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Battlebots is returning to Discovery Channel January 5th, 2023 so it’s time for a new thread! This thread is going to also aim to discuss some of the other robot competitions coming in 2023. Most notably and worth watching is NHRL. RoboGames is also returning for 2023. The current trend with Battlebots is to not know what the gently caress to call their championships, so the main series this year is Championship VII. Battlebots is also returning next summer with a Champions II tournament. Discovery channel increased their order for this upcoming season, so we are getting 19 episodes of Battlebots. This increase has given the competing teams 4 fights before the 32 bot championship tournament. Some bots however are “Reserve bots” and are only there to fill out the fight cards, but don’t get the 4 fights or a shot in the 32. There is a list of changes for this season, which can be found on this Wiki page. But here are a few of them! * Judge Jason Bardis is gone, replaced by Fon Davis who was on the judge panel for the first ABC season. * The event also features a challenge rule for competitors who are upset over a judge decision. And gets the judges another chance to watch the fight and decide if the decision was correct. * Bombshell builder, Mike Jeffries is now a “Match Steward” and is the go between between the builders and production / judges I guess. * The out of arena areas by the arena doors are still possible, but sounds like they changed it to make the area smaller and harder to get. Some notable teams were not able to make it to Battlebots for this season, most significant of the missing bots are Tombstone & Uppercut. Not sure why Uppercut couldn’t make it, but Ray Billings of Tombstone got into a bad fight with a table saw and was / is still recovering from it, here is the glove. If you are interested, this is a nice video that shows all 50 robots competing and also specifies the teams stuck being the “Reserve” teams. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6eTQ-YoA24
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Dec 13, 2022 11:07
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I couldn’t make a new Battlebots thread without adding a focus to NHRL, which is a really well run robot competition that runs about 7 events per year and features 3, 12, and 30 pound bots. NHRL always stream their events on YouTube with a good team of announcers that lately have included Ricky Williams of team Mammoth. They usually do a full event in a single day though, which leads to 12+ hours of pretty much nonstop robot combat. This Saturday, December 17th is their grand finale event for 2022, so only the top 4-5 bots from each event during the year are invited, so it’s very likely going to be a lot of fun and you should watch it! Some notable entries into the final include a couple bots from Jameson Go and Team Minotaur. The teams get a weight bonus for running non wheeled bots & also for running multibots, so you'll see plenty of teams running 2 bots or experimenting with non wheeled designs. NHRL have raised the stakes by putting up $1 million dollars for STEM charities for the Finale. Every team is getting $5,000 to donate to a STEM charity of their choice. And the winning team from each weight class is getting $250,000 to donate to a STEM charity. To take it another level, NHRL is also putting up $1 million dollars in the form of 100 - $10,000 grants to local colleges, I believe for robot competition, not sure the requirements for that though. In addition to the finals coming up on Dec 17th, the event dates for NHRL in 2023 are: Jan. 28 (only new bots) March 18 May 6 June 24 August 12 September 30 Finals November 11 Still curious, here are some notable and fun fights, some of which are the comedy / troll bots. Team Deep Six enters a bot that moves only with 2 high speed blades, does nothing and breaks the box, also the judges make a dumb decision. Happens in all competitions... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-CM7XTEOkc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xK5CvCw69ko A comical fight, giant inflatable penguin vs a flame thrower... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNodm-h1Wbs SLICK GOKU BABY fucked around with this message at 11:16 on Dec 13, 2022 |
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Dec 13, 2022 11:07
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There is also another way to get your Battlebots fix.  There is a new upcoming nightly show in Las Vegas, called Battlebots Destructathon. Not sure the details but Las Vegas entertainers will pretend to drive fan favorite bots while someone else actually drives them, hidden away somewhere. https://battlebots.com/tickets/ quote:BATTLEBOTS: DESTRUCT-A-THON contains all the drama, action and destruction of the TV series, condensed into an intense, fast-moving, 80-minute theater show, featuring many of the most famous robots that have delighted millions of fans all over the world, such as Witch Doctor, Kraken, Mammoth, Lock-Jaw, Hypershock and Whiplash, as well as several new robots being specially created for the show. The robots are currently being built by existing robot combat teams.
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Dec 13, 2022 11:25
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Great OP! I'll be attending the NHRL event this weekend, so expect a trip report. 
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Dec 13, 2022 11:48
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The Vegas stage show is interesting in a lot of ways. One of the biggest limitations for most teams is the difficulty in testing and practicing. These teams are going to be getting a whole lot more driving and fighting time than most others.
