mikebv

Never 'walked away' as such, but had 'sabbaticals'... What I do now is simply pick and choose which meetings to attend and they are the ones that have at least a modicum of integrity to them. eg no select sides, no riders missing through riding elsewhere, no ringers brought in due to teams deliberately planning in meetings so they can etc etc ad nauseam... This year I will have attended the new NSS around half as much as I attended the dog bowl last year (But that is still more than Max Fricke)😁.. (But not as much as Danny King)😂 Considering that the new stadium is great, the racing is often superb, and we are top of the league it doesn't bode well for how much the sport will make out of me in the future. As many say, when done well, the sport has few peers, hence we still attend it.. Sadly British Speedway isn't done well often enough to increase those visits, which is worrying, as given its lack of capability in attracting 'newbies' it needs the 'die hards' to attend every week more than ever I would say.. As I say, you never really 'walk away' as it stays in the blood.. Which is ironic given the sport needs one hell of a 'transfusion'..

Maybe DG and Mort have found a way of getting Starry's 13000 crowd in??😁

On a Wednesday... In September..... When its not raining.... And the temperature at trackside is over 16C 2 hours before the official start time.. And the atmoshpheric conditions prevailing above are within +/- 5% of 100 mb... (And the wind is blowing North Westerly obviously)...😉

If your No.1 is missing, just run RR and let (in this meeting) Harris and King take two each of his rides (or anyone else if Havelock decided someone was riding better).. Let's face it, riders miss EL matches due to riding elsewhere in 'recognised' meetings, 'non-recognised' meetings and having various degrees of 'injuries' so just have one rule for all riders missing.. (And that one rule definitely isn't an NL guest at No.1 in an EL meeting)..

And that sadly is the issue.. ie. No rules have been broken yet the MC have made a decision diametrically opposite to the decision they made for Richard Hall.! You cannot have a credible sport when the governing body continually 'make it up as they go along' even after setting a precedent to a similar situation.. When you read such nonsense whereby a guy who has won a GP this year is now assessed as worse than he was when he didn't, it is simply breathtakingly absurd... No rules broken but wouldn't it be great to publicly read the rationale used by whoever made the Lindback decision...? Buster mentioned 'integrity' as one of his key aims.. Would be a good time now to let us in on the thought processes they used when they facilitated this scenario...

Makes sense... If it happens then surely what Poole have done is replace a rider after the allotted time to do so? Therefore not allowed? Or have the rules changed in the past 48 hours? It is British Speedway after all, so it is possible of course..

You can get them from me mate.. Knocking them out with a range of "#JusticeforRichardHall" wristbands... Hadn't rode NL for years but wasn't allowed to get his average re-assessed... Still thems the rules, just as long as they are administered consistently eh?😁

Running six meetings in 21 days is the main reason for 'lower' crowds than may be expected... A family ticket (the target audience surely?) standing would be £246 for the six meetings, therefore the thick end of £300 with car park, programme, food etc.. A lot to pay out in three weeks for 90 mins of entertainment (now matter how good it is).. I do agree the play off qualifiers do affect the attendances as last nights meeting was no more than a 'filler' for BV which would have persuaded more than me to stay away I would suggest.. However I do think Fred's estimate of 20k missing is a 'tad' optimistic given I would say a crowd of 2000 would have been the ballpark figure you would get even if no PO's existed. (Maybe 3000 at the Poole match given they could still have won the title and BV would have been crowned champions).. 2000 a week would still represent a huge % increase on last year at the 'dog bowl' (as indeed do the 1600 or so attendances being delivered) therefore still room of optimism at the Aces, especially if next year they can add some professional marketing to their business plan..

Far, far too simplistic and sensible for Speedway... And a much, much too obvious thing to do.... Better to have the commentators last night going on about what an achievement it was and have zero in the way of a presentation to Belle Vue... Never misses a way to undersell itself British Speedway...

