pandorum

Did not know that and care even less She would if she was anthough which would make her a bit of a hypocrite

It's Mickey Mouse because in most cases it does not serve it's purpose. The old tac sub rule (which is used in all the important leagues) allows a team to hit back once 6 points down. The UK rule is dependant on luck as a team may not have anyone to utilise straight away once 10 points down as it may be several heats before an opportunity arises and as such may fall further behind. They may have to waste it on someone who is having a poor night or lose the opportunity. The UK rule helps the better teams with three 'heat leaders' who could throw a Ward or Holder in but is very little help to the poorer teams who may only have one top rider. It's basically a lottery and a complete oxymoron as it allows for virtually no tactics. The old rule allows for team tactics and sacrifices to allow a better option for the heat after going 6 points down. A tactical rule has indeed been around in speedway for a while with the express purpose of allowing close scores. One rule allows a team to take advantage of this and the other doesn't. It's not as if speedway is trying to land a probe on a comet. It's simplicity itself.

A woman of great principle. Wonder if she remembers this next time she talks to Ward who may not have been found guilty but is without doubt just the horrible type of scroat she rails about. Oh well she has had her 15 minutes of fame and can now return to the obscurity of UK speedway. Somebody on Newsnight should have asked. "Charlie how important is it not to have rapists at Sheffield Utd?"

Probably because it is too stupid for words and would not stand up in a court in Bongo BongoLand let alone one here. It's fantasy speedway played out by speedway's fantasists. I am sure World Champion Greg Hancock cares tuppence which team in the UK owns him but obviously someone thinks they do.

That is a worrying trend for speedway riders. Just look at poor old Darcy Ward. He can't go out and abuse a woman, get drunk, beaten up or be chased by police driving a lawnmower or whatever it was without someone reporting this in the media. The two are surely entitled to a private life. Speedway Star should be ashamed as old people tend to fart a lot more than young folks and sometimes in the most inappropriate places.

I dunno your idiot reply makes you rather fit in with that lot. I can invite you to a great many posts here I myself made with ideas for helping speedway. But then rather a lot of people here fall into that category. Or do you think you are the only one here who can be serious. Lighten up and stop thinking the posts here must always be serious and po faced. It's speedway after all and without a sense of humour and cynical irony one would go mental in a place like this.

I have said TOO much!

So that's your plan! Get a famous footballer to let his kid ride a speedway bike at one of out rubbish tips and a new Golden Age will magically appear. His girlfriend is probably more associated with bikes and more people know who she is. What next get Winona Ryder to manage Poole Pirates? The sport has a mountain of real problems to climb and needs to start now to address them. We will see soon enough whether anyone sane remains in charge.

Well I won't be at Poole and am not a Darcy or Poole fan but he is an exciting rider that is indisputable just not a nice person I like watching Russians personally and enjoy watching Darcy get stuffed by them

Sadly that is true but it could make having foreign riders an expensive (team building wise) commodity. As you say give them a high average regardless of ability. Perhaps give a dispensation to a rider who commits to Brit racing and bases themselves here as not all foreigners are mercenaries. It's a position the BSPA have gotten themselves into and the FTR shows they now realise that. These idiots got us into this mess and it's about time they took measures to get us out of it. Have two leagues of comparable standard without the top riders. In other words PL level. Race on any night you like or can. Maybe introduce a meaningful promotion relegation system where teams have a chance to progress if they wish. Star status is simply a state of mind and we got along nicely in the old NNL days without International Speedway riders. Bring back the excitement of supporting a team that actual is a team rather than a bunch of nomads. Surely SKY or BT would be interested in covering such a league as it would be exciting as we saw the rise of new star riders. Whatever they do it must be different to what they do now as it is clear to see what they are doing is not working. But we all know what will happen. Watered down more expensive speedway with tons of cash going to the handful of International Speedway riders and little or nothing to the future.

I predict 217 pages with 3027 posts. We will conclude that Darcy Ward is a total arcehole but a great rider and deserved all he got whatever that was but we will be glad to see him back racing. But surely that is what is called a debate?

They should all sit in a room and drink a Jager shot every time someone says Poole. Then after a few hours each member should come up with an idea. They should then vote on which idea to adopt whilst still drunk. and resolve to adopt that idea once they sober up. Who knows they might just come up with something to save the sport as doing this sober has not worked out that well now has it?

I have to admit I enjoyed watching those Californian glamour boys a lot. Scott Autry was one of my favourite riders. But back then they rode here as their main way of making a living and we were lucky enough to see them. Nowadays that would not have happened as they would all be in Poland Phil Rising made a good point in response to my post. Yes the superstars did indeed enhance the top league here but it was when the Jim Tebby's lost out to the poor quality foreign imports flown in to fill rosters in the 2nd tier that the slide began. We trained the worlds riders at the expense of our Jim Tebby's and look where that got us. All those vital #2 and #4 spots were hired out to sub standard European riders who generally did not give a toss about our league. We had a staple of Jim Tebby's and Aussie upandcomers and it worked well. Then we opened the door to Europe's Jim Tebby's who were no better but had unusual names so we were excited they had been brought in and the rest is history. I never paid a lot of attention to the hype of those Californian glamour boys but sure as hell enjoyed watching the Tests against the USA and matches that included one of them. But teams had a nucleus of Jim Tebby's and that was what made the sport what it was not Bruce Penhall exciting as he was to watch. Obviously bike costs are important as has been discussed here well before I turned up. But how much was spent flying in poor quality imports when a Jim Tebby local to the track may well have scored as many and actually cared about the team he rode for. And as Phil said race nights are another nail in the coffin. Yes as Phil said we need Greg Hancocks but how many of those who were flown in to fill 2nd string and reserve spots did we need? The FTR program was a desperation measure that may well have done some good but imagine if we had done that 20 years ago and encouraged our own instead of being a testing track for foreign riders with little interest in UK racing. For every Gollob there are dozens of star flops who cost a fortune to fly in to score zero and look out of their depth. Surely a kid from the backstreets local to the track could have done that if not more

