Last Call for Nominations

Nominations for the BAA end TODAY! Here’s a quick update of the slate that members will be voting on next week:

  • Reporting Lead: Natalie McGuier (2nd Term)
  • Communications: Aileen Dinin (2nd Term)
  • Webmaster: Madison Scott
  • President: Ben Matzke
  • Team Outreach: Ethan Gladding
  • Team Outreach: Edward Cao

We are still lacking a nomination for a Treasurer/Membership Lead for next year. If you might be interested but are unsure of the commitment, feel free to reach out and our current treasurer Dan Becerra would be happy to tell you about what he does behind the scene.

Being the unique organization that we are, we are always open to suggestions for new seats or roles that may not currently exist. For example, Regional Outreach, Raceday Coordinator, Social/Party organizer, or whatever you think the BAA might be missing!

YOUR LAST CHANCE FOR NOMINATIONS IS TODAY!

SDC Reclaims Men’s and Women’s Titles

Congratulations to SDC on retaining and retaking the Men’s and Women’s titles in spectacular fashion! They are again in a league of their own setting new course records of 2:02.16 & 2:23.27!

If you didn’t catch the awards ceremony after the races, here’s what you missed:

  • King of the Hill: Jacob Hoffman – SDC A
  • Queen of the Hill: Mary Garrett – SDC A (previous queen)
  • Chairmen’s Choice: SigEp
  • Spirit of Buggy: Fringe
  • T-Shirt: SigNu
  • People’s Choice – Design: Inviscid – Spirit
  • Design Comp 1st: Inviscid – Spirit Blueshift – Fringe
  • Design Comp 2nd: Blueshift – Fringe Equinox – CIA
  • Design Comp 3rd: Equinox – CIA Inviscid – Spirit
  • Design Showcase Spark: Beyonce – SigEp

This was a fantastic year on many fronts. Special thanks to our Volunteer team this year who helped make these races happen. Thanks to cmuTV and their team who did a great job producing and filming this year’s races and of course own own broadcast team who kept up with challenging delays and schedule adjustments. We were impressed with the work done by Sweepstakes this year along with the extraordinary effort from the CMU Staff lead by Kaycee Palko.

Of course an extra huge shout out to our BAA board members this year who put in a tremendous effort writing Rolls Reports, the Raceday preview, running the Auction, and helping organize all of our various activities throughout the year! We would not be able to do what we do without their time and effort all year long.

Along those lines, if there are things you saw this year that you think should be run differently, it’s time to put your money where your mouth is! We will be running Nominations to fill our vacant board seats through the end of this week and holding elections the week following. Please check out this earlier post for more information.

NOMINATE NOW!

See you next year!

Saturday Events Schedule

Here we go again! Good luck to all teams, we will be watching for you to finish strong.

  • 8am – Exhibition Races – Flagstaff Hill & cmuTV
  • 9am – Finals Races – Flagstaff Hill & cmuTV
  • 4pm-7pm – BAA Happy Hour – The Porch in Schenley Plaza
  • 4:30pm – Awards Ceremony – Tennis Court Amphitheater

If you won a finals heat in the lead truck auction, be sure to stop by the BAA tent to check in before your heat. Here’s a handy map to help you find things around the course:

Friday Events Schedule

The Races are upon us if the rain gods cooperate. Here’s what’s going on for this potential first day of Racing:

  • 8am – 12pm – Prelim Races – Flagstaff Hill & cmuTV
  • 12:30pm – BAA Lunch Gathering – Donner Ditch
    • Food at All-Campus BBQ
    • Reserved area in Donner Ditch Tent
  • 1:30pm – History Of Buggy class of ’92 edition – Danforth Auditorium (CUC)

Nominations Update

So far we’ve had a few nominations but are still missing some key roles. Here’s who we have nominated so far:

  • Reporting Lead – Natalie McGuier (2nd term)
  • Communications – Aileen Dinin (2nd term)
  • Webmaster – Madison Scott
  • Team Outreach – Ethan Gladding

Remember, any graduated, or soon to be graduated alumni are eligible. Check our earlier news post for more info.

CLICK HERE TO NOMINATE

Thursday Events Schedule

Today’s the Day! CARNIVAL IS HERE! If you missed last night’s WRCT Broadcast, you can catch up on it RIGHT HERE.

