bobtasker

Really? I thought it was something that made the sport look more of a circus than usual. It'll be competing with the wrestling on Sky next: would it have been even better if Nicki had chased Ole around the track, with a folding chair held over his head? To be honest, if the sport wants to be taken seriously it's maybe going to have to think about restricting TV access to the pits. Hans' reaction could be seen coming a mile off - what did they think was going to happen, sticking the blonde with the microphone under his nose as soon as he returned to the pits? As for fining riders for swearing on live TV (mooted on another thread), surely the TV companies have to take some responsibility. If they can't / won't, then maybe that responsiibility has to be taken out of their hands. There are always comparisons made with other sports: 1) would Sky be allowed in the dressing rooms at a Premiership football match to interview a player seconds after he had been sent off? 2) rugby often features "behind the scenes footage" in the dressing rooms - with a camera to show the activity, but without active participation (i.e. an interviewer clambering amongst the players). Maybe that should be looked at: serious coverage of what is part of the preparation, not tabloid coverage.

I'd like to check out the Knock Out Cup results this year in comparison to the League / Trophy meetings: no tac rides / subs, just get on with it & make reserve replacements. But that would be too simple.

Adding my name to the list of those thoroughly impressed on Sunday evening. Josh Auty / Ben Taylor clashes & Dan Greenwood the obvious standouts, but overall if that's the ability & skill to be found amongst the youngsters then there's a LOT of good British talent to be enjoyed in the years to come.

Hi Warleyone, & welcome! As has been mentioned, word of mouth is the main source of new fans, due to the general lack of advertising, so I was wondering: What made you make the good move & venture to the GP on Saturday? I'm pleased to see you were so pleasantly surprised by the spectacle. Was it a case of "let's try out this speedway thing" or "there's a big event - let's go see"? It's always been "noteworthy" to spot an advert out in the Land of The General Public, because it is such a rare event - even on Sky, i've never noticed the Cardiff GP trailer..... except during the speedway coverage!

I'm pretty sure we can "rely" on the administrators to have changed the rules on numerous occasions before Sky (quote "might pull the plug in a few years") - leaving them alone until the end of a season would almost be out of character! As far as disclosure is concerned, the fact that a number of football clubs are Plc.s makes their finances a lot more transparent, which is why the Sky cash is well known. That entity obviously doesn't apply to any of the speedway clubs, as far as I know. It'll be interesting to see how many "runaway" matches are actually turned into "nailbiters" by this nonsensical rule ("Tactical Ride: so half-baked, they couldn't even come up with a decent name!). The more matches it influences would provide ammunition for its retention! Those matches that remain one-sided highlight what a joke it is: Tonight: Berwick 58, Workington 36 or, with "real" point scoring: Berwick 58, Workington 32 Wow! How many hours were spent during the winter coming up with THAT radical idea to make matches more "exciting"??????? Cheers, Bob