Why Is Speedway Great?

[spencebel 181]

As a child going to watch my team BV at Hyde Rd..(the place to be).Last meeting of the season all riders ligned up across from the main stand,and

said a few words , and esp if they said See you next year.. Now with silly rules ,most teams are never the same two yrs running..........

.Also loads of things to buy in the track shop, always new stuff every week. Wooden rattles..

 

World finals at Wembley.

The men with their big display boards with every rider rosettes.

[FAST GATER 852]

For me the racing is almost everything, I've no real interest in the rules (apart from the ones about machinery), don't care much about teams, actually prefer individual meetings and never fill in a programme. Was a bit different when I was a kid in that I had a team but now although I usually want one team to win more than the other I'd prefer good racing to the right team winning every time.

 

The only reason it's almost and not all is that I also have an interest in the machinery and the way it's set up.

 

4 blokes with big balls on a good track is unbeatable entertainment in my view.

In my own case I love the starts I believe they are as entertaining as the races and love the different methods and ways in which each rider sets himself up ,from my own point of view this has been wrecked by the strict and IMO boring robotic rules implimented today .I believe Colin Mererdith is to blame sorry one of the main reasons that we have gate and go s/way today would not mind but if my memory serves me correctly he was at best a very average rider perhaps this is his revenge on Mauger & Co .

Edited July 29, 2016 by FAST GATER

[steve roberts 9,244]

Internationals between England and the USA and Denmark....or going further back Sweden.

 

Those badges with year bars.

 

Going into a last heat decider and winning. Memories of many with Hans Nielsen and his partner achieving same on many such occasions.

In my own case I love the starts I believe they are as entertaining as the races and love the different methods and ways in which each rider sets himself up ,from my own point of view this has been wrecked by the strict and IMO boring robotic rules implimented today .I believe Colin Mererdith is to blame sorry one of the main reasons that we have gate and go s/way today would not mind but if my memory serves me correctly he was at best a very average rider perhaps this is his revenge on Mauger & Co

Remember when said Colin Meredith appeared in a second half race at Oxford under the name of Tony Brooklister.

 

Personally I used to enjoy the tactics at the gate with riders trying to out wit their opponent but can understand why the no touching tape ruling was brought in.

Edited July 29, 2016 by steve roberts

[FAST GATER 852]

Internationals between England and the USA and Denmark....or going further back Sweden.

 

Those badges with year bars.

 

Going into a last heat decider and winning. Memories of many with Hans Nielsen and his partner achieving same on many such occasions.

Remember when said Colin Meredith appeared in a second half race at Oxford under the name of Tony Brooklister.

 

Personally I used to enjoy the tactics at the gate with riders trying to out wit their opponent but can understand why the no touching tape ruling was brought in.

Imo the rule was brought in to try and level the field( in fact it had the oposite effect because top riders would often get caught out) because some felt that Ivan &co would not win as many races as they did but cream will always float to the top and Ivan ,Ole and the rest would have adapted because were great riders .

[Sidney the robin 4,735]

I have been to about 18 mens finals ( my brother was an LTA concillor ) IMO the two stand out player were/are Sampras and Federer ,it is no accident the number of titles they have between them and Roger shaves it by the sheer grace he plays with .In recent times I have only missed the finals because a certain Scotsman was in them and I refuse to watch him under any circumstances because his contempt for the English which he barely conceals .

You never see Laver live in his prime then Gater? Sampras is the best player i have ever seen live would still have Laver at no1 though.

[BWitcher 12,453]

I can't agree that the old starting method was better, it was awful in my opinion.

 

However, of late I think referees have really been ruining things. I have always had a strong admiration for electric gaters (unless they are on the other team!).. but it seems far more common now that great starts are pulled back.

You never see Laver live in his prime then Gater? Sampras is the best player i have ever seen live would still have Laver at no1 though.

 

You can only compare what they did in their eras Sid because quite simply on a head to head basis Sampras would wipe the floor with Laver.

 

Players are so much fitter and stronger now than they used to be.

[FAST GATER 852]

You never see Laver live in his prime then Gater? Sampras is the best player i have ever seen live would still have Laver at no1 though.

My brother's favourite Rod never saw him sadly (too young ) but Pistol Pete always seemed to have an extra gear just at the right time and would break his opponents heart in the process.

I can't agree that the old starting method was better, it was awful in my opinion.

