This weekend was Homecoming at CMU. Alumni who were back on campus got to see the CMU football team take home the 37th annual Academic Bowl, taste the various chilis at the 20th Annual CMU Chili Cook-Off, and attend the official grand opening of the new Scaife Hall. But most importantly, they were able to fill up on donuts and coffee courtesy of the BAA at Rolls! It was a full weekend of Rolls, with 7 orgs out each day and a lot of time to roll, leading to over 120 individual rolls across the 9 total organizations. It wasn’t without hiccups though, as the near-freezing temperatures saw a couple of buggy parts littering the course and one – well, two – very close calls with a bicyclist.

The one buggy we could ALL probably fit (well, other than Limo)

• Too Hot To Handle. The buggy course had some surprise guests on Sunday. A fire at Donner Hall (not sure if it was real or just an alarm) brought out the Pittsburgh Fire Department. And when they were done putting out that fire, they decided to pay a visit to buggy. Spirit was even able to get a few firefighters involved, as they helped catch Seraph and Zuke after those buggies completed the course.

• Apex. Along with Scorch, Molotov was back out on Saturday for the first time since the first day of Rolls. The buggies got 3 and 2 rolls in, respectively, with no reported issues. Some bagged rolls did give some extra pushing practice to the Hill 3 pushers, but other than that, no news is, as always, good news.

Good thing the firefighters didn’t come out on Saturday, or Apex might not have had any bugg

• CIA. CIA decided they weren’t content with merely leading the Fall roll count – they had to dominate it. With 9 rolls on Saturday and another 8 on Sunday, Roadrunner with new driver Amber has accumulated a massive 50 rolls so far this Fall (of course, only 8 count towards Raceday qualification). It wasn’t all smiles for CIA though. Near the end of the day on Saturday, a rogue bicyclist decided to ignore the pleas of onlookers to “get off the road”, and came barrelling head on towards not one, but TWO different CIA buggies coming out of the Chute turn and up Hill 3/4. Thankfully, no contact was made with either buggy, but no doubt the buggy drivers couldn’t have been too happy to see a bike in their path.

The new Browning Family Garden & Buggy Viewpoint gives a great view of Equinox NOT hitting a bicyclist.

• DG. DG was out on Sunday for the second time this Fall. With 3 rolls this weekend, returning driver Ines has a full allotment to carry over for the Spring. We didn’t hear anything about their rolls, which can only mean they went smoothly.

Insite managed to avoid our cameras this week, but maybe one of these people was a DG pusher?

• Fringe. Fringe had the most individual buggies out this weekend, with 3 on Saturday and a different one on Sunday. The rolls were quiet and clean. They were also reportedly one of the most excited teams out there, with “enthusiastic” pushers pushing up the backhills, according to one of our reporters. They may have been a little too enthusiastic though, as during one roll on Saturday they began pushing before they had been cleared by Sweepstakes. Word got to the team in time though and they were able to stop before the start of the freeroll, waiting until they were cleared to continue on.

Burnout – Another buggy that thankfully avoided a firefighter’s wrath by coming out on Saturday

• PiKA. PiKA continued their trend of having multiple drivers in Raptor on Saturday, with 3 drivers for their two buggies out that day. Sunday was a more tailored approach, with just 1 driver out for Raptor getting 6 rolls in. The rolls were mostly clean, except for one roll on Saturday during which Raptor’s top hatch flew off in the Chute. Buggy and driver continued on without issue, minus a bit of a cold draft. The draft wasn’t too strong though, as limited manpower meant that PiKA’s backhills were being ironmanned by one person, leading to several buggies being jogged up the backhills through the day.

Duct tape – A buggy hatch’s best friend.

• SDC. SDC reportedly had a lot of Kenergy with Vice out on Saturday and Vanity on Sunday. Sunday went fine with Vanity getting 7 rolls in, but Vice didn’t fair as well on Saturday. Early in the day, Vice came to a stop in the freeroll for an unknown reason, but after a quick inspection everything was fine, so Vice was cleared to continue was pushed through the Chute and backhills. Later in the day though, Vice suffered a much bigger problem, as the rear outrigger clipped the outer haybales in the Chute, causing the rear axle to appear to snap and sending the buggy spinning into the haybales and skidding to the end of the Chute. The driver was OK, but the buggy wasn’t as lucky – one SDC member was overheard saying “well, that f–king sucks”. Hopefully it’s a minor issue and we’ll see Vice back out on the course soon.

SDC with full Kenergy this weekend

• SigEp. SigEp was back out for the second week in a row, this time with just Hydra on the course. They picked up 5 rolls on Saturday, giving new driver Mia 6 this Fall. No reports of any issues this week, though there were some bagged rolls that led to some long Hill 3s.

Hydra gave some Hill 3 pushers a little extra practice this weekend.

• SigNu. Swapping one Sigma fraternity for another, SigNu was also out for the second week in a row, coming out on Sunday. They were able to get 3 rolls in for Jaeger, with only 1 minor hiccup. During one roll, the SigNu driver reportedly had either their windshield or goggles fog up, causing the driver to miss the Chute flag. The driver came to a controlled stop without issue, and neither buggy nor driver were any worse for wear.

Jaeger on the Backhills

• Spirit. Spirit continued their very efficient, productive string of Fall rolls, with both Seraph and Zuke out both days, picking up 11 and 13 rolls between them. Outside of the aforementioned firefighters getting the chance to participate by catching the Spirit buggies in one roll, we didn’t hear anything about Spirit this week, so they seem well on their way to once again fighting for the top of the Men’s, Women’s, and All Gender divisions. And while CIA may have the lead in Fall rolls, Spirit has been no slouches themselves, with 36, 35, 18, and 18 rolls for their 4 buggy-driver combinations this Fall.

One of Zuke’s 13 rolls this weekend