Fantasy Buggy ON for this weekend

Posted on | by Sam Swift

An unexpected dose of rain/snow hit Pittsburgh Saturday morning and put the kibosh on most of our fun Céilidh plans, but not all was lost.  We were still in the mix of events in the UC with our table full of info and popular “Future Buggy Pusher” shirts for the kids.  Tom Wood’s fall 2011 edition of the History of Buggy was well attended and featured the 2011 winning buggy, Bonsai next to PiKA’s T-2 from 1968.  Thanks to everyone who came out for the talk or to chat with us at the table.

We were very sorry to miss out on rolls because we had donuts and coffee ordered and quite a few folks were planning on coming out, but also because we were excited to find out who took home the $250 prize for Fantasy Buggy.  Don’t worry, we’ll get a winner no matter how many times the weather screws with us.  Here are some new details:

  • Times for Fantasy Buggy will now be taken this Sunday, Nov 6th.
  • Sunday was picked instead of Saturday because daylight savings ends Sunday morning, meaning rolls on Sunday will be 1 hour longer, starting around 7am.
  • New entries will continue to be accepted until 11:59pm this Friday, Nov 4th.
  • If you entered previously and something about the change of date/start time/weather/moon phase affects your meticulously calculated predictions (or if you’ve just changed your mind), you may submit a new entry.  Make sure you use the same name and e-mail as your original entry.  Submitting a second entry completely replaces your first entry.  No take-backs.

http://cmubuggy.org/fantasy 

Also, FYI aspiring journalists on the buggy beat, I’ll be missing rolls one last time this semester, so leave a comment or send an e-mail if you would like to help put together the rolls report and I’ll hook you up with the google doc on which you can collaborate.

Introducing Fantasy Buggy

Posted on | by Sam Swift | 7 Comments on Introducing Fantasy Buggy



numberFire is a CMU-style, stats-driven fantasy football oracle founded by buggy alum and cmubuggy.org regular Nik Bonaddio. nF is sponsoring the prize in our first ever fantasy buggy game. Check them out, the numbers are good.

Buggy is the best.  Fantasy sports are fun.  Why did we not think of this earlier?  The Buggy Alumni Association brings you for the first time ever, Fantasy Buggy.  Even better, this is for the big time.  Make better picks than anyone else, and you’ll walk away with $250, enough for a ticket to carnival (or almost enough, depending on where you live and how good you are at shopping for tickets).

You can get the full details here  http://cmubuggy.org/fantasy

The basic idea is that you are trying to pick the fastest team you can from the rolls that happen next weekend during the Céilidh festivities, Oct 29th.  To do so, you must pick 4 freerolls and 4 backhills.  The sum of those times is your score (see the detailed rules).  The tough part?  You can only make one pick from each organization.  Every entry will need to pick one element from each org on the course.  You’re rooting for everyone this homecoming!

Here are some more details on the rules, but hit up the fantasy buggy page for the full details and to make your picks.  One entry per person, so choose wisely.  All picks must be in by Friday Oct 28, 11:59pm.

Basics

  • Pick 4 freerolls and 4 back hills
  • Each pick specifies Org-Roll-Buggy-Segment (e.g. SigEp-Roll2-Barracuda-Freeroll)
  • Must make 1 and only 1 pick from each org
  • 1 entry per person

Scoring

  • Score = total of 4 freeroll times + 4 back hill times
  • Segments that don’t happen (the buggy isn’t out or doesn’t roll the specified roll) are given that org’s worst time +1 second
  • Spins or stops are given the overall worst time + 2 seconds
  • Women’s freerolls are given their time – 3 seconds
  • Women’s backhills are given their time – 6 seconds
  • Tie-breaker: closest guess on winning men’s hill 2->finish time

Get it?  If not, leave a comment and we’ll sort things out.  Tell your friends!

Get ready for some Céilidh (Homecoming)

Posted on | by Sam Swift

> CMU has decided “homecoming” is way too mainstream for a campus that spends more time pushing small women down hills than we do watching our football team. Get ready for some Céilidh. I still can’t pronounce it, but it does seem to be drawing some extra energy into what was once a pretty dull event on campus. It’s still about the alumni, and we are the Buggy Alumni Association, so we’re stepping up our game…

Without further ado, the lineup of exciting events for the very first Céilidh weekend, Saturday October 29th (that’s next weekend, not this weekend)

