Since the very dawn of time, mankind has engaged in Games -- all kinds of games -- physical, mental, emotional, & spiritual competitions all for one purpose:  to determine who could reign triumphant, declared to be the Best!  Whether playing for food, for sex, for honor, for sheer challenge, or merely to prove superiority; games have evolved with the very nature of mankind itself!  Evolved through countless eons from simple comparisons of ability, to contests of luck or valor, to tests of skill; and now finally to THE ULTIMATE CHALLENGE OF MIND, BODY, AND SPIRIT!  There can be no doubt, we are referring to one thing only.  Already you have proven yourself worthy by completing the first Bay Area Race Fantastîque.  Yet there is a new challenge to be met; it is not enough that you have already survived the first of our harrowing ordeals, for that was only a beginner's lesson;  now maybe you're ready to try something tough.

               We  bestow unto you, xxx, captainship of the yyy team for the second round of B.A.R.F.

               Of course, this time it's a little different.  For one thing, we've chosen new captains this time (to spread around the burdens of leadership).  But that's not all.  This time, we'll be testing more than just your clue solving abilities… 

               But more on the Game itself later; right now you've got to worry about assembling your team.  As captain of the yyy team, you will gather together a championship squad to insure your victory; experienced yyy team vets should prove invaluable, although teams may be reorganized for optimal performance.  Additionally, specifics such as team size (one car-load of players max.) still apply this year.  And of course a team captain wouldn't forget to get a driver, right?

               As we already mentioned, this year each team has a new captain.  Because it may be relevant to your captainly duties, here's a run down of the teams and their new captains: 

             Black: Helen Huang                                                Blue: Marc Katz

             Green: Jennifer Freudenburg                                    Pink: Sanjoy Mahajan      Yellow: Ron Keesing                                                                        (Plus one Wildcard Berth)

             So at this stage in the Game, all you have to worry about is gathering up your team-mates and getting them registered.  Remember how that works?  All you have to do is logon to the account G.GAMECTRL on the Stanford LOTS computer system. Once you have logged on, you will be instructed what to do. And one other thing-- the account only has  two hours of allocation time! You are to LOGON, REGISTER and QUIT the account. In addition, Captains are NOT to disclose the password to anyone they would not trust implicitly. The password is enclosed on a small piece of paper in this envelope. Please memorize it, and swallow   it so it cannot fall into undesirable hands.

             Once your Team Registration is complete (by midnight, Tuesday the 8th of Dec.), you will again be contacted by the illustrious Game Control .  But for now, you have more than a formidable challenge awaiting you: those potential Teammates are asleep and by morning there'll be no one left! So get up and get started! And remember Game Control   has one final wish for you...

May the Best Team WIN!!!!!!

(Joe said that.  Eli and I don't care; we just want a good fight. --AR )