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TacoBurritoAThon

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TacoBurritoAThon
TBAmain-01.png
TacoBurritoAThon logo
Founderepicslinkie
CommissionerSkelezomperman
Deputy CommissionerSimonScholar
Date foundedNovember 30, 2013
No. of events26
HeadquartersMons Pratus

TacoBurritoAThon, sometimes shortened to TBAThon, is a sporting event that is a competition between two teams consisting of two to three athletes, each named Team Taco and Team Bacon. Five to seven events are held between the two teams; whichever team wins the most events wins the entire event and splits a prize.

TacoBurritoAThon was founded by epicslinkie in 2013. It is currently headed by Commissioner Skelezomperman and Deputy Commissioner SimonScholar.

History

TacoBurritoAThon began on November 30, 2013, when epicslinkie upon seeing the construction of Eastside Stadium in Crystal City came up with the idea of holding a sports competition there. He then sent a book to everyone in the MRT Mail Centre announcing this competition, and from December 27 to 29 he ran the first TacoBurritoAThon with the assistance of Skelezomperman and samyankeesfan20.

Following the first TacoBurritoAThon, Skelezomperman was appointed as a member of the TacoBurritoAThon committee, making him have equal say with epicslinkie. The two initially decided that the second TacoBurritoAThon would be hosted by Vinemarsh. However, due to complications (including epicslinkie becoming inactive to the point of Skelezomperman assuming the full responsibilities of the committee), this TacoBurritoAThon never materialized. It was later re-awarded to Kitania in 2015, but that TacoBurritoAThon also did not materialize.

In 2016, bidding was opened up for a third time for II TacoBurritoAThon, the first modern TacoBurritoAThon. Laclede was the only city to have bid to host it; therefore, Laclede was awarded the games. A few weeks later on February 27, 2016, II TacoBurritoAThon began in Laclede. The event was originally planned to be split over two days; however, a forfeit happened on the second day, March 4, meaning that TacoBurritoAThon had to be cut short.

III TacoBurritoAThon, the first TacoBurritoAThon in the form that is familiar today, was held on July 16, 2016, in Alturas. Several changes were made to the formula of TacoBurritoAThon to make it more successful. The most notable changes were that TacoBurritoAThon was all held in one session on one day instead of being split across multiple days, that teams would be picked from people who are present at the time the events started rather than being fixed to people who signed up beforehand, and that the events would be coordinated in a TacoBurritoAThon Discord server. This event also marked the introduction of TacoBurritoAThon's version of American football which is specifically formulated in order to make it easier for players to understand the rules. It was also around this time that Skelezomperman assumed the title of Commissioner.

Over the next few years, TacoBurritoAThon grew into one of the most well-known events on the server. More milestones would be accomplished, such as IX TacoBurritoAThon which was the first TacoBurritoAThon to feature additional events to the core five, and XI TacoBurritoAThon which was the first TacoBurritoAThon held at a time friendly to those living in Western Pacific time zones.

On October 9, 2022, Commissioner Skelezomperman announced that he would be hiring a Deputy Commissioner and opened up an application process, explaining:

"This past summer made me realize that I, at the present moment, am not willing to commit the time or energy to running TacoBurritoAThon full time anymore. I've always believed that one of the things that gives TacoBurritoAThon a good reputation is that the Commissioner is very involved in the process and does not leave other people involved in the event to fend for themselves; I feel that I fell a little bit short last summer and that wouldn't change in the near-term.

Therefore, I have deliberated upon several different courses of action to address this. I've decided that the least disruptive solution to the problem is to hire a Deputy Commissioner. The Deputy would not be equal in stance to me and I would retain the final say over all decisions, but they will be delegated many of the roles that I previously handled all on my own.

I have decided to open up the position to an application process. Please note that I am looking for people who know what they are doing. The requirements and responsibilities are listed in the application form - please take a good look at that and make sure that you can meet those expectations. The application will close on Sunday, October 16th at the end of the day."

– Skelezomperman, 9 October 2022

On October 26, 2022, Skelezomperman announced that SimonScholar was selected as the Deputy Commissioner.

