mikebv

Arrr..... But..... The TV cameras being there always coincides with a low tide... (Or is it a high tide it coincides with?)... It's one of the tides anyway...... Wednesdays tides are different....

And then you have Guestfest after Guestfest as all three Leagues try to cram fixtures in on the same nights using the same riders.. As you say, "happens every bloody year"... (With less and less people understandably watching it happen)... The best summer for years too.....!

He might give himself a team place...

Cook needing to be in two places at once on Thursday... Riding for Glasgow.... Surely not?

It would appear not in Under 16's Football.. A couple of games ago, my lad got pulled over by the ref after he had been 'taken out', and lectured him for a good minute or so about what the ref had heard him say to the lad that had 'launched' him... When I asked after the match what he had said to the lad, he told me had said "F☆☆k Off Ginger Bollox'.... The ref spent a long time telling him that this was 'discriminatory language' and "wouldnt be tolerated on my pitch".. As a responsible parent I naturally told him that the next time the ref calls him over for something similar, suggest to the ref that you believe that you are 'technically correct' and then ask the ref to maybe seek some proof before dismissing his comments as discriminatory... The World has indeed gone mad.,.

Really? What an odd way to run the Sport.... (Properly)....

Having a fit for purpose RR system would reduce Guests if not even eradicate.. Top rider missing? Then EVERY rider in the team can take his rides up to seven rides max per rider, meaning (if the Team Manager elected to do so) the 2nd and 3rd highest riders can take two of his rides each and appear also appear in Ht 15. .. If the 2nd rider is missing then, as now, the No1 can take a ride and all riders below the 2nd rider can take the rest, again up to seven rides per man.. (eg 3rd in the averages could take three of his rides but would have to miss Ht 15, or take two and ride Ht 15).. Work that down the order till you get to the No6 rider missing where the rider fifth in the averages could take one ride and the reserves the rest (with one reserve taking all the other three rides if the Team Manager selects to do so up to a max of seven rides).. Any No7's missing means the other reserve takes two rides and a No8 (NL rider not DU 'ing) comes in and takes two rides... The closer the level of rider from One to Seven in a team will also mean much less impact to the team by any of the riders missing... And let's be honest, many of the Guests needed are more down to poor planning in fixtures rather than injuries. So getting that right alone will reduce Guestfests..

A bit OTT Moxey... Wrestling will be very unhappy to be compared with Speedway... At least they have terrestrial TV coverage now for British Wrestling too...

We also didn't have the Internet or Social Media, so often would turn up to watch a Speedway meeting, pay to get in, and only then find out PC had been replaced, or your team or the other had three or four guests... What we did have though was National terrestrial TV showing meetings most weeks that had no guest riders as they were individual meetings, which then had a positive spin off for the domestic Leagues... You could watch the riders (most weeks) that you saw in TV on the Saturday... And at a reasonable admission cost too.. Simply, if Football, Cricket, Rugby Union/League, etc etc did the same and used 'Guests/Ringers' to cover absenses then those sports too would (quite rightly) open themselves up to ridicule in this modern era of 24/7 information and (also quite rightly) have a deserved reputation of being a bit 'Mickey Mouse'... Nowadays your 'brand' is so, so important... And the credibilty of what any 'brand' stands for/puts out/produces, is absolutely the most important stand alone asset it has. Everything else that comes from this, (good or bad, positive or negative), 100% starts from its credibilty rating in the eyes of the general public, which in turn, will directly influence them to utilise the products/services provided (or not as the case may be).....

Suggest Matt does some discount tickets to get punters back onside for Monday next.. To be fair to him, he is one of not many who would even consider it as he knows how important good PR is...