  • Fantasy Buggy.  That’s right, the NFL’s got it, the MLB’s got it, (I think the NHL must have it, but I’m not sure anyone plays), and now we’ve brought it to buggy.  Whether you’re going to be in town or following along from home, fantasy buggy is your chance to get rich off buggy for the first time.  We’ve got a cash prize on the table and if you can pick the fastest rolls of the day, it’s all yours.  Details coming out first thing tomorrow.   Make your picks between tomorrow and Friday the 28th, times collected on Céilidh.
  • Mini-mini-Raceday.  Sweepstakes is also putting up some TBA prizes for the teams that can put down the fastest times on Sept 29th.  This year’s committee has decided to up the ante by offering prizes for men’s and women’s times, but also for the best downhill and backhills times.  Should make things interesting.
  • Free BAA Coffee and donuts.  Come out for rolls on Céilidh Saturday and find the BAA alumni table at the top of hill 2.  If you’re in town and you’re going to come out to rolls once this semester, make it Céilidh.  We’ll hook you up with some snacks and good fantasy buggy trash talk.
  • Actual breakfast at rolls.  The Exchange (formerly Ginger’s Deli (formerly The Fluted Mushroom)) will be open during rolls in anticipation of the larger than normal crowds.  Stop by and get some egg-and-cheese sammiches, etc.
  • History of Buggy.  Tom Wood will be giving his critically acclaimed account of the history of buggy.  Come on by Rangos I & II, University Center from 2:00p – 3:30p to get yourself educated.
  • BAA Membership & Info table.  This probably isn’t too exciting if you’re already reading the website, but we’ll be out tabling from 11:30-3:30 in the UC.  Stop by and say hi!
This is shaping up to be a pretty alright homecoming, so for real, if you’re in town and you’re thinking of coming out sometime, make it this weekend, and we’ll see you out there.

Rolls set to start Sunday, here we go again

Posted on | by Sam Swift | 10 Comments on Rolls set to start Sunday, here we go again

It’s that time of year again at the corner of Tech and Frew.  The permits are in and this Sunday the 18th is the first potential day of rolls.  The chairmen have been meeting for weeks, the drivers have had their meetings, and at least a few teams have their capes taken care of.  Currently these are the teams in the mix:

Ready to roll: CIA, Fringe, SDC, SigEp
Capes scheduled:  AEPi, KapSig, Spirit
Status unknown:  DTD/TriDelt, PiKA, Pioneers, SAE, SigNu

Those ranks are looking a little thin if the status-unknown crowd doesn’t show up soon.  Last year started with 8 orgs, so 7 isn’t that big of a drop but it’s the wrong direction for sure.  The schedule of fall freerolls is extensive though, so there’s time for the stragglers to get out.

Here at BAA headquarters, we’re preparing for another year of covering the buggy news you crave and generally putting the rest of the internet to shame.  Our #1 goal while we do that this fall is to get more people involved.  Personally, I’m about to (finally) finish grad school and it’s possible this is my last year in Pittsburgh.  Even this year, I will be missing a lot of weekends while I look for jobs.  The point being, I won’t be able to do rolls reports for much longer.  It is time to groom new buggy correspondents. Continue reading →

Buggy loses a pillar: PiKA kicked off campus

Posted on | by Sam Swift | 25 Comments on Buggy loses a pillar: PiKA kicked off campus

Aw crap.  It was announced this afternoon that PiKA’s charter has been revoked by the school CMU chapter will not be recognized for at least four years. Losing PiKA from campus is obviously a huge loss to the greek community and to the broader social community at CMU in which they played a consistently central role.

Losing PiKA from buggy is devastating.  As they proudly and frequently pointed out, PiKA is (by far) the winningest organization in the history of buggy.  Their 27 men’s and 11 women’s championships tower over the historical competition.  Their presence at the top of the leader board has been a constant throughout the history of the sport and their consistency has played a large role in the stability of our race across its 91 year history.   Continue reading →

2010 videos now on cmubuggy!

Posted on | by Sam Swift | 5 Comments on 2010 videos now on cmubuggy!

If you’ve been on cmubuggy in the last 5 days since our new site debuted (and over 2,000 of you have), you’ve undoubtedly checked out its biggest new feature: the video library.  For the launch we had 264 videos capturing buggy from the 1950’s through raceday 2009.  Thanks to our partners in this project over at cmuTV, we have been able to share all of their terrific (and constantly improving) coverage from 2003 onward.

Part of that deal is that we keep each year’s races “in the vault” for a year while they sell DVDs which help to pay for the production.  Well guess what folks, it’s been a year since raceday 2010.  With no further ado, we give you …

cmubuggy.org/video#2010

This year’s installment comes with 40 videos including a great set of cmuTV-produced buggy promos  composed of footage from rolls and set to kickin’ beats.  Put a link to your favorite video on facebook and spread the word to folks that don’t yet know that all of this is online!