If you’re in Pittsburgh for the weekend, be sure to check out the buggy things going on:

  • 10am-12am – Design Competition – Weigand Gymnasium
  • 12am-2pm – Design Showcase – Weigand Gymnasium
    • Presentation and Q&A from Robobuggy and Atlas discussing their Autonomas Buggy Projects.
  • 7pm – BAA Welcome event – Hough’s Taproom @ 563 Greenfield Ave

We can’t wait to see you!

Alumni Networks Challenge Update

We’ve made some progress, but we still haven’t broken half way to our goal. The end is near for this challenge so THERE IS STILL TIME! Thanks to those of you that have donated and helped us in this challenge. For those of you that are still on the fence, remember that it doesn’t matter how much, or where you send your donations. You could give 50c to the Kiltie Band and it would still count for us so long as you’re on our list, so don’t hold back!

WRCT Broadcast TONIGHT!

For those of you in Pittsburgh Tune in at 88.3 FM or if you’re outside the city, you can stream the broadcast at wrct.org @ 8pm EST

Hear from:

  • Jordan Kunz – Former SDC pusher and buggy fact man
  • Ethan Gladding – Up and coming Rolls Reporter
  • Randy Garcia – Current Spirit Co-Chair
  • Ben Matzke – Moderator for the evening

We will be answering questions Live during the show! Send us your thoughts and we’ll respond to them On-Air. We’ll be responding to as much as we can fit. You can:

Soon after the broadcast ends, our Lead Truck Auction will be entering it’s final hours with the cutoff @ 11pm EST, get in your bids and win a heat for you or a friend!

Remember, if you’ve never donated before, right now is the perfect opportunity thanks to the Alumni Challenge running through Raceday, if we hit enough new donors (not a monetary goal), CMU will give us a chunk of money that will go straight into making these races bigger and better! So you can win a heat in the lead truck, become a member and get the Raceday Preview, and help us towards our goal all in one!

Compubookie 2017

Compubookie managed to find our email again for their annual column. This year it did manage to get it together for the Tartan as well, so you many have been able to catch it in the most recent issue. With a little break in our own Raceday content, we’ve put it up here as well for all you alumni that don’t get the Tartan delivered. Now that our Lead Truck Auction is live, maybe this’ll help you choose an fun heat to watch.

Any comments made are those solely of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the BAA. Enjoy-

Another year, another carnival, another chance for me to make the same tired jokes. Guess who doesn’t feel even remotely sorry? According to the brand new data system installed, this is looking to be the fastest year mph-wise we’ve ever had. Freeroll times are faster than they’ve ever been, but with a huge speed bump in the chute this year, thanks Pittsburgh, there could be some shake-ups in chute time. We can pencil in SDC at first, so I guess the question is who will come in second?

I was wrong last year about Spirit. Their hill 1/free roll time combinations simply weren’t competitive for first place. Much of the race is getting up and over the hill, and Spirit wasn’t able to do that. That being said, their push team looks fast again, and if they can keep from spinning out in the chute (like they do every single morning rolls) or snapping another axle, don’t be surprised with a top 3 finish.

Mechanic failures were a scary narrative in last year’s race. SigEp had not one but two buggy failures causing crashes. For a team that was coming off three straight 2nd place finishes, that just cannot happen. SigEp, never to be counted out, has improved their PR with a very, ummmm, fitting pink and purple buggy they call Beyonce. Yet, if their hatch construction is any indication of their build, look for this to be another year riddled with mechanical failures for SigEp.

The Fishing Club is gone and PiKA is back. And to no surprise of anyone, they’re still the most annoying group of people ever assembled. This year they’ve shown their apathy again this spring with a false stop flag and clipping unaware pushers with buggies on hill 4/5 transitions. Their free roll times are not as fast as they have been in the past, but none of that will matter because they’re sure to miss the push bar and not make the second day. I know I for one will be very happy watching them flounder on the back hills, unable to reel it in again.

SDC still looks unbeatable, despite all of SigEps attempts to pull them down. They’ve been fast early, with freeroll speeds in March that teams would die for on race day. They have consistently had 5 buggies at rolls with malice leading the way per usual. Makes you wonder what’s hiding in those wheel fairings. Those SDC buggies do not age! Rage was built when people still thought of Fringe as a legitimate competitor. Whoever built that buggy should give some tips to SigEp before someone gets hurt! If they can assemble push teams as good as last year we may see a sweep of the men’s and women’s competition. How boring.

