Why Is Speedway Great?

[BWitcher 12,453]

Witcher did you ever get a ticket for the Wimbledon Final? i never did went into a ballot every year went to the semi,s one year Cash v Connors. Lendl v Edberg.I see some great matches on court 1 stopped going after Sampras retired then the precedure of tickets and watching certain matches changed.

 

No Sid, I never bothered with the ballots or any of that even though was member of local tennis club for a while.

 

First time went was 1997 when there had been a tonne of rain so they had an extra day's play on the Sunday. I remember sat on the sofa at home, Desmond Lynam at around 7pm announcing the order of play.. My favourite player back then was Mary Pierce and she was playing on Court One so I just said to my Mom, I'm going to Wimbledon. She was "Yeah ok" and carried on reading the paper. Within 45 mins I was at the train station boarding the 8pm train to London Euston.. as the train pulled out I was thinking, what am I doing haha. Got there around midnight and joined the queue, had no sleeping bag or anything like that, so just lay down on pavement and tried to get some sleep. By the morning the line was massive, around 20,000 in it. Got tickets for Court One so was happy.

 

After that went regularly for the next five years or so, always queuing up the night before, was a good atmosphere. The one year they thought I was insane, having queued up all night they come along the line around 7am giving out wristbands and you choose which court you want, centre or No 1. I'd listened to Radio Wimbledon for the Order of Play. Mary Pierce was playing on Court 18, as was Anna Kournikova plus a decent mens match, then a mixed doubles with Pierce in.. the matches on centre and no 1 didn't appeal so I declined the wrist bands. The look the steward gave me was priceless!

[steve roberts 9,247]

 

No Sid, I never bothered with the ballots or any of that even though was member of local tennis club for a while.

 

First time went was 1997 when there had been a tonne of rain so they had an extra day's play on the Sunday. I remember sat on the sofa at home, Desmond Lynam at around 7pm announcing the order of play.. My favourite player back then was Mary Pierce and she was playing on Court One so I just said to my Mom, I'm going to Wimbledon. She was "Yeah ok" and carried on reading the paper. Within 45 mins I was at the train station boarding the 8pm train to London Euston.. as the train pulled out I was thinking, what am I doing haha. Got there around midnight and joined the queue, had no sleeping bag or anything like that, so just lay down on pavement and tried to get some sleep. By the morning the line was massive, around 20,000 in it. Got tickets for Court One so was happy.

 

After that went regularly for the next five years or so, always queuing up the night before, was a good atmosphere. The one year they thought I was insane, having queued up all night they come along the line around 7am giving out wristbands and you choose which court you want, centre or No 1. I'd listened to Radio Wimbledon for the Order of Play. Mary Pierce was playing on Court 18, as was Anna Kournikova plus a decent mens match, then a mixed doubles with Pierce in.. the matches on centre and no 1 didn't appeal so I declined the wrist bands. The look the steward gave me was priceless!

Good post! Enjoyed reading that!

 

Generally been a good and interesting thread.

Edited July 28, 2016 by steve roberts

[no-brakes-uk 76]

Regarding the painted programme boards, the guy that used to paint them has a Facebook page with photos of some of the ones he did.

https://www.facebook.com/Speedart-Programme-Boards-658127557653527/

[Sidney the robin 4,735]

You beat me to it...

Best i managed was paying on the gate then milling around and eventually queuing and getting into Johnny Mac v Wilander semi with John Amer , or was that with you?

No i didnt go to that mate but forgot i did go to the semi in 92 when Johnny Mac tried to roll back the years and beat a young Agassi i was gutted he lost in three.My biggest disappointment in tennis was Mcenroe being two sets up against Lendl in the French Final and he finally lost a hard pill to swallow mate.

[BWitcher 12,453]

No i didnt go to that mate but forgot i did go to the semi in 92 when Johnny Mac tried to roll back the years and beat a young Agassi i was gutted he lost in three.My biggest disappointment in tennis was Mcenroe being two sets up against Lendl in the French Final and he finally lost a hard pill to swallow mate.

 

Agassi was one of my favourite players back in the day and one of the few top players I never saw play live... although I should have!

 

I'd travelled down and attended and upon leaving rejoined the queue to go in again the next day, got centre court tickets, I think Henman was on first, then Mary Pierce, then Agassi, superb line up. However.. I was surrounded by a loud contingent of Spanish and when Serna defeated Pierce 7-6 7-6 I was not a happy bunny, stormed out of the court, someone asked me if I was going back in as I left I replied no and just gave them my ticket and walked out of the grounds! An hour later, sat on the train I'd calmed down and realised what a pillock I'd been as Agassi was up next.

 

Still, the person who took the ticket was very happy indeed!

 

Steffi Graf was the other major favourite of mine I never saw play live, although when I was on Court 18 she was practicing on the court behind and I spent more time watching that than the game on Court 18, which I completely forget who was playing.

 

One other experience that really opened my eyes as I played a fair bit of tennis back then was when along with a mate headed to the practice courts before play had got underway. The Williams sisters were there. At the practice courts its a wire/mesh fence that you can look through and the players are only a few metres away. The speed and spin they were hitting the ball with was staggering and showed just how far below that standard we were.

 

Kind of gone off on a tangent here though I think!

