Playoff Semi Final 1st Leg • Wolverhampton v Swindon (9•10)

[A ORLOV 8,628]

25 minutes ago, False dawn said:

I have to say that I was particularly impressed with Luke Becker's performance. He made a nonsense of the track conditions against Troy Batchelor and again later in the meeting. I'm not saying the track condition was not bad. Clearly it was horrible. But the decision was to run the meeting. Be it the crowd, the TV or the lateness in the season, it was going ahead. Congratulations to all those riders who just said to themselves, "Let's go".

The meeting would not have been so late if the teams did not have gaps in the season, anything up to three weeks without a home meeting, during the summer.

[mikebv 10,240]

To be fair. You get plenty of garbage matches in all sports..

I just think that we as fans want to be entertained possibly too much and are sometimes unrealistic..

Lots of Speedway fans are not that focused on their teams, but the sport itself, given the nonsense that goes on, and that might be why we often feel a bit deflated by what gets delivered..

Lots of Swindon fans will I am sure be content with the win and lots of Wolves fans will be disappointed with the defeat. And plenty of both will be disappointed with what they watched regardless of result..

It does though ultimately go back to running the showpiece events when the summer has ended.

Keep doing this, (like will happen ad infinitum), and the defence of the poor racing and reduced crowds due to weather threat, becomes very weak, as basically it's (yet another), self inflicted wound..

[The Weasel 306]

3 hours ago, RobMcCaffery said:

So, presented with a totally unacceptable situation, we're supposed to meekly change channels and keep quiet? No. It doesn't work that way. Anyway, this isn't about the TV audience, it's about those who were relieved of nearly £20 on the night to watch a fiasco. 

When something is deeply wrong you do the sport a disservice by simply ignoring it. Those responsible have to be told quite firmly that this is NOT acceptable. We've had too many people either 'switching off' - for good or giving up attending live matches while those who are driving them away go unchallenged. 

There are 22 days left in the speedway season. Plenty of time to run four meetings without imposing last night's rip-off on increasingly disillusioned customers. If you spend a whjole season hyping up the play-offs to the detriment of the main season you HAVE to deliver, even if it takes six postponements before you get a usable track. 

I've seen 49 speedway Octobers so far and while you do get the odd run of bad weather I've seen plenty of clear months. I've even happily paid my money to watch speedway in November, once even for a challenge match!

Forcing a farce through for TV is far more damaging than calling it off. We have people constantly banging on about the sport being ruined by bad decision making yet we're supposed to just shrug our shoulders and turn away from last night? 

Forcing meetings through on unfit tracks was all very well when speedway was cheap.

It isn't now.

 

I see you're moaning again, you don't want the season to finish in September, you don't want the Play Offs and despite not going last night you're complaining about paying £20 to get in, what is it you actually want? and before you respond, a return to 1974 isn't an option.

[BWitcher 12,453]

3 hours ago, Bagpuss said:

Same principle with those who paid to get in, the forecast was pretty clear. You pays your money and takes your choice. It was always going to be a quagmire. 

But I’m not disagreeing with whether the meeting should have happened or not. Unfortunately the window for getting these meetings raced is shrinking because British speedway is so disorganised and quite frankly a mess. We shouldn’t be scratching around in mid October trying to get semi finals raced. 

Tbf Baggy, that rain wasn't forecast was it? Certainly not in the quantity it came down. By the time it did start, most had paid or had already travelled.

Tatum had done his track inspection and the track was in good shape.. till the deluge just before start time.

[Bagpuss 10,757]

1 minute ago, BWitcher said:

Tbf Baggy, that rain wasn't forecast was it? Certainly not in the quantity it came down. By the time it did start, most had paid or had already travelled.

Tatum had done his track inspection and the track was in good shape.. till the deluge just before start time.

I’m sure I read on this thread yesterday afternoon that rain was due to hit at 6pm but yep I accept that the forecast changed late and people would be on their way or in the stadium by the time it arrived. To be honest my gripe was mainly with folk who watched the meeting on telly and saw the track awash before it started yet sat through the whole thing and complained that the racing was crap. As if it was going to be any different. I didn’t watch every heat (first and last four races) but thought it rode reasonably well considering. 

[orion 7,610]

1 minute ago, Bagpuss said:

I’m sure I read on this thread yesterday afternoon that rain was due to hit at 6pm but yep I accept that the forecast changed late and people would be on their way or in the stadium by the time it arrived. To be honest my gripe was mainly with folk who watched the meeting on telly and saw the track awash before it started yet sat through the whole thing and complained that the racing was crap. As if it was going to be any different. I didn’t watch every heat (first and last four races) but thought it rode reasonably well considering. 

