Champions!

It has happened again.

I've waited a full nine years for it to happen, and it finally has.

It is with great pleasure that I can say that the LSU Tigers are once again the college baseball World Champions.

As soon as I saw Louis Coleman throw out the first pitch on the opening night in the new Alex Box Stadium way back on February 20, I knew that this team had something special in them. Something struck in my subconscious when Blake Dean hit the first home run in that new stadium. I had a feeling that this group of Tigers had what it takes to be Number One.

And I knew it wouldn't be easy. There were plenty of moments that were not too pleasant for me as a Tiger fan. Remember the ULL game? The Tennessee series? The Vandy game in the opening round of the SEC Tournament?

But I knew. I knew that this team had it in them, had the desire to go all the way, had the heart to play their hardest. And it got them the ultimate prize: a National Championship.

Before tonight's game, I listened to some great words by the coach of this (to paraphrase another LSU National Championship coach) damn strong baseball team, Paul Mainieri. He stated that all he asked was that the team play their best. If they did that, he said, no one would ever have any regrets.

Those words struck me. And during the bottom of the 9th tonight, as I watched Louis Coleman throw out the final pitch, just as he had thrown out the first pitch more than four months before, I realized how truly lucky we were.

There are 64 different teams that make it to the NCAA Tournament. Of those 64 teams, 63 of them will have their season end with a loss. We were the one team that kept on winning, that refused to lose, that ended the season on the highest high imaginable.

It also made me realize how lucky I was to be a Tiger. In the three major sports (football, basketball, and baseball), LSU has a combined nine national championships: three in football, six in baseball. Only one of these titles - 1958 Football - happened before I was born. I was able to witness eight different Tiger teams win national championships.

But here's the more incredible fact: LSU has only played for a national championship in these sports nine times. The Tigers are completely undefeated when the big one is on the line. I have never had to experience the thrill of making it to a title game, followed by the agony of seeing it vanish before my eyes. I cannot imagine how that would feel, and hopefully I never will. And, according to history, I won't ever have to worry about that.

All I can think of right now is just how proud and thankful I am to be an LSU Tiger. There are not many schools who can say they've won six national championships in one sport in less than 20 years, and I'm very fortunate to be attending one of them. To paraphrase Colby Donaldson, when I wake up in the morning there are two things I'm thankful for: I'm thankful I'm alive, and I'm thankful I'm a Tiger.

There are really only two ways to close this blog, and I can't decide which one to use, so I've decided to use both. These closing quotes are familiar to Tiger fans worldwide, and perfectly convey the spirit of tonight:

"Give it all your might as you fight tonight, and keep the goal in view: victory for LSU!"

"May thy spirit live in us ... forever LSU!"

It's a great night to be a Tiger fan. Geaux out and celebrate this accomplishment.

GEAUX TIGERS!

PS - Only 73 days until kickoff in Seattle....

WDW Update: June 2009

Well, my friends, I have returned from ten wonderful days in Walt Disney World. As anyone who's been to WDW will know, the place is constantly evolving and changing. This trip was no exception. Here are a few minor updates on the goings on at WDW.


GENERAL: The crowds were about normal for this time of year. Heavy, but nothing to be afraid of if you know what you're doing. The weather, on the other hand, was horrible. It was hotter and more humid than I ever remember it being down there. Additionally, it only rained twice when I was at the World (right around 3:00, just as they always are - good to see some things never change!). Luckily, there are ways of avoiding the heat.


MAGIC KINGDOM: The middle entrance to the Emporium is still open, but the construction walls and scrims indicate that they're doing some touch-up work.

There were scrims and walls abounding in Liberty Square, too, at both the Hall of Presidents and Ye Olde Christmas Shoppe. The Hall of Presidents walls were actually removed on the last day of my trip, and there's a big blue cover over where the attraction will get its first ever marquee.

Incidentally, I've just found out that the new attraction will be voiced by the great Morgan Freeman, and I'm pumped up. His voice is amazing!

The front of "it's a small world" was also walled up, with a small gap under the main tent for riders to enter. It's encouraging to see all these walls up in MK - they may actually be planning something big for the 40th!


EPCOT: Spaceship Earth's descent is still in need of fixing. I'm sorry, but an episode of The Jetsons with your face superimposed on the characters just doesn't work at all as a finale for this ride.

The Innoventions West breezeway is currently being stripped of the 1980s slick brown tiles in favor of a green swirling concrete walkway. I can only assume that they'll also do this in the Innoventions East breezeway.

Over at Imagination, they've opened up the passageway between the queue and the Imageworks. And some of you may remember what's in that passageway:




That's right, it's the caged off escalator from the old upstairs Imageworks that took you down to the Magic Eye Theater! I was shocked that this area was open to Guests, but who knows? It could be a way of generating excitement that the second floor will once again be open!

