mikebv

I didnt think you would need a 'whooooosh'!!!

can see where you are coming from but to be fair to Matt Ford he does speculate to accumulate so using his 'cheque book' is an 'ends to a means'... and also he knows, through experience, the fickle nature of the pirate fans when their team is on a losing streak, ie crowds dwindle as the fair weather supporters stop turning up just leaving the die hards... hence, he needs to keep his team successful or the 'speculation' on salaries at the start of the season will leave the club on a poor financial footing...... the only gripe I would have is the way he ignored a directive re the lakeside meeting and rode completely rough shod over the integrity of the league, (which if I am honest does dilute pooles achievement considerably in my eyes as they subsequently got points from the restaging, which, without getting, they wouldnt have qualified for the playoffs) other than that blatant disregard for the rules, he seems to run a professional business model which a few others may consider following...

the theme tune to 'rising damp' might also have been appropriate...

I think you are correct, however a signed contract can seem to be over ridden by a signed doctors note... even if signed by Doctors "Who", "Spock" or "Zhivago" ....

when sixteen riders turn up (regardless of who they are)...

The hokey cokey elrc!!! You put a rider in.. :lol: You take a rider out.... :cry:

ONLY chance for the brummies is to make the track as grippy and deep as idiot for harris, doyle, barker and king..... (and tell smolinski to just ride the inside)...

You only have to see the latest movie about James Hunt to see how 'someone a bit different' can be a beacon for the sport that they do... Was F1 better in those days? Probably as the driver made more of a difference to the success of the car than they do today, however it definitely was more 'on the edge' with the personalities that were around then.... A bit of controversy is never a bad thing and a 'bad boy' image can do wonders if worked to the media well...,

See what speedway is clearly missing is to be ran by Mr Cholmondley-Warner and Grayson.... "I say Grayson, that young Tay chappie certainly looks like a rum 'un and no mistake".. "Yes, Mr Cholmondley-Warner, he will certainly impact the femily velues the sport has held so dear and delivered so much popularity over the pest 20 yars". "Mark my words Grayson, if he continues to appear on the tele-visual box the stadiums may soon be full of tettooed teenagers and even worse, adolescent urchins who may aspire to be him one day" "Perish the thought, Mr Cholmondley-Warner, however, be rest assured that as long as I have anything to do with it, our femily sport with traditional femily velues will ensure such awful frightfulness will never be seen as something the sport should be proud of" "Very good Grayson". "Thankyou Mr Cholmondley-Warner" "Now Grayson. Let us talk about how we ensure the play offs are exciting and the 'right team' wins"

clutching at very big straws maybe but... IF the beeb start to give the sport (via Tai) more of a push, could that be down to them getting more involved in covering the sport knowing sky have bailed? bbc3/4 etc could be ideal for a highlights package of gp or even british speedway..? more likely gp to be fair as its the professional one, however with moto gp now exclusively on bt sport next season maybe speedway can fill the beeb's motorcycle 'hole' so to speak... we may dream...

indeed..... and the many other olympic champions were manna from heaven for our nations broadcaster.....

what it always was... a farce... simply an opportunity for the beeb to self indulgently show the nations licence fee payers that they still cover some sport... if it hasn't been covered by the beeb, you wont win... simples,,,

not just at rye house mate.... these beauties will fly out all round the country... there is an option for 'tassels' on the blankets should they be wanted and I believe that as an added bonus, on the night in question there will be the opportunity to purchase extra strong cotton, which will be demonstrated as ideal for sewing on 'patch badges' to sleeveless denim jackets (or even wulfsport ones)!!!

