sandman

Thanks Conkers.

i love ice racing.. i have a friend here that is of finnish descent and he goes over there when he can. he hangs with his brethern and keeps tryin to get me to go.. but, hear tell those finns are kinda crazier than most so i defer to the cold weather. still, great, visual form of speedway. and the speed is incredible. can anybody post some good video clips?

Brilliant. One of the best ambassadors ever in the sport. Hope they have a huge turnout.

since it usually rained for the BLRC, mebbe he just didnt like racin in the mud. (not sure if it was ever rained off. a fella usually has only a limited number of tear offs. I dont imagine the old Hyde Road circuit was much fun to race on when ya cant see. )

excellent article. he once chastised me loudly for calling him "cass". (who do you think you are to even talk to me, let alone call me cass) he also told me has was making a fortune refurbishing dc-3's and sellin them in africa as mentioned. he told me personally his mother was a psyciatrist. he appeared to be very intelligent, and had attention deficet disorder (observation). he wasnt yer typical speedy rider, no offence to anybody, but was smarter than the average circle burner. he also seemed a person who was a tad off the ol bubble but sometimes really smart people are socially off the loop a bit. he didnt play well with others either. welp, there ya go, thats about all i know. i hope he is alive and happy anyway, and not a guest of the angolan government.

last i heard he was re-furbishing DC-3 airplanes and sellin em to the Angolan army for an inflated price and he ticked off the wrong cabinet minister in Africa. You can finish the story however you want on that one. draw yer own conclusions. it is the price of doin business & there but for the grace of God goes I. personally i steer well clear of africa, more dodgy characters there than even ireland, for sure, and that is sayin a mouthful.

thanks for the great memories, and sorry to hear if you are having difficult times at the moment, and best of luck for the future, is adequate. i dont mean to be on a soapbox, but dammit, if you Shawn, or Kelly is reading this, Thank You for the pleasure of watching you race.

I agree Ian. The start of this thread was kind hearted. It turned into judgement day. It wasnt intended to drag anybody through the mud. If a person wants to judge another, look at themselves first. I know I cant with a clear conscience. I cant do it, Personally, I am just pleased they graced speedway with their presence, warts and all. Good luck to them. Some people have a different view on what success in life is all about. i prefer to judge all of em, by what they gave to me as a gift. memories that will live inside of us. Next ya know, Ronnie Wood or Keith Richards will be brought up in the same vein. How do you put a price on the first time you heard "Midnight Rambler" by the Stones? Whatever happens, it sticks with ya. Raise the main, four hours out into your two week destination and crank up "Let it Bleed" Cd and then judge them. No brainer. no way..

not that it matters, but Bobby Schwartz. his Dad was a real nice fella, his nick name was "Cadillac" Jack Schwartz. a real agreeable character for sure.

Shawn & Kelly. Really nice people. Probably among the most naturally gifted the sport has ever seen. I read where after Shawn (only american ever to do so) won the World Longtrack Final, was given a beautiful crystal vase for his tremendous accomplishment and he put it in a bag to take home and it was shattered during baggage handling. Enough to make anyone drop to their knees in tears and Shawn just brushed it off. Two of the greatest entertainers in the sport, and never having big heads. I havent heard anything on their situation currently, but whatever or wherever they are, they packed 100 years of living into about 10-15 years, they brought a lot to the sport. They got a lot from the sport. They made some great memories for many of us. I dont know if it is still up on youtube but that (run-off for the win) race with Kelly & PC at Kings Lynn in the WTC round in 1982. Just look at Kellys bike control. Just beautiful. And Shawn, was actually a bit better than Kelly. Hope those fellas are OK. Good people.

the extra pounds that come with age gave him an advantage.

how about the fact it had to be bucketing down with rain to cancel a meeting. or, that song, which was a disco tune by some german fella, played over and over again at kings lynn. the words, were schpeedway, (bud dump a dump, ssshpeeday, bud a dump a dump.) or after the meetings runnin on the track lookin for bits of shattered perspex. or those little handles on the duck bills of the riders helmets, and all they had to do was hit them to allow another clean bit of perspex to come down. or ivan maugers experiment with a duckbill with two tiny mirrors, one on each corner so he could see what the competition behind was doin? steel shoes with a 3" curved lift at the front of em. crude bike covers on bikes on the back of cortinas, and last but not least, bank holiday local derby meetings? and, it has been mentioned numerous times, but... belle vue with its wooden fence & mickey mouse fun fair. all of this was during ted heaths and, to be fair harold wilsons rein. boarded up shops, and going back you can hear ghost town by the specials(?) going through your head. and i agree with an earlier post. riders smoking in the pits (hello barry thomas). mebbe, things are better now come to think of it.

