Mr Snackette

As someone who is 68 (fast approaching 69) I guess I can be classified as “an older person”, although not living in the UK……but I’m not really sure what difference that makes? I have downloaded the Discovery+ app, and got an annual subscription for a very competitive 29€. Downloaded the app direct from Google Play Store to my Nvidia Shield, and by using StreamLocater I can acces the UK version from here in Spain! It wasn’t that much of a challenge even someone like myself, who apparently has to be patronised because it is assumed that anyone who isn’t in the first flush of youth is unable to cope with modern technology! We are now in 2021, and just as we challenge racist & sexist comments, so we MUST do the same with “ageism”! I’m sure there are thousands of older people who don’t have access to or understand modern technology. However I am equally aware of those much younger who are similarly technologically challenged! So how about rewriting the comment to: “Does anybody know, if the thousands of people in the UK, that don't have access to phone etc, or understand modern technology, can purchase……” it doesn’t need to be made an age thing!

The classic 1953 children’s film, Skid Kids, is being shown on Talking Pictures this Saturday at 10:05 BST. It features some excellent shots of cycle speedway, and provides a great example of life in post-war London!

Try not to look up a Smart DND....as it is a Smart DNS! As you rightly say you are “clearly not most people”!!

Firstly, I am a non-UK viewer(as per my profile)! That said, as iainb pointed out, most folk watch television either with a VPN, a Smart DNS, or Streamlocater!

It strikes me that at £10.99 per month, Premier Sports offering, is a darn sight more attractive than that of Fanseat’s at €14.99! Linking up with a niche broadcaster that has French & Latavian Ice Hockey, Lithuanian Basketball, & Swedish Women’s Football as its key offering, really puts into perspective where the top level of speedway in the UK ranks in terms of Europe’s sporting elite!!

What has Fat Larry's Band got to do with the AGM?

I am a UD Almería season ticket holder and we still have 6 home games to be played! Will these games be played? If not will I get a refund? Who cares? People are dying, people are very ill......there are far too many serious matters to address, rather than speculating about refunds!

You do....so over the next 3 weeks you can provide some training!

Given tonight's announcement, I would suggest she does as we do here, and read her paper online.

I live in Spain, and we have been in lockdown for a week now. The State of Alarm measures (amongst others) dictate the following: Leaving your home is limited to the following activities: buying food, going to the pharmacy or bank. Travelling between your workplace and place of residence. Taking care of children, the elderly and other especially vulnerable people. These activities are to be done alone, except when accompanying people with disabilities or for another justified reason. Vehicles cannot be shared, except for justified reasons. In this case, the passenger must sit at the rear of the car and both occupants of the vehicle must wear a mask. Pizzerias, hamburger joints, etc., must be closed to the public, and only home delivery is accepted. Petrol Stations may remain open to the public, however, the shops must be closed, as well as the cafeteria and bathroom, except for the use of lorry drivers, bus drivers, ambulances etc. All bars and restaurants must be closed. However, home delivery is permitted under the same conditions as fast-food businesses. Supermarkets, food shops, pharmacies, medical centres, opticians, orthopaedic centres, hygiene and cleaning product shops, press and stationery shops, tobacconists, telephone shops, pet shops for food only, dry cleaners and laundries may be open. Health security measures must be followed at all times. Law enforcement bodies may request documentation and proof for such presence on public roads, such as supermarket tickets, prescriptions, etc. In addition, pedestrians may be asked for their identification and sanctioned for repetitive, invalid and dishonest behaviour. My guess is the UK is around 10 days away from similar measures being introduced. As current experience is showing asking people to follow guidelines isn't working, so if the UK is serious about beating this thing. then far more prescriptive/draconian measures are needed!

I have seen the movie....it's a kids film. No problem with that....but not my cup of tea! Sound message though, as it seems to be saying to its target audience:.... get off that games console and get out into the real world as opposed to a cyber one!

I trust the attached table will help resolve the Premier League attendance debate! What I do know is that any speedway promoter would love to run their business with their venue being regularly filled to 95% of its capacity, particularly (as in the case of the EPL) that this is not necessarily their major source of income! Furthermore, if we accept that watching the EPL is an expensive business, then it underlines my point that if the product is right people will pay to watch it. As a result, it follows that all this tosh about admission to speedway meetings being too expensive to attract punters is just that....TOSH!! If the product is right people will pay to watch it....and there lies the issue!

Blimey all this talk of cruelty to animals, they will be wanting to ban bullfighting next!

Anyone "brave" enough to invest money in returning speedway to Odsal, should be compelled to have a psychiatric analysis first! I remember one weekend in 1997. On the Friday night the Bradford Bulls played Paris St Germain in front of 20,000 fans to win the Super League title. The following evening Bradford Dukes raced Swindon Robins on their way to winning the Elite League that season. This was a Dukes team with Mark Loram, Joe Screen, Gary Havelock, about to win the league............and a crowd of less than 500 bothered to show up! It suggests to me that the Bradford public has a limited appetite for speedway.

More likely the regular NFL Season which is 16 games!

