Bagpuss

I think you've got two hopes of Morris being anywhere other than Swindon next season, and one of those died in 2003.

The fact that Cook was heavily involved says it all.

Cricket offers losing bonus points too. Don't think either rugby union or cricket are or ever have been joke sports. There is plenty wrong with speedway in the UK but the scoring system ain't one of em.

In don't see it as rewarding failure.....you are gaining a point and denying the home team one (in the original system) by putting up a good away performance in a sport where home advantage can be enormous and it can keep meetings alive where they may otherwise be over long before heat 15. The BSPA have very few good ideas but this was one and IMO worked well before they mucked around with it.

Why is it a farce? Home advantage is so strong in speedway that an away result of any kind should be worth more.

I'd say that somebody who can gate is more likely to get you a heat advantage than somebody who can't.

Nope. Revert the current scoring system to its original guise, i.e. before Mr Cook etc al messed around with it and make the home team win by seven or more to collect all three points on offer. It's one of the few good ideas that the BSPA have had in years and is better than the bonus point IMO. Perhaps so but the fact is that getting home way past ten is going to put parents off. Earlier finishes = more kids.

Auty won't improve unfortunately, that ship has sailed. He was entertaining and full of effort but was liable to throw in bad rides or meetings anywhere and I don't see him being a sensible use of points. Can't gate and will override trying to make up for that, not a good combination. Kerr can gate and knows the tracks well and would be a better signing. That said a fully committed THJ (which in the main he was last year) on that average would be a better signing than both.

Wouldn't consider either personally, unless Jonasson is on a bargain average.

Not too far out with that team for me. Assuming they are all willing and able I'd look at Iversen, Lambert, Jorgensen, Palm Toft, Kerr & Rose and then see what's left.

I think a 7:45pm start is fair enough, I would struggle to arrive for half seven due to work so that quarter of an hour is invaluable and I would suspect others are in the same boat. However it could still be over and done with in 75-90 minutes which is plenty of time for fifteen races, some grading and even a short interval if the meeting is being run properly. We all know that a large part of the 'dragging on' is about bar and junk food takings but surely a healthier crowd would spend more even if they are in the stadium for less time?

So? Beau locks to anyone who frowns.

Speedway fans are a pretty forgiving bunch, but one thing they won't tolerate is a lack of effort. Even more galling if a rider lowers his average with that lack of effort and ends up going elsewhere on a bargain average, you can't blame people for thinking that the whole thing was engineered.

Somewhere in the middle would be the ideal, and making sure that as much as possible the track is the same every week. Then sign riders who aren't going to moan and groan or refuse to put the effort in if its not to their liking. The main objective for 2018 has to be to sign a team which is both competitive and gives 100% each and every week.

If only speedway could generate the enormous crowds and interest which wrestling does. That's how you promote a 'sport'.

I'd say Proctor's time away from the UK and his spell at Sheffield suggested that he is around a seven nowadays, his best days were a fair old while ago now. TJ has pretty much been at that level for quite a while; add in his knee injury and other knocks and its no surprise he dropped a little. Fingers crossed Workington come to the tapes in 2018.

Well spotted. It's what you generally find on a discussion forum.

I think that's probably a reflection of your unrealistic expectations rather than their ability to be fair. I'd suggest they both performed as most people would expect across the season.

Well done Leicester.

I don't agree with the picks but now they are in I hope all four get stuck in and contribute positively to the series so that the spots aren't wasted. As satisfying as the alternative and being able to say ' we all told you so' might ultimately be.

I'm sure watering down is a factor but there are lots of other things which have lead to the sports current state too. Poor marketing / promotion, fixture clashes, dodgy rain offs, crap stadia, poor atmosphere, irregular fixtures, expensive admission and boring racing all have an effect too.

The Vaculik rumours don't seem to have come from any kind of reliable source and seem very pie in the sky to me. Can't see him ending up anywhere other than on the south coast, can't believe he would get a better deal anywhere else. Would love to see a spearhead of Puk and Robert. MPT, Kerr and Rose will hopefully come into the reckoning too. Huckenbeck and Porsing flatter to deceive for me unfortunately, superb on their day but neither have enough of them. Not an Auty fan personally but can imagine Buster wanting him in after one or two of his displays towards the end of the season.

There is a fine line between fairness and aiding development. I agree that the league is pretty much about training up young lads but while there are trophies on offer fair assessment of averages has to happen. Kemp has proved several times as a guest that he is far more than a three pointer and his average should really be assessed to reflect that. Not so much that it screws him over but to a more realistic figure.

Trouble is speedway is a market stall product at Harrods prices.

This could very easily be tricky, all it takes is for KK and Starke to have good nights and things could get very tight. As for getting Ayres three rides out of the way, it's as broad as it is long for me. You either try and get the meeting won early or bank on a heat 14 advantage, thought Rose scored well last night and we won the match so it didn't turn out too badly.