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OdsalBoy

Sheffield VS Newcastle Diamonds, SGBCL, THU 16/08/18 @ 7:30pm

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19 hours ago, Fromafar said:

Impressed with Tero these days seems to have genuinely improved.

Got to be one of the first names on the teamsheet for 2019, surely?

Well done the Diamonds.  Cheered me up in my hospital bed no end!

 

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On ‎8‎/‎16‎/‎2018 at 10:15 PM, OdsalBoy said:

OK - Time for an explanation from from the promotion. That was abysmal. 4 defeats at home on the bounce ? Something clearly not right behind the scenes and the loyal paying Sheffield fans deserve so much more. Very disgruntled right now, as i expect a large portion of the fans are.


The Sheffield promotion has taken the usual disgusting step of blaming the paying patrons for the team's current demise. According to Des Lomas in last Thursday's match programme we are "keyboard clowns" who think we know what's best. He says "Sheffield Speedway is owned by the promotion, in particular the Bates family, they can do what they want, have riding who they want, call the team what they want. They put their time and money into Sheffield Speedway, so why should they take unwarranted abuse from faceless keyboard clowns?"

Mr. Lomas, apart from being grossly offensive to die-hard Sheffield fans, needs a lesson in simple business economics. The promotion own Sheffield Speedway and can do what they want? Is that so? Let them try doing it for a few weeks without the fans' hard-earned cash coming through the turnstiles and they - and Mr. Lomas - would very quickly learn where the heart and soul of Sheffield Speedway truly belongs. At least the Drillerman (in the same programme) demonstrates a scintilla of understanding when he writes "It is important to us as fellow Sheffield fans, in addition to promoting the club, to have your support and regular attendance once again." (i.e. Keep paying us your money, even when we do serve up complete dross in return.)

I have nothing to do with Facebook or Twitter, but I do regularly contribute to this forum, which I suppose makes me one of Mr. Lomas's "keyboard clowns." Along with OdsalBoy, graz gp, Blackadder, r8gdp, Spin King, Cue Ball, The Third Man, Tigerblade, Moranboys and a few others, I do regularly have a few words to say about the way the season is shaping up. I have to say that I have never seen the "unwarranted abuse" to which Mr. Lomas refers. I see lots of criticism - most of it warranted (but some, admittedly, less so) and a great deal of good-humoured banter, lots of encouragement and the occasional barbed comment. But "unwarranted abuse"? Never!

If Mr. Lomas has been allowing his gaze to stray into Twitter and Facebook - those renowned dark corners of debasement and heinous malevolence - then what does he expect to encounter other than moral corruption and venality? But contributors to THIS forum are true aficionados of shale: salt-of-the-earth supporters who live and breath the sliding sport. Des Lomas's reference to "keyboard clowns" is just plain insulting and he should withdraw the comment at once and apologise. There certainly are clowns at Owlerton, but which side of the safety-fence are they on? In the words of Stephen Sondheim:

Isn't it bliss? Don't you approve?
One who keeps tearing around and one who can't move
But where are the clowns? Send in the clowns

Don't you love farce? My fault, I fear
I thought that you'd want what I want, sorry my dear
But where are the clowns? Send in the clowns
Don't bother they're here

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1 hour ago, 4thbender said:

The Sheffield promotion has taken the usual disgusting step of blaming the paying patrons for the team's current demise. According to Des Lomas in last Thursday's match programme we are "keyboard clowns" who think we know what's best. He says "Sheffield Speedway is owned by the promotion, in particular the Bates family, they can do what they want, have riding who they want, call the team what they want. They put their time and money into Sheffield Speedway, so why should they take unwarranted abuse from faceless keyboard clowns?"

