mikebv

He came across the line shaking his head in, I presume, bemused bewilderment as to how the race went.....

There should be a deadline well in front of the season start shouldnt there.? If nothing else so you can market the riders and also (if required), step in and not allow teams who dont reach a minimum standard, as this helps no one, especially the sport itself..

Different rules.. One is a one off individual event and the other is a "years" worth of employment by a non UK person..

I an sure a lot of it was "novelty factor" which gets brought on by some "big names" being there given it's been so long to have a domestic meeting with such riders, and the early season date will also have helped.... Woffy alone would have put a couple of hundred and maybe more on the gate I am sure... Personally having say 10 individual, well promoted, well sponsored meetings through the season of this standard of rider, would be much more beneficial for the track, and the sport, than running 20 league and cup meetings with adhoc riders turning up to help clubs win competitions of very little value.. Woffy saying he could ride every Monday for the Aces was funny, but had some resonance, as I am sure crowds with him there each Monday would be much bigger than the crowds the Aces will get.. As mentioned before, I never know why when tracks get "bumper crowds" enlarged by many "lapsed fans" coming out of the woodwork at the start of the season, or on Bank Holidays, nothing is ever done to get them to make more repeat visits more regularly.. Attracting new fans to be regulars is often like pushing water uphill, so getting those who already know about you, and follow you, to attend more regularly must be the easier option yet it appears not worthwhile for so many promoters.. A strange outlook..

Not the best ever meeting at the NSS by its extremely high standards but still pretty good, and VFM... Heat 20 was "WOW". One of those races that come along every 1000 or so. Brilliant... MPT was on it all night so a deserved winner with Tai taking the "interview of the night award".. If any promoters need to learn how to promote an event, have a word with Woffy. I might just book that flight to Poland for his testimonial..... Crowd well over 2000, and the 50/50 draw had a prize of over £500 which shows how many were there to contribute.. Couple of gripes. One being the constant music being played whilst the centre green person is talking. What with the bike noise when at the tapes in readiness for a race, and the music, you simply cannot hear what she is saying... And the second is the use of the 2 min clock. They used it for the first 10 races or so (a la Poland), and it was great. One race ended, another quickly started. Then they let the riders get off their bikes and do plenty of gardening for the last half of races and didnt use the clock.. The interviews in the pits were good, and loud and clear, which sometimes with a "roving mike" doesnt always happen.. Didnt see much promotion of next weeks meeting v Sheffield given the crowd was so big, (double a usual meeting I would say), which I always think is an opportunity missed, as many of the fans in attendance would have been "local" but infrequent visitors to the Aces league meetings. (I saw five lads who, like me and my lad, "used to go" but none of us will be there next week)... Maybe they could have knocked out some £15 or so tickets for the first couple or three meetings to encourage more of tonight's "locals" in the crowd to go back? Overall some pretty tough, hard racing for a "pre season" meeting, with plenty of passing (not always for first), to keep you interested, and if you get the chance to see Heat 20, then enjoy...

Visa issues still? If so, getting close to season start... MPT always good to watch so should be good for the entertainment level...

Bang On!! If they are not there now, you lose absolutely nothing by giving them free admission.... And if the kid wants to go, then simply the parent or guardian has to go too... And having "quite a few kids" from the same school also means they can watch together, which can only encourage repeat visits... Why do establishments provide free rooms for kids parties? Simply because they know adults (and their wallets and purses), will be in attendance...

Similar story to me and my lad.. (No crush on Heeps though). (I think)... He unfortunately doesnt see the value in paying to watch league racing now he is 18 and has to fork out for himself... He cannot reconcile how riders can end up riding for everyone else, so he doesnt treat it as a serious sport, hence, no way will he pay twenty quid to get in.. We stopped being "regulars" when the Aces charged for 12 and upwards, after many years of being free when he was under 12, (so they lost my money and gained nothing), and instead we did FIM meetings and "decent" individuals, ie Proper Speedway meetings, with the odd attendance to the Aces when certain riders were in town.... He has though paid for me and him to attend tonight and the British GP, (over £80 on me!!!), as a thankyou for the thousands of miles I have covered taking him the length and breadth of the country so he can play football.. I was "shocked" to say the least.. Although it will be me paying the hotel bill.... Hopefully your daughter stays with it and can see the value when it his her turn to have to pay to get in, as the sport needs that "missing generation" so badly... Edit: FWIW. I actually think that for a good many that £7/£8 could actually be the "deal breaker" given the cost of living will rise/is rising so much.. And, just like with me, you lose the adults money too...