 

However, of late I think referees have really been ruining things. I have always had a strong admiration for electric gaters (unless they are on the other team!).. but it seems far more common now that great starts are pulled back.

 

You can only compare what they did in their eras Sid because quite simply on a head to head basis Sampras would wipe the floor with Laver.

 

Players are so much fitter and stronger now than they used to be.

IMO if a rider makes the gate without breaking the tapes or moving the race should be his whether he has guessed right or read the Ref's starting routine so be it

Edited July 29, 2016 by FAST GATER

[Sidney the robin 4,735]

I can't agree that the old starting method was better, it was awful in my opinion.

 

However, of late I think referees have really been ruining things. I have always had a strong admiration for electric gaters (unless they are on the other team!).. but it seems far more common now that great starts are pulled back.

 

 

You can only compare what they did in their eras Sid because quite simply on a head to head basis Sampras would wipe the floor with Laver.

 

Players are so much fitter and stronger now than they used to be.

 

Laver wooden racket or not still no 1 for me,with Pistol Pete second my take on things class players play in any era.

[BWitcher 12,453]

Laver wooden racket or not still no 1 for me,with Pistol Pete second my take on things class players play in any era.

 

Laver with a wooden racket would lose 6-0 6-0 6-0 to Sampras.

 

The phrase 'class players play in any era' cannot be proved, ever.

 

You mentioned earlier about the game changing and the big servers not being as dominant anymore.. part of the reason for that is the players are so much fitter and faster now, they return more serves, they retrieve more ground shots.

 

Would Laver have been able to have coped now? Maybe, maybe not. He would have the ability that is without question but it is no guarantee he would have the fitness and that is the key thing now at the highest level.

[Sidney the robin 4,735]

Laver with a wooden racket would lose 6-0 6-0 6-0 to Sampras.

 

The phrase 'class players play in any era' cannot be proved, ever.

 

You mentioned earlier about the game changing and the big servers not being as dominant anymore.. part of the reason for that is the players are so much fitter and faster now, they return more serves, they retrieve more ground shots.

 

Would Laver have been able to have coped now? Maybe, maybe not. He would have the ability that is without question but it is no guarantee he would have the fitness and that is the key thing now at the highest level.

My theory is Laver ( who lets not forget played in a good era.) Joe Davis,Rocky Marciano,Sugar Ray Robinson, Joe Gans, Willie Pep only a few sporting examples they would go to the level that was put in front of them.Only my humble opinion even worst scenario Laver would be in a all time top five no doubt about that some of these players today are fit yet can barely go five sets unreal really.

[BWitcher 12,453]

My theory is Laver ( who lets not forget played in a good era.) Joe Davis,Rocky Marciano,Sugar Ray Robinson, Joe Gans, Willie Pep only a few sporting examples they would go to the level that was put in front of them.Only my humble opinion even worst scenario Laver would be in a all time top five no doubt about that some of these players today are fit yet can barely go five sets unreal really.

 

Of course he is in an all time top five, that is based in achievements in their era which is all you can go on.

 

But transport Laver as he was then (an amateur lets not forget) and put him on court today, he'd be blown away.

 

Remember, Wimbledon Final of 1961 for example, the ball in play time was barely 12 mins. Laver himself has admitted he wouldn't stand a chance against the players of today as they are much bigger, much stronger, much faster and much fitter.

[Sidney the robin 4,735]

Of course he is in an all time top five, that is based in achievements in their era which is all you can go on.

 

But transport Laver as he was then (an amateur lets not forget) and put him on court today, he'd be blown away.

 

Remember, Wimbledon Final of 1961 for example, the ball in play time was barely 12 mins. Laver himself has admitted he wouldn't stand a chance against the players of today as they are much bigger, much stronger, much faster and much fitter.

 

He would say that he was and still is a modest man bigtime, yes the physical aspects come into play of course.But again Borg another was a master with a wooden racket he would be in most peoples top 6 of all time wouldnt he.?

[BWitcher 12,453]

He would say that he was and still is a modest man bigtime, yes the physical aspects come into play of course.But again Borg another was a master with a wooden racket he would be in most peoples top 6 of all time wouldnt he.?

 

He would of course be in top six of all time, but again, that's based upon how good they were in their individual era's.

