THE DEAN MACHINE 4,755 Posted July 4, 2016 Cradley v Wolves without a doubt. I can recall Sam Ermolenko telling the story of when he tried to explain the meaning of the Dudley / Wolves Trophy to Freddie Lindgren and why half of each side was regularly injured at the end of each encounter. All Freddie could keep saying was "I don't understand - it was a challenge match!" Yes but what a challenge match! it was never a challenge match , it was everything 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mikebaker 200 Posted July 4, 2016 During the close season. Angus Kix's Glamour League, in the Speedway Star. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
iris123 20,996 Posted July 4, 2016 Ex-riders.Let them in for free you b....u.....g.....g....e.....r......s.Spoiling the sport not being able to stand next to some old guy you have never heard of telling you throughout the meeting what a great feeling it was racing around Hyde Road and how the riders of today don't know how good they have it and how we are better out of the EU and should send back all the scrounging foreigners etc 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fourentee 987 Posted July 4, 2016 I absolutely loved MBI videos production quality, the only thing lacking I'm afraid was the commentary which was soooo flat. This race is a classic example of that, super exciting race, crowd going wild and Mike Bennet may as well be commentating on Bowls.That was commentary? I thought he was reading the stock market lists. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ch958 2,395 Posted July 4, 2016 During the close season. Angus Kix's Glamour League, in the Speedway Star. my old dad caught me having gentlemans relaxation with the ss one day - for years he must have thought men in leathers did it for me - i never got chance to explain it was angus's column Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BWitcher 12,453 Posted July 4, 2016 (edited) That was commentary? I thought he was reading the stock market lists. There is a classic race between Ryan Sullivan and Mikael Karlsson from 1996, run off for the bonus pt at Peterborough. I have two versions of it, one with Mike Bennett commentating, the other with the guy who used to commentate from the centre green I think at Coventry, not sure of his name. Anyway, same race, but one of them comes across as one of the most exciting races ever, the other bores you to death. JSD Videos I think it was, they did Coventry and Peterborough. Edited July 4, 2016 by BWitcher Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
steve roberts 9,246 Posted July 4, 2016 (edited) There is a classic race between Ryan Sullivan and Mikael Karlsson from 1996, run off for the bonus pt at Peterborough. I have two versions of it, one with Mike Bennett commentating, the other with the guy who used to commentate from the centre green I think at Coventry, not sure of his name. Anyway, same race, but one of them comes across as one of the most exciting races ever, the other bores you to death. JSD Videos I think it was, they did Coventry and Peterborough. Colin whathismname (I think that he was also a courier on speedway coach tours?)...simply awful! I have many JSD videos and he just rabbits on without stopping for breath. JSD also covered Oxford meetings during the early nineties. I cringe when I have to listen to his mouth babbling away and wishing that he'd just slow down or just simply shut up! Best commentator? Dave Lanning from the ITV days but I did like Chris French who used to commentate on Screensport back in the 1980s. Edited July 4, 2016 by steve roberts Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RobMcCaffery 2,752 Posted July 4, 2016 (edited) Christ, people miss war crys? They're as cringe as it gets and it's a bloody good thing that they have died a death. Shawn, you've told us elsewhere that you are 31. Now, even by the mid-80s the war cries had served their time but their best days were over. They were a hang-over from days with larger crowds, more prepared to join in the fun. Plenty of people joined in and it was always part of the fun. It was a more innocent, tolerant and less cynical and self-centred time. We did have more fun though. What you saw was the tail end when the crowds had shrunk desperately and naturally there weren't so many people to join in and the war cries obviously were dying-out. When I was announcing I tried to modify them by dropping the '2-4-6-8 who do we appreciate" hang-over from 50s America and just go for the 'Give us a...... etc.' Eventually it was clear that another tactic was needed. It was trying to build up the atmosphere. What an awful thing to try, eh? So, what you saw was the end of an era. I think you'll find many people here were watching speedway well before you were born and witnessed another era that you quite frankly haven't the remotest qualification on which to judge. Which reminds me about one thing I miss from speedway.....tolerance. Edited July 4, 2016 by rmc 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
auntie doris 2,342 Posted July 4, 2016 Bristol buses taking fans to blunsdon...second halves, talking to riders in pits, big crowds, atmosphere, hubbly bubbly pop, golden helmets, saturday night meetings, local riders, large league, different opponents weekly, world finals on bbc... 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The White Knight 9,039 Posted July 4, 2016 Bristol buses taking fans to blunsdon...second halves, talking to riders in pits, big crowds, atmosphere, hubbly bubbly pop, golden helmets, saturday night meetings, local riders, large league, different opponents weekly, world finals on bbc... Sigh - those were the days.................... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gresham 928 Posted July 4, 2016 Colin whathismname (I think that he was also a courier on speedway coach tours?)...simply awful! I have many JSD videos and he just rabbits on without stopping for breath. JSD also covered Oxford meetings during the early nineties. I cringe when I have to listen to his mouth babbling away and wishing that he'd just slow down or just simply shut up! Best commentator? Dave Lanning from the ITV days but I did like Chris French who used to commentate on Screensport back in the 1980s. Blimey...just had a flash back. I used to buy those cassettes of meetings, which used to be advertised in the back of SS. Just commentary and the sound of the bikes in the background. For the life of me, I can't think of the name of the guy who did the commentating...but he was good, really brought the meeting to life. We had to use a lot of imagination back then. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gemini 4,894 Posted July 4, 2016 (edited) Wally Loak? (Or something like that.) I used to have some of those and had a tape to tape cassette thingy but they went in the rubbish bin years ago. Edited July 4, 2016 by Gemini 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RobMcCaffery 2,752 Posted July 4, 2016 Blimey...just had a flash back. I used to buy those cassettes of meetings, which used to be advertised in the back of SS. Just commentary and the sound of the bikes in the background. For the life of me, I can't think of the name of the guy who did the commentating...but he was good, really brought the meeting to life. We had to use a lot of imagination back then. Wally Loak in the Midlands, as Gemini confirms while down south it was Track Tapes, usually with Steve Brown commentating. Apart from being a fellow commentator with K.M, Video Steve was later Essex Radio's first speedway correspondent at Arena Essex. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BWitcher 12,453 Posted July 4, 2016 Colin whathismname (I think that he was also a courier on speedway coach tours?)...simply awful! I have many JSD videos and he just rabbits on without stopping for breath. JSD also covered Oxford meetings during the early nineties. I cringe when I have to listen to his mouth babbling away and wishing that he'd just slow down or just simply shut up! Best commentator? Dave Lanning from the ITV days but I did like Chris French who used to commentate on Screensport back in the 1980s. I must disagree with some of that, he was at least excited about the racing. Thousand times better than someone just talking in a monotone voice about something that is meant to be edge of the seat and thrilling. That said, for prolonged periods it would be more annoying and certainly for 'less exciting' races. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
