but American cars were falling apart left and right.  (Webster, Larry, par. 2, 5)

That is where I thought that the designers and engineers should have stepped in and made sure that the products that these companies were putting out were any good.  Because now, even though the quality of these cars has stepped up they still carry around the label that their cars are low quality, “Perception trails reality.”  (Webster, Larry, par. 5) For years the Japanese have been making a better product and now the big three are paying for it.  And now they are going to have to do something big to come back to the status that they used to hold, if they can at all.  (Fitzgibbons, Patrick, par. 35)

Aaron Lucas

Ashlyn C Williams

1101-001

12/10/08

Work Cited Page

·      Fujimoto, Takahiro. The Evolution of a Manufacturing System at Toyota. Oxford, NY: Oxford University Press, 1999.

·      “Bob Boniface.” Car Body Design: Automotive Design & Engineering, 24 September 2008.

·      “Bryan Nesbit.” Car Body Design: Automotive Design & Engineering, 6 March 2007.

·      “GM Announces Design Executive Appointments.” Car Body Design: Automotive Design & Engineering, 2 May 2007.

·      Car Design Online: Dedicated to Automotive Design Information, 23 October 2008.

·      Fitzgibbons, Patrick.  “U.S. auto execs plead for Congress to fund bailout.” Reuters, 18 Nov. 2008

·      Webster, Larry.  “GM in Crisis-5 Reasons Why America’s Largest Car Company Teeters on the Edge.”  Popular Mechanics, 18 Nov. 2008



Danny

jace asked:


I’ve heard a lot of bad things about Giants fans being the most inbred and hick when it comes to treatment of opposing fans? Is this true? Is there any place to sit where the Giants fans are civilized?

Beverly

Dennis Arthur asked:


Similar to the Playoffs, early season games need to be handicapped much differently than those played after around Week 3 of the regular season–when it comes to using situational methods.

One of the biggest challenges at this stage of the season comes from the lack of useful data from recently played contests.

Unfortunately, pre-season games have never been a good indicator of what lies in store for a team in the first few weeks of the regular season. The large number of players that see playing time in the pre-season who are eventually cut or relegated to 2nd or 3rd team status does not help, nor does the fact that marquee QB’s and other important players often only take the field for a handful of plays in the earlier games, if at all.

All is not lost; however, as there are key stats from the previous season that can lend real insight into games played in the early part of the following year, and there is also the previous history between the 2 teams involved that one can consider (more on this later).

One key stat from the past season that works very well as a handicapping tool in the early part of the following one is Pythagorean Win Percentage.

Pythagorean Win Percentage (PWP) was first developed by sabermetrics-pioneer Bill James as a method of removing the effects of ‘luck’ from a baseball team’s won/lost record by focusing solely on runs for and runs against. The formula actually works equally well for the National Football League after a few minor ‘tweaks’, the most significant of which entails using Points For and Against in its calculation as opposed to ‘runs’.

By comparing a team’s PWP with their actual winning percentage, it becomes easy to ascertain which teams have had an over-abundance of either good, or bad misfortune–knowledge which has obvious implications for those of us trying to handicap current games based on past performance.

PWP, as it applies to Major League Baseball, has seen a number of improvements since James first came up with the idea and more advanced formula’s now consider not just runs themselves, but also the ratio of singles, doubles, homeruns etc. that went into producing these runs, along with alternate multipliers depending on the different ball-parks where the scoring occurred.

Some of these improvements do not apply so much to the game of North American football, where the field of play is obviously identical from stadium to stadium, and the original formula that James developed for MLB remains a simple, yet accurate method of calculating a team’s winning percentage that is often more reliable than won/lost records alone.

The formula for calculating PWP for NFL teams is as follows:

Points For ^ 2.37 / (Points For ^ 2.37 + Points Against ^ 2.37)

An exponent of 2.37 has been found to provide the most accurate results for the NFL while 1.83 is the most commonly used exponent for MLB teams. This formula even works when applied to NBA teams, where an exponent of between 14 and 16 is prevalent.