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Dec 13, 2022 23:37
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El Fideo posted:The Vegas stage show is interesting in a lot of ways. One of the biggest limitations for most teams is the difficulty in testing and practicing. These teams are going to be getting a whole lot more driving and fighting time than most others. There's maybe more information about it here https://battlebots.fandom.com/wiki/BattleBots:_Destruct-A-Thon. But the bots are not going to be operated by their normal teams. Although they still likely can get a lot of information about the matches and could improve their designs more than other teams.
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Dec 13, 2022 23:43
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El Fideo posted:The Vegas stage show is interesting in a lot of ways. One of the biggest limitations for most teams is the difficulty in testing and practicing. These teams are going to be getting a whole lot more driving and fighting time than most others. They were casting actors to play the teams while someone behind the scenes drove, so I think they're just going to have in-house engineers and drivers while licensing the robots. I would wonder if the teams who get licensing deals from it will get info from the Battlebots engineers and drivers about performance over the long term.
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Dec 13, 2022 23:44
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PostNouveau posted:They were casting actors to play the teams while someone behind the scenes drove, so I think they're just going to have in-house engineers and drivers while licensing the robots. I imagine they will get some feedback about performance, but I question how much it will be beneficial. Part of the press release says they will be purpose built versions of fan favorite bots. I imagine that they would likely use some cheaper materials and parts and build the bots so they'd be quick and easy to fix.
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Dec 14, 2022 11:05
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Some rejected designs in this video I'd not heard of before. My favorites are: - 37 traffic cones with no weapons that just clog the area with debris and maybe the opponent high centers itself - A full-body spinner that drives autonomously https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yH2hXxsUfO8 SLICK GOKU BABY posted:I imagine they will get some feedback about performance, but I question how much it will be beneficial. Part of the press release says they will be purpose built versions of fan favorite bots. Yeah, that makes a lot more sense. They could design to use as many of the same parts and systems across the whole fleet that way as well.
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Dec 14, 2022 15:14
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SLICK GOKU BABY posted:A comical fight, giant inflatable penguin vs a flame thrower... I'm meltingggggggggg!
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Dec 15, 2022 07:43
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Anyone else watching the NHRL stream? Some great fights, and I didn't expect some Battlebots alumni in the compettion. Jake Ewart dropped into the chat to boost Jamison Go who's competing in all 3 classes today. I've just caught Silent Spring win a match, great bot.
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Dec 17, 2022 23:01
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ewe2 posted:Anyone else watching the NHRL stream? Some great fights, and I didn't expect some Battlebots alumni in the compettion. Jake Ewart dropped into the chat to boost Jamison Go who's competing in all 3 classes today. I've just caught Silent Spring win a match, great bot. My daughter and I just got back (we left early because 12 hours is too much for an 8yo) and we had a great time. I saw and interacted with the folks from Sawblaze, HUGE, Ribbot, and Deep Six. I took a ton of pictures and I'll write up a long trip report tomorrow or Monday, depending on when I get home. (I'm with family in RI right now but I live in Maine).
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Dec 18, 2022 01:48
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ewe2 posted:Anyone else watching the NHRL stream? Some great fights, and I didn't expect some Battlebots alumni in the compettion. Jake Ewart dropped into the chat to boost Jamison Go who's competing in all 3 classes today. I've just caught Silent Spring win a match, great bot. It was super laggy earlier today, but the stream is great now. Still a bunch of fights, and they are mostly in the 12 & 30lb weight class since they only 1 box for those bots ! And yea, Battlebots alumni have a lot of bots at NHRL. There's also a few of the rookie teams at Battlebots that have come up from NHRL. There's at least 3 bots in the upcoming Battlebot seasons that are entirely from the NHRL teams! SLICK GOKU BABY fucked around with this message at 02:11 on Dec 18, 2022 |
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Dec 18, 2022 02:07
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Re crazy bot ideas, Deep Melt is a fully autonomous meltybrain that competes at NHRL and it is getting pretty good. I hope the liftoff team gets a rule change to allow meltybrains and is able to compete at Battlebots sometime.
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Dec 18, 2022 20:37
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Man this is the first season of Battlebots ever that I'm just not feeling excited about. I think 85% of the field being a vertical spinner now is kinda bumming me out.
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Dec 18, 2022 23:15
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Fish Of Doom posted:Man this is the first season of Battlebots ever that I'm just not feeling excited about. I think 85% of the field being a vertical spinner now is kinda bumming me out. Without saying anything that'd go over the line on my NDA I can say that some of the best fights I've ever seen happened this season, and I don't just mean "best at BattleBots" when I say that.
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Dec 18, 2022 23:47
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This season, based on everything I've heard, is one I'm most excited for. The rules and decisions continue to drift in good directions! A bigger field and more episodes for the show is great!