I finally got the chance to experience the new Kim Possible World Showcase Adventure, and I have to say that the Imagineers did an incredible job designing this attraction. It blends in seamlessly with the theming of the WS pavilions, and draws Guests deeper into the countries than they probably have ever gone before. Also, they're very fun to play (especially the UK mission)!


DISNEY'S HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS: Nothing too major going on here, now that Idol is open. Walls are still up in Pixar Place where the Luxo AA will be. No work yet either on Sounsdtage 1.

The only slightly different thing that I experienced was my final ride on the Great Movie Ride. I was in the Western cars, so I was fully expecting my guide to be replaced by a rogue bank robber. Not so. Sure, the bank robbery happened, but there was no fire and the guide returned to the vehicle. Even stranger was the scene where the bank robber attempts to steal the priceless jewel and the guide makes a triumphant return. Instead of the normal turn of events, the guide went up the left hand set of stairs, set off the recording, and everything went as normal except no skeleton appeared after the smoke.

I have no idea why the bank robber was scrubbed from this particular ride - anyone out there know the reason?

Other than that, the Studios were operating as normal. Well, as normal as you can be with Fantasmic! only showing for three days out of the week.


DISNEY'S ANIMAL KINGDOM: I noticed nothing out of the ordinary here, except that they uncovered one of the It's Tough to be a Bug! Fastpass machines for the exclusive use of the Birthday Fastpass Cards. Why anyone would choose to utilize their birthdat Fastpass on this particular attraction, where the wait is always 10 minutes or less, is beyond me.

On a side note, Dinosaur went 101 while I was on it, and I got to experience it briefly with the lights on. No, I didn't get to walk the track, and no, I didn't get a No Strings Attatched pass.


Those are the major updates to the theme parks. I'll post some more details of the trip later. For now, I have to prepare for what is sure to be another heart-attack inducing baseball game tonight.

See ya real soon, and GEAUX TIGERS!

Walt Disney World: Overlooked Treasures and Stories (Volume II)

Hello again, my fellow Disney fans. It's been a while.

When I last left you, we had just traveled up Main Street, USA. I certainly hope that you enjoyed that little tour. Now, we're off to go explore the wilds of Adventureland.

Adventureland is divided into two areas: the Arabian bazaar on the Main Street side and Caribbean Plaza on the Frontierland side. The land is themed as a whole not to one specific time or place, but is rather designed to capture the spirit of adventure. As a result, the Imagineers went out of their way to sculpt the landscape with a wide variety of lush vegetation, similar to what one would find in the wilderness. One Imagineer in particular, Bill Evans, was well-known throughout WDI for his knack to think of the perfect plant for any given spot. As a result, he was given his own special tribute on one of the Jungle Cruise's Fastpass machines.

This address label on a Jungle Cruise Fastpass machine is a tribute to Bill Evans. It also has some additional coded information on it - can anyone figure out what else this refers to?

While we're on the subject of the Jungle Cruise, now would probably be a good time to mention a quite interesting story that shows how WDI solves problems that was told to me by one of the Imagineers. Every so often, Audio-Animatronic figures need to be removed from attractions in something called the "cycle out" process, during which time the innards of the figures are restored and repaired. A recent example of this is the Chief Nami figure at the end of the Jungle Cruise, who went MIA for a few months in the summer of 2008. Since it didn't have that much of an impact on the attraction, there was no effort to replace him for those few months.

However, not all cycle outs are this easy. For example, a few years ago it became necessary to restore the rhino from the "Survival of the Fastest/Hole in Juan/Poke Ahontas" scene. Well this caused a slight problem: without the rhino there, the scene makes absolutely no sense. So after thinking long and hard about what to do, the Imagineers came up with a solution. They carved a rhino out of heavy-duty styrofoam to place in the scene while the AA was on cycle out. Additionally, they even spring-loaded the head so that it could put a hole in Juan or poke Ahontas (whichever joke you prefer).

Let's move away from the Jungle Cruise now and on to the Swiss Family Treehouse. Firstly, the Swiss flag over the treehouse is the only foreign flag to permanently fly above a Disney attraction. Quite interesting, huh? Secondly, the design of the tree was based off the tropical banyan tree, which actually has vertical roots that drop down from its outer branches to support the weight of the tree. WDI used this feature to their advantage, hiding the steel structural supports in these roots. Technically, the tree is classified as a "Disneyodendron eximus," a genus and species name that means "out-of-the-ordinary Disney tree." It is the only tree of this species in the world; the treehouses in the other Disney parks are of different species. After all, isn't it highly unlikely that trees of the same species would live in different environments throughout the world?

