Star Lady

I'm pretty sure the Press Complaints Commision contact details are fairly easy to find should Middlo seriously believe he has been misquoted.

Had he got his visa before the court case would it have been taken into account? I have little knowledge of rules re visa applications so please don't read anything into my question except to expand my knowledge.

Further to my earlier post, I like a few others can see that Middlo may have been misquoted. It also seems from the postings of Poole fans that the newspaper involved is notorious for reshaping quotes etc ( which I will have to take on trust ). These two factors still don't change my view that Middlo should go. If the paper is that notorious, Middlo, who lives in it's catchment area, should know and be very wary of any quote he gives. It brings into question his judgement again. If there is even a grain of truth in the quote it would seem Middlo is still trying to defend Ward's actions to a degree and condoning drug taking and driving under the influence. That's not even taking into account the slur on the majority of law abiding young people. If the quote is completely fictitious I expect to see a statement to that effect at the very least and a possible court case to follow. As I said before Middlo is a NATIONAL team manager and has a reputation to protect ( I mean his BTW, Ward's was lost quite some time ago). Maybe Matt Ford, whose quotes in the same unreliable newspaper have been spot on, should also get some help and advice for his team manager in how to deal not only with the riders in his team but how to deal with the media.

Deleted. Wrong thread

I couldn't beleive what I read ande had to read it again to be sure the comments were Middlo's. This is the NATIONAL team manager saying it's fine to break the law! He should be sacked immediately. A manager should guide, set an example and even protect his riders (especially those who are very young). Middleditch should be ashamed of himself. What a role model - NOT.

I had another "courtesy" call from Sky today trying to sell me their b raodband package. When I repeated that I would not even think about buying anything from Sky until they state they are showing Speedway GPs (and I was extremely polite), the woman put the phone down on me. Now that is not very courteous

I've just had a "courtesy call" from Sky. Actually it was no such thing they were trying to get me to have their broadband and line rental which to me is a sales call not a courtesy. I very politely but firmly told him that until Sky confirmed that they would show Speedway GPs as part of their sports package I was not prepared to even think about purchasing anything from Sky. Won't do any good but it made me feel better.

Likewise

9e I told them why when I cancelled the Sports package and like you the reply was "what?" I explained that speedway was 4 blokes with no brakes riding at speed round a boarded track and got "wow". I was then told " I have to put a reason for you cancelling so I'll put it as no longer wants to watch F1". Now I am a lapsed speedway fan but I went ballistic. I even told him how to spelll S P E E D W A Y. I followed that up by a long diatribe on their customer feedback survey. I know it will probably have no effect but at least I tried. Took me 9 minutes listening to a machine telling me how important I was.......I never knew I was royalty

Here's one more household towards the 1,500

For me the blame rests squarely with the TV producers and interviewers. They know if they stick a camera and mic in a rider/athletes face seconds after something hasn't gone their way in a large percentage of cases they will get a reaction. They don't want the nice sanitized one either, that doesn't make good TV. They want the rant, they want the adrenaline led anger and disappointment .... and to be fair so do the vast majority of viewers. If Nicki had said "no comment" or " it's unfortunate" etc this thread wouldn't be here. Yes I agree riders/athletes should be role models BUT we all know in the heat of battle (and to them it is a battle) the will to win, the focus, the adrenaline will lead to a forceful reaction. There will always be the rider/athlete who has learnt to control and channel their anger but even the now very professional Jason Crump has been known to swear and kick on occasion.So if you are outraged by such things the simple answer....don't watch or contact the TV companies and tell them not to stick their mics and cameras up competitors noses.

Things must have changed since I last attended then. I can think of no reason for a discount for w/c users in the Millenium Stadium. When we went we had a dedicated place and space for a carer, they also ensured the rest of our party was as close as possible (row in front). The stewards came out to the queues before the gates opened and escorted all of us to our places before the general public were admitted and after the meeting we were again escorted via the lifts to the exits. The stewards were helpful and friendly and several times asked if we were OK or needed any assistance. There was level access to toilets, bars and food outlets. So why should there be a discount? The W/c user in our party had exactly the same experience as everyone else in the stadium, in fact we had better treatment. EDIT I cannot recall if we paid for the carer at Cardiff as carers are often admitted free of charge at such events. Maybe A4 could let us know if carers are free at the MS

Weather in Lynn is dry and lots of cloud making it slightly muggy and there's a slight breeze. Hope everyone enjoys it. Altho I would love GB to do it for Rico, I can't see it especially with two far from match fit riders in the team.