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Dec 19, 2022 02:33
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Fun match from the last NHRL event. 2 Battlebot teams running non wheeled bots in the 30lb class, so they are 45lb with the weight bonus. (Team Shatter & Team Deep Six, but Triton for the upcoming season) Depth Charge will be pretty fun if they figure out how to control it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Agc-QicMek
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Dec 19, 2022 17:42
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MikeNCR posted:Without saying anything that'd go over the line on my NDA I can say that some of the best fights I've ever seen happened this season, and I don't just mean "best at BattleBots" when I say that. Are you competing or doing something for BattleBots itself
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Dec 19, 2022 17:48
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Nissin Cup Nudist posted:Are you competing or doing something for BattleBots itself SLICK GOKU BABY posted:* Bombshell builder, Mike Jeffries is now a “Match Steward” and is the go between between the builders and production / judges I guess.
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Dec 19, 2022 19:48
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That was a great day of competition, some of the judges decisions will be interesting to revisit, they were difficult to understand 
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Dec 19, 2022 20:59
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Coaaab posted:If I am not mistaken, this is him Yep, that's me.
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Dec 19, 2022 23:30
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https://twitter.com/BattleBots/status/1606983333950488583 Animorphs reboot looking pretty good.
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Dec 26, 2022 18:32
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Only 5-6 days away from the return of Battlebots. Discovery+ has been getting the new episode in the early AM of the show airing, not sure if that will continue or not. As an extra for this season, the teams knew all 4 of their fights at the start and apparently all the fight cards are available on Facebook as part of the Battlebots membership thing, which I'm not apart of... A pretty good NHRL fight from the last event! Taking out the lights. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DU2s8ak_dlE SLICK GOKU BABY fucked around with this message at 05:03 on Dec 31, 2022 |
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Dec 31, 2022 04:13
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Egads. The holiday season has kicked my rear end. I intended to write a nice long trip report for the NHRL event a couple weeks ago, but here's a bullet-pointed short version: The first thing you see upon entering the venue is the museum. It has some cool displays showing the 250lb version of a lot of bots from Battlebots, plus the scaled-down versions competing at NHRL. My daughter screamed like a teen at a pop concert as soon as she walked in, because the first thing she saw was her favorite bot: Tantrum. I made sure to take a picture of my daughter next to Mammoth, for scale. A little detail I noticed and may only be interesting to me: the bases for all the displays in the museum are made from old arena floors. I like the frugality and style it lends in just a little thing like that. I saw Pete Abrahamson (The Bot Whisperer) giving a guided tour to some folks with VIP tickets. VIPs get a couple of tours, one of which runs them through the pits. I didn't splurge on that, but I kind of regretted it. I think we would have liked to see the pits. (VIPs also have a lounge area for watching fights.) I was super impressed with how open and transparent everything is. For example, there's a machine shop with windows so kids and folks can look in. Across from that is where kids can make signs to cheer on their favorite bots, and right next to that is a repair shop door that stays open so kids can peek in and see what's going on. The venue never felt crowded, since there are enough other things to do besides watch fights. The areas are open enough that an introvert like me who doesn't like crowds never felt uncomfortable. The bleacher seating for the fights only got really full right about the time we left, around dinner time. (I have a two hour drive back to Rhode Island where we were staying with family, and my 8 year old and I had been there since 10 AM. It was a long day for her.) Prior ot about 4 PM, we never had any problem finding good seats for the fights. The arenas are laid out in a row of four, with the bigger weight class arenas on the edges and the smaller ones closer to the middle. There's enough screens spread around that you can get a good view of any fight from any seat. However, if you want the best view of an arena, the top of the bleachers is the best bet. The pace is blistering. They're cleaning and setting up idle arenas while one fight at a time is happening in one arena, and there's about a minute or two between fights. So if you were a crazy person, you could plop down in the bleachers and watch pretty much continuous robot combat for twelve gatdang hours. Having a kid with me, we didn't sit for more than an hour at a time, and frequently left to go do the other things at the venue. But there are enough screens outside the arena area too that I didn't miss many of the fights. We saw a bunch of teams from Battlebots: Ribbot, Sawblaze, Deep Six, HUGE, Valkyrie, and a few of the Rio Botz folks were there. There may have been more that I just didn't notice. I talked briefly with the captain of Team HUGE while standing at a taco truck, and he was a super nice dude. Jamison Go was very nice as well. Oh yeah. There's a taco truck (and about six other food vendors right on-site). Between that and on-site parking, it was a very hospitable venue. My daughter killed a robot in her first time at the controls. It was her own bot, sadly, but it was a good time. There's a demo arena set up for kids to pilot one of NHRL's "Referee" robots. My kid slammed that guy hard enough into the wall that the top of his frame flew off.  