Mr. Lomas, apart from being grossly offensive to die-hard Sheffield fans, needs a lesson in simple business economics. The promotion own Sheffield Speedway and can do what they want? Is that so? Let them try doing it for a few weeks without the fans' hard-earned cash coming through the turnstiles and they - and Mr. Lomas - would very quickly learn where the heart and soul of Sheffield Speedway truly belongs. At least the Drillerman (in the same programme) demonstrates a scintilla of understanding when he writes "It is important to us as fellow Sheffield fans, in addition to promoting the club, to have your support and regular attendance once again." (i.e. Keep paying us your money, even when we do serve up complete dross in return.)

I have nothing to do with Facebook or Twitter, but I do regularly contribute to this forum, which I suppose makes me one of Mr. Lomas's "keyboard clowns." Along with OdsalBoy, graz gp, Blackadder, r8gdp, Spin King, Cue Ball, The Third Man, Tigerblade, Moranboys and a few others, I do regularly have a few words to say about the way the season is shaping up. I have to say that I have never seen the "unwarranted abuse" to which Mr. Lomas refers. I see lots of criticism - most of it warranted (but some, admittedly, less so) and a great deal of good-humoured banter, lots of encouragement and the occasional barbed comment. But "unwarranted abuse"? Never!

If Mr. Lomas has been allowing his gaze to stray into Twitter and Facebook - those renowned dark corners of debasement and heinous malevolence - then what does he expect to encounter other than moral corruption and venality? But contributors to THIS forum are true aficionados of shale: salt-of-the-earth supporters who live and breath the sliding sport. Des Lomas's reference to "keyboard clowns" is just plain insulting and he should withdraw the comment at once and apologise. There certainly are clowns at Owlerton, but which side of the safety-fence are they on? In the words of Stephen Sondheim:

Isn't it bliss? Don't you approve?
One who keeps tearing around and one who can't move
But where are the clowns? Send in the clowns

Don't you love farce? My fault, I fear
I thought that you'd want what I want, sorry my dear
But where are the clowns? Send in the clowns
Don't bother they're here

I debated your point over the weekend on Facebook with another fan who had a remarkably similar argument to yourself.

So I hope you don't mind if I copy and paste the replies that I made to his posts.

 

"The Sheffield promotion has taken the usual disgusting step of blaming the paying patrons for the team's current demise."

Your opening point is essentially that you believe the promotion blamed the fans for the team's performances in last Thursday's programme. Now without reference to the particular article that has caused you to say this it would have been difficult to identify where your argument was coming from as none, NONE, of the promoters who contribute to the programme did any such thing. As I pointed out to the other fan, the author of that piece is not one of the promoters. And he made it very clear that what he writes in his column is his opinion. So, and maybe I'm - once again - just being a bit stupid here, why is it necessary for you to portray that it was the promotion that wrote the article when in fact it was actually, and with the greatest respect to him, only one of the programme contributors?

And why is it the "usual disgusting step"? When have they done this before? Can you provide examples please as I've not seen any?

 

"Mr. Lomas....being grossly offensive to die-hard Sheffield fans...."

Grossly offensive? Really? How and why is it offensive? It would seem that's its just you and the other fan that have taken offence to what I thought was an interesting and thought provoking article.

As I mentioned to the other fan, in the past I wrote a similar column in the programme of another professional sports team in Sheffield, and I did this for quite a few years. Not once were my words & opinions even edited, let alone questioned. I set the agenda and I essentially wrote what I wanted. I'll wager that this is the same situation here, as many of the topics the author covers aren't based specifically on Sheffield speedway. If the promotion was 'influencing' the author then surely they would be all about Sheffield.

So for me you're looking for something that isn't there. From your previous posts on here you, like the other fan, appear to have it in for the promotion and I've obviously no idea why, but I just think that if people aren't careful then the constant criticism and sniping that some fans seemingly enjoy handing out could ultimately have a serious impact on the future of speedway in Sheffield. 

 

"Contributors to THIS forum are true aficionados of shale: salt-of-the-earth supporters"

That's a ridiculous statement that is just simply not the case is it. Not every fan uses social media - there are times when I wished I didn't! So are you saying that unless you do you're not a true fan? Honestly, is this what you're saying? The other fan with the same argument as you uses Twitter and Facebook - are you suggesting that his point is not valid because he hasn't posted it on here? I actually think you two would get along having the same views and opinions.

