Grand Central

Certainly no flak from me. "Speedway is a £10 Sport" It's not a particular flattering tag line for us all, but it is just spot on.

I imagine that in the UK we would have a few qualification meetings. Two semi finals at Premier League tracks, a Briish Final at a track in the Midlands (say Monmore Green), a few more international rounds at say Poole and (even) Berwick. World finals would be held on some sort of rota at tracks such as Prague, Vojens, Lonigo and Malilla; but with it weighted more towards Poland at, say, Gorzow, Torun and even (at a push) Bydgoszcz. And in Britain some enterprising chap would probably be trying to get Odsal Stadium up and running with the possibility of holding a World Final there. Life, for so many, would be so very, very different without BSI. Yes I know I have left out Cardiff, Parken, Stockholm and all the rest. But that would have spoiled the fun of being facetious.

I think you are both right and so, so wrong all at the same time. I thought that 1995-1996 was a brilliant time for watching Speedway, for all the reasons you say. And more. But truthfully it did not work at all. Trying to amalgamate so many different 'wants' of promotions, riders etc etc under the one umbrella was completely impossible. And I bet it will prove to be again. Even with some Sky dosh (hopefully) to paper over the cracks. I am genuinely sorry to say.

I don't think anyone has said that they didn't. But hay-ho, I'll stop concerning myself with all those lost potential sales, too. I feel better already. .

I'm just surprised by some people's attitude to what does or doesn't constitute 'quality'. Raise production qualities high enough that you can self justify an extortionate cover price of £10. Even though this is thought too high, even by people who are in the publishing game themselves. And even though it just results in whole hosts of people not buying it. What is the point in producing a top quality product that is not bought and not seen? It must look terribly impressive as the remaindered stock is dropped into the pulping silo. Vanity, eh?

Yes, I find Sky's priorities quite mind boggling. They can happily spend sums of £40,000 or more to produce the Live match; most of which is no doubt essential to get the pictures on our screens, but which is difficult for us to directly appreciate. And then they foul up on the tuppeny-ha'penny expense of the numpties they put on screen. That is, the bit we do actually see. It could not cost much more to get a decent pit interviewer, could it? And surely Rossitter is only paid his petrol and in (copious) chip butties, by the look of him.

Goodness. I was using the universally acclaimed 128page annual issue of Speedway Star as an example of 'quality'. How unusual for the Managing Editor to characterise any similar publication in such excorating terms. .

BBC1 9pm. Tonight. The Apprentice. You're Fired!

'double the number at £5' ... where did that come from? I can see that you are not in business yourself! Why the BSI obsession with top quality paper and perfect binding? The easiest way to keep costs down and the cover price down but increase sales and profit would be to forego this unnecessary luxury. You manage to get 128 pages held together by staples and still charge just £2.80, don't you? It would have the added advantage that you could open the damn thing properly as well!

I'm certainly not arguing with the thought that Sky may not bother next season. But The GP contract was all about Saturday nights. Sky have plenty of Live Sport already bought and paid for to cover their needs at the weekend. With a year left to run on the Elite League contract that is being used to fill their need for Live Sport through the summer on Monday and Tuesdays. Whilst the EL fits their needs they will make use of it. Whether or not they want it next year we have yet to find out.

The accuracy of that last point means that any notion of such an operation is utterly impossible to imagine. Once the Sky Gravy Train grinds to halt there will be no money available to finance any production company who could offer their footage to rival broadcasters. No one has had the foresight to keep a contigency fund available to try and ensure a TV future after Sky, have they? And who would be prepared to underwrite the operation with their own money? As rights holders I suppose the whole matter will be in the hands of GoSpeed, won't it? And apart from the original contract with Sky they have achieved so little. They haven't even been able to package the Polish Extraleague so that it is saleable; which is a pitiful performance, considering the quality of the raw material.

I take it that you say this in jest. Can you just imagine the Dog's breakfast that would be produced by El Tel and BSPA Productions Ltd!

In my immediate vicinity at the Stadium ... There were three people filling in homemade print outs, two Speedway Stars and two Programmes. The bizarre pricing at £10 seems to have gone beyond the tipping point where the high price is limiting the possible sales to such degree that BSI are now losing out on potential revenue. Not a sign of a well run business.

I do find discussions on this matter fascinating. The justifications for people to carry out this sort of activity become as convoluted as they are disingenuous. The 'copyright-monitors' on the other hand seem so easily goaded into pointing out the perpetrators lack of morality with their amusing comparisons of thieving. In reality the Internet age has created huge areas of moral ambiguity for many people who always thought themselves to be 'law abiding citizens'. It will, for many years, be discussed in many courts in cases involving subjects far more important and challenging than Speedway TV rights..

Have they got the shale safely arranged in the pyramid shape?

