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Skid Sprocket

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Posts posted by Skid Sprocket

  1. Posted

    30 minutes ago, Thornaby48 said:

    Yes I agree it is gimmicky but it is a one off meeting and if the gimmick caught the attention and curiosity of the locals bringing in first timers then it is worth it. All adverts have gimmicks and let's be honest after the Julie Lewis Memorial meeting K.K. was dubious about running the Silver Helmet meeting.

    Looking at your thoughts again maybe you have a point and the Julie Lewis meeting might have been the meeting to test your theory but I think the Silver Helmet has too much history to be experimented with,  The Silver Helmet would still go ahead if a meeting sponsor/sponsors can be found.

  2. Posted

    2 hours ago, ch958 said:

    its about 3 metres from Middlesbrough! Had to call it Redcar tho. 

    Sorry i find the idea of the pairs gimmicky

    Gimmicks are one of the things that have dragged us down.

    Its a sport, a team sport, and i would prefer that to be the focus.

    Yes the Bears are Redcar because the track is on land owned by Redcar and Cleveland council, I was querying why Thornaby48 wrote Red car with a space.

  3. Posted

    38 minutes ago, Thornaby48 said:

    The 3 local teams I mentioned would be made up of Red car riders just for that night, so Stockton could be the Anderson bros., Red car could be Ben Barker and sayTobias Busch and Middlesbrough could be Dimitri Bergen and say Thomas Jorgansen, just throwing names about there. Then pairs could be invited from Berwick, Newcastle and Workington.I know that this is a pairs meeting with pairs meeting each other once  but I think that this might be more attractive than an individual meeting.

    Certainly a new approach. Can I ask why you write Redcar with a space (Red car)?

  4. Posted

    2 hours ago, Thornaby48 said:

    I agree with you about Kevin Keay, he certainly keeps the Red car fans informed and puts on a very good show. I consider the speed way at Red car far better than at the old Cleveland Park.Basically I suggested that people prefer team racing rather than individual meeting ,so have 6 pairs representing local towns. ____Stockton, Middlesbrough, Red car with Berwick, Newcastle and Workington.This way supporters have a local team to follow rather than just a favourite rider.

    Not sure what you mean, Stockton team etc. Do you mean a made up team name for the night for supporters who live in those towns? If thats the case then should it be all local towns instead of real team names eg. Whitby, Guisbrough etc. so that you would have say Aaron Summers riding for Guisbrough.

  5. Posted

    2 hours ago, Thornaby48 said:

    Following a comment in the Red car programme a few weeks ago about the very poor attendance at the Julie Lewis Memorial Meeting, I sent an e-mail to the promoters making a suggestion of how they could make future individual meeting more enticing. Guess what----I am still waiting for a reply even if it was just to say it was rubbish suggestion. If I cannot get a reply from my local promotion what chance getting anything from the BSPA?

    Redcars new promoter is one ray of sunshine in this whole mess, he is very approachable but the workload he  has taken on is horrendous.  I am sure your email must have slipped through the net, what were your suggestions? (pm me if you would prefer)  

  6. Posted

    12 hours ago, waytogo28 said:

    That is one of my few skills and I am willing to draft something for that purpose SS but it seems that it is you and I at the coal face. I had hoped to pick up one or two from a wide variety of tracks who could take the survey to tracks this season ( ASAP ). If we cannot attract others to the cause ( perhaps they feel it is a lost cause? ) is there any point in continuing? A letter from two supporters is unlikely to be even read by Promoters, however well written.

    The greatest strength of a supporters group is numbers and as you say two means nothing. The greatest weakness is apathy. There are many willing take time to discuss whats wrong with the sport but no time to help find a cure.  How do you motivate supporters? or maybe you just accept that there are no problems to be fixed.

  7. Posted

    7 minutes ago, Barney Rabbit said:

    Before just about giving up on British speedway I attended a match at Alwalton and took a friend with me for his first taste of speedway. The match itself was non-descript really but had one noteworthy moment - Panthers reserve Ricky Ashcroft up against World Champion elect Jason Crump. Ricky jumped out of the gate first, got in front and stayed there, using everything he knew to keep Jason behind. Ricky took the flag first to tremendous applause, everybody on their feet cheering at the finish and on his well-deserved lap of honour. My mate Rob didn't see the point of the applause, to him, it was just a case of first away won!!! Reserve beating World Champ, ex home #1, ex track-record holder meant nothing to him. Ricky started first and won.

    I found that, to most newbies, it doesn't matter how good the speedway is, how good the team riding is, you need passing. Without it they're less likely to come back.

    i have often thought similar myself.  It is often said that to attract new supporters rules and a lot more need changing but to initially attract newcomers you need action, rules and politics only come into it when you become a seasoned supporter.

    • Like 1

  8. Posted

    2 minutes ago, waytogo28 said:

    You and me and any number of other eager volunteers. I will pay for 1,000 surveys to be printed after we get the permission of the King's Lynn promotion to distribute them at an upcoming match.