 

Borg playing now would struggle. Indeed that was evidenced when he attempted a comeback and was really humiliated, failing to win a single match in thirteen attempts. Of course, still trying to use a wooden racket certainly didn't help but although still 'fit' by normal standards he wasn't fitter and faster than his opponents like he used to be.

 

Fitness plays such a big part in many sports these days. In football there are players around the country who have all the skill in the world, far more than many playing professionally, but they simply can't get about the pitch well enough to succeed at any decent level.

 

The same applies to tennis. Skill only gets you so far now.

 

Anyway, speaking of tennis and bringing it back to the thread.. for some reason, I know not why, but after year after year of watching non stop coverage of Wimbledon I suddenly stopped and in recent years have barely seen a ball hit. This year I actually watched the whole of the men's final, the first time I've done so in at least ten years.

 

That's the case with a few sports, cricket I would watch test matches, ball to ball coverage.. then suddenly I stopped..

 

Speedway the interest has never waned!

 

Edited to add:-

 

Actually I think the reason my interest in some sports waned was when my 'heroes' retired in those sports. In cricket players like Botham, Gooch, Pringle

 

In Tennis, Agassi, Sampras, Graf, Pierce

 

I love watching Darts, but I only really watch Phil Taylor these days... once he retires I likely won't be watching any more.

 

I used to be addicted to the Tour de France, but since Miguel Indurain finished I barely watch.

 

Nascar Racing the same with Rusty Wallace.

 

With speedway the hero was always Sam Ermolenko and Peter Karlsson not far behind... when PK retires, will that be it for the sport for me? I don't think so, but it won't be the same as it isn't now Sam doesn't ride anymore.

Edited July 29, 2016 by BWitcher

[E I Addio 15,843]

I can't agree that the old starting method was better, it was awful in my opinion.

 

However, of late I think referees have really been ruining things. I have always had a strong admiration for electric gaters (unless they are on the other team!).. but it seems far more common now that great starts are pulled back.

 

 

 

I am totally with you on that. The only thing I would say is that the referee has the best view and as TV replays show he gets it spot on sometimes but everyone else looking from a slightly different angle cant see anything wrong.

 

Although , like you, I love to watch to electric gaters but the rules require an equal start and nine times out of ten in modern speedway someone who gets a flyer usually finishes up with an FTG win which can get a bit boring for the crowd, so it is very difficult to get the balance right

 

With speedway the hero was always Sam Ermolenko and Peter Karlsson not far behind... when PK retires, will that be it for the sport for me? I don't think so, but it won't be the same as it isn't now Sam doesn't ride anymore.

 

One of the things that make speedway great is riders whose actual professionalism and skills on the bike are so good you could almost be entertained watching them do 15 heats on their own. PK is one of my all time favourites and his time at Lakeside were some of my best memories in speedway. It will be sad day for me when he is gone, even more so when Andreas Jonsson goes but there don't seem to be many of that ilk coming along. Does that mean we are just getting old ? Are there any really class acts like PK, Leigh Adams, etc in the pipeline or are we getting an increasing number of the "open the throttle and hang on brigade " ?

[Halifaxtiger 5,318]

Nothing in the rulebook. No first timer has ever turned up and gone, "R/R is rubbish, guests are rubbish, the points limit is rubbish and there not enough Brits in teams". People want an efficiently run meeting on a good track and a home win. Get that right and the rule are almost irrelevant. I bet 95% of people don't know the rules beyond the TR and the use of a reserve.

 

Spot on and even if they do its still about 4 blokes on bikes without brakes everything else is 'fluff'.

 

But some twits on here with 'issues' would have you believe their visitors were rolling in the ailses with laughter when they told them walking through the gates.

 

Again, spot on .​ The quotes about mates loving speedway but not going because of tactical rides is, I suspect, in almost every case a load of crap.

 

For me the racing is almost everything, I've no real interest in the rules (apart from the ones about machinery), don't care much about teams, actually prefer individual meetings and never fill in a programme. Was a bit different when I was a kid in that I had a team but now although I usually want one team to win more than the other I'd prefer good racing to the right team winning every time.

 

The only reason it's almost and not all is that I also have an interest in the machinery and the way it's set up.

 

4 blokes with big balls on a good track is unbeatable entertainment in my view.

 

Pretty much sums it up for me, Vince, although I much prefer team meetings.

 

While I get a lot of pleasure motoring about this beautiful country of ours and meeting up with mates all over the place they are just bonuses - its all about the racing, nothing more.