The vertical roots of the tree hide the steel supports in a natural way.

Adventureland also shows how the Imagineers never let anything go to waste. Around the Magic Carpets of Aladdin, you may notice that there are broken pieces of tile embedded into the pavement, giving the walkway the look of much-trodden on market dirt. The tiles are actually taken from a small building that had to be demolished to make room for the carpets - talk about recycling!

The Imagineers never let a good idea go to waste either. When Adventureland first opened with the Magic Kingdom in 1971, the group of wooden tikis that were by the Jungle Cruise were simply for area theming designed by the master of the sight gag, Marc Davis. After a few decades, the original wooden sculptures began to deteriorate and a need grew to replace them. WDI did just that, but they took it a step further and "plussed it," as they say. They reconstructed the tikis out of fiberglass, and added one of their favorite elements to the mix: water. Now, the Marc Davis Tikis are just as good as they were on opening day, plus they give park guests a chance to cool off on hot summer days.

And of course, no journey through Adventureland is complete without riding one of the greatest attractions to ever come out of WDI: Pirates of the Caribbean. The journey begins when you see the grand Castillo del Morro in Caribbean Plaza at the far end of Adventureland. The queue winds its way through this mysterious fort, passing by the famous scene of two skeletons sitting at a chessboard in a jail cell. Most people recognize it as a gag, but they don't realize just how morbid the gag is. In fact, this is one of the two most morbid jokes in all of WDW. Here's why...

Take a very careful look at the pieces on the board. Chess players will know that there is only one possible move. That one move can only lead to a string of moves that will end up with the pieces in the exact same spot as they were originally, thus making the game a perpetual stalemate. The two prisoners were so bored with themselves that they continued to play this stalemate out for ages and ages, eventually dying at the board. Their skeletons remain there to this day.

Like I said, it's a pretty morbid joke.

The never-ending game of chess in the Pirates of the Caribbean queue is rather morbid, contrary to what most park guests think.

Incidentally, the chess pieces got moved around accidentally during one of the refurbishments. When the Imagineers went to put it back, they realized that none of them remembered the arrangement to make the gag work. They checked all of Marc Davis's concept drawings for this scene and found nothing - until one Imagineer flipped one of the drawings over. Marc Davis had drawn a precise diagram of the board on the back of one of his concepts, and the scene was saved!

Pirates is also allegedly home to a ghost. Here's the story behind this one: While Pirates was being constructed, one of the workers (named George) mysteriously vanished. His ghost is said to haunt the attraction building. Every morning, the first Cast Member to arrive at Pirates must say, "Good morning, George," and the last Cast Member to leave Pirates must say "Good night, George." Legend has it that if this is not done, George will not let the attraction run properly for the day. Is it true? You'll have to figure that one out for yourself...

One more quick fact about Pirates of the Caribbean: I've mentioned the name Marc Davis quite frequently throughout our Adventureland tour. Marc Davis is responsible for the sight gags in many of the classic attractions (including two Adventureland ones, Jungle Cruise and Pirates of the Caribbean). As a result, he gets a hidden tribute in Pirates. If you look at the coat of arms above the Treasure Room (where you see a singing Jack Sparrow) in the attraction's finale, you'll notice that the family name is none other than Marco Daviso.

Well that just about wraps up our stroll through Adventureland, a land that is full of mystery, stories, legends, and secrets. I have shared some of these with you, and there are indeed many more that lurk in these parts - so many, in fact, that I'm sure that I don't know even half of them! Again, my deepest hope is that you not only had fun reading this, but that you learned something in the process.

I'll be seeing you soon. I'm off to Frontierland, I hear that those miners over at Big Thunder Mountain have finally struck gold....

Walt Disney World: Overlooked Treasures and Stories (Volume I - Main Street, USA)

A thought struck me today: I know a lot about Walt Disney World.

Another thought struck me today: What kind of friend would I be if I didn’t share this knowledge with you? I mean, most of these facts are quite interesting. So I now proudly present to you the first in a series of blogs about the hidden treasures and stories of WDW. I thought a good place to start would be in the Magic Kingdom (MK), and there’s no better place in MK to start than Main Street, USA, “gateway to the seven themed lands of the Magic Kingdom.”

A small note: I’ll be using some common Disney abbreviations. You’ll get used to them, I promise.

The first structure that you notice when arriving on Main Street is the train station. There are several points of interest about Main Street Station. Most notably, it serves as a departure point for the WDW Railroad, which guests may board at the platform on the second floor. The first floor of the station formerly housed the MK’s locker rental, but now rents out strollers and wheelchairs. There’s also an Arrival and Departure board, full of references to Disney ventures. Can anyone name any of them?

