pandorum

I would like to see the return of the green helmet

You seem to have set an impossibly high standard for 'meaning' in speedway. The vast majority of speedway in the UK does not mean much by your criteria and even the POs only involves winning a very poor league made up of guests and riders from lower leagues. Riders in both EL and PL racing are mainly riding for the money or like Greg Hancock only here because they lost a spot in a more lucrative league. What does winning the EL or PL bring a team that winning a Euro championship doesn't? A league with a handful of teams in it who don't even race each other the same amount full of riders who don't even consider the leagues as important as the more lucrative European leagues. Atmosphere that is virtually non existent in front of a sparse crowd in a dilapidated stadium hardly is anything to get excited about but sometimes people find it can be very exciting. Does winning a mickey mouse league like the EL mean more/less to a rider than winning the Euro championship? Does an individual meeting in Scunthorpe have more meaning than a SGP or Euro meeting? Probably to the winner at that particular night. Define 'Meaning' because it will mean different things to different people. Speedway has 'meaning' to a very tiny part of the populations where it exists. But to me it carries more meaning than some world cup football tourney played by millionaires. I could not tell you who won the last football world cup and care not one jot who wins the next one when ever it is. EL racing on TV is mostly incredibly boring and mostly meaningless but it's live speedway and worth watching because it might end up not so boring. I don't actually know where these fantastic speedway meetings people here seem to wish for occur as I have never seen a meeting in 40 years where this happens and all the meetings I saw had racing that varies from 'out of the top drawer' to a lot less than mediocre. Considering it's in the comfort of your own home and not on a wet cold windy evening somewhere it's always worth watching just in case, as in both Euro meets, there is a good race or two.

Did not realise it was the final today. It's 4 pm UK time here. 8 am LA time but off to Venice so can't watch it. I been in so many places this last week it's been hard to keep track of the day never mind the time. But have 5 days here so can relax a bit. I may get to see the replay. Holsted look favourites to me as Jensen and Hougaard are flying and Klindt is a handy rider in Denmark and of course they have the Nudger so should win comfortably. NKI seems short of support. Have fun guys and may the best team win.

Such as what? It's alright advocating getting rid of the dreaded guest leaving it in the lap of someone else sort of dilutes your argument. Squad systems. Rider grading. Getting rid of the speedway gypsies and becoming insular by focusing on developing home grown talent and riders who commit to our leagues. The only real answers involve dropping the level of our leagues to a top PL level and having a development system at NL/PL level. But of course it will never happen as this has been going on for decades. Riders get injured and nowadays ride in several leagues. The pool of talent just isn't there to solve such problems and the will is even lesss. It all a bit pointless really as the promoters never listen to fans ideas as they tend to be usually good and all they want are silly ideas.

Enjoy your Danish fix folks. Can't be long now to the Finals. It will be morning here in LA but don't think I will get the chance as we will be busy in Venice early doors being Jim Morrison groupies.

God do you people ever stop whining about the commentators. Try doing something radical and just enjoy the SGP for what they are. Individual speedway meets. Sometimes good, sometimes great and sometimes awful. Just like any other sport in the world. Well done Woffy on another step towards the only title in the SGP that really matters. Shame Emil is not there but all this tripe about him not being British and Darcy Ward blah blah blah does not detract one bit from the achievement this kid has made in 2013. Last couple of hurdles and he can join a very elite band of English speedway riders who are legends and deserve that title. Missed the meeting as I was travelling through the Rockies at the time but will be home for Sweden and hope to see this kid stuff the words of his detractors, including me, right down our gullets

I am an Emil fan but feel patriotic about Tai. Good luck to the kid. The idea that somehow someone is not worthy unless everybody is taking part is a bit daft. It's speedway and this stuff happens all the time. The world champion is worthy of being the world champion by virtue of beating the opposition not by somehow having to contend with people better than him who might have been in it but wern't for some reason. Tai isn't the first in this position. If he wins then he is totally deserving of the honour. What you say is not the 'truth' simply the burblings of someone who is a lot of the times an idiot with flashes of sense but this is one of the burblings

Looks like NKI has it. I have to bail as I need to sort some last minute stuff out. See you all in 3 weeks. Enjoy the hell out of the Swedish Playoff Alan and hope your dream comes true and Smederna win it.

