Posted on | by ben

As usual, this report is going to be a bit trimmed down from what’s been coming out so far this year. If you want to get the full report make sure you join up and become a member to get this year’s Raceday Preview. Due to some technical difficulties, the Preview is going to be a little delayed and should hopefully get out by tomorrow if not earlier, so you still have a chance to be first in line for all of the juicy details.

Truck weekend went surprisingly smoothly, thanks to some organizations cutting back on how many teams they will have on raceday. Several drivers managed to pickup their last few rolls and/or pass tests to qualify, but as usual, there are some stragglers who will probably be seeking forgiveness.

Qualified

Key: Qualified with at least one driver | Short on Rolls | Missing Pass Test

Org Buggies
AEPi Kamikaze
Apex Ember, Phoenix
CIA Icarus, Impulse, Orca
Fringe Bolt, Beacon, Bissa, Banyan
PiKA Banshee, Chimera
SAE Lucy, Rubicon
SDC Vice, Malice, Psychosis, Avarice
SigEp Kraken, Mamba, Barracuda, Pandora
SigNu Bungarus Krait
Spirit Zenith, Kingpin II, Zuke, Seraph, Haraka

Observations (Saturday Gallery | Sunday Gallery)

  • Despite lack of practice time this Spring, teams still looked as ready to race as always this truck weekend. Drivers have improved across the board from last week even working around the added metal plates that have been covering up some of the worse Chute potholes. There’s still one set of cones marking a particularly bad pothole which happens to be right in line of nearly every line. Teams have been toying around with whether to go on the inside or outside of the cones with varying degrees of success both ways.
  • All organizations managed to make it out both days, though there were some buggies missing from the usual lineup. CIA’s Freyja didn’t manage to make it out for the last two weekends, and at this point will have no chance of qualification. Similarly, SDC was trying hard to get Audasia Ho qualified in Avarice up until this weekend where they decided to cut her for the whole weekend.
  • Some people didn’t want to toss in the towel just yet. SigEp’s Kraken made it out both days and racked up an impressive 6 rolls, but she is still a couple short since she had only ever come out once before this year. SAE’s Rubicon was also seen on the course both days but only managed to get 2 rolls total for the weekend. With one more roll needed and a pass test, it would seem unlikely for SAE to be running more than A teams this year. Fringe is of course some of the big news. Going into the weekend with the highest number of needed rolls, Banyan managed to rack up 5 and Beacon 6 putting both just 1 roll short of qualification. If Sweepstakes decides to be strict this year, Fringe will have to cut their teams down by half. Deciding to skip that first weekend may not have been the best choice now.

Lead Truck Auction: Thanks to Everyone that participated in the Lead Truck Auction this year! We managed to raise around $900 this time around which is not too shabby, though not near as well as we’ve done in the past. The winners should be notified sometime today with schedule and payment information.

Grudge Match Lead Truck: Since there were no slots in the auction to bid on the lead truck for the two grudge matches, we are working on a way to open up that option. This will likely involve some form of in-person auctioning at design comp. More info on that to come.

RoboBuggy: Working in secret before sunrise, Robobuggy has returned to the course this year and is planning on rolling in an exhibition on Raceday. The little buggy still has some issues making it around the course like a normal buggy, but they’ve only gotten more reliable over the year and should make a good showing of it over Carnival.

Livestream: I apologize to anyone that was looking for the livestreams this semester. I am on a new phone plan with limited data currently, so we will have to find a new method for next year. I imagine there should be a way to get on CMU’s WiFi which would make everything much easier and smoother.

46 thoughts on “Rolls Report: April 5 & 6 – Truck Weekend”

    • Shafeeq says:

      Is Zenith really missing a pass test? It looked as if there was plenty of opportunity to have done one.

        • ben says:

          The sweepstakes roll counts have her listed as missing a pass test and not qualified. It’s most likely an error in the spreadsheet based off what you’re saying, but that’s where I got the info.

  • not spirit says:

    If I were spirit, I’d be pissed about that compubookie line about o’buggycare. It’s racist, and while it’s fine to needle the teams, racism should have no place in the sport.
    In case there are any doubts, compubookie is written by the sweepstakes chair. Maybe someone will escalate things on that racist son of a bitch.

    • Carl says:

      Eh, the AEPi joke is more racist. Unless I’m missing something about the AEPi joke (joke: ‘AEPi: All that money and no new buggy?’). Am I not supposed to infer that the joke is that because AEPi is a traditionally Jewish fraternity they should have tons of money because they’re Jewish?

    • Ryan says:

      “In case there are any doubts, compubookie is written by the sweepstakes chair”

      [Citation Needed]

    • ben says:

      Man, I was expecting something way worse after that comment. I don’t see the strong connection with the struggling healthcare overhaul that’s going on and racism at all. When did Obamacare become racist? did I miss something?

      Also, what Ryan said…

      • Ryan says:

        The joke is, Obama = Black, Spirit = Black, therefore Spirit = Obama.

        The only thing worse than the subtle racism is how fucking awful that joke was.

    • Sam Swift says:

      We have this discussion every year now. Compubookie isn’t funny. Compubookie is kind of offensive. Compubookie thinks that being offensive is funny, but is just endlessly repeating the same boring dim-witted associations between an organization and some stereotype.