Classic speedway fans thou ..don't ride and  we would had got  they all rode wet tracks in the old days etc etc 

[Baldyman 6,243]

2 hours ago, orion said:

Not sure it was just about tv . the rain started at 7.10 with a large crowd already inside the stadium massive on wolves to get a match on . I think us fans sometimes lose sight of the money side of the sport and what impact calling off a match has .

Or maybe the clubs don't realise how much the fans put in and, should get value for their money,,,, 

[Baldyman 6,243]

2 hours ago, orion said:

Not sure it was just about tv . the rain started at 7.10 with a large crowd already inside the stadium massive on wolves to get a match on . I think us fans sometimes lose sight of the money side of the sport and what impact calling off a match has .

And what about the loads of times I've been to meetings and there has been a small shower, and meetings are called off??  They wanna make their minds up

[orion 7,610]

6 minutes ago, Baldyman said:

Or maybe the clubs don't realise how much the fans put in and, should get value for their money,,,, 

So if you were going to say 20k of your own money  you would call the meeting off ? I doubt that you would as I said  before speedway fans tend to have little idea of the money side of the sport .

it's stands to reason once the tv is there and a big crowd is inside a lot more effort is going to put in to the run the meeting it's just common sense . with speedway fans you are never going to win to be honest they just moan .

[Baldyman 6,243]

Well first they may moan, then they stop going, like the thousands and thousands before them, than the last few happy clappers won't have any speedway to watch. 

 

Oh and what about the  20k, after a little shower, actually that's normally the riders getting it called off then 

Edited October 10, 2019 by Baldyman

[orion 7,610]

28 minutes ago, Baldyman said:

Well first they may moan, then they stop going, like the thousands and thousands before them, than the last few happy clappers won't have any speedway to watch. 

 

Oh and what about the  20k, after a little shower, actually that's normally the riders getting it called off then 

What match are you  talking about with this little shower and the riders calling it off ?  as I already explained it's common sense the bigger the meeting  the more effort there  is going to be to run it.  if they had called it off you would had people on here saying modern riders can't race on wet tracks etc .

 

Edited October 10, 2019 by orion

[BWitcher 12,453]

1 hour ago, orion said:

So if you were going to say 20k of your own money  you would call the meeting off ? I doubt that you would as I said  before speedway fans tend to have little idea of the money side of the sport .

it's stands to reason once the tv is there and a big crowd is inside a lot more effort is going to put in to the run the meeting it's just common sense . with speedway fans you are never going to win to be honest they just moan .

I don't think there would have been any complaints from those in the stadium if it was called off given the rain that came down. 

Nor from those on TV when they saw all the water on the track.

[noaksey 343]

5 hours ago, TonyE said:

First of all, my compliments to all the riders for giving it a go. As a spectacle it was a horror show both if you were there in person or watching on TV. I understand, to a degree, why it went ahead but it must be so disappointing for Wolves fans in particular, to see a seasons' work effectively decided on a track which would have declared unfit under any other circumstances.

Agree, the camera angles were really weird and show no understanding of how races should be portrayed. Parts of the track looked really dark, unusual where TV cameras normally compensate well for poor illumination. I don't recall that being an issue in other Wolves televised meetings (bend 2 was really dark last night).

I suppose the one saving grace, if there is one, is that only speedway fans would have been watching and any supporter of a few years standing would not have been surprised by last night's events.

There was a floodlight out on bend 2.

I noticed it a few meetings ago and it certainly hasn't been fixed. I've no idea why not 

[topsoil 2,498]

15 hours ago, orion said:

So if you were going to say 20k of your own money  you would call the meeting off ? I doubt that you would as I said  before speedway fans tend to have little idea of the money side of the sport .

it's stands to reason once the tv is there and a big crowd is inside a lot more effort is going to put in to the run the meeting it's just common sense . with speedway fans you are never going to win to be honest they just moan .

One of the most valid points made on here. Rained off meetings are an absolute killer for promotions.

It's what speedway fans do best. They moan when there are not fixtures every week from March to October. They moan it's too wet or cold in March and October. They moan that the big meetings are held at the end of the season. They moan when there are "meaningless" meetings at the end of the season. They moan when meetings are called off that riders didn't give it a go. They moan when meetings go ahead that the racing isn't up to standard. They moan about meetings being on TV. They moan that TV doesn't get as much TV exposure as other sports.

 

[SPEEDY69 1,249]

I quite enjoyed watching it, seeing how some of the riders adapted and used their mind and skill, compared to those who are just throttle jockeys.