wandersome

I didn't miss the the dirty great pile of shale no, but the track was riding perfectly OK irrespective of that. It looked and rode exactly the same as it does pretty much every single week we go. You are mythologising the benefit or not of dirt on the track. Remember the better meetings we have had, Ipswich for example, have happened when its been mega slick and we have bladed the shale off the track. This one was riding well, it was slick and it was holding plenty of moisture so to speak, all the ingredients of the better meetings we have seen at BP The racing wasn't decent. You are having me on. You honestly think it was?. Here is what you need to take in, it's something you appear unable to comprehend in telling me to change the record. Maybe worth reading it a couple of times. The most critical people haven't acknowledged it's got a lot better as the season went on, It may have improved but we started with a Trabant and ended with a Yugo. The people most critical of the track haven't acknowledged anything as nearly all of those are among the 1500 people who no longer bother and don't give a monkeys any more what the racing is like. You need to take you head out of the sand if don't grasp that. It's never more than the odd one or two people who continue to perservere because of the love of speedway but want better (that's where i am). I'll always be in a minority of opinion for just this reason but it doesn't mean i'm not right. The fact that i and others are still on forums and social networks like this saying it's crap every week shold be enough for you to realise it ain't good enough. The track was hopeless for the coventry meeting, it was hopeless for the Belle Vue meeting (excuse was because it was a challenge no one tried hard enough if i remember rightly), it appeared to have found it's level watching the wobblers wobble round, it was shocking for the freestyle show (riders weren't equal enough in standard was the excuse i remember given), Edinburgh had some passing (but only a series of riders overtaking a super fast starting but mega mega slow derek sneddon, that was the limit of it, not even Cook could get by Edberg when he was winning other races by the whole length of the straight). Berwick was rubbish, everyone wanting to kick off with Kozza providing 100% the entertainment rather than anything happening on the track. Rye House was dreadful, no passing whatsoever and we lost!. Scunthorpe and Sheffield were OK but not great. Pride of the Midlands was a total waste of time for the few people who turned up. We're back to the middle of July, do i need to go on. And that's the improved period! No one i know thinks it's anything but hopeless. Hurricanes, you're living in the bubble with weatherwatcher. And all this because some numpty can't accept he ever gets anything wrong and do someothing about it that would have cost him nothing but a bit of pride.

eh??? I'm with Gemini, I'm not sure if you're serious, i'm a benefit of the doubt type of guy so my guess is that you're not. At least that's my view from the bit's i can actually understand! I'll bite as well though, No one is denying the hard work that has gone into the stadium, hopefully everyone who has put that work and effort in has been rewarded in a way that's been agreeable to them!! Nice stadium notwithstanding, doesn't make up for the shocking quality of the racing us fans have to put up with week in week out. Sunday was dreadful., No meaningful passing whatsoever... again. What on earth were you watching?

That maybe the case Glyn but i guess if it is it's not looking good for Speedway as a whole if the whole package isn't entertaining anymore. Barrow Boy hits the nail on the head with the post that follows you though, even with passing happening the problem with BP is the strung out nature of races in general and the difficulty in getting by. An example would be Craig Cook winning 4 races by the length of the straight and breaking the track record 3 times and then needing 4 laps to get by a returning from injury Alex Edberg in his other. I'm not doubting it was a pass but the nature of it isn't acceptable. The other passes on the night almost exclusivesly involved a fast gating but woefully slow Derek Sneddon getting passed and i think you would have stood a chance of passing him that night on your tractor. Again, i'm not doubting the passing happened but it didn't require huge skill or tactics from the riders making the pass. This was one of the meetings held up as a sign of better entertainment but on reflection it wasn't anything different than we've witnessed over and over for the last three years. I know you have seen far more racing than me but to counter, i've seen some absolutely terrific meetings this year at Somerset, Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Coventry and the racing at BP hasn't even been close to that quality, save for half the Ipswich meeting and Nick Morris. I surely can't be just that jammy. I also saw the sheffield v leicester meeting and even though there was only 1 pass in ten races and it was poor the racing was still better poor racing than the poor racing we get at BP for the reasons Barrow Boy points out above. I've also seen plenty of good racing on Telly that would also point to the evidence that BP hasn't produced anywhere near the best racing this year. For the most part i would still say it's dreadful and the reason it's dreadful is the shape is not conducive to making the action even appear close. Being slightly more entertaining to things that aren't entertaining at all is nothing to get excited about, or making a deal of. Mick.