Not many seats left... Crowd will be comfortably over 2000... Should be a good evenings entertainment...

Good point... As they slavishly follow such a subjective measure as averages, there wouldnt be anything wrong for me in using any number of riders for two months at a time (or even less), just as long as their average meets requirements.. Even for "just one night only" if required, as it would at least mean that a team use their own riders and not another teams' in the same league. As that destroys any kudos in winning the competitions... And if you dont have that "it means something" feel to a sporting contest, unfortunately the fanbase can end up apathetic towards it, which cannot be good for attendance levels..

Just basic common sense isn't it? I wonder if there is actually anyone within the sport who scratch their heads wondering why the sport has no major sponsor involvement.. Rendering your own competitions virtually worthless from the outset, by your own rules and regulation of them, is not the greatest starting point for success you would have to think, yet that seems to be the 'game plan' each season... It is certainly a very uniquely strange way to run a business...

My money is on Chris Morton and Andy Smith... (Both being probably still better than some of the ones they have ended up with by the way)

Or maybe it will be like "I'm a Celebrity" where after a couple of weeks of the same seven, another couple of riders walk into the pits unexpectedly....

Looks like a very good crowd... AB and FG are the only areas that will open on my phone, suggesting C, D, and E are full... AB is 90% full too... Should be a great start to the season...

They share riders but not rules...

Let's hope relocation doesn't mean being "relocated to the annals of speedway history", like so many sadly have been before...

"Scott in Aces colours?" "Got"... "Scott in Wolves colours?" "Got"... "Scott in Poole colours?" "Got"... "Scott in Glasgow colours?" "Not got! I will swap him for Bomber in Redcar colours"....

See.... That's thinking out of the box. .. Come on BSPL, don't miss out on these great ideas....

Heat 15 is within the meeting, so even if it influences the final result it is still the 'whole meeting' that provides the final scores, and actually often Heat 15 has zero bearing on an overall result, given a team can be too far behind to score any points when it takes place... This extra heat basically dismisses what has gone before and provides the result of the match... Maybe if the curfew is near they will do "Rock, Paper, Scissors"... Best of 3 obviously as it would be daft if they only did it once....

In any league a draw is a result which forms part of its overall process.. Therefore. At the end of the season the league should reflect the results from every meeting that takes place that either gets completed or called as such... No league table should reflect what happens in just one race within a meeting... If that's the case then just have one heat per meeting...

I think a sachet of Steradent might be more of a winner....

I think any team with Jason Doyle in will always be nearer the play offs than the bottom... However, just realised that in this league being fifth gets you equidistant from both... So maybe not a great rule of thumb....

Do you still get a point for being within six of the home team?

Do each team have ten blank spaces included which just say "Guest" underneath? Meaning you can add that rider as and when they represent that club? Scotty and Bomber stickers would be very sought after by the kids if so...

I take it not all pensioners are "loaded" of course.. However.. Given so many pensioners go v families who attend, I would suggest that many of those would still go regardless of whether they get three or four pound off, as that really wouldn't be "make or break" for too many I would think, given if they can afford the current cost to get in then finding less than a fiver more shouldn't be beyond them.. (If their desire to watch Speedway is sufficiently there in the first place that is)... 250 pensioners paying four quid more though is a grand each week, which if your run 20 matches is £20k extra a season, a fair % increase on total revenue I would suggest given the pretty low base the sports' income starts from.. I personally think Speedway is going to suffer badly over this summer with all the large hikes in the cost of living and the fact that many will be spending their time (and money), enjoying holidays abroad again... With Speedway being well down the pecking order in the priority listings.. My own cost of living rises in April by circa £200 a month if the current fuel costs dont drop, as Gas/Electric, Council Tax, and NI rises kick in.. Therefore getting the price "right" could be fundamental to survival for some, if not for many... An interesting season ahead...