I'm 2 miles from track and today has been dry since mid morning. However I wouldn't think todays weather has any bearing on the meeting at all. Buster is well known for his ability to completely re-lay a track in a couple of hours or so. Forecast for tomorrow is not too bad and if no one else does I'll try to update on weather in morning.

Respect to the two Polish commentators at least they were gentlemen. The Daily Mail website today covers the story with a picture of the crash in their headlines so it cannot be avoided and in the story they also show medics treating Rico on the track. For a paper that in my memory has never mentioned speedway their actions are disgusting. I did try to post a comment condemning them but surprisingly it has not been published.

I'm amazed there has been little coment about the clown of a start marshall. His insistence in standing between gates 2 and 3 IMHO put some riders at a disadvantage. He often did not have enough room to walk behind the riders without turning sideways and once touched one of the riders but he got even worse and walked between the rider on gate 3 and the tapes and then between gates 3 and 4. Surely this must have upset the concentration of the rider on gate 3, interupting his line of vision to the magnets for instance. I'd suggest the rider on gate 4 might have been slightly bemused to have a person suddenly walking beside him at the gate. In forty plus years of watching the sport I've never seen this done before. I'd be interested to know if anyone else feels the same, especially any rider/former riders. Does such unusual behaviour affect the concentration? Surely not a good thing at this level of competition. As for the tapes incident. The referee probably didn't see it from his position but in a meeting of this kind when replays of the start are available immediately after the race, maybe no result should be declared until the start has been reviewed by the ref from a head on angle, therefore allowing the racfe to be declared void and rerun.(isn't hindsight a wonderful thing ).

No Problem I was born in England but have Welsh blood (and a smattering of French but I try to ignore that) As such I support the Welsh rugby team, the English cricket team and the Aussies when it comes to Speedway. I support nothing French I still fail to see why fans of GB cannot wear a Cross of St George, a tartan kilt or a blook leek if they want to do so. There is no emblem of Gt Britain AFAIK

The I fail to see your point Great Britain comprises England, Wales and Scotland (not sure about N Ireland) so why can't fans uses the national dress of any of the compnent nations. Pedantic in the extreme IMHO

But would you be making the same sort of remarks if they had been wearing Kilts?

Where's the like button!!! Strange that Pearson was spouting about the BSPA having to look at the situation in the winter. At least a season too late Mr Pearson, they should have listened to Rob a couple of years back. EDITED for spelling

don't know the title but it's 45 rpm

Poor performance from Middlo IMHO. I know he has to work with what he's got but .... Appalling joker decision Why pull Barker out he had scored points in both his rides, Woffinden hadn't. With Nicholls not going to ride in Poland Barker needed the experience. After the first 3 races Poland were always gonna win. Middlo said Woffy needed to calm down....surely it's his job as manager to calm him down he should have enough experience with Darcy in his team oh but hang on didn't he say at peterboro he was pulling Darcy out because he was too hyped up....he puts Woffy in extra races - double standards ? It was known before the match that Nicholls would not ride in the race off or final (no probs with that family comes first) so why then when it was also know that the Russians would only have 4 riders or 5 not so good ones was Bridger not brought in. If you know you are gonna use him in Poland give the guy some experience Where were the rest of the GB squad?

Purely as a matter of interest cos I don't think it will happen. Should Russia qualify for the race-off would they be allowed to field 5 riders? Would the FIM intervene?

So how do you suggest the Russian federation are disciplined then? As I understand it they received monies from the FIM but have not passed them on and expect anyone but themselves to pay expenses. I'd tell my employers where to stick it in those circumstances and see no reason to berate Sayfudinov for effectively doing the same thing.

I'd have to argue that they spent far too much time telling us how bloody wonderful the covers were? It got so bad I'm begining to wonder if either or both have shares in a tarpaulin company!