hey, welcome back JB!

naah.. Greg is a pup. nothing compares to seein Jack Millen sitting on his tool box just lookin for somebodys a** to kick, for fun. Usually the older tough ones used to send glares around the pits whilst smokin a fag, just lookin to see if anybody was lookin at them. that was all it took. howz about an angry Bruce Cribb, (absolutely a jewell of a man when not angered) or havin Arthur Browning coming after ya? enough to make ya wet yer pants for sure.

imo, i believe most american riders actually liked the supporters. i know you cant make a blanket statement and have it be 100% true, but in the main the supporters and riders seemed to have a common bond?

Hey Steve, Your rattle/clacker is a cracker jack for sure. Probably bring a fair price on ebay.

working class supporters, soldier boy, those wooden clackers that people painted in their team colours, team rivalrys that ended up with two teams and mechanics fighting each other, the local pub after the meet, no silencers or dirt deflectors or air fences, and watching the fans pelt the winning away team with missles, rocks and bottles when they got ticked off over losing. all of the characters who were half a bubble off who supported the sport. bank holiday mondays. Barry Briggs shop in the tunnell under the bridge in southampton. edit. almost forgot the most important bits.. the fellas that played trumpets in the stands between races! top that.

Well, after everything is said and done, he really didnt get a Testimonial. Its a show of respect for service and loyalty. If anybody knows how to get in touch with Matt Ford they ought to mention it. I am sure many many racers would contribute as Middlo is well respected by them. I like Middlo, but that aside, fair is fair. He deserves it.

personally i think it would be a nice gesture of Poole to give Middlo a testimonial again. that is what i would do if i was the current promoter. he deserves it.

the funny part was ah pullin into mcdonalds for coffee and the look on the face of the kid at the window, me behind the wheel of a 65 buick rivera. it was kinda like the look..."you lucky b**t**d" . i dunno, i sniveled a lot as a kid but nowadays you cant get away with stuff like that. really great memories. i know im gonna get flack for bringin all this up, but i swear, i was 10 and didnt have a drop so no, it was absolutely not driving under the influence ok? the only other time i brought this subject up i drove a golf cart on the beach with bill after leaving foxys and i got spanked pretty good. i do not drive after even one drink .but, at times i am a good desiginated driver, lots of experience.

i agree. speedways roots are working class, and the sport tried to forget us.

speedway riders, on the whole, dont make a lot of money. you will find very few nowadays who will stick a club for ten years. a testimonial is a recognition of service, a sign of gratitude, a bit like the proverbial gold pocket watch. to a rider, it is the ultimate gesture of thanks. in my opinion, Middlo has given his all to the Pirates, just like his Pop did, it is a family rite of passage. i think he knew from a certain age what he wanted to do and where he would end up. he was an extremely loyal servant to the Pirates. i cant blame him for feeling slighted.

right on Middlo. p.s. you have plenty of money, Reg just needed a leg up. if you had anymore ging al ay you wouldnt know what to do with it. Hey everybody, Middlo is flush, full stop. ten grand is a nite in bournemouth.

Don raced class c dirt track and of course desert, & speedway. He came to England with the american team in the 50's. He was known for his toughness, and also used to play a bugle in the pits. Unfortunately, died a paranoid scizophrenic (sp) alcoholic. As a child, I did see him drive sprint cars, he was amazing, literally drove the wheels off of cars that were not the best. I was a pit rat & he always had time for us kids, and to this day I have fond memories of him. As for the comments about attitudes, cant say I have ever met an american racer I didnt like in some way. The really good guys on the list would be Ronnie Preston, Moran bros., Mike Curoso (impeccable manners) Rick Miller & Billy Hamill to name a few. edit; Dave, i knew Wino Willie, also Filthy Scruggins & met Von Dutch too. man, did i have a great childhood or what. never cared for eddie mulder. when i tried to get his autograph he told me to beat it. made fun of my haircut & said i had a big head then flicked a lit cigarette at me. i told him i was gonna tell my dad on him. my ol pop was a pretty tough customer for sure so he immediately apologised and then signed my program. my dad & uncle Roy used to let me drive us home on the freeway when i was ten years old, (designated driver because they couldnt be bothered, too tired they said) how cool is that? Also, if any of you out there have never had the pleasure of hearing an Offenhauser at full song, you missed out on truly one of lifes best experiences. cant begin to describe it except just beautiful. kinda like the old honda cr93 125cc road race bikes with a megaphone. or the old speedway bikes before silencers. i do go on i know,... sorry..

Thank You..