hammers66 22 Posted July 7, 2015 I think people Like Tai, Darcy, Pederson (love him or hate him) and a few others are a good draw too. i know when I first started watching the sport these were the names that stood out. This helped draw me in and gave me a good starting point and names to look out for. As a newbie, could someone explain the double points rule, as I Havel got a clue? Someone mentioned it earlier and I have to say I like the sound of a knock out cup. I am desperate to get to my first meeting but do not drive. Hoping to get to Lakeside one day! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gresham 928 Posted July 7, 2015 If it were just four blokes riding round in circles, I'd lose interest pretty quickly and it's one of the reasons I have little interest in individual racing. Team racing adds all sorts of dimensions, and I think team riding, substitutions and other strategy keeps interest even if the racing itself isn't spectacular. Teams also allow for better continuity - individual riders come-and-go, but fans can establish allegiances to teams over many years. The problem is the concept of team speedway has been damaged by lack of continuity, scheduling conflicts, punitive team building restrictions, inconsistent application of the rules, and so on... I probably didn't explain myself so well...but that's what I was trying to insinuate. Basically watch the lads racing and forget the politics. I get the team allegiances....ive had three in my lifetime.... Bristol, Swindon and Somerset. Although riders move team so much these days, it's just a 'team' by name very often. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ray Stadia 1,071 Posted July 7, 2015 I think people Like Tai, Darcy, Pederson (love him or hate him) and a few others are a good draw too. i know when I first started watching the sport these were the names that stood out. This helped draw me in and gave me a good starting point and names to look out for. As a newbie, could someone explain the double points rule, as I Havel got a clue? Someone mentioned it earlier and I have to say I like the sound of a knock out cup. I am desperate to get to my first meeting but do not drive. Hoping to get to Lakeside one day! Well, when you eventually get to your first 'up front and personal' speedway meeting, you may end up joining 'The Moaners Club', with the rest of us! 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ruffdiamond 6,115 Posted July 7, 2015 I think people Like Tai, Darcy, Pederson (love him or hate him) and a few others are a good draw too. i know when I first started watching the sport these were the names that stood out. This helped draw me in and gave me a good starting point and names to look out for. As a newbie, could someone explain the double points rule, as I Havel got a clue? Someone mentioned it earlier and I have to say I like the sound of a knock out cup. I am desperate to get to my first meeting but do not drive. Hoping to get to Lakeside one day! WKD would be the best 1 to explain the double points rule Newcastle like the sound of the KO cup this year,,, Lakeside might not be the best place to go, but it'll put down a marker,,, Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hammers66 22 Posted July 7, 2015 WKD would be the best 1 to explain the double points rule Newcastle like the sound of the KO cup this year,,, Lakeside might not be the best place to go, but it'll put down a marker,,, Just wanna see some live action to be honest. Sittingbourne is also not a million miles away. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
weatherwatcher 664 Posted July 7, 2015 The double points rule (which I personally detitest) Goes like this, if a team are 10 or more points down after heat 5 then they can nominate a rider to go out in the Black and White helmet colours to get double points for his team, whether it be is own ride or to come in, in place of another rider. If he finishes in front of the oppostion the he gets double pionts ie first 6 points second 4 points third 2 points and last as quite a few do nothing. If he finishes first then what was a 20 points to 10 could then become 21 to 18 if both the riders finished first and second, it is all how well they race. I think it is totally unfair that a team has ridden their guts out and got a 10 point lead to see the Black and White come out and if they have done well to bring them to within 3 points of the other team, I say if a team as rode well and got that far in front than that is how it should stay. The best thing they could do to make speedway much more competative is as stated on here already, out of the box factory sealed engines, with no tunning allowed ( let them do it in the GP's if they want but leave the leagues out of it) get rid of the tacticle rides, bring the stadiums in this centuary, not as some of them are, stuck in the 1960's dog track era with the fans in grey macks trillby's and silk scalves. It has to move on and they only way to bring in the fans is to get all of the stadiums upgraded that need it. There are so many around the country that are a total disgrace. The only way you would dare go to the toilet would be to stand on the roof with a gas mask on. Lucky for me I go to Leicester Lions and this has only been built for 4 years, the toilets are superb,the racing may be suspect at times, more bad racing than good over the last 4 years but it is getting better, Needs to get better still, but that needs track shape changes that will never happen under the currewnt owners. The track that really needs praise is the way that the new owners of Glasgow have pored one and a half million or so was stated into bring that track up to scratch. Such a shame it is so far away from me. Would love to see it in the flesh, so to speak. Hammers66 I do hope you make at to a live meeting, there is nothing that can compare, to when those 4 riders are at the tapes, nearlly make the hair stand up on the back of your neck. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hammers66 22 Posted July 7, 2015 Great post mate and thanks for taking the time to explain that to me. That is all new to me and does seem very unfair as ws you say, a team can ride well and claim the points but then can have a deficit taken away by one ride - That makes no sense to me at all. Will keep my eye out for any races at Glasgow and try and watch some on TV if on. Yeah, I really want to get to a meeting but as a non-driver it is not the easiest but will do my best. The double points rule (which I personally detitest) Goes like this, if a team are 10 or more points down after heat 5 then they can nominate a rider to go out in the Black and White helmet colours to get double points for his team, whether it be is own ride or to come in, in place of another rider. If he finishes in front of the oppostion the he gets double pionts ie first 6 points second 4 points third 2 points and last as quite a few do nothing. If he finishes first then what was a 20 points to 10 could then become 21 to 18 if both the riders finished first and second, it is all how well they race. I think it is totally unfair that a team has ridden their guts out and got a 10 point lead to see the Black and White come