CIA hasn’t pulled out the furry costumes this year, thank god. They’re gonna be fast, with roll-ups past the fire hydrant, but their freerolls aren’t as fast as they were last year. Looks like again they just can’t quite compete with SDC. They need to pay find faster pushers! And maybe not get drivers DQd for loosening breaks to the point where they can’t stop their buggy.

Time for some predictions… @ Anonymous commenters, I’ll do better this year

Men’s Division:

  1. SDC A
  2. CIA A
  3. SDC B
  4. Spirit A
  5. SigEp A
  6. Fringe A
  7. CIA B
  8. PiKA B
  9. SDC C
  10. Apex A

DNF: PiKA A (Push bar)

Women’s Division:

  1. SDC A
  2. CIA A
  3. Fringe A
  4. PiKA A
  5. SDC B
  6. Spirit A
  7. CIA B
  8. Apex A
  9. Spirit B
  10. SDC C

The Field:

AEPi: We will miss waiting for you at the finish line

Apex: Heard some strange pusher incentivization rumors, yet you’re still slow?

CIA: Like SDC, but with slower pushers and more furry costumes

Fringe: On the Fringe of being a good org again, but only if you keep paying off the Fire Marshall

Phi Delt: Remember, Hill 2 extends all the way to Hill 3, might as well walk the buggy there at your current pace

PiKA: Push bar, Push bar, where art you thou Push bar. Even Fish couldn’t find it at the bottom of the sea.

SAE: The jorts suck. Your org sucks.

SDC: Like Freaks and Geeks on steroids… or at least the athletes you’re successful at bribing

SigEp: How does anyone feel safe driving for you? Make better buggies

Sig Nu: You’re still an organization????

Spirit: At least your push team has the appearance of being fast! That’s a consolation

Rolls Report: April 15 – Truck Weekend!

Can you believe it, buggy fans? We are just days away from the event we’ve been waiting all year for!!! Raceday 2017 is upon us, which means that this past weekend was our annual buggy dress rehearsal, a.k.a. Truck Weekend. Due to significant rain Sunday morning, it was really more like Truck Saturday, but that didn’t stop all 9 human teams and 2 robotic buggies from getting in those final few precious rolls.

After a grueling Heat Selection meeting last night, it is now confirmed that 22 women’s teams will roll in 10 heats and 27 men’s teams will roll in 12 heats. Stay tuned for the official schedule to be posted.

As per tradition, this rolls report isn’t going to contain too much information as we prepare to send out the much anticipated Raceday Preview. This year’s preview is jam-packed with team summaries, photos, alumni interviews, and predictions amongst other awesome buggy-ness. How do you get access to this amazing document? Simple: pay your BAA dues ($10). BAA dues go a long way to helping us keep you up-to-date on the latest buggy news as well as provide critical support to the current students. Plus, you get the Raceday Preview; that alone is worth the measly $10. You can join the BAA or renew your membership here.

Without further ado, the buggies that were rolling this Saturday and some sweet, sweet timing data!

In Attendance 

Org Saturday
Apex Phoenix, Ember, Kyle
CIA Equinox, Tempest, Orca, Impulse, Emperor
Fringe Boson, Bolt, Bissa, NB17
PhiDelt Argo
PiKA Cliodhna, Raptor, Banshee
SAE Lucy
SDC Malice, Havoc, Bane, Avarice, Rage
SigEp Barracuda, Kraken, Beyonce
SigNu Krait
Spirit Inviscid, Zuke, King Pin

Observations (Saturday Gallery)

The following data is a compilation of the laser-based system and the video-based system we have reported data from in the past. SDC, PiKA, Spirit, Fringe, and CIA are all, unsurprisingly, at the top of the pack. We’ll let you pour over the numbers though.

Remember, for a final wrap up of how the teams are looking before Raceday, pay your dues and check out the Raceday Preview!