In order to best explain exactly how this formula works, it’s probably best to look at a couple of examples from the past season.

The New England Patriots are an example of a team who actually ‘overachieved’ in 2007, when their won/lost record of 16-0 is compared against their PWP.

Anyone who watched the Pats-Ravens game in Week 15 and to a lesser extent, their regular season finale against the NY Giants, would probably agree that New England could have easily ended the season at 15-1 or 14-2 and their PWP shows that either of these records would actually have been more indicative of their level of play in ‘07.

Based on their Points For of 589 and Points Against of 274, New England’s PWP works out to 0.860 (589 ^ 2.37 / (589 ^ 2.37 + 274 ^ 2.37)).

Given their WP to PWP differential of +0.140 (1.000 - 0.860) it appears that New England was in fact, luckier than most teams in the league last year-an opinion that Ray Lewis and the rest of the Ravens would certainly not argue.

An example of a team that underachieved in 2007 would be the Philadelphia Eagles, who finished the year at 8-8, yet, had a PWP of 0.567 (336 ^ 2.37 / (336 ^ 2.37 + 300 ^ 2.37)), leading us to believe that they were perhaps more deserved of a 9-7 record.

So, how does a team’s PWP from the previous season figure into the process of handicapping games early in the next one?

One interesting use for this stat involves teams that had a PWP < 0.450 in the previous season, that also happened to have beaten their current opponent SU in their past meeting (as long as this meeting occurred within the past 4 years). Teams in this situation are a dismal 33-60 ATS (35.5%) since 1994 in the first 2 weeks of the regular season immediately following.

As I mentioned near the top of this article, past history between the 2 teams in question is important early on in the season and in this case, teams with a weak PWP from the previous season that are also facing an opponent that may be seeking revenge for a relatively recent defeat, creates a potent combination that has spelt trouble versus the line over the past 14 years.

While a situation with a record of 33-60 ATS is profitable enough, there is one other Secondary condition concerning the past meeting between these 2 teams that when added, greatly reduces the number of games involved while maintaining a similar level of profit.

This condition concerns teams that not only won in the last meeting, but, did so in convincing fashion (at least offensively anyway).

When we only include teams that scored at least 30 points in this game, the record for this situation drops to a crushing 5-28 ATS (15.2%) for a tidy profit of $2,250.00 when wagering $110.00 to win back $100.00 against the team in question.

The final Secondary condition that I like to add for this trend involves something I touched on earlier, and that is, the comparison of a team’s actual winning percentage with their Pythagorean winning percentage.

Teams that meet the criteria discussed so far that also had a SU winning percentage at least 0.100 points higher than their PWP last season have been a perfect 3-0 ATS, so, by eliminating teams that outperformed their PWP by a wide margin in the previous season (i.e., New England), we are left with a trend that has been 2-28 ATS since 1994.

Here are all the details.

(Notes: ASMR stands for Average Spread Margin Rating. A positive rating indicates a trend that is stronger than average versus the line, negative–weaker than average. TDIS% is the percentage of teams in the league that have been involved in this situation at one time or another. WT% is the percentage of teams that are .500 or better and SPR is the average spread for teams in this situation. For more details, please consult Page 13 of my 2008 NFL Game Sheets Guide.)

System #18 Summary

Primary Conditions (Building Blocks)

1) Game is being played in Week 1 or 2 of the regular season.

2) Last Seasons Pythagorean Win% < .450.

3) Straight-up win versus this Opponent in their Last Meeting (LM4).

Secondary Conditions (Tighteners)

1) Exclude Teams with a SU WP at least 0.100 points higher than their PWP LS.

2) Points For >= 30 in their Last Meeting (LM4).

