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Dave Jones

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Posts posted by Dave Jones

  2. Posted

    Got to know Wayne through some mutual friends who were Cradley fans. Socialised with him on a few occasions  and always found him a very cheerful friendly guy. He was very popular in the area  being a local lad, something that was evident by the size of the turnout at his funeral  .   Still think about him regularly despite the passing of the years.

    • Like 1

  3. Posted

    3 minutes ago, BWitcher said:

    A good management team would be listening to feedback and understanding such actions have absolutely no benefit, only the negative of possible lost fans through the turnstiles. It's not as if the sport can afford that is it.

    As for never happened before or since, it's certainly a rare thing. Imagine a football manager and players having a laugh in front of a camera as they leave the pitch 3-0 down at half time. There would be outrage from supporters.

    Your response is absolutely typical of those involved in running the sport and is yet another indication of just how out of touch promoters and management teams can be and another indicator of why the sport in this country is in the mess it is.

    Time and a place.. when your team is being humiliated, that most certainly isn't it. You already have an annoyed fan base as it is.

     

    Saved me the trouble of a reply .. :D  

  4. Posted

    8 minutes ago, BWitcher said:

    Masters.

    Camera switched to him, stood next to Peter Adams. Adams his usual face, Masters straight faced. Turns, saw camera was on him, breaks into big smile and laughs.

    Now I know that's the kind of character he is, but it's not what you want to see your No 1 doing on a humiliating night for your team.

    There are fans who have already stated, if the riders don't care, why should they and next season they may not bother. 

    It's not to say he didn't care... but there is a time and a place and perception can go a long way.

     

    Agree 100%.  When you are a fan watching your team take a beating the last thing required is "couldn't care less attitude" from team members.

    I recall a tv meeting from Swindon against the Bees in their last season in the top league. Coventry were being well beaten, and when the camera zoomed in on the pita area two  bees riders and the team manager were fooling around in front of the camera.  Not a good feeling watching that , then again it is something that would never have happened during the time bees were run by a disciplined management team.

  11. Posted

    11 minutes ago, greyhoundp said:

    Wrong, He didnt like the way the track was prepared, he didnt like the regular power cuts, but he has never wished to see any track closed, in fact he has suggested had either of the promoters requested a ACV be put on the track once it was known it was for sale, the current situation may have been avoided.

    Messrs  Robinson & Geary a right pair of "nutcases".  Neither are worthy of the time it takes to read one of their posts .IMO

    • Like 2

  12. Posted

    20 minutes ago, Mr Snackette said:

    Anyone "brave" enough to invest money in returning speedway to Odsal, should be compelled to have a psychiatric analysis first!

    I remember one weekend in 1997. On the Friday night the Bradford Bulls played Paris St Germain in front of 20,000 fans to win the Super League title.

    The following evening Bradford Dukes raced Swindon Robins on their way to winning the Elite League that season. This was a Dukes team with Mark Loram, Joe Screen, Gary Havelock, about to win the league............and a crowd of less than 500 bothered to show up!

    It suggests to me that the Bradford public has a limited appetite for speedway.

    Whilst I wouldn't disagree entirely with your comment, I've often wondered whether the reason for the speedway's struggle to attract numbers was down to the tremendous success of the "Bulls" around that period.The rugby was such a huge success at that time & it attracted very large attendances week in & week out ,to the detriment of all the other sports in the area perhaps? Affording rugby and speedway might have been too much for many people.  The rugby club are in the doldrums presently and they don't get the support that they previously enjoyed so perhaps there's a place for something else now . I do believe the stadium is to be sold now , I can't think of anything else that it could be used for as it is a rather "unique" place.

  14. Posted

    2 minutes ago, sommelier said:

    Great days, me with my mum and dad always did Wolves on a Friday, Cradley on a Saturday and Birmingham on a Monday. I was at Gothenburg when Ole won his first world title. The two riders always give Ole a good run for his money around Wolves was Michanek and Ray Wilson

    Ah yes Wolves on a Friday. Perhaps my long term memory isn't as good as I imagined.:D

    Michanek was a rider who always seemed to be a thorn in the side for Ole.