The other fan seemed unconcerned about the potential impact of the actions of the fans attacking the promotion, the management, the riders, etc. He claimed that once the figures become unworkable then they’ll end and that it would be madness to continue at a loss as in any business.

For me surely it's in the best interest of every speedway fan to do what they can to ensure that the figures don't become unworkable? To do what they can to help support and promote speedway in Sheffield? And to not look to destroy the club from the inside? From a very selfish and purely personal perspective I want to watch speedway in Sheffield for as long as I possibly can. Ideally that would be right up to the point at which I die or at the very least when I can no longer find anyone willing to take my dribbling, incontinent and incoherent body to Owlerton. (To be fair the latter probably isn't that far away.....) And I will continue to do what I can to ensure that this happens. As we all know, British speedway is in a fragile position and it needs as many people as possible to be working together and in the same direction to ensure it survives and ultimately prospers. And this is why I question the actions of those fans that either deliberately or unwittingly seek to undermine those that put their time, money and effort into running speedway. I fail see what they get out of it other than perhaps some perverse sense of satisfaction that they have contributed in part to the downfall of the sport that they purport to love.

Edited by RobHowe
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Totally agree with 4thbender, I find it very difficult to understand how most promoters, as successful business men, seem to know so little about running speedway as a business. Everyone is entitled to their opinion but if Mr Lomas is to be believed, some of  the Sheffield promotion team cannot accept criticism.

Without doubt there have been some serious mistakes made this year, the most serious being the belief that Josh Bates would only be out for a few weeks. Family loyalty has little place in business and most of the Sheffield crowd could see at the start of the season that Josh was carrying a very serious injury that would take months, not weeks, to clear.

I also fail to see how any Team Manager could seemingly not understand that the 3 and 4 pairing was extremely weak and would leak points, giving the opposition big advantages in at least 3 heats. Although I rate Broc I think it is extremely unfair to give him the pressure of Heat 14. In my opinion he has had a rough deal - why not swap Todd and Broc round in the team?

I have not seen any offensive abuse on this forum, in most cases it is simply constructive criticism. After such a successful season last year we are all extremely disappointed. 

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31 minutes ago, RobHowe said:

I debated your point over the weekend on Facebook with another fan who had a remarkably similar argument to yourself.

So I hope you don't mind if I copy and paste the replies that I made to his posts.

 

"The Sheffield promotion has taken the usual disgusting step of blaming the paying patrons for the team's current demise."

Your opening point is essentially that you believe the promotion blamed the fans for the team's performances in last Thursday's programme. Now without reference to the particular article that has caused you to say this it would have been difficult to identify where your argument was coming from as none, NONE, of the promoters who contribute to the programme did any such thing. As I pointed out to the other fan, the author of that piece is not one of the promoters. And he made it very clear that what he writes in his column is his opinion. So, and maybe I'm - once again - just being a bit stupid here, why is it necessary for you to portray that it was the promotion that wrote the article when in fact it was actually, and with the greatest respect to him, only one of the programme contributors?

And why is it the "usual disgusting step"? When have they done this before? Can you provide examples please as I've not seen any?

 

"Mr. Lomas....being grossly offensive to die-hard Sheffield fans...."

Grossly offensive? Really? How and why is it offensive? It would seem that's its just you and the other fan that have taken offence to what I thought was an interesting and thought provoking article.

As I mentioned to the other fan, in the past I wrote a similar column in the programme of another professional sports team in Sheffield, and I did this for quite a few years. Not once were my words & opinions even edited, let alone questioned. I set the agenda and I essentially wrote what I wanted. I'll wager that this is the same situation here, as many of the topics the author covers aren't based specifically on Sheffield speedway. If the promotion was 'influencing' the author then surely they would be all about Sheffield.