Indeed Phil Rising has hit the nail on the head. Jim Tebby's used to make up most teams when I was a kid and the sport was a lot more simple then with actual teams. But the zeitgeist that made up the 60s and 70s has long since changed. Speedway here will never recapture those days but maybe it could find a niche for itself with a cheaper form all round for spectators and riders. But that would need a root and branch face lift and I seriously doubt the sport has any leadership that could achieve that. It is obsessed with bringing back the so called top riders when they are what killed it in the first place. Speedway needs the Jim Tebby's rather than the Greg Hancock's or even Tai Woffinden's. We could speak in platitudes and say the sport is at a crossroads or has reached a tipping point but that was years ago. Now it is a matter of how the sport manages to cope and survive with it's self inflicted lot. It's a very minor sport which is dying and needs a boost. Many of the answers lie in the pages of this forum but nobody who matters cares to read them. It's funny but to me speedway lost it's way when it sought foreign 'stars' and allowed the Jim Tebby's to be lost to the sport.

. It's all about impression and if they don't give a toss about the toilets then maybe the rest is pretty poor too.

Hope he recovers as he is one entertaining rider. Sad but part of this dangerous but exhilarating sport

Post of the year by a mile Perhaps they should talk about bringing back the Green helmet as that is sorely missed

At least most of the guests were British.

I like Tarasienko so nice to see he did well. Another Laguta hope we get a chance to see him next year

Not have anymore BSPA meetings

Oh sorry..... my bad Bit harsh on the old fellah he is a good rider but makes too many excuses and does not seem to learn from his errors. I would love to see him win a GP again but fear it may well be as you say I am sure Zmarzlik would give a good account of himself. I have been watching him via Polish streams for years and that lad is top prospect. I don't understand why the Russians have so much trouble with visa's I got a Russian visa dead easy when I was there in August. Am no expert on visa's but I travel all over the world and when I want one I get them with no trouble. Just gotten a Cambodia and Vietnam visa for December. And yes I understand that sportsmen may have different visa problems to me but they travel the world all the time so don't understand why Russian speedway riders can't get around but Russian weightlifters can And yes some riders say they don't want to do GP just yet which is a shame. My point still stands as this is a poor GP line up considering that it is supposed to pit the best in the world against each other.

I don't have to justify myself to you but as you are obviously an idiot I will attempt to. I don't go as I no longer have a team and travelling to watch another is too expensive and not good value for money as I prefer to travel the world and watch rock gigs. I have spent a lot on the sport and have travelled to over 50 tracks watching my own team and even matches with just a rider I liked. Too expensive to do that nowadays and I would rather visit all 50 US states (20 to go) than spend any more money on the sport. I prefer armchair speedway nowadays it is true but I am as just as much a speedway fan as you. The state of the sport concerns me as I would love it to be what it was 40 years ago. A new stadium is fine and I do wish BV well but the sports problems are many and this won't solve those problems. I thought as a speedway fan I had as much right to put my opinions as any but now find it is the elite that have a track who are allowed a voice and not us that no longer have a track. Sad that as I have spent a lot on this sport and been a fan since I was a kid. No chance of that really SCB as I don't believe the sport can compete with SE Asia or America of Iron Maiden or Ghost. Got too many places to visit next year and too many bands to see Sad though that people like TWK have fallen out of love with the sport. I had a lot of good times at his old track in the days of Mad Jack and Russ Dent. The sport is going headlong for oblivion as far as I can see and a National Stadium may well not be the answer many think it will be. I hope the sport survives but since when I started watching the sport has lost over 30 teams. That is not a healthy sport Those in charge seem to spend too much time p#ssing off those who go let alone attracting back those who don't. There are some really good ideas running around this forum yet they think of us as the enemy. So I will continue to enjoy foreign matches and GPs on the computer. I do wish the sport well here but fear for it as it seems as if it actually wants to go the way of the Dodo. This PO farce simply one of many this year alone. sad really

Yeah pretty sure. I can name 3 Russians better than all the qualifiers and most of the picks also a Slovakian who should have been in plus several Polish reserve riders who are better then Harris and the 2 Aussies. Can't quibble with Harris and Doyle as they earned their place but the picks were very second IX other than NKI.

Line up hardly great but sadly it is probably the best we can get with who is available. With what's on offer Bomber may well surprise everyone and finish 2nd last

I hope you fill the place every week mate and are able to use the venue for concerts and anything else that comes to mind. No speedway fan want's this to fail and even though I don't go anymore I am a speedway fan. It seems like people can't discuss this if they bring up all the inconvenient points that speedway is a sport that is dying and not prospering. Sorry to dent your rosy outlook but have seen many venues fold in my time and many struggle. I hope BV have a great team and a stadium full of fans but the reality is likely to be different. It's a lot of risk and a lot of debt for BV. I wish them well.