I was going on what someone had posted on facebook re attendance as i wasn't there. my bad for taking any notice of something written on fb. Next i'll be believing that BP has been producing speedway entertainment as good as anywhere in the UK (and all thanks to Nick Morris). Or something like that

interestingly, i actually couldn't be bothered to change the in-laws birthday meal to accomodate David Hemsley trying to save a few quid by starting at 5 rather than 6 so missed the meeting (i honestly can't believe i written that but there you go). Struggling to find the result i checked the Belle Vue website and they clearly didn't have the nerve to call the Belle Vue team the 'aces', according to the website we were riding against Belle Vue 'select'. Anyways, sounds like i didn't miss much as another shocking meeting for entertainment, honestly the GP entertainment i watched on the TV saturday night and what we get at BP are light years apart. More passing in one meeting than i've ever seen at BP in 3 years of meetings. Anyways, back to looking for the result. Struggled to find it (maybe because so few were there?) so had a look on the Leicester facebooks. Once more the general reading involves someone who is saying the entertainment is dire being shot down by so called fans telling them to do one. Got to say these people will see the end of Leicester (i'm talking about the people shooting down the people with adverse opinions). What a bunch of mugs and unfortunately for fans of the sport of Speedway in Leicester most of them are involved or are friends of those involved in the day to day running of the Lions. Speedway in Leicester, ran by monkeys for monkeys.

Interestingly enough Leicester have just announced a meeting for the following week as well Leicester v 'Grand Prix superstars' which sees the Lions take on a star studded team of riders that have all graced the very highest stage - Unfortunately injuries to both Emil Sayfutdinov and Tomas Gollob see their places taken by local hopefuls Chris Widman and Lee Geary and they will be using rider replacement for local superstar David Howe but hopefully this will not detract from the spectacle in any way. The team will line up as below and for extra excitement will be jointly managed by both David and Yulia Hemsley so fireworks are expected. Admittedly getting a such a star studded line-up together isn't cheap so their will be a slight increase in entrance fee for the meeting at £25. But the extra cost of the meeting will put to bed the complaints from season ticket holders that they haven't had their moneys worth this season. 1.Nikolai Klindt 2.Jason Bunyan 3.David Howe R/R 4.Matej Kus 5.Jesper B Monberg 6.Chris Widman 7.Lee Geary

Lets hope Craig Cook is ok after his crash yesterday in the play offs?. It could take speedway to new levels of farce if the only Belle Vue element to the Aces ends up as rider replacement? I don't think they could bring in a guest as i think they are already using all the ones available. At least the manager should be there!

you just knew this meeting was going to end up a cheap filler of a meeting the moment they moved the start time forward to save a few quid on electricity. I think you'll find the inter league element is Steve Worrall.

i would say Leicester is the perfect track for Kasprzak. Just the sort of track you can easily keep your position by just going through the motions and if you are at the back then effort or not you generally end up where you started so his lack of effort probably won't be noticed quite as much by Lions fans. Like others, i was actually putting a team together that i'd like to see at BP next year but then it occured to me that most would be in for their gating skills and if the track isn't changed then i won't give a monkeys anyways as i'll not be going enough to care.

yes i agree, I've heard lots of rumours about Kasprzak and Hemsley already, though i must point out i haven't heard any of those potentially libellous sounding rumours doing the rounds. Definately haven't heard any of those!

Riders on bargain average rarely end up being that. There is usually a good reason for the drop. Whether it's age, injuries, investment or the other important point you didn't mention, riders appearing to prioritise their best equipment, investment or efforts away from the club expecting the bargain (such as can happen when riders double up).. If the track is the same as this year then i'd second Nick Morris on the basis that he's provided probably 50% of the decent races i've witnessed this year at BP!

