salty

Much ado about nowt imo. Whoever finishes 9th will probably get a pick anyway

Did I hear "Troy Butler" down the back straight of Heat 10? He'd probably still do better than Batch. Edit: beat me to it bruv!

Don't think Nikki was totally blameless, the way he angled his bike at the pits gate to block Masters was a bit naughty. But agree with Crumpy - little wrong on the track, Masters overreacts, too many people in the pits.

Only caught up with this today. Couple of thoughts. Is Nigel Pearson trying to compete with himself to call a race as early as possible? Last night he was calling 5-1's before they'd got out of the second bend. Soon they'll be on the green light and he'll be telling us if it stays like this it will be a 3-3. The starts were shocking all night. When Nicholls got excluded the first rider to move (imo) was Magic, but he was the only one of the 4 who didn't touch the tapes. Should it not be an unsatisfactory start rather than an exclusion? So many riders are jumping the tapes but not hitting them, does that not show that the starting marshalls are letting them sit too far back? Surely it's time to give the ref the chance to declare a race at any point in the race if he feels it's a "professional foul" and then fine riders who do what Worrall did last night in Heat 2. I suppose the downside is the punters miss out on a race, but I hate seeing cheats prosper. Glad the Aces recovered to make it a match, but reckon Poole will hammer them tomorrow.

The SEC, GP and Polish league that you mentioned in your original post have nothing to do with Sky. I can't remember the coverage that Lol and Steady got, but the loss of Lee Richardson was given appropriately loads of airtime and mentions and more recently so was the Lewis Kerr injury. So what if the Ward coverage is "overkill" - can't believe anyone can begrudge him anything to help.

And why is that so bad?. I got the Darcy overkill when Sky went overboard about his return from his ban, but how can anyone begrudge his current plight being highlighted?

Utterly unrelated. Nobody on the BSF has agreed with your view regarding Darcy. The only support for that view is second hand regarding social media. As I said on the Darcy thread whilst I respect peoples right to have an opinion, that is sorely tested when their opinion is so flawed. Nobody on the BSF has agreed with you regarding the national anthem. Utterly pointless to play the thing in an individual competition.

Cobblers. Hodgson announced before the last World Cup that the team had agreed to sing the anthem and it was widely reported http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/worldcup2014/article-2645597/England-players-told-passion-belting-national-anthem-matches.html Definitely nothing there about people not getting picked if they don't sing. Only person who seems bothered about Tai not singing the thing is you. How exactly is it going to come back and bite him?

You seriously think people should be "made to sing the national anthem"?

Maybe he was saying " guess what, Greg. There's some pond life on the BSF that thinks the #DW43 stuff is "overkill"" and Greg is replying "Yeah I know, it's the same tube who kept moaning because the family hadn't released a statement detailing Darcy's injuries"

Apart from the details of this case - the other things you mention are what has really soured me with domestic Speedway. The continued abuse of "facilities" leads to a situation where whenever a rider misses a meeting it is easy to grow sceptical as to the reasons why. Could well be (and I stress could) that these circumstances fell into Poole's lap and so they used them. But the fact that nobody was really surprised that North was missing (following two scoreless meetings) says it all.

I'd be surprised.

Half? I would say that about 3/8ths too much.

Think you mean Mick the Miller. Golden Miller was a horse. Hopefully it will be news of an early signing....

Ridiculous that meeting wasn't completed before the rain came. One heat not run and Heat 14 bordering on the farcical - at least we got our interview with John McGuiness though.

Well done, Brummies. After the despair of closure last summer it's great to see.

First memory of John. Saturday 18th July - Cradley v Swindon. A new name appears amongst those in the second half. Event 4 - Cradley Stakes R - John Louis B - Mike Letch W - Cyril Francis YB - Arne Pander John finishes second to the winner Cyril who posted a time of 73 seconds dead. Two races later and John is up against Arne again as well as Mike Gardner and John Bishop (the respective number 7's) and again finishes 2nd. Amazing how time plays tricks because I would have sworn that I saw John ride in Cradley second halves more than once, but my programmes (and I missed few meetings that season) say otherwise. Maybe he rode extra laps after the meeting because he obviously made enough of an impression for me to stay behind and get his autograph on the front cover of the programme. Pretty sure at that time I would have had no idea of John's Ipswich connection and would have considered him another second half hopeful. Poignantly, this meeting took place the Saturday after Lokeren. Not only was there no Colin Pratt in the Heathens line up, but it is likely that John would have been due to ride against Mal Carmichael (who lost his life in Belgium) in the second half. My next vivid memory of John is him exchanging insults and threats with a fired up bunch of Heathens supporters from the back of the victory tractor as it took the Witches down the back straight at Dudley Wood after Ipswich had curtailed another cup dream.

Didn't know you were a baseball man. Great run for the Blue Jays recently - massive series v the Yanks. I'm hoping this could be the year for the Cubs - hope springs eternal.

To be fair Bryn you did ask "know anyone who can top that" at the end of your original posting, so a bit strange that you now are disappointed "other such tales" have been brought forth. My personal dedication was walking from Stratford station to the Wick down the netherworld of Carpenters Road - a less than picturesque amble.

Maybe this article will help.... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centre_points_of_the_United_Kingdom You will note that none of the places put forward as the centre of Great Britain (or England), using all the various methods of measurement available, are anywhere near Ipswich.

Alan Grahame stayed in 1984 along with Gundersen, King and Phil Collins, supplemented by Finn Jensen, Mike Wilding and Steve Collins - until Simon Cross was shoehorned into the team.

Dave Cheshire was the original 7th rider in the Heathens. Injured early season but was the rider that Peter Ravn replaced. Don't forget Wigg also started on an assessed 6.00 average. This enabled him to be reserve for the start of the season, whilst Pedersen rode at number 2.

Ivan's whole season revolved around winning that World Final. If there had been a GP series he would have still (imo) been one step ahead of the rest.

Pretty sure the deal with Sky stipulates 8 teams in the EL, so expect machinations to ensure that number is reached.

Zagar more than a touch unlucky. Got wiped out in the Kildemand/Pedersen crash - his semi was stopped when he was clear 2nd - the final was stopped when he was away in front.