All Alumni Heats

[Carsen Kline]

The idea of an all alumni race team was brought up during Homecoming. This would mean having, say, Abby, driving oh, I don't know, Haraka, in a race day heat, pushed by Carl and company. According to the rules, our example driver, Abby, would need capes, ten rolls, and a pass test to race. The Abby/Haraka combo long ago passed the 10-rolls-in-raceday-buggy rule.

Should alumni be able to race again? Everybody can be a pusher for exhibitions, but drivers can't get behind the wheel again, and mechanics can't spin up flywheels anymore. Is it realistic to pursue an exception to the rules? Would there be any more interest amongst veteran drivers alumni?

[tineyforklet]

Yes! Absolutely! Especially the first few years out of the buggy, I doubt the memory fades that quickly (though obviously wouldn't swear). I'd come back for that though I'm not sure if I have any pass tests in currently-rolling buggies. More than 10 rolls, definitely. I begged and begged (and griped and bitched) for Raceday 05, since I graduated in Dec 04 and had over 200 lifetime rolls, but no dice then. Let's now! yay!

[Carl Nott]

I've talked this over with a few folks. Ran into several issues.

First, the qualified driver thing is, I think, not that big of a deal. Raceday is the only day that you have to have drivers with a set number of rolls in a buggy to roll (as far as I can recall). So long as a driver is caped I think they should be able to roll.

When would this happen though? Exhibition heats are scratched all the time, and they should be because it would be not cool to let the alumni race and then have finals rain out. I know alumni want to come out and roll but... well... considering the competitive spirit that some of us possess I would think we would want a decent chance at rolling since I would imagine we'll be bringing all we have. To be honest I don't think rolling alumni on Raceday would be best since, again, it could endanger actual races, which would suuuuck. I would propose Homecoming weekend. Heck, we might even be able to close the roads for longer and only allow alumni to roll after, say, 8am (or whenever rolls normally end), so that students are unaffected. Plus it might be cool to have a pre-pre-Raceday to get more kids excited about buggy early in the year, or something.

What would the teams/buggies be? I would suggest we only allow older and/or retired and/or 'alumni' buggies. I would think we'd like to avoid any sort of thing where folks are using alumni races to get rolls on their raceday buggy, or something.

Finally, would it be safe? I just have this vision of Bordick in lane 1 holding Maddog with me in lane 3 holding Demani for the 'Spirit vs. PiKA mechanics' race and when the countdown hits 5 seconds we switch out for a 'Spirit vs. PiKA Pusher All-Stars' race while Sweepstakes starts freaking out. Granted, that one wouldn't be close, but, you know, maybe Jay loses a shoe or something and it's kind of tight going over the hill.

[abordick]

Carl, if you and I raced up hill one, it would be 2:04.35 until the buggies hit hill 2.

[hvincent]

could also make it during mini-raceday; as far as i know people aren't usually terribly pumped about it then, but other buggies are at least ready to go fast by then.

[Carsen Kline]

Oooh, Homecoming plus retired buggies would be really cool. Could we also allow alumni to prep the buggies? I'm pretty sure I'm one of 3 people alive who knows how to put Junior's steering handles back on.

Added bonus to Homecoming is that it might draw more folks and buggies back for the weekend. Could you imagine seeing Streak rolling again? How sweet would that be.

[kfc]

Homecoming or mini-raceday would work better for the reason that buggies roll one-by-one. Racing side-by-side may be more exciting, but it is also more dangerous.

For comparison: When DU raced in 2002(?), the driver wasn't fully qualified, although the team had fulfilled their chores and obligations. DU was given a solo heat. The driver was able to concentrate on her own line and not worry about other buggies nearby.

[mldarm]

I would vote for homecoming. I've never gone back for homecoming, but after hearing about all the buggy stuff I missed this year, it's tempting for the future. Maybe there would be a charge for any alums who want to participate in order to pay for some extra time using the roads (permits, cops).

[tineyforklet]

It makes sense for that reason, definitely. It'd be hard for me to decide to come back for not-Carnival (flying across the country=$450+ and an extra day off work on either end), but what? it's not all about me?

[abordick]

Wow, great fundraiser idea.