mikebv

If true... (And I dont doubt it given your links to the sport).. It is ridiculous... Any sport needs a successful national team to get publicity for its domestic product, so needs its best competitors there.. Hence Cricket and Rugby Union ensured they had exclusive central contracts for players so they could dictate when they played the domestic game, meaning they were always ready for International matches.. In "minority" sports, national success sells it to a wider audience, and media, not any domestic success... There must be over a dozen riders (currently), better than the young man, not including Woffy and Ellis who have injury issues... It would be like England taking my lad to the World Cup because he plays semi pro level football..

Everyone has the right to be offended... But it is their choice to be so, no one puts them under pressure to take offense... If you are someone who is open to, and OK, in taking offense... Then just accept the right of someone else to offend you...

Great news.... Fingers crossed it all works out.....

24 years ago... You had Sky Sports coverage, usually a match per week, and around a million quid put into the league a season by them.. Meaning Sky Sports News showed highlights on top of the live action, which was often on SS1.... The largest Sports Channel on the planet even sponsored the league via their Skybet arm... You also had (apart from Mr T Gollob), the worlds best 20 or so riders riding over here... Riding on nights that clubs could engage their largest crowds. which meant Wednesday racing, Friday racing, and Saturday racing in the Elite League... A very different offering than what we have today...

Making it actually "mean something" is the No1 challenge, but also, therefore, the No1 opportunity.... It will take a complete overhaul of what currently is allowed to take place, but the size of the prize in the end surely has to inspire those who run the sport to at least give it a go... Alternatively, if those who run the sport in its current guise, can see no need to change, (like you can quite believe), then there never will be any chance of delivering the potential the sport still clearly has given the "raw material" of the racing it has to work with....

A truly baffling decision... Team GB should be the best five riders the nation has... No disrespect but the young lad isn't anywhere near that level, even if you don't include Woffy... Maybe the many more experienced, (and better), GB riders turned down the meeting?....

In my experience, on many social media websites, the "Happy Clappers" are often those within the "bubble" of whatever the business, or entity that the Social Media account is discussing.. Maybe doing some volunteering, or are related to someone running the enterprise... And, quite often, not having to pay out any money to use the business they defend... I've said before. When I ran Supermarkets in towns and cities across the country, getting on the towns social media was "Gold" given the brutal nature of the feedback given by those who would never speak the same to your face... Getting told your crap, publicly, isn't the greatest feeling in the world, however, when they tell you why you were crap, and, even better, give you potential answers to resolve the issue, then, just by listening to, and engaging with, your customers, you cannot fail... Getting told your great by "Happy Clappers" around you, clearly has no merit, or use, at all... Any business desperately needs, for growth, people to tell them what they don't want to hear...

You did agree that the sport was in a "tad of a mess at the moment"... Fair play... You are obviously someone very calming to have around in a crisis... Lets hope today goes well for Northampton and a great new dawn appears from tomorrow for the sport, with new modern thinking people entering into the sport, bringing it into the 21st Century, thus launching a huge national marketing campaign which engages those hundreds of thousands of latent, and potentially new fans, living within an hour of a track, to attend.. See. I can do it....

It's a sport that doesn't follow an operating model that any team sport should.. In the UK... A team sport should have emotional engagement.. For good or bad, but never, indifference... UK Speedway doesn't engage that emotional attachment... Who cares who wins competitions that have little prestige or financial reward? And can be won by other teams helping you win by loaning you their competitors, often to the detriment of their own team, their other riders, and (most importantly), their own fans.. The sport is full of Hobbyists who are quite happy to rub shoulder to shoulder with a level of rider that they simply couldn't afford if they solely had to pay his wages... Hobbyists who are quite content to put out "any Speedway" given winning or losing won't impact them positively, or adversely, to any serious degree.. Basically Dean, the sport has ran its course, still using a 60 year old operating model, without any major customer focused changes... (What you could get a way with 60 years ago, you have no chance in a 24/7 instant media)... It is now nothing more than a conduit for riders to try and earn a years worth of money in six months, with a willing promoter happy to enable them to do so.. The fervant, almost indecent haste, to ensure six teams in tier one, so plenty could double up, clearly showed that... The sport has become mundane, which, ironically, given its ultra exciting raw product, is an indictment on those in charge... The sport needs energy, desire, ambition and passion from its leaders... It seems to have none of that..

An unusual, but novel idea....

They did stop it for a short amount of time.... Fan numbers dropped, and feedback wasn't good.. So they brought it back...

Yes they do.... And also plan games in knowing 100% that their players will be playing Ice Hockey somewhere else in another competition... However, they fix this by lending and borrowing some of the best players to each other through the season... It really works well...

Yes, still going.... And, quite popular with families... A small sport in the grand scheme of things which seems to have progressive leaders, with ambition to grow... Not sure if you noticed. But they do have perspex to stand behind if you go again....

Manchwrster Storm Ice Hockey team going back into the AO Arena in the city centre next season.. Citing growth in attendances for themselves and the sport nationally, has given them the confidence to make the move... 17,000+ once watched them there v Sheffield... It will be interesting to see the marketing done locally to engage enough people to attend... Maybe a tad more done than the Aces do maybe?

Maybe he has food poisoning now? We will soon know if he has, as, if so, he will send out some photos on social media of himself jogging.....

It certainly made me say "Wow!".... Then smirk and shake my head, knowingly.... And then laugh out loudly, and madly, into the sky above... As often happens when you read something has been changed by those running UK Speedway...

In fairness.... Dave does have an iPhone 17.... With "ultra zoom"..... Considering it is UK Speedway I am quite impressed that phone footage was used ... I see the sport more in line to use a "sketch artist" like they use in Crown Courts for the TV News... "Give us half and hour and I will have it drawn up. What colour was Cookie again?"...

"Technical" tracks, if you don't mind....

In any normal business such a "s**t show" would see the person in charge/therefore responsible, being removed from their post wouldn't it?... It is UK Speedway though...

Laguta lost his edge? After being out of the GP's so long, and little way back?

Last year he was top 16 easily in the world.. Magic back on form also this year .

To be fair to him... He has just been interviewed and said "mikebv on the BSF is right and I need to get my finger out" ..😝

Kowalski need to find at least three more tracks he can ride...

Dan could/should have destroyed MJJ's race down the back straight... But didn't .. Too nice...

There does appear to be lots of crowd noise, and crowd input, on my stream.... With plenty of away fans making noise too.. Not sure if that is needed at a Speedway meeting ..😀