We saw Depth Charge's fight that was posted earlier. It was.... interesting. It seems like that team is hell-bent on making as much of their weight go into the weapon as possible, and to dare venues to ban them for destroying the arena. If there is a 250 lb version of what I saw, YIKES. Just, yikes on bikes. My daughter was pleased to see Team Ribbot in the mix all day with Polywog. She is a big fan of Ribbot and HUGE too, and made signs to cheer on both HUGE and Polywog. But by the end of the day, she was a big fan of Project Liftoff (I was too).All told, we had a great time and it was worth it for twice the price we paid for tickets. There's a ton of stuff to do, especially if you haven't been before and/or you have kids with you. But if you're not into any of that and you just want to watch carnage, you can get wall-to-wall fights with almost no interruption. The venue is open and family friendly and comfortable. I highly recommended it if you're anywhere near NYC and you have  and a day to spend. A++*~ Photo Dump~*           
Railing Kill fucked around with this message at 04:20 on Jan 1, 2023 |
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Jan 1, 2023 04:14
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Pretty nice writeup. Nice to know the facility is super awesome too. I'd love to make it out to NHRL at some point, but too far away. Maybe at some point I can move closer to the east coast (instead of in lovely nebraska) and make it to an event.
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Jan 2, 2023 09:01
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I'm way up in central Maine, and NHRL happens to be the closest regular event venue to me. It would normally be eight hours away, but we were visiting family in RI that made the trip much easier. Norwalk is right outside of NYC though, so it's an easy thing to hop over and see if you happen to by in the city for anything else. I'll post more pictures in a bit. Most of my fight footage is in video form, but the NHRL feed can do a better job showing off that anyway. The rest of the pictures can give a good idea of the layout and space, and some more of the museum.
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Jan 2, 2023 14:55
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 gently caress yeah, Tantrum-Minotaur
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Jan 5, 2023 00:08
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Quantum is back, that's cool
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Jan 5, 2023 00:12
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Oh right, no Tombstone this year
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Jan 5, 2023 00:15
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WD Quantum Gruff Huge Riptide Gigabyte Tantrum
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Jan 5, 2023 00:25
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RBA Starblade posted:Oh right, no Tombstone this year Good.
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Jan 5, 2023 02:40
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gently caress tombstone, gently caress team whyatchi yeah yeah i know they aren't real life villains but i really don't care about em anymore well i take it back, i do love seeing tombstone fail miserably
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Jan 5, 2023 07:16
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I guess Discovery ordered more episodes for this season since now it's an extra 2 months you gotta be subscribed if you're watching via Discovery Plus... Although the benefit to Discovery Plus is that the new episodes go up Thursday morning, so the Thursday night episode is already up. Also a new thing they did this season, Battlebots did the full fight schedule prior to filming. So there's not going to be any teams that only do 2 fights and get in the championship bracket. Not sure how it works with the reserve teams. But in doing so, Battlebots has also released the full fightcard schedule for the entire season. I will wait to post the link to it though since Battlebots is dumb and the results from Episode 1 are also on that page... SLICK GOKU BABY fucked around with this message at 10:41 on Jan 5, 2023 |
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Jan 5, 2023 09:45
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SLICK GOKU BABY posted:I guess Discovery ordered more episodes for this season since now it's an extra 2 months you gotta be subscribed if you're watching via Discovery Plus... Although the benefit to Discovery Plus is that the new episodes go up Thursday morning, so the Thursday night episode is already up. For the fight nights, if a reserve team gets swapped in they take over the schedule of the bot they are replacing.
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Jan 5, 2023 14:53
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MikeNCR posted:For the fight nights, if a reserve team gets swapped in they take over the schedule of the bot they are replacing. Wow that's actually pretty cool that the stakes are the high for missing an early match.
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Jan 5, 2023 15:39
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Captain Shrederator seems like they really need to reconsider what they're doing at this point, outside a few good wins they're kind of just easy pickings at this point
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Jan 5, 2023 17:02
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RBA Starblade posted:Captain Shrederator seems like they really need to reconsider what they're doing at this point, outside a few good wins they're kind of just easy pickings at this point I could see them getting the boot to the "reserve bots" pile if they don't turn it around.
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Jan 5, 2023 18:19
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not a bad first episode. Love the new Free Shipping design
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Jan 5, 2023 19:17
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Minotaur should've won last year
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Jan 5, 2023 19:37
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