Bjerre is in it. I thought he was reserve

Nicki can't win but he can annoy a few people especially Bjerre who had a chance Wonder if he will get in a fight with anyone. Leon Madsen does not seem to like him

Good luck to Czestochowa and my fave Russians. I will do my best to keep up with results as I have wifi in hotels but alas not on trains which will be a third of my trip. Doubt I will have time to see anything even if my wifi coincides with a meeting but one never knows.

Bloody mercenaries just sucking the life and the cash out of the sport. But not all are like that. It is refreshing to see such passion for a team and thier achievement. Too many riders don't even bother with an old fasioned lap of honour nowadays and interaction with team and fans after a meeting becoming a thing of the past with riders jet style schedules. Speedway old style as it should be. Nice to see so many fans and the riders getting excited about something. Greg Laguta is a credit to speedway and a fantastic speedway rider. I will miss the Swedish POs but good luck to Smederna as they will grace the final with both fans and riders if they make the last hurdle. One of the most absorbing and exciting team speedway meets I have seen for a long time.

Nicki is well suited to the 'flake' lap as he is nearly as mad as Hougaard racing

I saw plenty of fat guys in the 70s who could gate, pass, defend a line, team ride and do just about anything else a skinny guy could do half as better. Perhaps nowadays the technology favours the thin and superfit but those fat, smoking, boozers used to entertain the hell out of the crowd when I was young. Maybe if these guys had been thinner and fitter and had not drank as much or puffed on as many ciggies they would have been world champions but the chunky unfit speedway rider was an enetertainer as much as the fit skinny blokes.

I would say. 'Are you mad?' but that would be a rhetorical question. How would the UK be a feeder system to the Polish and Swedish leagues? The idea that all the UK riders that would become decent riders would then ride in Poland or Sweden at the expense of the UK is daft even for you. Of course some would ride in those leagues but they would probably ride here as happens now. Of course once riders reach an international standard they would want to flex thier muscles abroad and good luck to them. But the idea that the UK leagues would consist of riders who can just about slide a bike is too daft to even laugh at. Let alone the fact that the top leagues would not want to flood their league with Brits the way we flood ours with anyone but our own not all the UK riders here would want to lose the opportunity of racing on thier doorstep. It would be a case of some would ride internationally and perhaps not in the UK whilst some would ride internationally and also ride in the UK as happens now! It would be great to see a good number of our riders in the top leagues but your scenario is the dribblings of an idiot. (No Offence)

That's not true at all mate. I generally get excellent streams for Polish, Swedish and Russian speedway. Of course sometimes you get a duff one and can't find anything decent but usually as good as the Danish streams.

I like Lebedev but there is no way he will replace PKs scoring power. Never been much of a follower of averages and stats so is Emil a possibility after the Indianerna debacle? What's his average compared to PK maybe they could persuade him to join his countryman?

Nope I go to london saturday and fly Sunday so can see the Danish Final Will do cheers

Good last heat and best bit of the meeting Nicki v the fat bloke in the white shirt. Great way to end a dull meeting. See you chaps on Friday for the Final.

The winner came last....maybe the graphics man is doing it blindfold for a laugh

On the EL forum that would have started a war that would last for years. Here is another stat. Every heat has been pretty dull.

well that heat was a lot less interesting than I thought it would be

me too. He does fiddle a lot at the start though and seems to touch every part of his anatomy as well as fiddle with every bit of the bike

Nicki always seems like he has fleas. He is always making jerky movements and fiddling with his crotch

Unless they are as mental as Danish caption guys I would say that is a certainty Greg is without doubt a world class rider.