System Stats

ASMR: +1.7

Home%: 62.5

Dog%: 56.3

TDIS%: 56.3

WT%: 68.8

SPR: +1.1

Top Teams: CIN(4); NO(4); ATL(2); BUF(2)

System Record

Overall (Since ‘94): 2-28 ATS

2007 Season: 0-1 ATS

2006 Season: 0-1 ATS

2005 Season: 0-4 ATS

2004 Season: 0-2 ATS

Last 3 Results. Pick in Brackets.

2007 WK2–DET 20 MIN 17 (DET -3) P

2007 WK1–MIN 24 ATL 3 (MIN-3) W

2006 WK2–NO 34 GB 27 (NO -2) W



Elsie

Jose Roncal asked:


It’s only been a few weeks since Congress signed off on Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson’s big $700 billion bailout plan—the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP).  What exactly do we have to show for it?  Nobody knows. What’s more, we now face a complex financial logjam that’s every bit as messy as the original fiasco.  And the situation is all the more hazardous because Paulson keeps waffling.

As you recall, the original plan was to buy $700 billion in toxic securities—spoilage from defaulted home mortgages that kicked off the financial meltdown.  Simply put, taxpayers would buy $700 billion worth of assets nobody else would touch, ostensibly to get frozen credit markets back in motion.  But the toxic-loan plan never got off the ground.  It couldn’t move far or fast enough to bring the immediate relief Paulson promised.

Instead, Treasury announced it had devised a new plan aimed at thawing out the frozen credit markets.  The new plan: Put money directly into big banks by enacting a little-known clause in Sec. 113, (e )(1) of the TARP legislation, which economists are calling the “Stock Injection Alternative.”

Paulson promised that stock injection effectively served to “rescue”  the banks, but instead of owning shaky assets, the government—the taxpayers—would become preferred shareholders of the banks themselves.  That means the taxpayer would be promised a return (since preferred shares pay interest), and those owning common shares would take the first hits. Thus, taxpayers would be more protected and less likely to lose money.

Amid this back-and-forth maneuvering, people started whispering that perhaps Paulson didn’t really know what to do. First he’d claimed that buying toxic mortgage-based investments from troubled banks, particularly those whose failure might undermine the domestic or global financial systems, was the only conceivable solution to bank failures.  And he tenaciously opposed any congressional suggestions that could modify his plan. 

Then after the first $350 billion had been released, he unexpectedly switched gears into what some believed was too broad and too vague a direction.

Paulson had already spent $85 billion to bail out insurance giant, AIG.  But even after a congressional hearing and scandalous admission about the company’s lavish corporate resort boondoggle, AIG still had the audacity to come back to the money trough and lap up another $40 billion.

If there is anyone in the Treasury keeping track of where all these dollars are going, they aren’t letting on. In fact, the money banks have received has done little to thaw out credit for U.S. businesses or consumers.  Banks appear to be more willing to lend to each other, judging by a drop in the LIBOR rate.  But the no-strings nature of the bailout has led some to use the money in ways Congress may not have intended. For example, PNC Bank, headquartered in Pittsburgh, PA, used part of its allotted cash to acquire Centurion branches in its market area.

Credit cars and auto loans next in line

In a further drift away from Congressional intent, Paulson announced he wanted to extend the bailout program to non-bank credit markets like those holding credit card receivables, auto loans and student loans. American Express has, with a sprinkle of Treasury pixie dust, been deemed a bank, thus qualified to feed at the trough with the others.  Companies like GMAC, the lending arm of General Motors, and other carmakers’ lending units, are standing in line as well.

In the original bailout plan Paulson asked for overarching Czar-like authority to move money around, without being subject to review by any court or administrative agency. His initial “just trust me” proposal didn’t fly. Congress assured the public that any plan they approved would have built-in oversight.

But by early November, not only had the White House failed to nominate a special inspector general to head up oversight efforts, Congress had yet to appoint any members to a five-person congressional oversight panel. In fact, a comprehensive plan seems non-existent.

A lot of money had been blowing out the door, but no one had bothered to consult with Congress about any of the details. Finally lawmakers stepped up to the plate.