So for me you're looking for something that isn't there. From your previous posts on here you, like the other fan, appear to have it in for the promotion and I've obviously no idea why, but I just think that if people aren't careful then the constant criticism and sniping that some fans seemingly enjoy handing out could ultimately have a serious impact on the future of speedway in Sheffield. 

 

"Contributors to THIS forum are true aficionados of shale: salt-of-the-earth supporters"

That's a ridiculous statement that is just simply not the case is it. Not every fan uses social media - there are times when I wished I didn't! So are you saying that unless you do you're not a true fan? Honestly, is this what you're saying? The other fan with the same argument as you uses Twitter and Facebook - are you suggesting that his point is not valid because he hasn't posted it on here? I actually think you two would get along having the same views and opinions.

The other fan seemed unconcerned about the potential impact of the actions of the fans attacking the promotion, the management, the riders, etc. He claimed that once the figures become unworkable then they’ll end and that it would be madness to continue at a loss as in any business.

For me surely it's in the best interest of every speedway fan to do what they can to ensure that the figures don't become unworkable? To do what they can to help support and promote speedway in Sheffield? And to not look to destroy the club from the inside? From a very selfish and purely personal perspective I want to watch speedway in Sheffield for as long as I possibly can. Ideally that would be right up to the point at which I die or at the very least when I can no longer find anyone willing to take my dribbling, incontinent and incoherent body to Owlerton. (To be fair the latter probably isn't that far away.....) And I will continue to do what I can to ensure that this happens. As we all know, British speedway is in a fragile position and it needs as many people as possible to be working together and in the same direction to ensure it survives and ultimately prospers. And this is why I question the actions of those fans that either deliberately or unwittingly seek to undermine those that put their time, money and effort into running speedway. I fail see what they get out of it other than perhaps some perverse sense of satisfaction that they have contributed in part to the downfall of the sport that they purport to love.

The article in question was published in the matchday programme, which is a Sheffield Speedway publication. Although it comes with the usual disclaimers, it would be hard to dispute the fact that it expresses the bona fide views of the promotion.

It is an accepted fact - and a well-tried strategy - that any failing organisation attempts to deflect attention from its failure by blaming the "media." It's called "shooting the messenger" (we see it on here all the time - if in doubt, just ask certain Workington contributors about recent events for further evidence of this in practice.) On this occasion, the writer not only attempted to deflect attention from the team's abysmal performances but did so by insulting the intelligence of the online commentators. Calling us "clowns" and "abusers" and intimating that we don't know what we're talking about. 

As a commercial provider of sporting entertainment, the promotion's responsibility is to provide competitive sport which entertains. For the past four weeks they have failed on both counts; bad enough to be charged £16 to support a team which fails to compete, but then to be charged a further £3 for a programme which insults fans' intelligence and challenges the integrity of those with the temerity to voice dissent is a double calumny.

Like you, I devote a very important aspect of my life to watching competitive sport (and pay dearly in the process). But what we've witnessed in the past four weeks is not competitive sport, it's a total capitulation by the team that claims to be the existing league champion... and it's demeaning and humiliating. When Newcastle arrive at Owlerton with three riders in Aarnio, Kus and Wethers with a combined average of 15.77 who manage to score 36 points between them and Sheffield, meanwhile, put out a team with three riders in Anderson, Broc and Shanes with a combined average of 15.32 who manage the grand total of 6 points, you just know beyond all doubt that there is something the promotion is not telling us. But they call US clowns "with half-baked conspiracy theories" engaged in a "deluge of misinformed rantings".

Which part of 36 v 6 is "misinformed"?

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1 hour ago, 4thbender said:

 

 When Newcastle arrive at Owlerton with three riders in Aarnio, Kus and Wethers with a combined average of 15.77 who manage to score 36 points between them and Sheffield, meanwhile, put out a team with three riders in Anderson, Broc and Shanes with a combined average of 15.32 who manage the grand total of 6 points, you just know beyond all doubt that there is something the promotion is not telling us. But they call US clowns "with half-baked conspiracy theories" engaged in a "deluge of misinformed rantings".