Other notes while I’ve got your attention:

  • The Lead Truck Auction will end at 9pm tonight.  Get in on the bidding.  Riding in the lead truck is a great way to experience raceday, and a great way to support the BAA’s financial contribution to the dual jumbotrons we can no longer do without.
  • Our Members-Only Raceday Preview has been getting rave reviews from our members.  And I quote:  “wow, loving it, awesome”   and “its awesome … you should make sure more people read it bc i didnt even realize what i was missing.”  Join or renew your membership here and forward us your confirmation email to join@cmubuggy.org.
  • If you sent us an e-mail yesterday and didn’t get a response, try again today, we fixed a problem with the join@ address and weren’t sure how many people were affected.
  • If you have emailed about other problems with the website and haven’t gotten a response, I’m really sorry.  We’re a little behind here in headquarters.  I’ll try to get everything fixed up before raceday.  Oh shit, that’s the day after tomorrow.

Lead Truck Auction 2011 kicks off

Posted on | by Sam Swift

At 9AM this morning, bidding will commence in the 3rd annual Lead Truck Auction. Don’t show up fashionably late to the bidding this year as we’ve got only 36 hours (bidding closes at 9pm wednesday) to divvy up the rides because the heat selection was held later than it has been in recent years. For the uninitiated, bidders bid on the chance to ride in the lead truck for a specific heat. Winners get to ride with the head judge and other race officials with a view of at least the lead buggy around the entire course.

Last year’s auction was a huge success and it allowed us to help sweepstakes rent not one, but two jumbotrons so that spectators can really watch the entire race from the most popular spots on the course. We saw this coming, but once you have two jumbotrons, it doesn’t sound like any fun to go back to one (or god forbid, zero).  We alumni reap the majority of the benefits of these jumobtrons so if we want them to stick around we’ve got to pitch in.  Bid on a lead truck ride and you get to do your part for the big screens and take a fun ride to boot.

Rides are transferable, so you can give them as gifts if you won’t be in town.  Refunds are available in the event of races being rained out.  Plenty of other details at:

http://cmubuggy.org/auction

(discussion thread in the forum)

Push practice delayed indefinitely pending city review

Posted on | by Sam Swift | 11 Comments on Push practice delayed indefinitely pending city review

Push practice was scheduled to start this week, but just as teams were charging up their flashlight batteries and telling their new drivers that it’s “actually kind of fun,” Sweepstakes had to put a hold on things.

Apparently, the city has decided to take a closer look at the late night road-closing permits this year and they’re not sure they like what they see.  The issue is that the road closure is informal during push practice and cars are allowed to come and go as needed – relying on students to keep everything safe and orderly.  This has obviously been the system for years and years without any problems, but tradition is apparently not always persuasive if you are in the business of road closure permit issuing.  This long-standing compromise of semi-closed roads isn’t ideal for teams or for the poor grad students leaving campus after midnight, but it’s a very functional compromise.  We can’t do without push practice, and I doubt everyone else would be happy with fully closed roads 5 nights a week.  Sweepstakes is working hard with the school, CMU & Pittsburgh police, and the city to get everyone comfortable with a plan.  I really hope that all parties can find a non-bureaucratic solution that doesn’t require additional expenses for sweepstakes and logistical headaches for teams.

Sweepstakes chair Chris Shellhamer notified teams today that push practice would hopefully begin after spring break (11 days from now), but that that would be the soonest it is likely to be sorted out.  We’ll keep you updated here.

Welcome back to buggy!

Posted on | by Sam Swift

Sweepstakes has been on their game since they were elected last spring, the chairmen have met, the drivers have had their meeting, the chores have been assigned, and I am way behind on keeping you up to date.  To make up some time, I’m going to revisit a couple of posts from last fall.  First a summary of who we’ve got on the course this year (compare to the 2009 edition), and then some benchmarks from previous semesters

Orgs in and orgs out

Overall, it looks like raceday 2011 is likely to be down a few teams from 2010, but here’s what we know kicking things off (from bad news to better news)

  • Sigma Nu (2 teams in ’10) – Perhaps the biggest loss to the current roster of buggy teams, but also the least finalized decision.  SN is still on campus and they still have nice shiny buggies and fast wheels waiting in their garage, but they seem to be short on energy and manpower.  Although their impact as a competitor has been slipping the last few years, they were always one of the reliable, year-round, core organizations.  Perhaps last year’s pair of DQs on their only two teams was the straw that broke the camel’s back or maybe they’re just storming out the door so we’ll realize how much we miss them and beg them back.  Do your begging in the official “Hey SigNu” thread in the forum.
  • PhiKap (2 teams in ’10) – It was looking like PhiKap’s presence in buggy might have been on the up-swing as they ramped up to 3 buggies and told us in the fall that their goal was to make top 10.  They came really close with an 11th place finish, but it looks like they won’t have a chance to try again.  Semi-official word around campus is that PhiKap will not be around any longer due to some ill-advised college guy type antics.  Speculation and rumor mongering is mixed in with the SN thread starting here.
  • ZBT-KKG (2 teams in ’10) – The co-ed greek partnership seems to be ending after a year as ZBT is no longer active and KKG isn’t up to going it alone for the time being.  I’m not too clear on what ZBT’s status is on campus. Continue reading →