      I can’t decide if the Tartan should hold their publication to a higher standard or if we should just stop caring enough to talk about it.

    • Ryan says:

      No, last years joke was SigNu: “If your buggy was the size of your chapter you might have a shot…for Day 2”

      All that pot must be messing with your memory.

  • Ryan says:

    Because Im tired of flipping back to The Tartan’s article on this, here’s the Jokes.

    The Field:
    AEPi: All that money and no new buggy?
    Apex: Not quite as disappointing as the Pioneers.
    CIA: Next time you ask PiKA for help, get their wheels.
    Fringe: Two wheels, no balls.
    PiKA: Historically great, but modernly irrelevant.
    SAE: No pledges. No pushbar. No problem.
    SDC: Only winning when there’s no competition.
    Sig Ep: Better at buggy than Greek Sing.
    Sig Nu: Smoking everything but the competition.
    Spirit: Will O’BuggyCare crash as well?

    Source: http://thetartan.org/2014/4/7/sports/compubookie

  • definitely not spirit says:

    I understand the crap that compubookie finds funny is just that, crap. But isn’t the prediction side of things more important than her attempt at humor?

    e.g. Fringe A placing 3rd is a pretty good joke….

    • ben says:

      Care to elaborate? To me it looks like everybody except SDC (and maybe Spirit?) is a mess this year.

      • definitely not spirit says:

        when you struggle to qualify buggies, i believe 18 rolls over 3 buggies heading into truck weekend, you (as in Fringe) stand out as the biggest “mess”. I’d easily drop Fringe A two spots and bump Spirit A a spot

          • Shafeeq says:

            Ending truck weekend in the bales worked out alright for SigEp last year….
            Hate to think what the punishment is for a FOAD who leaves a wheel loose…

          • definitely not spirit says:

            point taken. either way, SDC is walking with away with 1st anyway, which is what everyone is after

  • redtachyon says:

    Embrace the potholes and cones. Add a slalom event to the races. Winners for both races and combined.

  • felmley says:

    Funny, but the Spirit alums were talking about how they were not as pissed off this year as after many of the past Compubookie press releases. Maybe we are used to it now. We did find the “jokes” lame, tired and trifling, but that seems to be the consensus across the board for every organization posting here.

    As noted in my opening sentence, this IS a press release, and The Tartan is under no obligation to publish it, if they find it offensive. Also, it is arguably the annual “voice” of Sweepstakes to the campus community for Carnival. To which, if anyone read it for the first time they would most likely have the same reaction as we do: “what a jerk”. There was no other Sweepstakes coverage in the paper, either in the online or downloadable version. They do not even explain the whole “compubookie” concept, just list it as “special to the Tartan” So, if this is the faceless voice of Buggy are we happy with how we sound to outsiders?

  • the Pope says:

    CB: The content and value have varied over the years. The jokes have mostly sucked and get stale quickly. In better years, there was some actual insight and discussion of what was likely to occur. In weak years, it has been a poor attempt at humor.

    To Felmley’s point, no, this is not how buggy should be represented. Despite the idea of using cmubuggy.org preview to coax members into paying dues, it or a short version of it would make an excellent alternative to this junk. If we want buggy to thrive as a sport at cmu, helping get people on campus fired up would be a goodly step. This incoherent list of insider insults seems unlikely to move the dial on interest. Now, where did I put my bong…….

  • definitely not spirit says:

    I think the Tartan replied appropriately as the section

    “The Field… has been removed due to the inappropriate nature of the comments.”

    I don’t feel that many of the jokes this year were below the belt, but the ones that were are quite low reaching (Spirit and AEPi being the ones that take the cake).

    Why has there been such hate towards Spirit over the past few years (perhaps historically)? I guess a better way to ask is why are there just lame jokes for everyone but down right awful jokes against Spirit?

  • Jake says:

    Prefaced with: I think none of us should care one iota what compubookie says He’s only correct prediction this year is SDC A (probably) winning. I agree that Spirit takes a drubbing from Compubookie… but read last year about sigep, or AEPi this year. I don’t think it’s much better. Don’t feel victimized; woe-is-me won’t fix anything. Maybe compubookie has it in for ya’ll, maybe not, maybe who cares.

    I read it, enjoy the 5 seconds of jerry springer OOOHHH BURN, then realize it’s stupid/mean, then forget promptly about it. I think working ourselves up over it is weak and lame.

    I’m more concerned with the raceday preview. I would love an online version free to the public…. maybe we can goad alums into paying dues another way. I love the wild speculation and guessing in this sport; especially because it has almost no bearing on the leaderboard, due to the unpredictable nature of how things will go. I’d ALSO like a *real* commentary recap of raceday afterwards, for analysis and rehashing. For instance: Should that re-roll have been granted? Was it a good strategic choice? Who’s wheels look fast? Should the have been DQ’d? What’s their potential next year; how many seniors were on that push team?

  • Ryan says:

    Every team that asked for an exception was granted an exception. Every buggy on Matzke’s list is approved to roll on raceday, including CIA’s Freyja which is not listed.

Comments are closed.