I was fortunate enough to be at the New Sydney Showground in 2008, for the final round of the Aussie Solos. At the time, it was probably the only occasion that a speedway track had been constructed around a baseball field. Since then the stadium has been renamed the Giants Stadium, and is now the home of Sydney Thunder cricket team in the Big Bash, as well as the GWS Giants in the AFL. Track was a weird shape, and had what appeared to be 5 corners! As part of my travels I was also lucky enough to visit the Brisbane Showground (also known as the Ekka). Unfortunately I didn't see any racing there on the 425-metre (465-yard) track, but there was plenty of evidence of the tracks existence. There was a plaque celebrating that the legendary Don Bradman who made his Test debut against England at the ground in 1928. I wonder is this the only venue that has hosted speedway and test match cricket? And finally, on my self indulgent "down memory lane", I went to a long track meeting at Mariánské Lázně in the Czech Republic. From memory I think there were three full sized football pitches on the infield!

Just in case there may still be someone who hasn't seen Jack Lee's 1949 movie, there is a showing on Talking Pictures TV today at 16:20 (CEST). Freeview HD & SDTV: channel 81, Virgin Media UK: channel 445, Sky: channel 328, Freesat: channel 306.

One has to applaud the courage of those prepared to invest their time and money into the Rockingham adventure. Sadly their attempt to replicate NASCAR Racing in the UK was always doomed to failure. It isn't a coincidence that the bulk of Nascar fixtures are based in the southern states, where the dry warm climate is conducive to the sport. Northamptonshire has certain qualities, but a dry warm climate isn't one of them!

Sadly that boat sailed many years ago..... The years of stagnation, caused to a large extent, by the leadership of self-serving intellectual pygmies whose sole interest has been the protection of their own business, rather than doing what's best for the sport, has left the patient in critical if not terminal care. I fear even if someone who has the composite wisdom and experience of Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Larry Page were found to be a CEO, they would, in all probability, be "flogging a dead horse", and in any event wouldn't be listened to by the "we know best" attitude of the little businessman who apparently lead and direct the sport.

Not for the first time Tsunami is talking out of his rear end! Decently run sports have chief executives who are independent of the clubs they represent. So when the EPL make a decision they have Richard Scudamore to implement it. He does not "go off in his own direction to run his respective club", as he doesn't have a respective club to run! Mind you the EPL will have to find someone new as he is due to retire shortly! Similarly the ECB's Chief Executive Officer is Tom Harrison, a former professional cricketer was previously a Senior Vice President for international sports agency IMG. The RFU are in the process of recruiting a new Chief Executive to replace Steve Brown, who was recruited in 2011 from Abbott Labs. One thing for sure his replacement won't be an official of a RFU Club!!!! And if you go further afield, all the Commissioners of the major sports in the USA....NFL, NHL, NBA, MLB, MLS are all held by fully independant individuals who are not connected with ay particular franchise. The list is endless. In fact speedway had the chance to have someone to run the sport, mind you that was over 30 years ago now! The problem is, that speedway is ostensibly run by little men, who run small businesses, and are frightened to allow a third party to take control. The decision not give JB the chance to run British Speedway in the way he wanted, was probably the first stab wound in the heart of the sport! Sadly the self interests of those that were supposed to protect the sport have done nothing but slowly turn the knife, and are to a large extent responsible for the hemorrhage that we now see. So yes, Moxey's analysis was spot on

Unfortunately Ray, anyone with an ounce of common sense understands that speedway in the UK is living beyond its means. One of the key reasons for this deficit is the silly money that is paid to riders. Unfortunately people like Vince do think they are "special" and his failure to understand a relatively simple concept only goes to underline it! But I don't blame Vince. I can't blame him, if someone else is foolhardy enough to pay him to ride, even though his/her business can't afford to do so. That just illustrates their (not Vince's) financial irresponsibility. What it needs is for owners and promoters to get together and say: "You can ride for my team, however I'm not going to pay you." As Vince has already ceded that he "do(es) so because I love the sport I choose to participate in..." The choice is his, just like my son's. He can accept the offer which will enable him to “participate in the sport he loves”.. OR DO ONE!!

You're right, writing in large bold capital letters doesn't make any comments anymore relevant than anyone else's. Sadly your comments, regardless of their size, are at best confused. You say: "That is why we pay to race and in my case there is no prize money at all" If only that were true, then speedway may not be in the mess it is!

The fragility of your argument is that "nobody tells" a speedway rider that he has to sign a contract, thereby facing the type of sanctions that you outlined. THAT'S THE CHOICE HE MAKES! At the end of the day it is becoming increasingly apparent that the sport in the UK can no longer sustain the amount of money going out of the sport to fund riders. In fact my son DOES "travel the length and breadth of the country", but at his expense and with his sponsors support. He the pays to compete, and if he picks up the odd bit of prize money and the occasional trophy, this is just the icing on the cake. His real motivation is the opportunity he has to participate in a sport he loves! So I ask the question again: WHAT MAKES A SPEEDWAY RIDER SO BLOODY SPECIAL?

My question is very simple: WHY SHOULD SOMEONE WHO CHOOSES TO RIDE A SPEEDWAY BIKE EXPECT TO BE PAID? My son drives a Hot Rod. Apart from the support of some very generous sponsors, he meets the rest of the cost out of his own pocket! He even pays to compete. WHAT MAKES A SPEEDWAY RIDER SO SPECIAL?

Certainly not on the "West Country Comedy Circuit"!