Which part of 36 v 6 is "misinformed"?

But you are totally over-looking the fact that two of three Sheffield riders you name are on assessed averages.  So to compare the averages is erroneous at best.  Also, how long have said Sheffield riders been riding, compared to the three Diamonds riders you name?  As far as I can see, the Promotion aren't hiding anything.  Kyle Howarth has publicly stated that riders are being paid, so that conspiracy theory is blown completely out of the water.  Teams/riders go through bad patches.  Why do some fans look for an undercurrent, which 999 times out of 1000 isn't there?  

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6 hours ago, StevePark said:

But you are totally over-looking the fact that two of three Sheffield riders you name are on assessed averages.  So to compare the averages is erroneous at best.  Also, how long have said Sheffield riders been riding, compared to the three Diamonds riders you name?  As far as I can see, the Promotion aren't hiding anything.  Kyle Howarth has publicly stated that riders are being paid, so that conspiracy theory is blown completely out of the water.  Teams/riders go through bad patches.  Why do some fans look for an undercurrent, which 999 times out of 1000 isn't there?  

Good point... but the same trio scored 24 points between them at Armadale 24 hours later. And the two longer-established ones each have highest scores of 11 points, recorded as recently as July. It's not that they can't score points... it's that they can't score points right now AT OWLERTON! Very odd, don't you think?

What's more, the Owlerton malady doesn't only infect Sheffield's own riders. Jason Garrity - who was absolutely unstoppable in winning the British Semi-Final at Sheffield in May, and scored 12 here for Scunny only a fortnight ago - could only muster 3 points on Thursday riding as guest for Charles Wright.

I'm not a conspiracy theorist (I never believed the riders not being paid scenario), but the nosedive off the cliff in the team's home performances belies any explanation of random coincidence.

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26 minutes ago, 4thbender said:

Good point... but the same trio scored 24 points between them at Armadale 24 hours later. And the two longer-established ones each have highest scores of 11 points, recorded as recently as July. It's not that they can't score points... it's that they can't score points right now AT OWLERTON! Very odd, don't you think?

What's more, the Owlerton malady doesn't only infect Sheffield's own riders. Jason Garrity - who was absolutely unstoppable in winning the British Semi-Final at Sheffield in May, and scored 12 here for Scunny only a fortnight ago - could only muster 3 points on Thursday riding as guest for Charles Wright.

I'm not a conspiracy theorist (I never believed the riders not being paid scenario), but the nosedive off the cliff in the team's home performances belies any explanation of random coincidence.

Andersen's first meeting there presumably, so it might take him time to learn the track, possibly? 

Bike problems before the meeting (and presumably during the meeting), apparently.

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8 hours ago, StevePark said:

Andersen's first meeting there presumably, so it might take him time to learn the track, possibly? 

Bike problems before the meeting (and presumably during the meeting), apparently.

Didn't stop him from scoring 13 on his first visit to Edinburgh on Friday.

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1 hour ago, 4thbender said:

Didn't stop him from scoring 13 on his first visit to Edinburgh on Friday.

Different type of track entirely though! 

I'm a Newcastle fan (although I have always said I'm a speedway fan first and a Diamonds fan second), and I am looking at all this from the outside and just playing 'Devil's Advocate' and trying to look at things objectively, without any bias for or against Sheffield as a team or it's promotion.

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On 8/21/2018 at 12:25 AM, 4thbender said:

Good point... but the same trio scored 24 points between them at Armadale 24 hours later. And the two longer-established ones each have highest scores of 11 points, recorded as recently as July. It's not that they can't score points... it's that they can't score points right now AT OWLERTON! Very odd, don't you think?