Sports

The events at the TacoBurritoAThon are always American Football, Sumotori, Spleef, Swimming, and Athletics. At some events, demonstration sports may occur such as ice hockey or mini-golf.

Site

The TacoBurritoAThon is held in cities who win a bidding process. Bidding forms are opened on a regular basis; any city can apply. Cities that apply are in the Applicant stage. Applicant cities are reviewed by the Office of the Commissioner; cities that are considered to be viable to host will advance to the Candidacy stage. Candidate city mayors then present their city to the Commissioner; after each candidate presentation is completed, a winner is selected.

Cities and the individual players that own a city cannot host two TacoBurritoAThons in a row and no more than two in five except in an emergency. A city must have venues for the sports done or venues to be completed by the TacoBurritoAThon to host a TacoBurritoAThon. Host mayors are compensated with money from sponsorships and event grants following the TacoBurritoAThon.

Bidding process

Hosting for TacoBurritoAThon is awarded through a bidding process in which towns are evaluated by the Office of the Commissioner and selected based on their fitness to host. The bidding process does not involve any public votes as ability to host does not depend on the popularity of the city. The process begins when a form is sent to apply a few months before the TacoBurritoAThon(s) which are being bid for. Any town (including those on the Old World) is allowed to bid; however, generally Senator size cities or above have the best chance of being awarded a TacoBurritoAThon. After the form is closed, the application stage begins. During the application stage, the Commissioner visits each applicant city unannounced to conduct a short review. Cities which are determined to be a viable host for TacoBurritoAThon are added to the shortlist of candidate cities. The second phase is the candidacy phase; during this phase, each candidate city makes a presentation to the Commissioner during which they demonstrate their plan to host. After all of the presentations are done, the Commissioner will make a determination as to how many TacoBurritoAThons will be awarded; after that, the winning candidate(s) will be contacted to set up a date for their TacoBurritoAThon. Afterwards, the TacoBurritoAThons are announced.

Factors which are used to determine how fit a city is to host include but are not limited to venues or plans for venues, infrastructure, ambience, and ability to work with the host. Good candidates have either well-built venues with an appropriate amount of seating and space for media or plans for such venues. They have a decent amount of transportation infrastructure such as intercity rail or roads to aid visitors in accessing the city. They have the ambience of a city that is large enough to host a major sporting event. And finally, they are led by a mayor who will work well with the Office of the Commissioner in planning out the event.

List of events

TacoBurritoAThon has held 26 events. A West Pacific edition of TacoBurritoAThon, I WP TacoBurritoAThon, was planned to be held on October 16, 2016; however, it was cancelled.

No. Date Host city Winning team Score Losing team
I December 27, 2013[a] Flag of Crystal City.png Crystal City Bacon 3-2 Taco
II February 27, 2016[b] Flag of Laclede.png Laclede Taco 2-1[c] Bacon
III July 16, 2016 Flag of Covina.png Alturas Bacon 4-1 Taco
IV October 8, 2016 Flag of Whiteley.png Whiteley Bacon 5-0 Taco
V April 22, 2017 Flag of Ravenna.png Ravenna Bacon 3-2 Taco
VI June 17, 2017 Flag of Utopia.png Utopia Taco 3-2 Bacon
VII July 22, 2017 Flag of Konawa.png Konawa Taco 3-2 Bacon
VIII November 25, 2017 Flag of Fort Yaxier.png Fort Yaxier Bacon 3-2 Taco
IX March 10, 2018 Flag of Bakersville.png Bakersville Bacon 5-1 Taco
X May 19, 2018 Flag of Laclede.png Laclede Taco 5-1 Bacon
XI June 2, 2018 Flag of Venceslo.png Venceslo Taco 4-2 Bacon
XII July 7, 2018 Flag of Elecna Bay.png Elecna Bay Taco 3-2 Bacon
XIII October 13, 2018 Flag of Segville.png Segville Taco 4-2 Bacon
XIV June 5, 2019 Flag of Carnoustie.png Carnoustie Taco 3-2 Bacon
XV July 27, 2019 Flag of Larkspur.png Larkspur Bacon 4-1 Taco
XVI June 6, 2020 Flag of Fort Yaxier.png Kanto Bacon 3-2 Taco
XVII June 21, 2020 Flag of Scarborough.png Scarborough Taco 5-0 Bacon
XVIII July 11, 2020 Flag of Waterville.png Waterville Bacon 5-1 Taco
XIX December 12, 2020 Flag of Hendon.png Hendon Taco 4-3 Bacon
XX May 22, 2021 Flag of Crystal City.png Crystal City Taco 7-0 Bacon
XXI June 26, 2021 Flag of Lapis Bay.png Lapis Bay Taco 3-2 Bacon
XXII July 25, 2021 Flag of Seoland.png Seoland Bacon 4-1 Taco
XXIII July 2, 2022 Flag of Porton.png Porton Taco 4-2 Bacon
XXIV July 30, 2022 Flag of Rattlerville.png Rattlerville Bacon 5-2 Taco
XXV June 10, 2023 Flag of Miu Wan.png Miu Wan Taco 4-1 Bacon
XXVI July 22, 2023 Flag of Ellerton Fosby.png Ellerton Fosby Taco 5-0 Bacon
Total Events Taco 74-66 Bacon
TacoBurritoAThons Taco 15-11 Bacon