He met David hemsley I think...

I think Glyn generally did a good job. He's someone who is clearly passionate about his speedway and he's also refreshingly honest for someone involved in the sport. I still think that if Glyn had been allowed to change the track in the way we all expected to one that suited the riders he had bought in to the team then within a couple of meetings we'd have settled on a team of Roynon, Nemo, Bjerre, Doolan, Graversen, Blackbird & Kerr and with a clear injury free run we'd have been league champions and had a season of exciting speedway to boot. Even during the season with a bit more financial backing i think we might still have been able to compete at the top of the league if potential signings that were muted he was looking to make had borne fruition. Also, without Glyn it would be interesting to know if we would even have got as far as we did as i'm sure at times he he kept team morale together (as well as the team) despite the best efforts of the promotion to kill it. I agree, I do think he probably needs a right hand man with a bit of knowledge on the rules to make sure opportunities aren't missed during the meeting though, but i'd definately have him back. Mick.

I'm not sure why the day was such a let down. When first promoted it looked a grand plan. The website looked the part and it promised to deliver a great day out. It would appear to me that the costs put a halt to most of the grand scheme. I find it difficult to work out why as the income budget from ticket sales must have held up to what they could have expected. It was a good crowd. Maybe they were expecting more sponsorship input but i cant believe that they were only ever aiming to provide a 3 man 20 minute MX jump exhibition, 10 heats of speedway, music by a local karaoke style club singer, a bouncy castle and a kids magician. If they were, it was a confidence trick on the paying customer. You have to ask where the money all went? On the face of it that doesn't look like something that required costs that would struggle to be covered by 2000 people @ £18 - £20 a head. I honestly don't think you end up with a line-up like the Speedway line-up that was finally on offer unless you are not willing or able to pay for better. If the reason for such a damp squib was money, You have to ask what elements of what was actually on offer cost the lads putting it on so much of it as i'm failing to get it. However, I've spent quite a long time in music promotions and time and time again you would see amateur promoters wanting to put on their favourite bands and getting fleeced royally by every element of the professional side of that entertainment business. It was like taking money from kids. Not sure what that has to do with the freestyle show but there you go. If, however, the reason was that the lads were maximising their profits then lets hope it was all worth it. Was the day done as a joint effort in conjuntion with Leicester Speedway or did the lads just rent the stadium for the day? It's hard to tell. Mick.

you're not selling it to me

Hopefully not. With only those two meetings my £330 season ticket will have offered me (including the freestyle show that i missed due to not being able to find anywhere to legally park and a junior meeting for under 15s) returns of £290 worth of admissions. That is still £7 less than even the discounted season ticket price. i've missed both the meetings mentioned, one through choice and one not so. That is £265 worth of meetings i've seen. I have a horrible feeling that all us season ticket holders will be offered is a small discount on next seasons ticket. Hopefully not. I'm not willing to pay another full season of admissions in order to get a few quid back. Thanks to the track not getting altered and the racing being so useless on such a regular basis my wife lost interest around 5 meetings in. We actually renewed (along with the sponsorship) solely on the basis that we were promised track changes and were expecting Glyn to get it right. Even if he hadn't got them right i wouldn't have felt half as short changed as i do now having known they at least tried. I've talked her into going a couple of times since, usually after i've seen a decent meeting, but it's generally flattered to decieve and it's the usual fare she's ended watching again. Most of you know this already but if that is basically the end of the season then i have to say i feel i've been stitched up like a kipper. what a con of a season. From before the start to the finish. It's interesting that at the start of this thread my optimism was still undaunted as i contintued to give the promotion the benefit of the doubt in the hope that it was still a learning curve.. I now feel pretty embarrassed looking back at the beginning of the thread to have given it in such doses to the likes of Lionsden and JTW for not doing so themselves. I hate to admit getting it wrong, but i clearly did.

