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25 minutes ago, Fromafar said:

Don’t disagree,but how many people will flock  these days to  see meaningless meetings if it turns out to be Select vSelect.Recent  years have seen a sharp decline at these type of meetings IMO.

If it could happen & work I know it's been mentioned before but if say it does go ahead in some sort of racing capacity & the leagues are struggling for riders.. would it not be a good idea to try out 6 rider teams & give more british youth a chance if possible... Or another option could be 5 man teams with two 2nd halfers who like back in the 70s get a chance the following week or like john Robson & robin Dixon etc.. if they performed well enough in the 2nd halves as I remember once at Coatbridge robbo beat pogo Collins & got a chance to ride the following week but pogo kicked off & john robson was told sorry your not in next week... I think that was 1976 or 77..

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3 minutes ago, ruffdiamond said:

Not wanting to throw another spanner in the works, but...

Speedway seems to be, in a way, reliant on many dedicated track staff. Will any workplace, even voluntary, need to be 'covid secure' and, would any 'disclaimers' that may have already been signed, be valid?

Interesting

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The track staff point raised is a very good one as a majority of those at Newcastle are providing there time free of charge. Although it will be possible to social distance while working at tracks I suspect not all will be prepared to put themselves and their family at increased  risk by doing so while we are in the current climate. It may seem a small issue in the context of the wider issues facing the sport in the UK but speedway will not be able to take place at Brough, and I suspect a number of other tracks, without the hard working match day staff that do so much for the sport.

Edited by Viper

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21 minutes ago, pienpeesman said:

If it could happen & work I know it's been mentioned before but if say it does go ahead in some sort of racing capacity & the leagues are struggling for riders.. would it not be a good idea to try out 6 rider teams & give more british youth a chance if possible... Or another option could be 5 man teams with two 2nd halfers who like back in the 70s get a chance the following week or like john Robson & robin Dixon etc.. if they performed well enough in the 2nd halves as I remember once at Coatbridge robbo beat pogo Collins & got a chance to ride the following week but pogo kicked off & john robson was told sorry your not in next week... I think that was 1976 or 77..

Am sure many will want to see some action,  whether it be 4 team even. It shouldn't be beyond any sort of sense to only have like for like amongst clubs. Maybe CL grade and NL grade making up teams, but let those grades only race against similar grades. 

Stadium fees etc. may play a big part in viability,  but the longer it doesn't go on, the earlier it will be lost.

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37 minutes ago, pienpeesman said:

Interesting

Well I would think, that in these times, it shouldn't be overlooked. 

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1 hour ago, pienpeesman said:

If it could happen & work I know it's been mentioned before but if say it does go ahead in some sort of racing capacity & the leagues are struggling for riders.. would it not be a good idea to try out 6 rider teams & give more british youth a chance if possible... Or another option could be 5 man teams with two 2nd halfers who like back in the 70s get a chance the following week or like john Robson & robin Dixon etc.. if they performed well enough in the 2nd halves as I remember once at Coatbridge robbo beat pogo Collins & got a chance to ride the following week but pogo kicked off & john robson was told sorry your not in next week... I think that was 1976 or 77..

If the only riders available are UK resident (and not riding in Poland) I reckon there are only approximately 60 who have either had a team place in a top two divisions or were about to for the first time (Palin etc) due to be active in 2020.   Assuming that any Aussies won't return for a short season. 

Spread across 19 teams it's going to be hard to run anything with any integrity. I suppose you could have mass doubling up if the Premiership teams stick to Monday/Thursday.

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Unfortunately in these covid days and going forward, health and safety will be a big thing, ( THJ will probably be aware of the big ins and ous of  this in his line of work)     would the promotion/ volunteers be willing/know all about this ? Will it be worth the hassel for what may only be a season of 2 months if we are lucky. If all h+s is done would a crowd turn up to watch? If I were a promoter I would think the hassel for a short season would not be worth it, that's without the potential rider issue.  I think hard as it is to think like this, I would abandon the season, re-group and focus on 2021, if they can afford to do it, as for many their business and sponsor's businesses may have taken a very big hit in these times. Sorry if this sounds bleak but IMO that's where the sport is.

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In my opinion, the promoters should be working on an individual championship, involving all the riders that stay loyal to our leagues. Pay points money through the qualifying rounds, & up it for a Grand Prix type series for the top 16 qualifiers. Always assuming we are allowed to attend meetings, & the government don't demand all meetings have to be behind closed doors.

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just leave it till next year . stop getting all hot n bothered  .  its not the end of the wurld, but it  cud b !

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11 hours ago, ruffdiamond said:

Well I would think, that in these times, it shouldn't be overlooked. 

The track staff are more than 2 meters apart on race nights lol

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Honestly

Some interesting (and valid) views and as I said originally I am usually a pot half full guy but most of the issues of running this season have been highlighted very well, lock downs; social isolating; quarantining; rider availability; competition format; ground availability where the facilities are hired off companies who run dog tracks and other facilities that may cause issues when opening up stadiums and that's before you even mention good old health and safety. Also how confident would the fan base be at coming back so soon after the Covid outbreak peak with no idea whether it (Covid) would come back again with a vengeance... Although I was asked yesterday if the pubs opened up tomorrow would you want to be the first one in there (what a stupid question) and he did say (laughing) he knew what my response would be as he asked the question; however not everyone is as thick or reckless as yours truly because I would be in the pub or at a meeting like a rat down a drain pipe; others however may be much more cautious... I mentioned on the Glasgow thread way back when this thing was breaking that we may not see Speedway before June/July and now unfortunately I am struggling to see it happening at all this season...

