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Davis-Hedrick Spat Continues

The frosty relations and arguments between American speed skaters Shani Davis and Chad Hedrick that transfixed the world during the Winter Olympics were widely supposed to have ended with last night's closing ceremonies. However, the feud has only just begun, as the pair continued to trade barbs on a coaster message board.

The latest incident came when Davis, using his handle of "SpeedRaptor3," posted a message to Ultimate Roller Coaster giving high marks to Goliath, the new B&M hypercoaster soon to open at Six Flags Over Georgia. Titling his post "Best cotser Ever!!!!!" Davis wrote that "Goliath holy crap this will be the best coatser ever ur an idiot if u dont think so. It looks awesome! New number one!"

Hedrick, a noted GCI fanboy, took the bait, replying (as "RumblerMaster") in a post that chided Davis for "being an idiot" and indicating that "B&M is two smooth, you suck, I like a nice feel of the woodies and Kintucky Rumbler will be the best woodie I have evah rode."

A flame war promptly ensued, and amongst the posts were ones where Davis accused Hedrick of refusing to slap hands with him during a HersheyPark ERT session five years ago and of "riding with his lapbar in an unsafe position," while Hedrick stated that he felt "betrayed" when Davis openly questioned the veracity of his coaster track record by pointing out to the enthusiast community that Hedrick always counts both tracks of a racer. Hedrick also noted that Davis was always causing trouble by trying to sneak a digital camera onboard rides with policies against such matters.

The flame war ended only when a moderator closed the thread, stating that one poster calling another a "poopyhead" was not allowed by the URC's Terms of Service Agreement. The two skaters are unperturbed. "I'll have my eye on Shani at least 23 hours per day," said Hedrick. "If you see him post something stupid, like the Wild Adventures Hangman is better than the Six Flags America Darien Lake Mind Eraser, I assure you that I will be there to put him in his place within seconds."

A post from Davis countering why the Hangman is a superior ride to any of the Mind Erasers is to be expected at URC within minutes, says a spokesman for the skater. "Shani will most likely also call Chad a fascist for his views on this matter while he's at it," the spokesman added.

--JCK