Lioness

I think thats where BTL and mini-foghorm were last year Jive. If so I was up there for a little cola on the Friday night and it seemed a nice enough place if a little quiet! Take your own carryout though-they didn't seem to have heard of 'residents hours'

The phrase 'a good understanding of the current rules' intrigues me a little Kevin......I am beginning to think half of the idea is to make sure no-one ever has that! I can see what they are trying to do by the grading system I think. I believe they are trying to spread the riders across as many of the EL teams as possible rather than have one team with three of the top ten riders as they have the money whilst newcomers like Swindon and Arena are disadvantaged. I don't dispute on paper it looks worth a try and it seems to me to be a variation of the American football way of doing things (though as usual I could be talking rubbish!). I have one major concern which is at the moment making me think grading will not turn out to be a good idea-perhaps one of those a bit more 'in the know' could help me out with it. Assuming only for simplicity (as I dont know obviously!) that the grades are as Philfromcov suggested (nothing personal, just handy to use!) 9.67 - 11.00 GRADE 1 8.33 - 9.66 GRADE 2 7.00 -8.32 GRADE 3 5.67 - 6.99 GRADE 4 4.33 - 5.66 GRADE 5 3.00 -4.32 GRADE 6 Say we have a youngish up and coming rider on 8.33 He has talent and is seen as a star of the future but would he not find it more difficult to get a team under the grading system? Surely the team manager would rather go for established rider on 9.66 thus making it more difficult for riders in the lower echelons of the grade to get a team place. It would seem to discourage improving as you are surely better to stay at the top of for example grade 4 rather than have your average increase by .01 and take you into grade 3? As I say I am just looking for clarification on this-not making a judgement one way or another (Yet!)

A slightly more debatable decision and I can see both sides of the argument. For my tuppence worth, I feel it is a step in the right direction but needs a bit more thought and tweaking. Perhaps there should be a similar sort of squad system as they appear to moving towards in the EL for the PL with x additional riders being used from the league below as part of a squad? Is there any provision for any team being hit with two long term injuries? As only the top average rider can be replaced by rider replacement, surely that will mean fewer guest appearances for the younger up and coming riders, less money for them and less opportunity to get extra experience to help them improve. The guys lying third/fourth in the averages could make good money out of it though! As I say I feel it is a step in the right direction but needs quite a bit of tweaking

Confirmation of the Committees contempt and lack of respect for the paying fan. All last season everywhere you looked, speedway star, internet, club programmes etc there was an avalanche of opinion AGAINST this ludicrous idea. Naturally they listen to the paying public and think 'sod 'em, lets really p... them off' Well can anyone else think of a reason they have been so bull headed? Either that or they live in planet cuckoo.....or wait a mo perhaps they really represent other sports and want to sicken us off with speedway so much we jump ship? Why not just be done with it and draw straws every week to see who wins?

If thats the case it just goes to show that they don't listen when they put forward blinkin stupid GD's as the way ahead despite the large percentage of people who comment telling them its NOT the way ahead

M1 - M5 tend to be right over the pits entrance and I believe they cost £45 if thats any help! Other than that you could always go opposite the start/finish line in M30 which again I believe are £45

re tickets Fd thats not the case. They say they will be issued sometime between now and 10 days prior to the event Makes you wonder if any of these booking agents are aspiring to serve on the BSPA as obviouly they can't organise the preverbial in the brewery either

Mick is the Doug Ellis mentioned the same Doug Ellis from Aston Villa?

Depends where on the middle tier Sullizbabe but the prices range from £45-£200! I've been M7 and M1 and both were great

There was a press release on it speedway chick on the yahoo site yesterday. Apparently he has agreed to ride in three races although oposition has yet to be confirmed. I believe its part of a bigger picture and there may be some 'an evening with....' type of events too.

