100 Years of Buggy History – 2016

Table of Contents: Intro & 1920; 1921-1923; 1924-1927; 1928-1932; 1933-1935; 1936-1939; 1940-1945; 1946-1949; 1950-1953; 1954-1956; 1957-1959; 1960-1963; 1964-1966; 1967-1969; 1970-1973; 1974-1976; 1977-1979; 1980-1983; 1984-1986; 1987-1989; 1990-1993; 1994-1996; 1997-1999; 2000-2003; 2004-2006; 2007-2009; 2010; 2011; 2012; 2013; 2014; 2015; 2016; 2017; 2018; 2019; Recap & 2020

Reminder: Along with these 2010s posts, we’re also doing a Raceday Rewatch, so you can join us at this link on Friday at 5pm ET (or rewatch it on your own later): 2016 Rewatch

This week, the 100 Years of Buggy History series heads to 2016. Newly paved roads and good weather led to lots of practice rolls, which helped some teams on Raceday, but not others. Spring Carnival moved to the buggy course, a missed pushbar decided a winner, and can you guess how many buggies PiKA entered this year? Go Fish.

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4/29 Town Hall Follow Up #2

Hi all,

This is the second follow-up update from the Town Hall. If you weren’t able to make it to the Town Hall, you can take a listen here. New updates are in Bold. The final follow-up post will come at the end of July where I’ll detail the budget situation in consultation with our Treasurer.

  1. Membership and benefits — Complete (3/31)
  2. Consolation print — In progress: The posters are printed and ready to be shipped! We just need your address. Silver and Gold members should check their email or can fill out the address form here. We’ll start shipping these very soon.
  3. Budget — In progress: As mentioned in the last update, no expected progress until fiscal EoY in July.
  4. Homecoming — Completed until Fall 2020 (3/31)
  5. New content including livestreamComplete! Thanks everyone who came out to Virtual Raceday 2020. We were able to still expand the broadcast with split screens, trivia, a live-chat alumni panel, and more. We’ll try to incorporate as many of these into Raceday 2021 as we can and hope you had as much fun as we did! If you missed it or want to watch again, you can watch any time on YouTube here! We’re still hosting Friday Night Rewatch to go along with the History of Buggy as we wrap up the first 100 years of Sweepstakes.
  6. Elections — In Progress: We have started receiving nominations for officers. You can nominate someone yourself here if you’d like. Nominations close on May 8th, and elections will follow.
  7. Gifts for students — In Progress: The students have come together and decided on a quarter-zip hoodie with the BAA Buggy100 logo. We’ll be finding cost estimates and finalizing the design and hope to be able to sponsor personalized embroidery for the nearly 50 graduating seniors that have agreed to a gift.



2020 Elections: Open Positions (VP and Graphics)

Hi all,

I’m writing today to post about our open officer positions in the BAA this election year, Vice President and Graphics. Our incumbent officers, Jeremy Tuttle and Ethan Gladding, have done a fine job but aren’t able to run for re-election so we need new folks! If you have someone you think might fit the bill, you can nominate them with this form. Here is some additional info about those positions:

Vice President:

The Vice President assists the other officers in their projects, and coordinates with Sweepstakes as necessary. While the President is often concerned with big picture planning and direction, and most other officers have fairly specific duties, the VP is a flexible role that can change to support the needs of the BAA and express the skillset of the person holding the office. During my time as VP, I took part in many different projects: I wrote copy for the Raceday preview; I researched historical data and did a bit of coding to improve our history database; I worked with Sweepstakes and other BAA members to help several new organizations set up buggy teams; I attended Raceday chairmen’s meetings to get fast, accurate information about schedules and DQs (for our community and for our historical records); and I threw countless ideas into officer discussions about what the BAA should be doing. None of these examples are specifically prescribed duties of the Vice President—they’re just some of the ways I chose to use the role. In truth, a good BAA VP candidate is someone who wants to improve Buggy, or Raceday, or the BAA in some way, and has some ideas for how to do it. If you read the BAA mission’s 5 stated goals and think, “I know how we could do some of those things better,” and you are excited to commit the time to make that happen, then the VP office is right for you.