"Less guests" is your typical Speedway half arsed measure of success., But as we know, in reality it's no measure at all.. How many guests can be used to keep the Sports credibility and integrity? How many guests can be used before the Sport has no credibilty and integrity? A typical Speedway measure of success based on subjectivity rather than a tangible attainment... BV have been involved in meetings containing 17 Guests this year. (14 used by them). Is that OK? Does that maintain credibilty or not? Or is 16 the level of success? Or maybe 18 or 19, before credibilty is lost..? One thing has though clearly emerged by the way 'fixed nights' have been implemented.. And that is Guest riders are a main fundamental part of the operating and business model of the Sport (if they were not then simply all teams would have been planned in to ride on the same night)... Therefore the Sport has gone well past its tipping point re ever being ran like a 'proper sport', so surely the best thing for it to do, is to leave each club to run whenever it likes on nights it can bring the most customers in? Guests will always be required it seems as there is no appetite to change this, so you might as well just put out two teams of any random riders on the best nights for your customers who (by the definition of still attending as they do) don't see Guestfests as an issue, (or if they do, they see it as a lesser issue than how the race night negatively effects their capabilty to attend).. BV this year has seen crowds drop. They have used many Guests (or maybe not that many, who knows???) However, riding on a Friday or Saturday would still have meant Guests (and maybe even more), but crowds would have been 300-400 bigger I would suggest.. And an extra 8000 punters per season would bring circa £100k in after VAT (about a third of the rent)... Time to accept what we have is all there will be and stop trying to meet things 'halfway'.. If it has to be Guestfest after Guestfest then so be it... But be transparent about it...

Get a successful GB Team and the media profile will increase. Rugby Union and Cricket latched onto that years ago to compete with a Football obsessed media and population.. When GB ruled the roost in Speedway, Terrestrial TV and the Newspapers were interested... Then along came all the Scandinavians and Americans who we trained and Terrestrial TV and Newspapers no longer wanted to cover something without the 'feel good factor' that successful National Teams bring.. Do that and the domestic scene will naturally start to see benefits (like it has done previously) through its association. (Ideally with the most recognised British lads riding over here!).. Have some kind of reward for the League Winners to make that competition relevant. Do this by paying 'Team Prize Money' each meeting rather than individual points money and have a Trophy at the end of the season for the team that tops the Leagues. (You can still divide up the cash individually 'off camera' as per each riders agreement..) Then have the play offs.. If, as now, the play offs are 'all important' why bother attending matches before that when they are nothing more than a warm up for the main event..? To encourage regular attendance flog discount tickets at each meeting for the next two/three/four matches etc, it is quite stark who 'irregular' the 'regulars' can be... Simply, get those who do actually know about the sport and do attend, to attend more...! Don't bother with season tickets as far too restrictive to encourage 'special offers' through the season.. And the 'die hards' will come anyway. .. Ride on the best night for your business with riders committed to putting GB first.. And No 'Mickey Mouse' "arr but this is Speedway" make it up as you go along rules. .. (Poland and Sweden never use "arr but this is Speedway" to justify nonsense administration do they?).. It looks like GB actually now have a 'proper plan' led by people with clear vision with, most importantly, Woffy well on board, so maybe, just maybe, there is a small light at the end of that long tunnel?

Surely more 'ludicrous' is facilitating a fixture list to allow teams to race on different nights to simply just allow teams to share competitors, as well as let ringers be brought in for or a myriad of reasons, with all the nonsense that this comes with...? If nothing else though, these comments do tend to confirm that those who run the Sport in Britain have effectively given up on ever running its various competitions with credibility... Its probably 'ludicrous' too for fans of the Sport to expect it to be ran like a 'proper Sport' would be...? Still, at least those who still attend now know what to expect and shouldnt therefore complain.... As, by attending, you give 100% endorsement to what you are having put out in front of you...

What if you have fixtures planned in (like Worky did for example) and then get them removed? A bit harsh penalising teams then...

To be fair... If Thousands of fans NOT attending each week, every year, for the past 20 or so, and finding something else better to do, hasn't influenced them one iota... Not really sure what else will to be honest....

So money talks.... What Poland wants, Poland gets....