out and if they have done well to bring them to within 3 points of the other team, I say if a team as rode well and got that far in front than that is how it should stay. The best thing they could do to make speedway much more competative is as stated on here already, out of the box factory sealed engines, with no tunning allowed ( let them do it in the GP's if they want but leave the leagues out of it) get rid of the tacticle rides, bring the stadiums in this centuary, not as some of them are, stuck in the 1960's dog track era with the fans in grey macks trillby's and silk scalves. It has to move on and they only way to bring in the fans is to get all of the stadiums upgraded that need it. There are so many around the country that are a total disgrace. The only way you would dare go to the toilet would be to stand on the roof with a gas mask on. Lucky for me I go to Leicester Lions and this has only been built for 4 years, the toilets are superb,the racing may be suspect at times, more bad racing than good over the last 4 years but it is getting better, Needs to get better still, but that needs track shape changes that will never happen under the currewnt owners. The track that really needs praise is the way that the new owners of Glasgow have pored one and a half million or so was stated into bring that track up to scratch. Such a shame it is so far away from me. Would love to see it in the flesh, so to speak. Hammers66 I do hope you make at to a live meeting, there is nothing that can compare, to when those 4 riders are at the tapes, nearlly make the hair stand up on the back of your neck. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
oldtimer 340 Posted July 7, 2015 Used to attend Premier League every week even had season ticket for few years. Don't go now because of missing riders, foreign commitments R/R, guests and the number of absences caused by injuries because the bikes have got more powerful but the size of the tracks is still the same. Also to much standing around with nothing happening due to poor presentation. Plenty of speedway on TV. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ray Stadia 1,071 Posted July 7, 2015 Great post mate and thanks for taking the time to explain that to me. That is all new to me and does seem very unfair as ws you say, a team can ride well and claim the points but then can have a deficit taken away by one ride - That makes no sense to me at all. Will keep my eye out for any races at Glasgow and try and watch some on TV if on. Yeah, I really want to get to a meeting but as a non-driver it is not the easiest but will do my best. You really need someone to offer you a lift Hammers66! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ruffdiamond 6,115 Posted July 7, 2015 If you have access to ' sky ',,,, Berwick v Peterborough match t'morro might be ok, 'The life of Tai ', if you can find it is worth watching,,, there is loads of old and newish stuff on YouTube,,, 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cityrebel 2,960 Posted July 7, 2015 Not true.One big difference between then and now is lots of the alternatives have moved with the times.I used to go to Celtic Park or Highbury and the toilets were terrible,if people could even be bothered to use them.Often they just watered the concrete anywhere they could find a free spot.You were squeezed in and often had no real control on where you were taken by the mass.Go to a football stadium now and it is a totally different experience and that is probably why lots more females go and you will also see a lot more cosmopolitan crowd.Speedway is basically the same experience it was back in the 70s with much the same crowd that went in the 70s.Thse that are still interested.Do you see many minorities at a speedway meeting?I saw quite a few youngsters at kent kings last, they are definetly a minority at speedway these days. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Humphrey Appleby 13,996 Posted July 8, 2015 (edited) Not true.One big difference between then and now is lots of the alternatives have moved with the times.I used to go to Celtic Park or Highbury and the toilets were terrible,if people could even be bothered to use them.Often they just watered the concrete anywhere they could find a free spot.You were squeezed in and often had no real control on where you were taken by the mass.Go to a football stadium now and it is a totally different experience and that is probably why lots more females go and you will also see a lot more cosmopolitan crowd.Speedway is basically the same experience it was back in the 70s with much the same crowd that went in the 70s.Thse that are still interested.Do you see many minorities at a speedway meeting? Football (and speedway) was a relatively cheap form of entertainment until the early-90s, standards were lower, and treating people like cattle seemed to be acceptable. There was also something exciting about going to football as a young person, being part of baying mob and surging up and down the terraces, but Bradford and Hillsborough brought home the fact that people could die. I also cringe now at the racist abuse, plus of course there was (and to some extent still is) an appalling hooligan element. It's commonly said that hooligans only fought other hooligans, but that's frankly not true and regular fans were taking their lives into their hands almost every time they went to a big match. The reality was that attendances were falling throughout the 70s and 80s because football was not a nice place to go for women, families and ethnic minorities, and that whilst I find the football experience much more sterile than in my youth, I'm glad I can now sit in some comfort, not get crushed, suffocated or burned to a crisp, and not have to run the gauntlet of post-match violence (as much perpetrated by the police as anyone else). I suspect though, speedway wishes it has the problems of there being enough people to cause a crush in the first place... Edited July 8, 2015 by Humphrey Appleby 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hammers66 22 Posted July 8, 2015 You really need someone to offer you a lift Hammers66! Agreed mate. Would be willing to share fuel costs with anyone. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ch958 2,398 Posted July 8, 2015 the site sometimes makes you cynical - i know it does me for example some may feel that Hammers66 is a made up profile for one of the regulars to provoke some discussion - like the double point rule, etc as i say the site makes you cynical - plus its happened before 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hammers66 22 Posted July 8, 2015 the site sometimes makes you cynical - i know it does me for example some may feel that Hammers66 is a made up profile for one of the regulars to provoke some discussion - like the double point rule, etc as i say the site makes you cynical - plus its happened before Hi Mate. and thanks for your reply. A shame that anyone would think this was a made up profile but I suppose that is the way of the internet world this could be the case. I watched the speedway in Sweden last night and thought that was a good meeting. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