Tai has done a lot of good work for the sport this morning... Now someone needs to keep him in the media focus thru the winter... Be a shame to lose any awareness momentum he may be bringing... Is he though going back to Oz for the winter?.

very... if memory serves, a couple of years ago belle vue had four riders pull out on their own and james wright represented us... didnt this meeting take place at the start of the season a few years ago to ensure most riders available?

came across well.. the interviewer seemed clueless (but then she is about most things having seen her in the north west for a few years).. he showed his 'tats' off which concerned me a bit as people watching may think speedway is a 'bit extreme' and up to date, and he didnt mention that it was simply a 'good old fashioned family sport' which disappointed me as this message has proved so successful over the years!!! all in all, well done Tai.... could speedway now have someone a younger generation can relate to? let's hope so..

.... and even more good news.. not to be outdone by bsi's professional approach, british speedway has had its media group on the case and have got Tai on the QVC channel, three weeks this thursday, on its prestigious 2.46am slot, flogging tartan blankets and matching flasks....

"We're doomed ahh tell thee".... "We're dooooooomed"!!!!

let's play 'name the withdrawals'...... or maybe... let's play 'put together the 'actual' line up on the night'.... I would imagine there are lots of doctors surgeries around europe being contacted as I type.... "one sick note please from the 18th for ten days, (I need to cover any re-staging too)"...

got to say, well done to poole... their victory will I am sure resonate around the country... (well at least as far as weymouth and dorchester)... simply whoever wins, no one outside the dwindling few actually give a monkeys what happens and who takes home the title.... champion of the most minority of minority sports and the supreme irony is of course that to gain this dubious honour, all the teams either spend vast amounts of money they cannot afford or manipulate the rules constantly to achieve their own end (or if that doesnt work simply just ride rough shod over any rules that do exist and do what you want anyway..) once again, well done poole, your heart must swell with pride......

my over riding memory of the season? troy batchelor helping poole reach the play offs so poole could then send him, his team and his supporters out of the competition.

well done Tai... all british speedway needs to do now is get its crap together, sort the farcical way it runs itself out, and promote this lad like fook..... he has a back story that hollywood wouldnt believe... someone in the bspa ffs must understand this and get a professional marketing company in to put him forwards into the mainstream media.. could just be the saviour of speedway in this country.. no pressure.... well done again lad.. truly a quality rider

I am one (of the many on here) who can hark back to when 'speedway was great'... The reality though is that the speedway wasn't that much better than we have today (if at all).. You only have to look at youtube coverage of the 70/80/90's to see that one or two good races per meeting was about 'the norm' with the first rider round turn two winning the vast majority of races.. What is different today is that you watch the same kind of races in virtually empty stadia, which adversely effects any kind of atmosphere being generated.. In the 'golden years' the noise generated by the sheer crowd size made the most mundane 3-3 seem 'an event' hence the entertainment level appeared higher... I would go as far as to suggest it isn't the standard of racing that's the main reason crowds have decimated, but rather it is the 'mickey mouse' perception in the way the sport is run that has turned far more away, I know many who have simply 'given up' due to this and I myself have done so on more than one occasion!... Why can't all speedway be like this? Without a big crowd to generate an atmosphere, it cannot be. In the 'great meetings' tucked away in our memory banks you can bet the vast majority took place in front of a large vociferous crowd which made the occasion 'special'... Keep charging £20 to get in and buy a prog and speedway will never deliver 'great nights' consistently as simply not enough will turn up to generate that much needed noise and atmosphere... Keep coming up with the 'mickey mouse' ways of running (or should that say ruining?) the sport on top of this, and eventually it will be the crowd changes that get announced each week before the rider changes..!!

why can't all speedway be like this? play offs bring a 'crap or bust' mentality', which I am sure is probably enhanced by a bigger than average financial inducement for the riders... also each team can cherry pick an 'horses for courses' team selection when it comes to double uppers as there is no PL clash, hence the 'worst rider' is more than capable of holding his own.. and finally Esther... the league is nothing more than glorified qualifying rounds where riders know 'there is always the next meeting, (as long as I dont get injured)' which leads to 'minimal risk taking' riding.... put up a big financial inducement on every meeting with 14 riders of pretty similar ability and 'on the edge speedway' would be the norm, a la SGP...

cometh the hour... cometh the man...... not.......