    A skilled letter writer to draft a letter to every promoter to put them in the picture written so as not to get their backs up?

  9. Posted

    10 minutes ago, waytogo28 said:

    I feel that the first matter to be dealt with is - are the BSPA open to hearing from a Supporters Group and seriously considering their merged ideas ( those a majority of "members" can agree on as being essential ). Unless we can establish a core group via the BSF and tackle this issue we cannot move forward very much. I think if a group can be set up then getting a survey along the lines of the one recently posted on here ( that was first done 20 years ago ) would be a priority. If we can recruit 1 or 2 activists ( or more ) from each club to distribute such a survey and establish a sharing of the cost ( or find a sponsor! ) that would seem to be the first steps along the way. I still have my Little Red Book but I was 19 years old when all that seemed the way forward. I am now 69.

    More positive thinking.  Now who has the time and skill to pull all this together?

  11. Posted

    Just now, Vincent Blachshadow said:

    So how do you decide 'what supporters want' if several supporters have different views on a given subject which this forum shows they clearly do?

    Maybe a poll for the top five gripes. If everyone gets behind the top one till its fixed then move down the list but that is a subject for discussion.

    The powers that be are not going to trawl through forums to get popular opinions they need prioritising and putting in their face and publicising where they cant ignore public opinion.

  12. Posted

    1 minute ago, Vincent Blachshadow said:

    The problem I foresee here is getting the supporters' group to agree what it is they're going to ask for.

    As a for instance, I want guests for injured #1s only and didn't want set nights, Mrs B doesn't want guests at all but wanted set nights. Which one of us would you listen to and who's view would you put forward?

     

    Thats the problem with differing views of members on a forum. Someone needs to take charge and sort out a list of priorities and work down the list of what supporters want (and will pay at the turnstiles for),

  16. Posted · Edited by Skid Sprocket

    I have always said that the commercial press and radio have to publish and broadcast to suit their shareholders (understandably) but when it comes to local and national BBC radio and t.v. the commercial side should take a back seat and they should concentrate non mainstream stories.

  17. Posted

    A quick Google search "speedway action groups" came up with no results except for individual club groups. Are there no national groups dedicated to sharing such things as ideas on how to get more people through the turnstiles to putting pressure on the powers that be through sheer weight of numbers.  It is understandable  and justified to air individual thoughts on forums such as this but would a national group of supporters with its own website etc carry more weight? Maybe a crazy idea, its just a thought!

  18. Posted

    Speedway is a wonderful sport but unfortunately it is run and supported by individuals who relate back to an era when the sport was popular, well supported and profitable. Realisticly it can't be sustained in it's present form. A lot of problems are beyond the sports control but radical ideas and thinking should be on the agenda. Getting the 'big stick' out will only hasten the demise.

    All that will happen is that we will end up with another dictatorship. I made an attempt to get a consensus of opinion on a relatively simple matter with a vote on this forum on publicising attendance figures, with very little interest, any new initiative would have the same lack of interest and be left to a few dictators as we have now.

  22. Posted

    Perhaps "...the powers that be..." checked that the present total of votes was 79 - 54 in favour and 25 NOT in favour. Than equated those figures agains the claimed current BSF membership which is given on site as 15,132.

    That indicates a massive 15,053 BSF members have so far not responded.

     

    I had thought of that, it just shows that when a chance is given to have a say (that just might be listened to) the vast majority just couldn't care less. This poll was on a less controversial topic partly to get the feeling for such polls maybe that is why it was not subscribed to as well as it could have been

    • Like 1

  23. Posted

    Surely you are not surprised?

     

    Not surprised just hopeful. With a forum of this size this type of anonymous poll could be a useful way of judging supporters feelings on many issues which in turn should lead to less criticism of those in charge if it is seen that the supporters are being listened to.

    • Like 1

  24. Posted · Edited by Skid Sprocket

    As the poll has been going for some time now I decided to contact Neil Vatcher to ask what was the official policy on publishing attendance figures and after over ten days and being prompted i got this reply "Sorry about the delay in replying , I will take your views forward."

     

    I replied with "Thanks for your reply.

    There is much discussion amongst speedway supporters concerning many aspects of the sport and, as is often the case, there are those who who try to dominate forums etc. This anonymous poll was an attempt to get the views of the silent majority on this particular subject.
    As the majority are in favour of publishing figures it would be helpful to know the official view on the matter, for and against.
    Six days later still no reply!

  25. Posted

    Twelve months ago Glasgow sacked BB due to slow unreliable engines and a lack of prep prior to meetings. The intention from Glasgow was clear, get him on a low-ish average which he could significantly add to as a middle order rider. Redcar have got the rider we thought we were getting last year. Enjoy it while it lasts.

    It could be down to a better management rider relationship that we are seeing at Redcar.

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