Ooops! I missed that reply of Hammer's! Hammer, I am afraid I disagree with you on quoting Wimbledon as an example of a football team re-naming itself. This was not the case-Wimbledon HAVE renamed themselves AFC Wimbledon and are doing very nicely now in spite of all attempts made by money men to kill then off. They still have virtually all those who previously followed them and a few newcomers too. The club you refer to is Franchising at its very worst NOT a renaming...they still have the cheek to call themselves 'wimbledon' although they bear absolutely no resemblance to the club whose history they stole. Looking at the football side the nearest I can think of in recent terms is Inverness Caledonian Thistle who renamed AND merged to join the Scotish League. Many thought the fans would not support the new team but invariably they have as the product (in this case league football) was what they wanted to see.

Hammar you seem to have difficulty grasping this as you constantly refer to it but speedway and football ARE NOT THE SAME. If you are desperate for comparisons, speedway teams changing jackets is no different to football clubs changing sponsors(and strip design) and if you care to look back in history you will see that some football clubs have even had a few different nicknames in the past.

Sniff :-( Thats it! I'm not going if I'm not wanted.... Off now to start my 'Why Me' thread......

definately rocketed sjw. Seats that were £45 last year are £60 this year

You WANT to sit beside Steve Turner Wow! Brave Man! (sorry Steve couldn't resist xx :twisted: )

You better not be hiding this year Nevsy.....your one of those on my 'must meet' list (I'll even bring a pic of an ice cream van....)

Joanne with all the forum members going we will all make sure you are not on your own!! (unless you find a damn good hiding place from us all!)

Thanks for clarifying Triple D....I had been a bit disappointed when I thought Somerset were siding with my least favorite promoter. Glad it doesn't appear to be the case! Good point on costs too

Triple D, your team Somerset has also been widely reported as backing the 40 point limit. Is that just false rumour? It seems to have been mentioned in a number of different places but a number of different parties. Do you know if the promotion have actually come out and said anything?

Welcome Stanislawski I think there are other fans from Slovenia on here too!

I must admit to being a bit disappointed to hear it but IoW were confirmed by one of the Glasgow promotion on friday night as being one of the main players behind the push for a 40 point limit. Bearing in mind the make up of the Isle of Wight (basically owned by the fans isn't it?) does that mean that the IoW fans are vastly in favour or are they even aware this is the way they are heading?

Have a great time and a safe journey Kiwipirate and hopefully see some good safe racing! Hope Mrs KP enjoys her birthday 8) Good on KP jnr for doing a Theo flag!

You TOTALLY miss my point. I don't dispute more 3 pointers would be in the league, many of whom will not be up to it but thats beside the point and perhaps a safety issue? The whole point is that you have a kid come in on a 3 point average.....say William Lawson this year. Kid is a hit, does really well and increases his average. Now 16 1/2, and with an average of say 4.5-5.0 kid goes into second season of speedway. Wait a minute.....no one wants him now. He doesn't fit in anywhere. His average is too good for reserve or three point rider status and he isn't quite good enough yet for heat leader status. End of speedway career at least for a season. Now if he had only been an average/poor 3 pointer, everyone would be clamouring for his signature in his second season, perhaps if only his average had only gone up to 3.5 So tell me, how is that beneficial or an enticement for young riders to improve? Sounds more like the first toll of the death knell to me. Instead you will have a year or two down the line virtually all foreign riders as top riders as there will be no progression for riders in this country, and all wobblers at reserve/lower second string. Thats assuming people are still going to watch

I think you might find he is working away just now so someone else might have to take a turn..... Unless you can persuade him in Sunday ;-) :twisted:

So stuff whats good for speedway as a whole as long as it suits Newport eh? Forget the lack of opportunity for youngsters to progress without the increased risk of loosing their place by increasing their average as long as its good for Newport eh? Forget attracting new fans and instead have racing thats at best going to involve two riders at the front and two at the back as long as its good for Newport eh? Remind me again......what is the matter with speedway? Or does it matter as long as its good for Newport eh? :roll: