paulr

making a career out of being a student arent you ?? - been about 5 years now innit ???

Brandon is normally £15 to get in for 15 heats = £1 per heat Monday is £22 for 22 heats (according to an earlier poster) = £1 per heat Chances are there might actually be some racing as opposed to the last 2 times Ive been at Brandon (the last one where the track announcer was egging the team on to beat their highest score record - yep it was that close.....) So it seems to me like its about the same value (or possibly better) - anyhow, we will be there, and looking forward to it !!

So when can we expect to see it popping through our letter boxes ???? I didnt see the meeting but listened to it via Radio Swindon and have seen a few bits on youtube but want to get the whole,proper experience ASAP !!

Dont forget theres £3 to add for P&P Theres a lot of clips on youtube now.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvLWnNm_buk...related&search=

Do ya keep the central heating on in the summer ?? Big gas/electric bills ??

Excellent !!

What what what ?? Women, orgasms ??? - when did this start happening then ?? I just cant keep up with modern times - I blame the termination of rationing, - women wouldnt have orgasms if we still had powdered egg !!

Really ?? - all Ive read here from everyone else is how gracious Crump & Hancock were in defeat. Then again Im not sure I would be a happy camper if Id just been passed on the last bend in the GP final.... Maybe he shouldnt suck lemons when theres TV cameras around ??

Steve, Its good to see that someone is big enough to admit that at times they were wrong - theres a few on here that could/should follow your lead. I always enjoy reading your posts - particularly the wind-ups - glad you enjoyed last night. Unfortunately I wasnt there but I bet the feel-good factor felt by those who attended was so much more than how i felt after it - and I was only listening to it !!

Thanks Paul - Ive just placed my order.

Great - where do I get it ?? Tried many times but couldnt get the link f-s-p posted to work - bummer Werent you there Dekker ???

Congrats to Bomber - I dont have sky so had to listen to it on the web Sounded really good meeting though - will there be a GBGP DVD out ??

Thanks guys. Im sure that with Coventry having to choose 1 rider from AJ, Lee and Hammil that the actual points range per grade is known - I just couldnt find it anywhere !! I was just interested to determine how many A and B grade riders there were knowing that a max of 10 per grade will be allowed to ride in the EL next season. If Steve Turners posting on seasons averages are correct (and who am I to doubt the legend that is Steve Turner ??!!) then it seems there are some riders without an EL job next year ?? if thats the case then its one hell of a decision by the BSPA. Not that I will be watching much EL next year due to race night change at Brandon !! ...as long as Armadale stays on Fridays then I will be OK for my Speedway fix..... is Stoke my only 'weekend in the Midlands' option ?? Cheers Paul

Help Me !! As a supporter who just wants to watch racing and not a subscriber to the SS, can anyone point to a place where the details of the changes regarding the grading system are given ???? They are not available on the BSPA site (no surprise there - what a content free site that continues to be). There seems to be suggestions in the previous pages of this topic here as to what the points spread per each grading band is but which one is the correct one ?? Seems like scrapping the points system and introducing a grading system (based on the points system) is a bold decision - Good points - it help the clubs with a distribution of riders and hopefully a reasonably competitive EL. maybe it helps reduce costs, and limit the effect of the GP on some clubs. Bad point - without knowing the details of the grading system (but reading the Bees website) it would appear that there are more Grade A riders than Grade A positions (but Im not sure on this - help/info would be appreciated) - so the people running the sport have made a decision that eliminates some of the best riders from continuing in the sport ?? - please tell me Im wrong, and put my doubts to rest Thanks in advance, Paul

That's exactly the way I saw it. I normally like Sam but I think he got it totally wrong. Even if AJ had of had is front wheel down, he still would have had nowehre to go because Rune was cutting across his space. Sam said AJ was at fault because he had his wheel up, well so did Rune, and so do a lot of riders coming out of the gate. Just don't know what Sam expected AJ to do, to miss the crash, and to blame him..... :evil: Even if the person hadn't of been AJ, if it had of been Nicki Pedersen, I still would have said Rune was at fault so I'm not being bias. Sorry this is late - only just had a chance to watch the recording of it. Can someone explain how Holta wasnt at fault or wasnt excluded ??. Seemed to me he was less than half a wheel in front then veered into AJs path as they approached the corner. Cheers Paul

Sorry while I was writing my version of war and peace (above) I missed SB's post. I had often wondered just what the riders earn (is/was there a topic for this somewhere ??) cos it seems to me that between riding for an EL team and a PL team, riding in Sweden and/or Poland, the GP and the individual country championships, that these boys work hard for their dosh. Ive heard talk of £5 a point, and £40k a year but I dont know. I cant think of any sport that is so troubled by injuries as speedway is, with riders patching themselves up and riding when not fully fit and so I applaud them all, but question the sanity of it. But why are they risking life and limb in such a way ? - is it because the pay is so bad that they have to ride, is the amount per point enough to make a difference ? greed ? madness ?? - what ? Sorry its off topic.. Cheers Paul

Hi and welcome dave - while your post gives out a lot of enthusiasm for speedway, your argument does have some flaws : Football does not run on a single night in the week - there is a big move from the fans to get back to some predicatability re days (and times) of matches - eg MUFC fans staging a protest b4 a game as it had been more than 10 weeks since a 3pm Saturday KO at OT. This week football has been on every night - premiership, Nationwide league and European ties, 3 games on sunday at different KO times etc. To call promotions second class tenants is a bit unkind, if speedway isnt making money, and other events at a stadium are, the owners have to make business decisions based on revenue and profit, and changing racing days/times may be restricted due to local council policy. You compare football to speedway in your post - continue the comarison re prices - a family ticket at Armadale cost £14, its £3 for kids at Brandon, Im sure Monmore does a family price (can confirm after Monday). With some football grounds approaching £30 for an average seat for an adult and £17 for a kid (and there is no reductions at Villa Park for the seats that face the pitch :!: :!: :twisted: ), speedway is much much more affordable, and I believe the atmosphere is more child friendly. I happily let the kids wander around at speedway (as long as I keep the airhorns - dont want them playing with them without supervision)), at football I would not, nor would the heavy handed stewarding let me. The one point you make which I totally agree with, is that in order for the sport to flourish, or indeed survive there has to be a way of getting more people to the stadiums and witness it. Im not sure how many clubs do things with local schools, advertising etc, but I think we all agree that the conversion rate from a speedway virgin to a fan is quite high - once we get them to a track, so for me the real challenge is getting people to come to the stadiums. The sport can play about with medding the EL, GP, PL, CL, averages etc - its only the existing fans who notice the changes and would an EL moving from 8 to 12 teams bring lots of new fans rushing in ?? - I dont think so because as a sport its way down in the nations 'awareness of sports league', so who would notice ?? There are lots of discussions about Sky and their impact on the sport. I dont have Sky so I dont know how good their programmes are but after attending a few Sky live meetings this season IMHO they interfere with a live meeting too much. Twice at Brandon recently its been 19:50 and they still havent tossed the coin, lots of stupid (boring) interviews, and just the impression that they drag a meeting over too great a length of time - Ok for me during school holidays but those extra 45/55mins to a meeting (plus 40 mins travel) means at school term time it too late for the kids to go to bed after a meeting so we wont go = loss of revenue. Perhaps if some of the Sky revenue was put in a pot for national and local awareness/advertising of the sport there may be some increase in the awareness and popularity of the sport. Its not an expensive sport to televise, so would it be possible to have cameras at most of the meetings each week. Not everyone has Sky, so is it possible to sell the film for highlights or a weekly review programme to someone like C4 or ITV ?? Sorry for the essay... Cheers Paul

Wot a great thread wot with all the kissing, hovering and humming going on. The thought of LT humming a tune to see if he had missed out a hum on a previous thread had me laughing. Keep it up guys Cheers Paul

"What do you want to go to that dump, to watch that s**t for??" The above was a response from a mate when I suggested going to Armadale to watch Monarchs v Trelawny last week. It kind of backs up what I had posted earlier - that the sport suffers from a lack of publicity and public awareness. As most of us on this forum know or have stated, one visit to a meeting is usually enough to get interested in the sport....the challenge is to get new blood to attend. While I read all the earlier posts with interest, many seemed to be about tinkering with the setups of leagues etc which only the existing fans would know about and agree with or otherwise. Would they actually raise awareness and attendances of the sport ? Would they get a few more column inches in the sport section of the national newspapers, what chance has speedway of ever getting a mention in a sports review in the TV news..especially when real important issues like Beckham breaking a finger nail, or England drawing a test match will get preference ? Is seems to me that the sport in the UK is financially suffering - teams just holding on, tracks being threatened etc etc., and as such requires an injection of cash which, unless a Russian billionaire is around the corner with his chequebook, will require either greater revenues from Sky and/or an increase in attendances. I dont know how much promotion goes on locally at/for clubs ( I dont live near a track), but there isnt even a sign for the Brandon track (there is one very faded sign for Karting) and its so easy to drive past it without even knowing it there (as we did last year!!) ... at least Armadale has some yellow signs stating 'Speedway racing' from the motorway. How many speedway teams/tracks are mentioned in the sports section of area guides or tourist information (Poole fans - are the Pirates covered in any tourist offices or websites for the area ??, if so good, but how many other teams are not ??)) Things like 'Kids for a quid' do work - but they need to know about it first. Speedway has an opportunity in the summer months when football isnt on to possibly attract more spectators but without sufficient publicity it wont happen. Its unfortunate , and an economic fact, that some tracks are in a poor state, and luckily I took my kids to Brandon first to see speedway B4 we ventured out to other tracks (once the bug had bitten)....they had been to several premier and SPL stadia prior, so had a level of expectancy of what sports stadiums should offer, and while Brandon is a poor relation in comparison to say Villa Park, at least its one of the better Speedway ones !!. I have a school teacher friend and Im going to ask her to ask her class about speedway - do they know what it is etc, and the responses may be interesting. Do riders visit schools, offering free tickets for the next meeting etc ??? Can you imaging the excitement and awareness it would raise if a few riders and their bikes turned up at school ?? Sorry for the long ramble.... Cheers Paul

yeah but its easier to comment and add to trivia, than to sit down and consider replies. Dont give up cos the majority dont wanna know - where would mankind be if we adopted that attitude ?? It was interesting to read in one of the 'History' forums/topics that crowds of 25,000 were not uncommon at local tracks. So maybe the answer to the future is finding out what went wrong in the past. Looking at the success of both football and rugby in the last decade, for me the major factors for those sports has been the improved facilities, and the desire to weed out unruly elements (not required at rugby - theyre all on the pitch !!). A quick recall of football in the 70's were decrepit stadia, football violence and general disregard of the spectators. Having recently returned to speedway, it seems that funding is an issue and the facilities are variable depending on track. A dingy old track with post war facilities suggests to the visitor a sport thats on it knees. Ive only been to Coventry and Wolves this year and the facilities vary quite a lot between those tracks. I think the challenge is to get the sport publicised more, try to encourage the kids to want to try it - maybe riders visiting schools, kids for a quid, reduced family rates for particular meetings etc. I cant comment on any clubs ability to advertise locally cos I dont live close to any tracks I went to the Briggs summer bash at Brandon last summer and it was a great family event which included speedway, and it was enough for my kids to want to go back.. maybe this is a way of getting people over to the track. Im sure there must be a topic somewhere about peoples first meeting, and how it gripped them from there - the challenge is to get people in, and let the sport grip them when they are there. Cheers, Paul