SDC Reclaims Men’s and Women’s Titles

Posted on | by ben | 4 Comments on 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

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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

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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

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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!

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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

Posted on | by ben | 19 Comments on 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

Pre-Raceday WRCT Broadcast

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Wednesday night, just before the end of the Lead Truck Auction, a group of current buggiers and alums will gather and discuss the past year and the upcoming races.

Mark your calendars and listen in from anywhere in the world on wrct.org. This time around, we will also be answering questions live from social media, as well as questions posted to this site!

Be sure to join the fun and listen in Wednesday April 19th at 8pm EST on 88.3FM Pittsburgh or stream it online at wrct.org

Unfortunately the 2016 broadcast was lost to the black hole, but feel free to relive past years with these previous discussions.

2015
2014
2013 – pt. 1
2013 – pt. 2
2006 – Raceday

2017 Lead Truck Auction Details & Alumni Challenge update

Posted on | by ben

Alumni Challenge Update

No movement… if you or people you know haven’t yet become a member (or donated any amount), what are you waiting for?! We do not have a monetary goal, only a number of new people. If we reach our goal, we will be rewarded with funds from the university that will go straight to the support and advancement of Sweepstakes!

2017 BAA Lead Truck Auction

The BAA is once again holding our lead truck auction this year. It’s the one chance you (or a buggy fanatic in your life) have of being right in the middle of the action on Raceday. You’ll sit in the back of the lead truck for whatever race(s) you can win!

Proceeds help with all the costs of putting on such a spectacular event. Due to limited sponsorship this year, the BAA will be directly sponsoring the races with funding to cover the Jumbotrons this year.

Here’s how it works:

  • The auction will open at 9 AM EDT on Tuesday April 18th. A link will be posted on our website here.
  • Just like last year, we will run the auction on a third-party website. You will need to create an account with the auction site, and you can set up email alerts if you are outbid. Each heat will have a $10 minimum bid. The minimum bidding increment is $1. You may specify a maximum amount you wish to bid for any heat. Then, the site will automatically increase your bid in $1 increments as needed until your maximum is exceeded by someone else.
  • There will be separate auctions for each heat of Day 1, and picks for finals heats will be split up into multiple items meaning that you will be able to bid for multiple finals picks. For example, you could bid separately for 1st pick of the men’s finals and 2nd pick of the women’s. This will also allow you to potentially win multiple finals heat picks, though for the sake of inclusiveness we encourage you to only bid for one of each men’s and women’s picks.
  • Bid as much as you want, as often as you want until the auction closes at 11:00pm EDT on Wednesday April 18th
  • We will send out an email to the winners, along with instructions on how to collect your winnings.
  • On Raceday, check in WELL BEFORE your heat at the BAA tent between the finishline and broadcast booth and sign the waiver. Then you must be in the lead truck on Hill 1 before the start of your heat. If you’re late, then you miss your chance. The BAA cannot be the cause of delays.
  • Lead truck rides are transferable. If you can’t be in town or don’t like trucks, feel free to bid on an auction and then tell us who gets to take the ride. You can also just will it to your organization of choice and we’ll let the lucky team pick who gets to ride. All riders must be at least 18 years old.

If you have any questions, be sure to email Dan at danbecerra@cmubuggy.org or comment below, we want to address as much as we can before the auction.

We are, of course extremely thankful to sweepstakes for allowing us to use a spot in the lead truck to create this opportunity and raise some money so that the Buggy Alumni Association can pursue its mission to support buggy.

Fine Print Details

  • All heats will be auctioned simultaneously
  • The bidding will start at 9:00am EDT Tuesday April 18th
  • Bidding will end at 11:00pm EDT Wednesday April 19th
  • Payment must be received before winners take their rides. Credit card payment will be available and is strongly preferred. Cash and Check will also be accepted at the races.
  • All winning bids will be considered a gift to the Buggy Alumni Association. We have worked closely with the university to make sure that your gift to the BAA is also credited as a gift to Carnegie Mellon. Be assured that 100% of your gift will go to the Buggy Alumni Association. Also, if you’re an alum celebrating a reunion, your gift to the BAA will be counted towards your class totals.
  • For tax recognition purposes the donor can only claim their gift amount above the Fair Market Value of the Ride Auction. The fair market value of the Buggy Alumni Association Ride Auction is $10.00. Only the amount of your donation above the fair market value of the EVENT is tax deductible. Please consult your tax advisor for more information.
  • If two people specify the same maximum bid, and the auction ends without any higher bids, the person that entered their maximum bid first will be the winner.
  • The end time (11:59pm EDT Wednesday April 19th) is fixed. There will be no extensions to allow for last minute bids. Get your bids in early and make use of the max bid feature!
  • Any heats that get rained out or otherwise cancelled will just void the auction for those heats. Of course, if winners of cancelled heats want to make their donations anyway, we won’t complain.
  • Winners should be present at the BAA tent at the top of hill 2 at the end of the preceding heat. Failure to show up in a timely manner will result in forfeiting the ride. We can’t be the cause of any delays, so the Buggy Alumni Association will have to be conservative in our estimation of “timely manner.” Be there!
  • The Buggy Alumni Association and Sweepstakes reserve the right to refund donations from and refuse a ride to anyone that is intoxicated or otherwise unable to safely ride in the back of a truck.
  • No rides may violate Pennsylvania’s laws concerning riding in a pickup truck. Basically this means the passenger must be over 18.
  • Sweepstakes also reserves the right to cancel rides and have us refund donations if they need to for any reason.