Office of the Commissioner of TacoBurritoAThon

The Office of the Commissioner is a non-profit organization consisting of one full-time unpaid employee, Commissioner Skelezomperman. It is headquartered in Mons Pratus and is the main organizer of TacoBurritoAThons. The Office of the Commissioner does several essential functions for the continued running of TacoBurritoAThon, all of which are handled by the Commissioner. The Office of the Commissioner can be contacted by sending in-game /mail or sending a Discord message to Skelezomperman.

Mission statement

The mission of the Office of the Commissioner of TacoBurrritoAThon is to promote and foster sport on the MRT server both within and outside TacoBurritoAThons for the enjoyment of players on the MRT server.

Finances

In each TacoBurritoAThon, money is spent to reward players who win and compensate the hosts of the events. The Finances Division of the Office of the Commissioner organizes fundraising, both from the MRT Staff through event grants and from corporate sponsors, in order to raise the money to fund this. Then, these funds are paid out following each TacoBurritoAThon.

Media

The Media division primarily cooperates with media partners such as MBS for the broadcasting of TacoBurritoAThons. The Media division is also tasked with the intellectual property of TacoBurritoAThon such as the logo as well as rights to broadcast.

Public relations

The largest apparatus of the Office of the Commissioner is Public Relations. The Public Relations division is tasked with advertising the existence of TacoBurritoAThon and disseminating information about it to the general public. It also handles other external relations of the Office of the Commissioner, which includes relations with other sports leagues and other sporting organizations.

Rules & officiating

The Rules & Officiating Division of TacoBurritoAThon handles the creation and curation of rules for each event in TacoBurritoAThon. The division also organizes the officiating of events held by the Office of the Commissioner, including the TacoBurritoAThons itself; it also manages the TacoBurritoAThon Discord.

Security

The Security division manages the security of TacoBurritoAThon events in concert with local law enforcement authorities. It is the smallest division but still carries the task of making sure that events are secure and not interfered with.

Discord server

The TacoBurritoAThon Discord server is the primary venue for news about TacoBurritoAThon; in addition, its voice channels are where communication during the event takes place. Only MRT members are allowed to join the TacoBurritoAThon Discord; the link to the Discord is in #auxiliary-discords on the MRT Discord server.

Broadcasting

A still frame of the broadcast of XXI TacoBurritoAThon by MBS, during a sumotori match

Any person who wishes to broadcast TacoBurritoAThon is allowed to do so. Generally for each TacoBurritoAThon, one broadcaster will be selected as a "priority broadcaster" who is given privileges such as priority selection of media space over other broadcasters. This has usually been MBS.

Notes

  1. The event began on December 27, 2013 and continued until December 29, 2013.
  2. The event began on February 27, 2016, and continued until March 4, 2016.
  3. Team Taco won after a forfeit.