Jeremy Tuttle, BAA Vice President

I’d like to add to Jeremy’s description that we are interested in having the Vice President also participate directly in the transition of leadership between Presidents in the future. This will be clarified in a revision of the bylaws (a summer project, stay tuned) as the officers work out the best vision for the VP position going forward.

Graphics:

This position is to provide design support for the various activities of the BAA. In addition to assisting the Communications and Reporting officers with graphical assets for Rolls Reports and the Raceday Preview, the Graphics officer is on hand to help out with projects like merchandise, video editing, and other communications, like social media. Although currently our Treasurer Bryan Arsham is doing a bang-up job of spreading the word on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, we’re looking to transition these responsibilities to the Graphics officer in order for each role to have more cohesive duties. The Graphics officer would also have opportunities to collaborate with CMU staff in Marketing and Communications, Media Tech, and potentially other departments working towards unified messaging to our supporters. Recently the Graphics officer has provided above-and-beyond support by collaborating on an open source Build Book to help new teams get off the ground.

Mike Darcy, on behalf of Ethan Gladding

We’ll post later this week about the other officer positions, but these are the two we need nominations for! Feel free to ask questions in the comments, and thanks to everyone who has already nominated someone.

100 Years of Buggy History – 2015

Table of Contents: Intro & 1920; 1921-1923; 1924-1927; 1928-1932; 1933-1935; 1936-1939; 1940-1945; 1946-1949; 1950-1953; 1954-1956; 1957-1959; 1960-1963; 1964-1966; 1967-1969; 1970-1973; 1974-1976; 1977-1979; 1980-1983; 1984-1986; 1987-1989; 1990-1993; 1994-1996; 1997-1999; 2000-2003; 2004-2006; 2007-2009; 2010; 2011; 2012; 2013; 2014; 2015; 2016; 2017; 2018; 2019; Recap & 2020

Reminder: Along with these 2010s posts, we’re also doing a Raceday Rewatch, so you can join us at this link on Friday at 5pm ET (or rewatch it on your own later): 2015 Rewatch

This week, the 100 Years of Buggy History series takes a look at 2015. Paved roads helped a bit, but a lack of practice rolls plus a deteriorating Frew Street and a rebuilding year led to a shock on the Women’s side and the closest (and slowest) race on the Men’s side in roughly 40 years. Meanwhile, more bad accidents led to an increased focus on buggy safety, while wheel experimentation reached it proverbial peak.

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Virtual Raceday and Officer Nominations

Thanks everyone who watched and participated in this year’s Virtual Raceday, helping create the most memorable spectator experience ever. While we were literally rewriting the history books, we also established the Buggy Endowed Fund, helped start multiple new buggy teams, and supported a fantastic podcast collaboration on Chute the Sh!t. I’m proud of all our officers and what we’ve been able to accomplish this year despite the circumstances.

I also want to specifically point out that this year has seen a huge surge of involvement by CMU staff. The spirit of Buggy has been so strong and it has been absolutely energizing to hear and see the enthusiasm for Buggy from staff and faculty at all levels. It’s hard not to expect big dividends from this involvement going forward as professional support enables us to do so many things that previously weren’t possible, like coordinated social media content, new Buggy themed events, and professional outreach. Huge thanks to Tim, Laurel, Annie, and everyone else for their fantastic work.

Although we’ve decided to hold back some of our projects for Raceday next year, we also were able to help design and prepare the widest selection of buggy themed stuff ever seen at CMU: from pins, 3d printed buggies, and shirts to shot glasses, banners, posters, and more, many of which will be available in the bookstore soon!