My lad plays Sunday League Football... His Club has teams from U8 to U18... There must be around 200 lads/girls in the whole of the Club.. They play in a League that has 40 teams per age group over Four Divisions.. Thats approx 400 different teams in total... That's approx 8000 lads and girls.. Many of the games are played on adjacent pitches so three times on a Saturday and on a Sunday all pitches are full of kids playing football, coaches coaching football and lots and lots of parents, guardians, friends, relatives etc etc of the kids watching football.. Why dont Speedway clubs sponsor their local League and set up 'roadshows' at the various game venues each weekend..? They could either do giveaways or flog £5.00 tickets for adults with kids free.. (These people invariably are not attending Speedway now so hardly any threat of loss of revenue I would suggest).. Plus you would get 'teams' turning up together which can only encourage further visits as individuals won't be 'the only kid there' which looks to be often the case currently.. (As BV have a football pitch in the middle of the track maybe they could even put some short games on during the interval or maybe a longer game before the Speedway starts)? It costs approx £3000 to pay for the end of season prize giving day trophies... My team (BV) must have circa 20 different football Leagues in and around the Gtr Manchester conurbation, in towns such as Stockport, Oldham, Rochdale, Salford, Inner City Mcr, Bolton, Wigan, Tameside... A huge amount of U18's to be made aware of the Sport and targeted... Add to Football, you have Rugby, Cricket, Hockey, Lacrosse and even Cycle Speedway Leagues, (many U18 riders of which don't attend Speedway)! (?)... There are lots of opportunities to get Speedway noticed in its local community with many not costing the earth to do so..

Maybe with it being ran on a designated night that Poland have priority to use, the FIM cannot do anything anyway? The BSPA have thought of the 'One Sport' Comps as nothing more than glorified contrived competitions in the past not allowing riders to ride in them.. Maybe a 'Test Match' not on any international calender falls into the same category in the eyes of the Poles?

Or one of them breaks ranks and goes on Dragons Den with them....

Would they have to if they are only using songs from "K-Tels Hits of The 70's"...? Maybe it works like Car Tax and you don't pay if what you are using is of a certain age?

The harsh reality is that with Rye going and possibly Lakeside, approximately just around 1500 people (at best) will have to find something else to do each week (well month), (or maybe every fifth week etc etc)... In fact if EVERY track closed then out of over 60 Million people in the Country about 30,000 (again at best) will have had their regular Speedway fix removed.. To put it into context Stockport County's final regular League game of last Season had over 6,000 there in the Vanerama North... 'Desperate times' would actually be a step forward I would say...

We go back again to an independent governing body.... Maybe the SCB could step up to the mark and actually run the Sports regulations and disciplinary code rather than the Promoters 'self governing'...? Other Sports eg Rugby's two codes both run salary caps and have both taken disciplinary action against teams abusing it.. The bitterest and possibly saddest irony of course, is how Promoters often try and seek an advantage to manipulate victories to win a competition that is deemed completely 100% irrelevant by the very manipulations they are taking to win it... You must need a degree to truly understand the level of how ridiculous that is... However, if the Sport is actually ran 'properly', ie with credibility and integrity, then maybe Leagues will actually become worth winning?... And Promoters then see what a positive impact to their crowd levels their transparency has?... And stick rigidly to all the rules and regs, not only to the letters of the laws, but the spirit of them too..! Please.... Let me believe for just a few more seconds...

The saving would be a salary cap of £5k per team per night. . Five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten riders! It doesnt matter. . £5k per team per night max.. Divided up any way they want... The 'price point/number of races' conundrum would have to be well thought out but they couldn't go over £15 per adult I would think...

Teams should pay no more than £5k a night... £10k needed for the home and away payment... Five man teams quite possibly the maximum.... Top rider earning around £3000 for both meetings, and No5 earning £1000... Maybe some performance related pay in line with any crowd increase above "break even"...? Maybe even £5k a night is too much in the current climate? Bottom line is 400- 500 people paying £17/£18 and clubs keeping the same outgoings is nothing more than a road to nowhere... You cannot pay seven riders out for two meetings on that at the current salary levels.. And £17/£18 admission isn't going to ever bring thousands in, with no doubt a planned inflation busting increase next year to pay for this seasons drop in attendances adding to the exodus of fans.. Something has to give... And reducing the number of 'employees' thus reducing your payroll, allied to a reduction in operating costs, is 100% the 'short term' way forward for any struggling business... The secret then is to grow your customer base to allow you to pay more in the future to allow you attract a higher standard of employee and/or increase your head count again... I think that this finally may be sinking in as Promoters realise that working in splendid isolation is actually no longer beneficial to them individually, and definitely isnt for the 'collectives' long term positive future...

To make one league work the standard would need to be 'Championship Lite' I would say.. 1000 per match paying a tenner wouldn't even cover that level though I would think... Maybe 1000 at £12-£13 could cover it? But sadly 1000 may be too high a crowd level for some maybe?