called off too soon ?

[Skodaman 192]

32 minutes ago, iainb said:

What's the point of calling off meetings on a clear Saturday night in the summer and then having to run loss making double headers to cram the fixtures in to qualify for play offs and a show piece final that will most likely be held on a wet track in the last week of October?

Fixtures very rarely used to be called off before 6pm on race day after a track inspection. If this is the new world we are living in these meetings that are cancelled should not be restaged, just like in cricket, another fairweather sport 

The weather forecast for the leicester meeting was heavy, thundery rain. It did not happen but I still think that the right decision was made.

[iainb 5,054]

35 minutes ago, Skodaman said:

The weather forecast for the leicester meeting was heavy, thundery rain. It did not happen but I still think that the right decision was made.

So you think it was the right decision to cancel it even though it was clearly the wrong decision... this is the mess the sport has gotten itself into on this particular topic. It may well have been the correct business decision, I don't know, the club may have just been postponing their loss. It was certainly an incorrect sporting decision.

Is Speedway the only sport that gets itself into such a mess with fixtures? I can think of no other. It's worse than it's ever been with rider availability, for whatever reason, and now we're postponing meetings because it might rain.

[Moranboys 411]

2 hours ago, iainb said:

What's the point of calling off meetings on a clear Saturday night in the summer and then having to run loss making double headers to cram the fixtures in to qualify for play offs and a show piece final that will most likely be held on a wet track in the last week of October?

Fixtures very rarely used to be called off before 6pm on race day after a track inspection. If this is the new world we are living in these meetings that are cancelled should not be restaged, just like in cricket, another fairweather sport 

Well,it wasn't exactly a meeting with a team from down the road,Glasgow,s a fair old trek and the decision probably made with a lot of people in mind,plus,if it had rained,but the ref declared the track rideable ,would you seriously want to see both teams just tootling around just for the benefit of getting a result,I know I wouldn't and would rather see a double header or whatever in more appropriate weather condusive to racing.ive seen enough of the wet meetings and the entertainment is zero.

Edited August 22, 2021 by Moranboys

[lisa-colette 6,039]

1 hour ago, Moranboys said:

Well,it wasn't exactly a meeting with a team from down the road,Glasgow,s a fair old trek and the decision probably made with a lot of people in mind,plus,if it had rained,but the ref declared the track rideable ,would you seriously want to see both teams just tootling around just for the benefit of getting a result,I know I wouldn't and would rather see a double header or whatever in more appropriate weather condusive to racing.ive seen enough of the wet meetings and the entertainment is zero.

That is all very well but they will be relying on Autumn weather rather than summer!!!

[lisa-colette 6,039]

4 hours ago, Skodaman said:

The weather forecast for the leicester meeting was heavy, thundery rain. It did not happen but I still think that the right decision was made.

If the track was wet through then yes it was the right decision.

[old bob at herne bay 828]

Damned if you do and damned if you don't. 

 

The margins of profit and loss are so tight nowadays that even running with the threat of rain nearby can affect attendances to show a loss , even though  the track might be bathed in sunshine.  Aside from the ludicrous non weather related calloffs 4 days in advance (usually a sign of financial difficulties) it seems reasonable to at least wait until the morning of  meeting before even giving any indication of  the meeting postponement. Seems the far travelling supporters book accommodation way in advance so any call off will not prevent them losing their accommodation costs.

The other side of the coin is that sticking it out and trying to run a meeting on anything but a perfect surface runs the risk of the fickle riders calling it "unsafe" and the entire crowd going home unhappy and some never likely to return. (see  Kings Lynn earlier this week)

Must have travelled many hundreds of wasted miles to rain offs......... sometimes I have been lucky and seen a meeting I never dreamt would go ahead, and been entertained by the numerous incidents that a wet track shows up .......

 

 

[Petecc 352]

Those that are complaining are assuming that the track is dry and perfect just sitting there waiting to be ridden on before rain appears. Clubs do read weather forecasts days in advance of a meeting.  A wet track will still be a wet track with only a little light rain. If its chucked it down for 4 days but is dryer on the fifth day it will still be wet.

[Skodaman 192]

16 hours ago, iainb said:

So you think it was the right decision to cancel it even though it was clearly the wrong decision... this is the mess the sport has gotten itself into on this particular topic. It may well have been the correct business decision, I don't know, the club may have just been postponing their loss. It was certainly an incorrect sporting decision.

Is Speedway the only sport that gets itself into such a mess with fixtures? I can think of no other. It's worse than it's ever been with rider availability, for whatever reason, and now we're postponing meetings because it might rain.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing!!

[szkocjasid 3,061]

There is no easy answer to this, call it off early & the weather is good, people will say "should have waited"! Try & get the match on & it's rained off & people will say "should of called it off sooner"!

Edited August 23, 2021 by szkocjasid

[szkocjasid 3,061]

One thing I would say is if they call off matches whenever there's a chance of rain, they will run out of dates to race fixtures! I'd imagine you'd get bad crowds racing in cold / wet October!

[iainb 5,054]

55 minutes ago, szkocjasid said:

There is no easy answer to this, call it off early & the weather is good, people will say "should have waited"! Try & get the match on & it's rained off & people will say "should of called it off sooner"!

They've got to decide whether they're running a sport or 20 or so individual businesses... not just on this but a whole heap of topics

[IronScorpion 1,407]

2 hours ago, szkocjasid said:

There is no easy answer to this, call it off early & the weather is good, people will say "should have waited"! Try & get the match on & it's rained off & people will say "should of called it off sooner"!

Kings Lynn v Sheffield & U19's at Mildenhall!

[mikebv 10,320]

5 hours ago, iainb said:

They've got to decide whether they're running a sport or 20 or so individual businesses... not just on this but a whole heap of topics

And they all should invest in some track covers... 

[Fromafar 10,391]

6 minutes ago, mikebv said:

And they all should invest in some track covers... 

Berwick have a set lying in storage somewhere.

 

 

[StevePark 2,787]

1 hour ago, mikebv said:

And they all should invest in some track covers... 

Not all tracks would be allowed to use covers.  Newcastle being just one example.