Team Buggy Monument (mph) Steps (mph) Jumbotron (mph) Loss (%)
Apex Ember 28.5 21.6 24%
Apex Ember 26.3 27.6
Apex Kyle 31.8 26
Apex Kyle 32 25.4 21%
Apex Kyle 30.6 32
Apex Phoenix 30 24.8 17%
Apex Phoenix 30.8 25.1 18%
CIA Emperor 30.7 26.6 13%
CIA Emperor 29.2 30.4 26.4 13%
CIA Emperor 31 26.8 13%
CIA Equinox 34.1 29.2 14%
CIA Equinox 34 35.3 29.5 16%
CIA Equinox 36.1 29.7 18%
CIA Impulse 32.2 26 19%
CIA Impulse 29.9 31.3 25.5 18%
CIA Impulse 31 25 19%
CIA Orca 32.9 27.5 16%
CIA Orca 31.1 32 27.5 14%
CIA Orca 31.7 26.4 17%
CIA Tempest 34.8 29.5 15%
CIA Tempest 35.7 28.9 19%
CIA Tempest 34.7 29.5 15%
Fringe Bissa? 28.7 22.4 22%
Fringe Bissa? 32.9 25.4 23%
Fringe Bissa? 35.3 28.2 20%
Fringe Bolt 33.5 27 19%
Fringe Bolt 29.6 25.4 14%
Fringe Bolt 32.5 34.7 27.5 21%
Fringe Boson 28.2
Fringe Boson 31 26 16%
Fringe Boson 36.1 28.9 20%
Fringe NB17 36.1 28.4 21%
Fringe NB17 29.2
Fringe NB17 33.2 34.8 28.9 17%
PhiDelt Emily 27.3 28.6 23.5
PhiDelt Emily 25.6 21.1 18%
PhiDelt Emily 26.6 27.9 20.5 26%
PiKA Banshee 33.4 34.5 29.5 14%
PiKA Banshee 35.5 36.8 29.7
PiKA Banshee 34.5 35.7 28.4 20%
PiKA Cliodhna 34.7 27.3
PiKA Cliodhna 32.6 34.2 27.7 19%
PiKA Cliodhna 33.2 34.7 27 22%
PiKA Raptor 30 31.8 23.9 25%
PiKA Raptor 30.7 32.2 26.2
PiKA Raptor 33 28
SAE Lucy 34.1 27 21%
SAE Lucy 33.5 26.8 20%
SAE Lucy 32.7 25.4 23%
SDC Avarice 32.3 33.3 28.2 15%
SDC Avarice 31.5 27.5
SDC Avarice 33.6 28.4 16%
SDC Avarice 34.4 35.5
SDC Bane 35.2 36.1 30.6 15%
SDC Bane 33.1 28.2 15%
SDC Bane 32.1 33.3 28.2 15%
SDC Bane? 32.2
SDC Havoc 33.8 26.2
SDC Havoc 32.9 27.7 16%
SDC Havoc 31.4 32.4 26.2 19%
SDC Malice 34.5 35.3 29.5 16%
SDC Malice 35.7 30.3
SDC Malice 36.6 30.8 16%
SDC Malice 33.4 34.2 28.7 16%
SDC Rage 30.8 31.7 26.4 17%
SigEp Barracuda 33.9 27.3
SigEp Beyonce 21.8
SigEp Beyonce 27.3 28.7
SigEp Beyonce 29.4 31 25.4 18%
SigEp Beyonce 29.7 31 24.8 20%
SigEp Beyonce 28.7 29.7
SigEp Kraken 29.1 23.7 19%
SigEp Kraken 29.3 30.7 24.6 20%
SigEp Kraken 27.9 29.1 23.7 19%
SigNu Krait 33.5 35.3 27.7 22%
SigNu Krait 34.5 28.4 18%
Spirit Inviscid 34.7 28.4 18%
Spirit Inviscid 34.7 28.9 17%
Spirit Inviscid 33.4 34.8 29.7 15%
Spirit Kingpin 35.1 28.4 19%
Spirit Kingpin 34 35.3 27.5 22%
Spirit Kingpin 36 37.1 28.9 22%
Spirit Zuke 34.5 27.3 21%
Spirit Zuke 28.5 29.7 23.7 20%
Spirit Zuke! 35 36.8 27.5 25%

See you on Friday for prelims!

Rolls Report Contributors:
Shafeeq
Natalie M.