Freestyle Show Drift Individual Championship Qualifying Heats: Chris Widman 8 points, Shaun Tedman 7, Tom Woolley 7 and Lee Geary 2 Main Senior Event: Richie Worrall 12 points, Ben Barker 11, Danny King 10, Rory Schlein 8, Ashley Birks 4, Adam Ellis 5, Tom Perry 4, Andre Compton 2, Shaun Tedman 2, Chris Widman 1 and Tom Woolley (reserve) 1 Grand Final: Worrall, Schlein, King, Barker (fell) looking at that line up it's no wonder there was no overtaking. That looks a ridiculous spread of ability to try and run a meeting with.

Didn't make yesterday's meeting as by the time we found somewhere to park we were both too late and too far from the stadium to make it worth the effort. Looked a good crowd in the pictures on facebook though worryingly there were no pictures of the racing but there was 1 of Glyn blading the top off the track. My cousin was non too complimentary about the day but then she isn't a speedway fan. Didn't match the press by a long long way was how she described it and the speedway was slow. How was it for the speedway fans? anyone have any heat results. Was there any mention of extra meetings being added between now and the end of the season? Are we doing the sheffield & scunthorpe challenge matches that were mooted. Mick.

Not sure when i mentioned you in dispatches, as far as i am aware i replied to what was, frankly, a condescending post, that is all. But now you ask, didn't make it last night for various reasons. Some i am afraid very personal, but ultimately I run a business so my spare time at the weekend is generally spent on quality time with my young kids. As much as spending the day driving to and from Newcastle appeals to me i'm not sure that's the idea of fun they have in mind. If that makes me a good time speedway supporter in your eyes then i accept your put downs. my bad. I also generally watch my speedway meetings with friends who i've known for years. You probably wouldn't know them by name or person, admittedly. But that is what normal people generally do. I don't have canny crack's with Big John, Glyn or Small Barry from the ticket office for that matter, or anyone else you may know. Again, i bow down to your ability to mix with these 'personalities' at will, but hey, ho. BTW, I've also never felt the need to tell someone how they should be doing their job in a public forum without first exploring the option to do put it in a more personal level first, even the times i thought i might look clever doing it in a public way. I've certainly never felt the need to tell everyone that's what i'm about to do. We are all different though. Should we go PM? (that last bit's a joke) Mick.

at least he looks like he putting some effort in most of the time. If he's a rubbish rider then fair enough but at least when i see him he looks likes he trying to give it go. I'd have him over most. there is a beautiful Lions, Bees, Tigers punchline here but i can't quite nail it. It doesn't deserve the half hearted.

what a comeback in the latter heats though.. heat 8-13 and we've kept them level pegged. Still only 26 points behind! oh well. Pity as it looked like our new high scoring reserve partnership was going to take us to the title if we'd got there .. After all, the riders SN showed his rear wheel to last week (Thrice beating a hopelessly underpowered Derek Sneddon and even coming out even stevens in his match races with young Liam Carr) i was expecting big things again tonight. Actually for the benefit of those who don't get it, that's sarcastic, i wasn't. Interestingly, and admittedly i may have been alone in this thinking during the euphoria of the beating of Edinburgh, i thought the young brit Sergeant probably would have done a similar job to what Nielsen did (he would definately would have scored no worse tonight) and in my eyes he looks a better rider for the future. Oh and he's young and English, did I mention that?

you mean like the time you advised our track curator about where he was going wrong in his track curating. So how did it go when you offered to advise him by PM rather than embarrass him in front of all us know nothings on BSF? Maybe that's what you mean, are you offering to catch up with Glyn in the pits or the office? unfortunately i think it was an attempt at funny. funny smug. dream combination. Erm, lets hope the Lions don't do their usual away thing and fade towards the end of the meeting

you lost me on this. I think the mdl is the midland defense league but i'm struggling with some of the others.

Great result by the Lions. Well done to Glyn and the boys, great work even by the boys I'm not so sure about. You're all probably thankful that I'm leaving the opinion aside this week but, personally, the Lions win was a great tonic to what has been a very sad week for me so thanks again Glyn.

Accepted, i'm not a Rebels fan but i feel very sorry for Stefan. Any young rider who puts nearly 2 points on his starting average in his first season, in turn helping Somerset into the box seat for the league and cup i think deserved the chance to get to go for the honours.