Rolls Report: October 23

Posted on | by Sam Swift | 4 Comments on Rolls Report: October 23

34 degrees at sunrise; now we’re talking real hardcore rolls weather, and it seems it was too real for 4 of our teams, but DeltaForce wasn’t scared and joined the roster of rolling orgs.  Warm sun made it seem warmer than it was and a lack of wind  kept the leaves off the course.  Saturday was cancelled in advance to allow some mid-semester break relaxation, and Sunday was only 80 minutes long (as the sun rises later and later) but managed to fit in plenty of excitement.

In Attendance

Org Sunday
CIA Ascension, Freyja, Renaissance, Firebird, Quasar
DeltaForce Perun
Fringe Borealis, Banyan, Blizzard
SDC Bane, Avarice, Malice, Rage
SigEp Mamba, Barracuda, Pandora
No-Shows AEPi, KapSig, SigNu, Spirit

Observations (Sunday Gallery) Continue reading →

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 Report: Oct 15 & 16

Posted on | by Sam Swift | 44 Comments on Rolls Report: Oct 15 & 16

Fall continues to cooperate, giving teams another dry weekend to get their routines down.  We’re definitely into hoodie weather now though, and leaves were blowing across all parts of the course like crazy.  SigNu was absent but a new team called Delta Force came close to joining the ranks of the rolling.  Read on for the nitty gritty.

Rolls next weekend are tentative because of mid-semester break, so check our Freeroll Status indicator on the home page.  The following weekend is Ciehsdffkjhlskj  or whatever homecoming is now called and we’ve got some legitimately fun stuff in the works, so get ready.

In Attendance

Org Saturday Sunday
AEPi  Kamikaze
CIA Ascension, Freyja, Renaissance  Ascension, Freyja, Renaissance, Quasar
Fringe Bonsai, Borealis, Banyan  Bonsai, Borealis, Banyan, Bedlam
KapSig Apache  Apache
SDC Bane, Avarice, Malice, Rage  Bane, Avarice, Malice, Rage
SigEp Mamba, Barracuda, Pandora Mamba, Barracuda
SigNu
Spirit Zuke, Seraph, Fuko Zuke, Seraph, Haraka

Observations (Saturday Gallery, Sunday Gallery)  Continue reading →

Rolls Report: October 8 & 9

Posted on | by Sam Swift | 6 Comments on Rolls Report: October 8 & 9

The weather this week made up for the total rain-out last weekend with two gorgeous sunny mornings in the 50s.  The Zoo made it out on the course, so we’re up to 8 teams.  This was another week of collaborative rolls-reporting, and the much of the same crew came through this time.  Many thanks go out to Ben Matzke, Zachary Waldman, Andrew Hundt, and Katherine Crawford for notes, pictures, and radar gun data.  That’s right, radar gun data.  Keep reading for the numbers on the early-season speed demons and a number of incidents and conflagrations.

In Attendance

Org Saturday Sunday
AEPi  Kamikaze
CIA Ascension, Freyja, Renaissance, Quasar  Ascension, Freyja, Renaissance
Fringe Bonsai, Borealis, Banyan, Blizzard  Bonsai, Borealis, Banyan, Bedlam
KapSig Apache
SDC Bane, Malice, Rage  Bane, Malice, Rage
SigEp Mamba, Barracuda Mamba, Barracuda, Pandora
SigNu  Skua  Skua
Spirit Zuke, Seraph, Fuko, Haraka Zuke, Seraph, Haraka

 Saturday Observations (Saturday Gallery) Continue reading →

Collaborative Rolls Report: 9/24/11

Posted on | by Sam Swift | 14 Comments on Collaborative Rolls Report: 9/24/11

2 weekends of rolls in the books and we’re up to 7 orgs, we’re seeing some speed, and also the usual assortment of challenges to overcome.  This also marks the first edition of our collaborative rolls report format.  I was out of town and a these fine folks stepped up and got the job done for us: Ben Matzke, Zachary Waldman, Hannah Rosenblum, and Andrew Hundt.  I also very much appreciate everyone who contributed pictures (either by uploading them which is still a bit tedious, or by sending me a link to their collection).  Without further ado or any editing on my part …

The weather Saturday was a little worrisome, but no rain materialized.  7am weather was high 50’s and overcast.  Sunday would have been even nicer but rolls were not scheduled because of the Great Race.

In Attendance

Org Saturday
AEPi Kamikaze
CIA Ascension, Firebird, Quasar
Fringe Bonsai, Borealis, Bedlam, Banyan, Blizzard
KapSig Apache
SDC Bane, Malice, Rage
SigEp Mamba, Barracuda
Spirit Zuke, Seraph, Fuko, Haraka

Observations (Saturday Gallery) Continue reading →

First rolls of the year! (belated rolls report)

Posted on | by Sam Swift | 7 Comments on First rolls of the year! (belated rolls report)

Buggy kicked off the 2012 season just as scheduled with one day of fast-moving rolls for the six orgs that managed to get caped and ready in time.  The weather didn’t complicate things at all, and the new sweepstakes committee had things running smoothly on day 1.  Rolls started on time which is no small achievement this time of year, and they manged to get all the chores done with the skeleton crew of teams.  Spirit has inherited PiKA’s primary chore of putting haybales out in the chute in the wee hours.  That bodes well for Spirit’s manpower and organization, I always wondered who else would be able to get it together for that big chore.

 In Attendance

I’m a few days removed, and sweepstakes doesn’t have their roll counts up yet for the year, so there’s a chance I have a thing or two wrong, but the starting line-ups for 2012 were:

Org Sunday
AEPi Kamikaze
CIA Ascension, Freyja, Renaissance, Firebird
Fringe Bedlam, Banyan, Borealis, Blizzard
SDC Bane, Malice, Psychosis, Rage
SigEp Mamba, Barracuda
Spirit Zuke, Seraph, Fuko, Haraka

Observations (Sunday Gallery) Continue reading →

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 →

A new year, new ideas; your help wanted

Posted on | by Sam Swift | 2 Comments on A new year, new ideas; your help wanted

I know I don’t want to admit it, but the reality is that the end of summer is in sight, and the Buggy Alumni Association wants to be ready for another big year (our 4th!).  After the buzz from raceday died down, we all took a healthy break from buggy madness, but a few things have been coming together on those rainy days.  The theme of these projects is that we are hoping to get more of our members actively involved this year making the BAA and cmubuggy.org better and better.

Buggy Orientation Event

For the second year, current students will be holding a multi-org, non-partisan introduction to buggy for the incoming class near the end of orientation.  This is exactly the kind of thing that we want to be happening on campus, so we want to support it any way we can.  Right now the agenda includes buggies on display, an intro talk explaining the sport and basic terms, and an outdoors demo session.  Want to help pull the next generation into buggy?  Help is needed advertising the event, setting things up, and talking with interested freshmen, etc.  Current students are especially important to have involved. Contact Ben Matzke (ben.matzke@gmail.com) if you want to help out.  Details:

Saturday, August 27th
3:30 – 4:30 @ UC Connan : basic Q&A
5-6 @ CFA Parking lot / base of Hill 1: rolling buggy demos

BAA Project Zone

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 →