This schedule board is located in Main Street Station.

Main Street Station is also one of two buildings on MSUSA to be built at full scale. There are two reasons for this: firstly, since Guests have direct access to the upper floors, it was necessary to build it at full scale. And I’m thankful they did – could you imagine walking around a building that’s only 5/8 the size it should be?

The second reason is much more interesting. The size of the train station serves to block out the view of Cinderella Castle at the far end of Main Street. The Imagineers did this on purpose. You see, Imagineering has its roots in the movie business, and there is a big movie theme throughout Main Street. But I’ll talk about that later….

As I said, the train station one of two buildings on Main Street to be full size. The other is right next to the train station in Town Square: Main Street Exposition Hall. If this building were constructed using forced perspective (like the other MSUSA buildings), the Contemporary would be fully visible from Town Square and the show would be completely ruined. To prevent this from happening, the Imagineers built Exposition Hall at full scale to screen the Contemporary.

The windows on Main Street are also very significant. The names on the windows are all those of important people who played a major part in WDW history. The business names are made up to suit the hobbies or occupations of those honored. For example, Seven Summits Expeditions is run by a man named Frank Wells. In real life, Frank Wells was a former Disney executive who happened to enjoy mountain climbing. Another favorite of mine is one in honor of Joyce Carlson that reads “Dolls by Miss Joyce, Dollmaker for the World: New York, California, Florida, Tokyo,& Paris.” Does anyone know what this window means?

Joyce Carlson's Main Street window. Can anyone guess what she did and what these locations mean?

Each end of Main Street is anchored by a statue sculpted by Disney Legend Blaine Gibson. The more famous of the two is the Partners statue in the Hub, depicting Walt Disney and his most famous creation and best friend, Mickey Mouse. The other is located in Town Square and depicts Walt’s brother and business partner, Roy Disney sitting hand in hand with Minnie Mouse. These two statues are very indicative of both Disney brothers. Walt, the visionary, is taking a prominent position, pointing the way to the future, while the moneymaker Roy is sitting down in a more behind-the scenes role, just the way it was in through the mid 60s.

You may also notice that Main Street is on an incline. This also is done for two reasons. Firstly, the Magic Kingdom is 14 feet above sea level in order to provide room for the Utilidors (service tunnels beneath MK) at ground level. The Main Street incline serves part of this purpose. The other reason is more practical: going into the park, when you’re full of energy and excitement, you’re walking uphill. Leaving the park, when you’re tired and drained, your trek back is made easier when you walk downhill towards the exit. Clever, isn’t it?

As I mentioned earlier, Main Street is tied together by the movie theme. That’s really not a surprise, as you’ll find show business references throughout everything Disney: Cast Members wearing costumes playing roles, onstage, backstage, the whole drift. But Main Street is the perfect example of the Imagineers putting you, the Guest, right into the middle of a traditional movie without you knowing. It’s really pretty cool how it’s done.

It all starts when you arrive at the Transportation and Ticket Center. You can just see the very top of Cinderella Castle, and you get the little pang of excitement, just like seeing a movie poster outside the theater.

You then board the monorail, and as the castle grows closer and closer, you see more and more of it without seeing the whole thing. Consider this the movie trailer.

You finally arrive at the Magic Kingdom. You may notice that the pavement outside the gates and on the sidewalks of Main Street is red, just as movie premieres lay out the red carpet. In order to enter the park, you must go through one of the two entrance tunnels. The view before you begins to darken, just like a movie theater before the show begins. Then all of a sudden, you begin to be slowly immersed in the world of Main Street, just as a movie would fade into view.

Because of the way Town Square is built, the castle is still screened from view. You have to walk through the square, thus becoming more immersed in the story, before you round that final corner and see the magnificent view of Cinderella Castle, the movie’s title card.

But before the movie can really get started, there must be the credits, stating the names of the people who worked on the movie. And before you can start your day of fun in the Magic Kingdom, the windows above Main Street proudly display the names of some of the most influential people in WDW’s history. There are two windows for Walt Disney: one is on the train station, and the other is above the Plaza Ice Cream Parlor at the far end of the street. Thus, Walt’s name is both the first and last name you see, just as the director’s name is listed both first and last in the movie credits. These very same windows perform the exact same function at the end of the day in the form of the closing credits. Pretty cool, huh?

These are just a few of the interesting facts about Main Street, USA. Main Street is a land that is full of theming, inside jokes, tributes, and fun. I sincerely hope that you’ve not only learned something reading this, but have had a little fun while doing so.

I’ll be seeing you soon. I’m off to go meet Chief Nami in Adventureland. He said something about a two-for-one special….