Rolls Report: Sept 25 & 26

With clear skies and temperatures in the 50s and 60s, eight teams made it out and put on a good show for us spectators.  There were new drivers still meandering down the hill with a slew of bags, but also some vets putting down times that would be competitive in April.  Three buggies ended up in the bales, and some others got close enough they could smell the hay on the way by.
In Attendance (buggies listed newest to oldest)

Org Saturday Sunday
AEPi Kamikaze Kamikaze
CIA Freyja, Renaissance, Firebird, Quasar Freyja, Renaissance, Firebird
Fringe Borealis, Bedlam, Blizzard Borealis, Bedlam, Banyan
PiKA Chimera, Knightfall, Zeus Chimera, Knightfall
Pioneers Chaos
SDC Avarice, Malice, Addiction, Rage Avarice, Malice, Addiction, Rage
SigEp Peregrine, Barracuda, Pandora Peregrine, Barracuda, Pandora
Spirit Seraph, Fuko, Haraka Fuko, Haraka

Observations (Saturday gallery | Sunday gallery) Continue reading

Rolls Report: First fall rolls 2010

Now that I’ve built some serious suspense by coming out with this report 4 days late, I hope it lives up to the hype.  Sorry for the delay, don’t get out of the habit of checking on monday mornings.  We’ll get back on schedule.

It’s an established fact now, electing the sweepstakes committee in the spring is the way to go.  In the past, a new committee would scramble to figure out what was going on through September and rolls would usually start sometime in the second half of October.  Last year worked well, but it could have been a fluke.  But for the second year in a row now, rolls have gone off without a hitch on the 3rd weekend of September.  It’s also worth noting that things weren’t just running, they were running smoothly.  Barricades were out; people were doing their chores or covering for others as needed; only the weather held things up.  The course was blanketed in some serious fog on Saturday that kindly dissipated so that CIA could take the first rolls of the year with some visibility.

In Attendance (buggies listed newest to oldest)

Org Saturday Sunday
AEPi Kamikaze, Zephyrus
CIA Freyja, Renaissance, Firebird Freyja, Renaissance
Fringe Borealis, Banyan, Blizzard Borealis, Banyan, Blizzard
PiKA Nemesis, Chimera, Knightfall, Zeus Nemesis, Chimera, Zeus
SAE Rubicon
SDC Malice, Rage Avarice, Addiction, Rage
SigEp Peregrine, Barracuda, Pandora Peregrine
Spirit Fuko, Haraka Seraph, Fuko

Observations (Saturday gallery) Continue reading

Welcome back to buggy!

Sweepstakes has been on their game since they were elected last spring, the chairmen have met, the drivers have had their meeting, the chores have been assigned, and I am way behind on keeping you up to date.  To make up some time, I’m going to revisit a couple of posts from last fall.  First a summary of who we’ve got on the course this year (compare to the 2009 edition), and then some benchmarks from previous semesters

Orgs in and orgs out

Overall, it looks like raceday 2011 is likely to be down a few teams from 2010, but here’s what we know kicking things off (from bad news to better news)

  • Sigma Nu (2 teams in ’10) – Perhaps the biggest loss to the current roster of buggy teams, but also the least finalized decision.  SN is still on campus and they still have nice shiny buggies and fast wheels waiting in their garage, but they seem to be short on energy and manpower.  Although their impact as a competitor has been slipping the last few years, they were always one of the reliable, year-round, core organizations.  Perhaps last year’s pair of DQs on their only two teams was the straw that broke the camel’s back or maybe they’re just storming out the door so we’ll realize how much we miss them and beg them back.  Do your begging in the official “Hey SigNu” thread in the forum.
  • PhiKap (2 teams in ’10) – It was looking like PhiKap’s presence in buggy might have been on the up-swing as they ramped up to 3 buggies and told us in the fall that their goal was to make top 10.  They came really close with an 11th place finish, but it looks like they won’t have a chance to try again.  Semi-official word around campus is that PhiKap will not be around any longer due to some ill-advised college guy type antics.  Speculation and rumor mongering is mixed in with the SN thread starting here.
  • ZBT-KKG (2 teams in ’10) – The co-ed greek partnership seems to be ending after a year as ZBT is no longer active and KKG isn’t up to going it alone for the time being.  I’m not too clear on what ZBT’s status is on campus. Continue reading