On November 18, Paulson faced harsh questioning by members of the House Financial Services Committee where he shared the table with Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke. In addition to sharp criticism of mishandling matters, pointed questions reminded everyone that some TARP money was to have helped homeowners faced with foreclosure, an idea strongly supported by FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair.

Paulson argued that TARP was meant to stabilize financial markets and the flow of credit, not serve as a panacea for all our economic difficulties. And, he brushed aside questions about future plans by saying he had no intentions of doling out the second half of the $700 billion program — let the Obama administration deal with it, he said.

A secret $2 trillion deal

Back in mid-October, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation announced a new $2 trillion three-year program—the Temporary Liquidity Guarantee Program.  The program was meant to strengthen confidence and encourage liquidity in the banking system. This guarantee is in addition to the $250 billion preferred stock purchase plan we already mentioned. 

Perhaps you might be curious about the details surrounding that $2 trillion deal, a little transparency perhaps?  Well, never mind.  Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said the central bank would not disclose any details of these loans of taxpayer funds because doing so would “stigmatize banks needing the money.”

The American taxpayers deserve a coherent explanation about what has happened with all the money spent so far, like who’s getting what, how much and why.  They were promised oversight and transparency, but Bernanke’s statement it’s yet another example of a whole country being left in the dark with no real answers.

Now more than ever Americans need confidence that their government is making smart decisions as they sort through this financial fiasco. The best way to instill confidence is for Congress to do what it said it would do: ensure strict oversight of the bailout process.  They would do well to start at the beginning by keeping a closer eye on Paulson, a man who seems hell-bent on making up the rules as he goes along.

Perhaps the entire bailout fiasco was summed up best during the congressional hearings when Gary Ackerman (R-NY) looked Paulson in the eye and said, “You seem to be flying a $700 billion plane by the seat of your pants.  It seems to be the second-largest bait-and-switch scheme that history has ever seen, second only to the reasons given to us to vote for the invasion of Iraq.”

This is far from being the final chapter of the story.  You can find updates at our website: www.financialspeculation.com.



Dale

Ken Silverman asked:


Have you been waiting for some great ticket bargain to make your first trip to the theme park this season. Wait no more….. Six Flags has started their 2008 season with some great online bargains on ticket prices. While other parks around the nation are quite holding on to the daily tickets, Six Flags makes your day more fun with some nice discounts they have been offering at all Six Flags parks around the nation. So what have been stopping you from booking your tickets ? See whats on the table for you.

For this article, we have referred to Mandrekar.com (http://www.mandrekar.com) which has been phenomenal in tracking and bringing the Six Flags bargains and promotions to all the bargain hunters.

Six Flags Discovery Kingdom (Vallejo, CA):

Now you can enjoy the thrills on coasters like Boomerang, Kong, Medusa & Vertical Velocity for 30% less than what you would otherwise pay at the gate. You can now buy your daily tickets for $34.99.

Six Flags Magic Mountain Tickets (Los Angeles, CA):

Magic Mountain boasts some great roller coasters that could take your excitement level to new heights. Enjoy the ride on Riddler’s Revenge, Batman, Deja Vu, Goliath, Scream, Tatsu, Viper & X2 for 55% less that what you would pay at the gate. The price of an adult daily ticket at the gate is $59.99 and now you can purchase your tickets at $26.99 before memorial day. After memorial day you will pay $39.99 which is still 33% less that regular price you pay at the gate.

Six Flags St Louis (St Louis, MO):

Have you been holding on to your dreams for 2008 to experience on most challenging rides. Now get on to the thrill rides like Batman, Mr. Freeze, Superman, Ninja, Xcalibur & the Boss. Buy your tickets for $5 less than what you would pay at the gate. The regular gate price is $44.99.

Six Flags over Georgia (Atlanta, GA):

Has some great roller coasters that can keep you busy throught the day. The thrill rides at Six Flags over Georgia include the Batman, Superman, Dare Devil, Acrophobia, Georgia Cyclone, Ninja and the Goliath. You can enjoy all this fun for 40% less than the regular price of $49.99.