What's more, the Owlerton malady doesn't only infect Sheffield's own riders. Jason Garrity - who was absolutely unstoppable in winning the British Semi-Final at Sheffield in May, and scored 12 here for Scunny only a fortnight ago - could only muster 3 points on Thursday riding as guest for Charles Wright.

I'm not a conspiracy theorist (I never believed the riders not being paid scenario), but the nosedive off the cliff in the team's home performances belies any explanation of random coincidence.

Garrity has history for not having particularly good meetings when guesting. Not the first time at Sheffield either. As for your two new riders, the fact that a dog meeting was on in the afternoon didn't help as it potentially prevented them from any track time at Sheffield. I thought Anderson showed promise, as proved by his Edinburgh performance. Shanes seems to have (at best) stagnated a bit this year. Broc was always likely to go well around Edinburgh as it is more like a typical "American" track.

Personally I think Sheffield released Bjerre too quick. They should have made sure Woofy was in place before doing  that unless there was another underlying issue there. Anderson was never going to fill that hole.

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Do people seriously believe Woofy, going for the world title, was ever going to line up for Sheffield in the second tier of British speedway? If the rules allowed it, fixtures didnt clash and Sheffield wanted him, he still wouldnt of.

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On 8/20/2018 at 4:11 PM, 4thbender said:

The article in question was published in the matchday programme, which is a Sheffield Speedway publication. Although it comes with the usual disclaimers, it would be hard to dispute the fact that it expresses the bona fide views of the promotion.

It is an accepted fact - and a well-tried strategy - that any failing organisation attempts to deflect attention from its failure by blaming the "media." It's called "shooting the messenger" (we see it on here all the time - if in doubt, just ask certain Workington contributors about recent events for further evidence of this in practice.) On this occasion, the writer not only attempted to deflect attention from the team's abysmal performances but did so by insulting the intelligence of the online commentators. Calling us "clowns" and "abusers" and intimating that we don't know what we're talking about. 

As a commercial provider of sporting entertainment, the promotion's responsibility is to provide competitive sport which entertains. For the past four weeks they have failed on both counts; bad enough to be charged £16 to support a team which fails to compete, but then to be charged a further £3 for a programme which insults fans' intelligence and challenges the integrity of those with the temerity to voice dissent is a double calumny.

Like you, I devote a very important aspect of my life to watching competitive sport (and pay dearly in the process). But what we've witnessed in the past four weeks is not competitive sport, it's a total capitulation by the team that claims to be the existing league champion... and it's demeaning and humiliating. When Newcastle arrive at Owlerton with three riders in Aarnio, Kus and Wethers with a combined average of 15.77 who manage to score 36 points between them and Sheffield, meanwhile, put out a team with three riders in Anderson, Broc and Shanes with a combined average of 15.32 who manage the grand total of 6 points, you just know beyond all doubt that there is something the promotion is not telling us. But they call US clowns "with half-baked conspiracy theories" engaged in a "deluge of misinformed rantings".

Which part of 36 v 6 is "misinformed"?

“The article in question was published in the matchday programme, which is a Sheffield Speedway publication. Although it comes with the usual disclaimers, it would be hard to dispute the fact that it expresses the bona fide views of the promotion.”

It’s actually very easy to dispute this, as I’ve already done. It is your opinion that the views of the author in question represent those of the Sheffield promotion. Your claim is merely that. An opinion. You have provided no facts to support your statement.

You also conveniently failed to answer a single question that I posed in my original response to your post. So, I’ll ask the first and most pertinent one again just in case you are able to answer it.

 

You claimed that “The Sheffield promotion has taken the usual disgusting step of blaming the paying patrons for the team's current demise." I asked why it was the "usual disgusting step" in your opinion? I also asked when had they done this before? I asked if you could provide examples please as I've not seen any?

So far you’ve failed to back that statement up – so if you can support this claim and you have it, then why not simply put up the evidence if it is, as you claim, the “usual step”?

If you don’t or just can’t, are you not just as guilty of being “plain insulting” and should you not “withdraw the comment at once and apologise”? Surely you wouldn’t expect different rules and standards to apply to you? Would you?