Lastly, it has been incredible working with current students this year. Seeing everyone come together in the face of these insurmountable obstacles has been inspiring. Although we won’t see the specific Raceday they envisioned, their impact will be felt for many years to come. For the graduating seniors, I hope that they can carry their camaraderie and spirit to every corner of the world as they start the next steps in their lives.

If you’re interested in participating more in this great collaboration, we’re currently accepting nominations for officer positions. Anyone more seasoned than this year’s graduating seniors is welcome to accept a nomination, and anyone can submit someone else for nomination. In particular, we are looking for a new Vice President and Graphics officer. You can read about the positions in the nomination form here, and we’ll have longer advertisements for individual positions later this week. We’ll also have recordings of Virtual Raceday content and updates on the other projects hopefully next week sometime.

Thanks again to all and see you next year!
Mike Darcy
BAA President

100 Years of Buggy History – 2014

Table of Contents: Intro & 1920; 1921-1923; 1924-1927; 1928-1932; 1933-1935; 1936-1939; 1940-1945; 1946-1949; 1950-1953; 1954-1956; 1957-1959; 1960-1963; 1964-1966; 1967-1969; 1970-1973; 1974-1976; 1977-1979; 1980-1983; 1984-1986; 1987-1989; 1990-1993; 1994-1996; 1997-1999; 2000-2003; 2004-2006; 2007-2009; 2010; 2011; 2012; 2013; 2014; 2015; 2016; 2017; 2018; 2019; Recap & 2020

Before we start, it’s Carnival Weekend! And even though we can’t all meet in person for Raceday 2020 this year, Sweepstakes and the BAA have put together a VIRTUAL RACEDAY 2020! Virtual Raceday 2020 will run from noon-3:30pm ET, and will include Race Showcases (including some videos that you’ve never seen before), Live Commentary from all of your favorite broadcasters, an Alumni Panel, Live Trivia (with prizes!), Class of 2020 Recognition, Interactive Content, and plenty more! So join us on Saturday at Noon ET in our Zoom webinar here, or in our live simulcast at cmubuggy.org/live. And if history is more your thing (and if you’re reading this, maybe it is), Tom Wood will be giving his annual History of Buggy presentation on Sunday at noon ET as part of Virtual Carnival 2020. You can register for his presentation here, or visit cmu.is/carnival for more information.

One more reminder: Along with these 2010s posts, we’re also doing a Raceday Rewatch, so you can join us at this link on Friday at 5pm ET (or rewatch it on your own later): 2014 Rewatch

This week, the 100 Years of Buggy History series focuses on 2014. It’s the 100th anniversary of Carnival! But a scary crash cast a pall over Raceday, while poor road conditions and wet weather led to tons of craziness on the day.

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100 Years of Buggy History – 2013

Table of Contents: Intro & 1920; 1921-1923; 1924-1927; 1928-1932; 1933-1935; 1936-1939; 1940-1945; 1946-1949; 1950-1953; 1954-1956; 1957-1959; 1960-1963; 1964-1966; 1967-1969; 1970-1973; 1974-1976; 1977-1979; 1980-1983; 1984-1986; 1987-1989; 1990-1993; 1994-1996; 1997-1999; 2000-2003; 2004-2006; 2007-2009; 2010; 2011; 2012; 2013; 2014; 2015; 2016; 2017; 2018; 2019; Recap & 2020

A quick reminder that along with these History of Buggy posts, we’re also doing a Raceday Rewatch! The 2013 Raceday Rewatch will begin at 5pm ET on Friday, April 10, and you can join us live on YouTube at this link (or rewatch it on your own later): 2013 Rewatch

This week, the 100 Years of Buggy History series focuses on 2013. Rain caused plenty of confusion this year, once again leading to a single official day of Men’s racing and an interesting answer to a trivia question. In addition, the number of Women’s teams had grown large enough to expand the Women’s Finals.

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Remote Raceday Livestream 4/18

Hi all,

We’re excited to announce a Raceday Rebroadcast Livestream on 4/18 at noon EST! The event will feature live commentary, clips of races and hijinks of years past, and a few live events such as an alumni panel!