  15. Posted

    1 minute ago, sommelier said:

    I agree with you regarding Ole, I was fortunate to watch Ole week in week out at Wolves in the early 70's, for me Ole and Gollob were the two most graceful riders ever to throw their leg over a speedway bike

    Back in those times I regularly did two or three meetings a week. Coventry on Saturdays, Wolves on Monday and Long Eaton midweek. I had the pleasure of watching OO at Wolves most weeks, and remember well the tussle that the CO had getting him to brandon after Ole asked for a move away from monmore. His second world title win is still etched in my memory A great time to be a speedway supporter.:t:

     

    • Like 1

  17. Posted

    Back on topic, my favourite has to be the O O  . I first saw him ride in a world title qualifier at Owlerton in 1966 , his first official outings in UK I think. He won the first heat of the night against three other Scandinavians and created an immediate impression.

    I followed his progress firstly at Newcastle, and then got to watch him on a regular basis when he moved to the Midlands. Had some great moments watching  & supporting Ole, and always liked listening to what he had to say He had then & still has a wonderful personality.

    • Confused 1

  19. Posted · Edited by Dave Jones
    spelling

    21 hours ago, steve roberts said:

    Bit of a 'brat' apparently when an ex-rider cum trainer (can't recall his name) was interviewed in an edtion of 'Backtrack' some years ago.

    Oh yes Roman!  I remember an evening at Brandon when he was riding a new " all singing & dancing" GM. I'm sure it was Bees v Reading and Roman was " lined up" & passed by Jan Andersson on his dilapidated looking old Jawa.:D

    Roman wasn't impressed,  after the race finished he rode up alongside Jan & gesticulated towards the engine. I thought WW3 was about to start, Andersson took offence , believing that Roman was accusing him of having a "large engine" and there were ructions in the pits area.

    I think Andersson insisted that the engine was examined there & then and if my memory serves me Tommy Knudsen took the top off the engine and measured its capacity.

    Everything checked out fine and we all moved on.:D

    • Like 2

  20. Posted

    2 hours ago, BWitcher said:

    Agreed, but there was no doubts over the original exclusion.

    You often needed a touch of luck in the old one off World Finals. Nobody can argue Ermolenko wasn't the best rider in the world that year.

    i suppose it depends where you consider "a touch of luck" finishes and a huge chunk of luck begins really.:D

     i will say that such was my intense  frustration with the result, & for the one and only time in my life I found myself at the back of the room during the riders press conference heckling the winner during his speech .:D

     

  21. Posted

    2 hours ago, Fortythirtyeight said:

    You said that the introduction of silencers had made the standard of racing deteriorate. If all bikes are effected the same way, which they were, then all bikes will perform similarly therefore the racing will still be as close , or not, as it was before .

    They might be slightly slower or even less noisey but this would not effect the STANDARD of racing.

    I think you will find that the major criticism of this particular silencer was that the power from the engine didn't come in progressively. It caused the riders difficulties as often they would pick up drive unexpectedly, usually in the turns, and the bikes would lift dangerously. As a result riders were reluctant to get too close in case something untoward happened which indirectly caused a deterioration in the quality of the racing.  IMO

     

  23. Posted

    1 minute ago, steve roberts said:

    Hans openly discusses his dislike of Ebdon in his book "Main Dane".

    I had it in my mind that it was a well known issue, but it was a long time ago and my memory isn't what it once was .:D

    Thanks for the info.

    • Like 1

  24. Posted

    3 minutes ago, iwright71 said:

    Don't go down that line. You will get Fortythirtyeight on your case, he has already told me I'm wrong when I dared to say quality of racing had detreated since the silencer change in 2011. I have eyes , can only call it how I see it. 

    I don't worry about that.:D  I've encountered plenty of posters like him in the time I've been on the forum. Most don't hang around too long usually.:D

  25. Posted

    11 minutes ago, Sotonian said:

    No, 2011, when the change in noise was markedly noticeable.

    I agree with that.  IMO it was also a point where the quality of racing deteriorated as riders were complaining that" the engines didn't react to the throttle as they had prior to the new silencers being introduced ,and close racing was more difficult due to the way that the power came in".

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