Edited July 28, 2016 by BWitcher

[bruno 1,793]

you will like this bwitcher, in my youth I thought I was a decent squash player. I played in leagues and tournaments. at one tournament I was playing a lad who was supposed to be decent. however, I won the first game. I could tell I annoyed him cuz he then took his tracksuit off and I never took another point. lol. as you say , a different level. this was still amateur as well. God only knows how good the top players are

[Icicle 896]

Why is Speedway great?

 

One can see All the action as it happens (as opposed to F1, superbikes, even Footy!).

It is all action, even FTG can be exciting as the riders are alway doing something, & it is fast action.

I can't remember the rider, but when asked why speedway, he replied that it was an immense Adrenalin rush, etc., also it is SPRINTING ON A BIKE.

That is it! 15 Motorised SPRINTS. ( that's how it should be sold 15 Sprints of £15; £1 a race! Sounds good).

 

However that is also it's fault, I know of many who go for a few years, then get "bored" leave but often (if a track nearby), return after a few years.

Why? So many races, one sees c200+ races per season, so after say 5 years one has seen 1000 races, so become a bit "saturated" & instead of being excited tend to think of FTG as dull, etc.

I am NOT advocating less races of matches! But if more other entertainments or less gaps would improve the experience.

 

Sprints on Bikes!

[Mike.Butler 601]

the smell

the noise

the adrenalin

a relatively small no. of participants meaning you feel as though you almost know them personally

my statistics

[SCB 15]

the smell

the noise

the adrenalin

a relatively small no. of participants meaning you feel as though you almost know them personally

my statistics

Less about the kids running around

[Sidney the robin 4,735]

Agassi was one of my favourite players back in the day and one of the few top players I never saw play live... although I should have!

 

I'd travelled down and attended and upon leaving rejoined the queue to go in again the next day, got centre court tickets, I think Henman was on first, then Mary Pierce, then Agassi, superb line up. However.. I was surrounded by a loud contingent of Spanish and when Serna defeated Pierce 7-6 7-6 I was not a happy bunny, stormed out of the court, someone asked me if I was going back in as I left I replied no and just gave them my ticket and walked out of the grounds! An hour later, sat on the train I'd calmed down and realised what a pillock I'd been as Agassi was up next.

 

Still, the person who took the ticket was very happy indeed!

 

Steffi Graf was the other major favourite of mine I never saw play live, although when I was on Court 18 she was practicing on the court behind and I spent more time watching that than the game on Court 18, which I completely forget who was playing.

 

One other experience that really opened my eyes as I played a fair bit of tennis back then was when along with a mate headed to the practice courts before play had got underway. The Williams sisters were there. At the practice courts its a wire/mesh fence that you can look through and the players are only a few metres away. The speed and spin they were hitting the ball with was staggering and showed just how far below that standard we were.

 

Kind of gone off on a tangent here though I think!

My wife Witcher went to alot of Tennis more than me, she saw Curran beat Mcenroe which then was a huge shock .Agassi was a great player Sampras with Courier as well were real players the USA were powerful then.Witcher do you think Wimbledon has changed? as in who does well style of play., For me growing up if you had a mega serve you were nearly halfway there, now that has gone there are now great returners of the ball.ISNER as a example would of been better in other eras i am convinced of that saying that he has his limitations being a big man movement wise. Edited July 28, 2016 by Sidney the robin

[steve roberts 9,247]

I used to get excited attending the official pre-season practice watching the riders go thru' their paces and anticipation was high for the new campaign!

[waiheke1 4,295]

Sid are you feeling OK? Just you've exchanged half a dozen posts with Witcher and you haven't called him a pr1ck once?

[Vince 9,459]

Proof of how exciting Speedway is in comparison to other sports. Even Witcher and Sid can't fall out over something as boring as Tennis

[Sidney the robin 4,735]

Sid are you feeling OK? Just you've exchanged half a dozen posts with Witcher and you haven't called him a pr1ck once?

Why would i the man is a gentleman😄😜 Edited July 29, 2016 by Sidney the robin

[FAST GATER 855]

 

Agassi was one of my favourite players back in the day and one of the few top players I never saw play live... although I should have!

 

I'd travelled down and attended and upon leaving rejoined the queue to go in again the next day, got centre court tickets, I think Henman was on first, then Mary Pierce, then Agassi, superb line up. However.. I was surrounded by a loud contingent of Spanish and when Serna defeated Pierce 7-6 7-6 I was not a happy bunny, stormed out of the court, someone asked me if I was going back in as I left I replied no and just gave them my ticket and walked out of the grounds! An hour later, sat on the train I'd calmed down and realised what a pillock I'd been as Agassi was up next.

 

Still, the person who took the ticket was very happy indeed!

 

Steffi Graf was the other major favourite of mine I never saw play live, although when I was on Court 18 she was practicing on the court behind and I spent more time watching that than the game on Court 18, which I completely forget who was playing.

 

One other experience that really opened my eyes as I played a fair bit of tennis back then was when along with a mate headed to the practice courts before play had got underway. The Williams sisters were there. At the practice courts its a wire/mesh fence that you can look through and the players are only a few metres away. The speed and spin they were hitting the ball with was staggering and showed just how far below that standard we were.

 

Kind of gone off on a tangent here though I think!

I have been to about 18 mens finals ( my brother was an LTA concillor ) IMO the two stand out player were/are Sampras and Federer ,it is no accident the number of titles they have between them and Roger shaves it by the sheer grace he plays with .In recent times I have only missed the finals because a certain Scotsman was in them and I refuse to watch him under any circumstances because his contempt for the English which he barely conceals .