You can submit any heat you’d like to see at the link here!

Any segment or regular part of the broadcast (yes, even Squirrel Cam) we are thinking about incorporating, but I can’t share too many details yet. There will be a detailed schedule to come, but roughly speaking, the first two hours will be races and accompanying segments, and the final hour and a half will be an awards ceremony, an alumni panel like what we do at Design Competition, and closing remarks.

We’re hoping to get the community very involved through the chat, live video, and through submissions of all kinds. If you have any ideas, feel free to share in the comments or on Discord!

Lastly, thanks to those who have attended our small scale livestreams these past couple Fridays, they’ve been very helpful to try out new things.

100 Years of Buggy History – 2012

Table of Contents: Intro & 1920; 1921-1923; 1924-1927; 1928-1932; 1933-1935; 1936-1939; 1940-1945; 1946-1949; 1950-1953; 1954-1956; 1957-1959; 1960-1963; 1964-1966; 1967-1969; 1970-1973; 1974-1976; 1977-1979; 1980-1983; 1984-1986; 1987-1989; 1990-1993; 1994-1996; 1997-1999; 2000-2003; 2004-2006; 2007-2009; 2010; 2011; 2012; 2013; 2014; 2015; 2016; 2017; 2018; 2019; Recap & 2020

Last week, we added a companion to this 100 Years of Buggy History Series – a Raceday Rewatch! While many of us are stuck at home, we will be continuing to do these weekly Rewatch events. This week’s Rewatch of Raceday 2012 will take place at 5:00pm ET on Friday, April 3, and you can join us here. If you were around for Raceday 2012, let us know and we’d love to get you onto the stream as well (rather than just chatting along). If you’re curious, last week’s Rewatch of Raceday 2011 is available here.

This week, the 100 Years of Buggy History series takes an in depth look at 2012. What was expected to be another close race didn’t quite turn out that way, as SDC began a stranglehold on the top trophies that would continue for the rest of the decade, including a record or two in the process. Plus, as one independent organization leaves for good, a group of freshman decide to start one of their own.

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100 Years of Buggy Future Present – Raceday 2020 Recap

PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania, April 1 – Following last week’s mysterious and unlikely predictions actually coming true, Sweepstakes made the emergency decision to move Raceday 2020 up 2.5 weeks, and the races were completed this morning.

As you may recall, last Wednesday a man claiming to be a future version of CMU President Farnam Jahanian requested that, for the sake of humanity’s future, Raceday 2020 needed to be moved to the beginning of April.  The Sweepstakes Committee, skeptical of this claim, demanded proof in the form of 3 upcoming events that would normally be unlikely to occur.  But after all 3 incredibly unlikely predictions – that the Pittsburgh Penguins would lose a game, that the Pittsburgh Pirates would win a game, and that Harry Styles would shave his head – all came true over the weekend, Sweepstakes had no choice but to heed Future-Farnam’s warning and move Raceday.

Farnam Jahanian of the year 2040 showed up on CMU’s campus to warn that, for the sake of humanity, Raceday 2020 needed to be moved up. After some other unlikely predictions came true, Sweepstakes made the move.

cmuTV and WRCT were both on the scene for Raceday, providing audio and video coverage of the races.  Unfortunately, a squirrel who had a run-in with Fringe’s Blind Faith earlier in the semester finally got his revenge, as he snuck into the production truck as soon as Raceday was about to begin and chewed through the wire that enabled the audio and video feeds to be broadcast over the internet.  The damage also prevented cmuTV from recording the video for future broadcasts, leaving the general public with no audio or video footage of Raceday.  Only those on the course were able to see the races. Luckily, this reporter stumbled out of bed at 3am for a leisurely stroll around Flagstaff Hill and managed to catch all of the races, to be able to bring this report to you!  I was joined by intrepid Raceday photographer Men Batzke, who was able to capture a few photos from Raceday to share.  Below is a recap of Raceday 2020.

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