I can see merit in your theory Philip but surely that says everything about the kudos (or lack of it) in winning the EL title... ie pick the biggest money spinner rather than the one that gives you the best chance of silverware... It could be perceived by fans that its hardly worth racing 118 matches to find a winner (and investing time, emotion and cash to watch them) if the pay day is a higher priority rather than a League Title.. Sadly though I think for many promotions that is now the priority.. But very worrying if clubs want fans to attend week in, week out, investing their emotional attachment to a team in the belief that there may be tangible success at the end of the season..

Fair reflection of ths meeting I would say... We did miss Fricke's scoring around the NSS as he has been our best rider round there (on the odd occasion he turns up)... Poole are still the favourites for me as their Number One is a genuine World Class rider who Zagar cannot match and the reserves are of a much higher standard (just not showing it all the time).. The rest of both teams are pretty similar I would say with not much between them head to head... Holder v Zagar the big advantage that makes me put Poole favourites.. Although crowd wise the worst option, I would avoid Poole like the plague in the semi and let Wolves have them. Swindon or Lakeside for us although given we hardly 'batter' any team at home, I think either would fancy their chances of winning on aggregate against us..

Did his job in spades tonight... Did it the hard way too... Great to watch..... Wouldnt want him to get the chance of doing it again against us in either the semi or the final though!! No matter how much I enjoyed watching him tonight!!!!

The grandstand holds around 1800 so looking at the TV tonight I would say 50% full? 500 - 600 on the back straight would mean a crowd of 1400 - 1500? Certainly not bad for a Sky match and definitely many more that the old place would have achieved.... No doubt the crowd was effected by the meeting not being that important in the grand scheme of things and the fact that BV are running 6 EL meetings in just 21 days....

Might get Keith Vaz joining that parliamentary Speedway group thingy...!?😁

With two meetings in three days, and one being on TV, maybe a dual ticket could have been produced? Say £25 for a standing ticket, £35 seated for both meetings may have delivered a couple of very decent crowds? Would promote the club in time for the playoffs too.. As it stands Wednesdays crowd may suffer quite significantly if the Aces secure top spot on Monday..

Really? Well I never..... Who's have thought.?....😉😆😁

Let's just get say 21 riders to attend every match... Team managers pick two riders to be captains (maybe the first two lads who arrive) and everyone else stands up against the pit wall while the captains take it in turns to pick six riders each... The away team captain to pick first to make it a bit fairer.... Unless of course he has rode at the track the week before... Unless of course he rode for the other team the week before then that would be OK... (I think) There, that should cover it.... Feel a bit sorry for the lads who don't get picked but on the positive side they can get themselves off to the Airport before the others and baggsy a window seat on the plane to 'wherever it is tonight'... "Right. Open the gates Security, and stand well back"!!!😉😁

No Nicholls? No Fricke? No Wozniak? No massive crowd? Wonder if the things are related? No course not, couldn't be....😖 Because its the way British Speedway is run and we should all just accept the situation, attend every week, and understand that this is the way it always will be, and be content that the BSPA know best on how to run their sport.. We fans (and ex fans) need to know our place and accept it gratefully..

Well those watching at Monmore tonight will definitely not be getting a 'Buzz'.. Buddum tish... I thang yow....😝

Very true... Which is why outside its own (ever decreasing) band of followers it isn't taken seriously as a 'proper sport'.... Apologies to Kelvin for the use of 'proper'...

You would think that Sky would treat such a professionally ran and organised sport, one that puts integrity at the heart of everything it does, with a much higher degree of respect wouldn't you? Now, when's the Kabaddi on?😀

I wonder if any more would have bothered if both teams' riders were there? Rather than no KK, no Part Time Max, a BV colt riding for Cov and a Leicester rider riding for BV...? Makes total sense... "Form an orderly queue, no pushing, you'll all get in"... "Now, what have you got in those bags"...?😁

"Speedway from the gods Nige"....

"You can't take your eyes of this one Nige!!!!

Sure it wasn't Jocky Wilson?😁 (One for the teenagers there)...😉