 

You then went on to refer to Sheffield Speedway as a “failing organisation” that was attempting “to deflect attention from its failure by blaming the "media."

Firstly, I presume you have financial evidence of Sheffield Speedway being a “failing organisation”? Otherwise there’s no way you would have made such a bold and potentially defamatory remark is there? Perhaps you could share this information to back up your claim?

You also claim that Sheffield Speedway is blaming the media. Now correct me if I’m wrong here but I didn’t see “blame” directed at any part of the media – whether it be locally or nationally.

But then again you typed “media”. So surely you weren’t referring to yourself and the other true aficionados of shale as the media? Were you? If you weren’t, then who were you referring to as the “media” that Sheffield Speedway was apparently blaming to deflect attention away from the fact that it is a “failing organisation”?

Despite the fact you seemingly don’t see an issue with what you post. You made reference to the author “calling us "clowns" and "abusers" and intimating that we don't know what we're talking about.” How do you know the article referred to you? Somewhat presumptuous don’t you think? Or maybe you have a guilty conscience?

 

You claim, “as a commercial provider of sporting entertainment, the promotion's responsibility is to provide competitive sport which entertains.” I’d question the word “responsibility”, as I personally think it’s merely in their interest to provide competitive and entertaining sport. But I think you’d have trouble finding anyone, bar perhaps the person who stares back at you in your bathroom mirror, who wasn’t thoroughly and royally entertained last season. And I think if people were honest they’d say the same for the majority of the first half of this season too. The promotion re-signed / signed some exciting riders last winter, and whilst we were never going to be as strong as we ended last season, the team looked promising and competitive.

Obviously over the past few weeks this has not been the case. And whilst I don’t doubt that you are disappointed, we all are, I’ll wager that the promotion are equally if not more disappointed. But that is all it has really been. A few weeks. A short spell of bad results. Nothing more. And whilst you claim not to be a conspiracy theorist, you appear to believe that something fundamental is wrong inside the club.

You talk as though the promotion have deliberately gone out of their way to make the team uncompetitive and not entertaining over the past 4 weeks. Do you truly believe this is what they’ve done? Do you truly believe that any sports team would do this? Or are you merely just overreacting to a run of disappointing results?

Watching professional sport is expensive. Sadly, not everyone can afford to do so. I’m sure most sports teams – perhaps with the exception of Premier League football teams – would charge their fans less if they could afford to do so. But the harsh reality is putting a professional sports team on the track, ice, pitch, court, etc costs money. And those costs are only going to go one way. I actually think £16 for speedway is very competitive. I rarely get change from £40 for a match ticket at Hillsborough, going to the Steelers would cost me circa £18 for a ticket and I'd probably have to sell a kidney to fly out to Pittsburgh and get a decent ticket to watch the Pens. So for me speedway is good value.

In fact if I thought about how much I’d spent watching speedway, football, ice hockey and basketball over my lifetime I’d probably give myself an aneurysm.

But that has always been my choice. I’m fortunate that I can afford to watch professional sport, but I know when I hand my money over that there are no guarantees. Ever. If I wanted to watch my team win every week I wouldn’t have picked the Tigers, Wednesday and the Pittsburgh Penguins as ‘my’ teams. Ok, so granted the Pens have had some good years of late, but when I first started following them they were horrible to watch. But they are MY teams. Win, lose or draw – they are MY teams. If they lose am I disappointed? Of course. Do I throw the towel in? Never.

“….What we've witnessed in the past four weeks is not competitive sport…..it's demeaning and humiliating….” Demeaning and humiliating?! If you’re truly serious about this I’d suggest you give speedway and possibly sport a miss for a bit. As disappointing and frustrating as the past few weeks have been, sport shouldn’t leave you humiliated and demeaned. If a few defeats leave you like this I’d move on. Life is too short to let it make you feel like this.

Edited by RobHowe

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