Six Flags America (Baltimore/ Washington DC):

Give yourself a treat with some of the best thrill rides in the Baltimore area. Get on to Batwing, Superman, Jokers Jinx, Roar, Mind Eraser and the Tower of Doom. All for 20% less than the gate price of $49.99.

Six Flags Great America (Chicago, IL):

Six Flags Great America prices online are 27% less than the price at the gate. You can buy the daily adult ticket online for $39.99. Enjoy some of the best coasters like the Batman, Dark Knight coaster, Dare Devil, Raging Bull, Superman and the Tornado. Dont forget to experience the Giant Drop.

Six Flags Great Escape (Lake George, NY):

Lake George Six Flags has been offering $5 off the gate price on the daily tickets. Rides here can take you to high n high which will keep you bolted to the seats thru the day. Enjoy the coasters like Boomerang, Canyon Blaster, Steamin Demon and the Comet.

Six Flags Fiesta Texas (San Antonio, TX):

You can now grab a sweet 32% discount off the gate price of $46.99. Enjoy the Superman ride followed by Big Bender, Boomerang, Goliath and the Scream. There are two Six Flags in Texas, one in San Antonio and the other in Arlington.

Six Flags Over Texas (Arlington, TX):

A whopping 36% off the regular daily ticket price of $47. Rides like Batman, Mr. Freeze, Dive Bomber Alley, Taxas Giant and the Titan are waiting for you.

Six Flags New England (Springfield, MA):

Enjoy $15 off the gate price at Six Flags New England. You will definitely enjoy the rides this park has to offer. Rides like Batman, Superman, Mind Eraser, Nightwing and Cyclone will take to the upper limits of a fun & exciting day.

Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom (Louisville, KY):

For just $24.99 which is $15 off regular price you will see yourself on the coasters at the Kentucky Kingdom. This park has some unique and fun filled rides like Chang, Himalaya, T2 and the Enterprise.

Six Flags Great Adventure Tickets (Jackson, NJ):

Now you can go to Six Flags Great Adventure for $20 less. For just $39.99 you can get the daily ticket online which gives you admission to the theme park plus the wild safari. Most popular rides include Dark Knight roller coaster, Batman, Superman, Kingda Ka and nitro. Take my word…. these rides will make you come to this park again and again.

Six Flags made a lot of new additions and enhanced the parks throught the US. With this great offer Six Flags reported that the attendance for the first quarter was up by 19%. I have been a great admirer of Six Flags theme parks. It’s not only the agressive pricing of the tickets and discounts they have been offering this season but also the tremendous and continous improvements it has made in the parks to make ones experience more fun than before.

How can you grab these discounts ?:

For my reference, I would like to credit Mandrekar.com (http://www.mandrekar.com) for putting a nice comphrensive website with Six Flags tickets with all available discounts and promotions. You can click on your local Six Flags park in the Six Flags section and buy the ticket that would be of interest to you and your family. I have not discussed the family and group discounts in this article. There are even better discounts at some of the Six Flags if you go in groups (more than 10 or 15 depending on the park). You can even save on season passes at most Six Flags if you buy family season pass. Please refer to http://www.mandrekar.com.



Brittany

SlickNick asked:


Who do you think the Giants will pick in the 1st and 2nd round of the draft and why?

Elmer

ga2breal asked:


I’ ve heard and read some differences between NY Yanks fans and NY Mets fans in the baseball world, some times.
So, are there any differences between NY Giants fans and NY Jets fans ?

Alex

Whoda M asked:


Shockey is a pro bowl te. All the giants got in return is a second round and 5th round draft pick in the 2009 draft. Did the giants not get enough in this trade?

Laurie

NO SHITE SHERLOCK ~ JETS IN 2008 asked:


NY Giants fans talk as if they have the Superbowl wrapped up. I thought of all the teams their fan base would know not to talk so fast and let the season play out.

Am I just being jealous or are the Giants fans becoming too cocky?

Florence