Real shame because the new season offered so much... I am secretly hoping we get some action this year however I think it will be a struggle and I feel genuinely sorry for the new restructured BSPL and Rob Godfrey because they are really between a rock and a hard place on what they can do in the current situation and for Rob Grant who was fired up; sorting the track out; pulling a team together at short notice and really fired up to hit the ground running to get the Diamonds back in the game for this season only for Covid to well and truly pull the rug from under his feet... Very frustrating... but what can do!!!

Finally I am not a fan of Donald Trump however like Donald all my curries will be of the Indian variety from now on and I will never get another Chinese carry out as long as I have left on this planet....  Just a token gesture for them starting the Chinese Flu and inconveniencing the planet!!! and making me have to stay in on a Sunday and watch mind numbing "crepe" on the telly.... and while I am on moaning how rubbish has the TV been... are they thinking that because they have a captive audience they can put out any old dross they fancy because they don't need to try... Usually if the telly is rubbish I go to the pub and I cant even do that at the moment.... Arrrrgggghhh!!!!!

Regards
THJ

 

Edited by TotallyHonestJohn
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No more Greene King beer for me anymore,Hit them hard where it hurts so much and that is in the pockets.

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2 hours ago, TotallyHonestJohn said:

Honestly

Some interesting (and valid) views and as I said originally I am usually a pot half full guy but most of the issues of running this season have been highlighted very well, lock downs; social isolating; quarantining; rider availability; competition format; ground availability where the facilities are hired off companies who run dog tracks and other facilities that may cause issues when opening up stadiums and that's before you even mention good old health and safety. Also how confident would the fan base be at coming back so soon after the Covid outbreak peak with no idea whether it (Covid) would come back again with a vengeance... Although I was asked yesterday if the pubs opened up tomorrow would you want to be the first one in there (what a stupid question) and he did say (laughing) he knew what my response would be as he asked the question; however not everyone is as thick or reckless as yours truly because I would be in the pub or at a meeting like a rat down a drain pipe; others however may be much more cautious... I mentioned on the Glasgow thread way back when this thing was breaking that we may not see Speedway before June/July and now unfortunately I am struggling to see it happening at all this season...

Real shame because the new season offered so much... I am secretly hoping we get some action this year however I think it will be a struggle and I feel genuinely sorry for the new restructured BSPL and Rob Godfrey because they are really between a rock and a hard place on what they can do in the current situation and for Rob Grant who was fired up; sorting the track out; pulling a team together at short notice and really fired up to hit the ground running to get the Diamonds back in the game for this season only for Covid to well and truly pull the rug from under his feet... Very frustrating... but what can do!!!

Finally I am not a fan of Donald Trump however like Donald all my curries will be of the Indian variety from now on and I will never get another Chinese carry out as long as I have left on this planet....  Just a token gesture for them starting the Chinese Flu and inconveniencing the planet!!! and making me have to stay in on a Sunday and watch mind numbing "crepe" on the telly.... and while I am on moaning how rubbish has the TV been... are they thinking that because they have a captive audience they can put out any old dross they fancy because they don't need to try... Usually if the telly is rubbish I go to the pub and I cant even do that at the moment.... Arrrrgggghhh!!!!!

Regards
THJ

 

Get a dog :t:

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1 hour ago, ruffdiamond said:

Get a dog :t:

Honestly

Had a Bull Mastiff called Bazyl (he was bad at spelling) big soft lump and I got him to just over 10 years from a 8 week old pup which wasn't bad for a Mastiff, cried for a fortnight after I buried him in the back garden and that crying wasn't because of the blisters on my hands after digging a big hole to put him in (nearly got to China that day) and the callouses on me hands were there for about three month after that escapade with a spade; however I vowed after him I wouldn't get another animal... He went in 1996...

Then low and behold an old pal of mine passed away in Cumbria and I inherited his dog a Black Labrador called Rob and luckily I scored for another fantastic dog; just like Big Baz he was a really intelligent dog and another big soft lump... got him at 7 and a half and seen him to just over his 12 birthday and when he went I was a bigger wreck than when the first dog went... totally cabbaged; took him back home and he got buried in a garden in Dearham 2018 with a James Grieve apple tree over him to mark the spot... (see what a did there cos his first dad was a big speedway fan (Comets) too) (like James Greaves) ... and honestly it was like losing one of the family I couldn't watch Cruff's without filling up and still cant its terrible..

So that's it with animals I've been spoilt twice with brilliant dogs who were great pals but I get far to attached... I don't even want a fish; a cat; a spider nowt not even like Private Baldrick in Blackadder who had a pet slug called Graham that when he died (Graham that is) Baldrick used him as a moustache... so no thank you no more pets... I will baby sit a mutt for a couple of weeks if someone was wanting to head off somewhere... but no as Jason Donovan once said "Too many broken hearts"

Thanks but no thanks... 

Regards
THJ

Edited by TotallyHonestJohn
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4 minutes ago, TotallyHonestJohn said:

Honestly

Thanks but no thanks... 

Regards
THJ

Arr ok, it's not nice to lose them, I've said that the one I have now, will be the last, he's 11 next month and starting to get a bit cranky, but hopefully has many miles left. But was just thinking of something for you to do whilst the pub is shut,,,

What about a bicycle ?,,, then just chuck it on the tip when the pubs open :t:

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