You are absolutely right in what you say in the last couple of posts you have made. I am always very suspicious of people who can instantly give you a list of the things that could be changed that would 'Oh, so easily' change Speedway's fortunes. Or the people who just shout 'promoters should promote'. There are no easy explanations at all and certainly no easy fixes. You have highlighted two very important paradoxes. You enjoyed the Stock Cars ... but haven't gone back. The regulars moaned but they return just as often. Your Sister hated the bad toilets ... but if every track had a conveniences on a par with The Savoy Hotel, I bet she still would not become a superfan. No matter how convinced some of us seem to be about their 'solution' I don't think anything will change much. Some of us love it. Other people will remain oblivious to Speedway's charms.

No, surely it is the other way around. They are not starting the Speedway UNTIL the Tennis is over. Eurosport are headline-sponsors of the Pairs, after all

You are not alone. It just makes me think how futile it may be to think that the devotees of these other disciplines may catch sight of Speedway and get hooked. I've sat through this crap for 40 minutes and I feel suicidal.

Throughout my entire 40 plus year span of following the sport I have always found that 'outsiders' have needed an awful lot of educating on what Speedway is. Half that time I spent in the north and the last half in and around London.And it has always been so. New Schools, University, each new Job, each new group of friends. Very few have had the first idea of Speedway. In the past a few people would register the level of their knowledge by throwing the name 'Ivan Mawger' at you. That was back when Speedway was on mainstream TV. But Ivan's name was still the only name that such people could quote way into the nineties, long after he had retired to the Gold Coast. Sky's involvement has not moved knowledge of Speedway to the wider audience at all, just to some people who had the channels. And that is not a large proportion of the population. Then bang up to date. On Saturday lunchtime we were sat in Browns in the centre of Cardiff with the 'Speedway Buzz' in full cry. In the same bar were a group of 7 Welsh men aged from fifty to seventy enjoying a pint. My partner thought they really were Speedway fans, so demographically correct they looked. A latecomer friend arrived to join them and asked the general question 'what's going on with all these people in town?' Just two members of the entire group could reply 'Speedway' and one of those thought that it was cars not bikes. The 13th annual GP in the town and these outsiders remain totally unaware.

I note that it was you that admonished another poster for jumping to conclusions from a small sample size of responses. I really don't think that your 'general consensus' has been achieved here, at all.

Yes back in the winter a whole group of us were having discussions on how Tai would fare in 2013. Not one single contributor expressed the opinion that he would be in second place in the Championship at this stage. Almost all of us, who didn't think he would have scored well at all, have eagerly taken the opportunity of congratulating Tai on the tremendous perfomances he has given. I just chuckle at those people who, despite making over 11,000 posts on the forum, were so disinterested in the whole subject that they failed to even notice the discussion taking place. But now, when Tai has done so brilliantly, have decided to join in. Nice One! .

Oh I'm realistic. I don't expect better. It's still a shame that we are worn down to expect such treatment. And pay through the nose. And just go away quietly.

I feel I must reiterate how much I liked my Cardiff experience .... Before going on to agree with each bit of criticism. I've sat just about everywhere around the Stadium now and the sound quality has always been pretty terrible. Friends are going to see Bon Jovi there next week so I just hope they do a fair bit better on that score for them. One other nark - again the Stadium, not BSI - was the £4 for a small luke-warm bottle of Fosters. And nothing 'For The Ladies' without queuing at the one bar that sold a iffy white wine. Again this did not spoil things ... But you would think it could be better organised after all this time.

I'm sure you're quite right. No doubt Torben's Bible will have a page bookmarked 'What to do when when the track is a soft as blancmange'. After all Post #1 of this thread proclaims 'BSI/IMG meticulously ensure that nothing is left to chance'.

That was pretty much exactly my experience. Just a couple of words on the Presentation last Saturday. I thought the pre meeting parade worked OK. It was different and created a bit of theatre. It just went a little flat when the riders just had to scuttle off back to the pits when it was over. It meant that the crowd never got their usual opportunity to blast out their voices and horns in that parade cacophony as the whole field of riders toured the track. Mind you the 'first race is always ready to start at 12 minutes past the hour' had been well broken by that stage. I was just a bit surprised as I had seen about 20 of those Trike Chopper machines arrive in the morning but only three got used for the lap of honour at the end; so plans must have changed. I thought the music was lacking this year through the night and instead we had two brain-dead 'presenters' who may be all the rage on cBeebies, for all I know, but they left me ice-cold. I really don't understand why at the showpiece event, which has just about every person in UK Speedway on site, yet we have I have interviews WITH people that know nothing about Speedway BY people who know even less. The only Speedway person interviewed was The Official Most Boring Person, Tony Briggs! We ended up missing the Semi Final Draw and then having two abortive and pitiful attempts at Mexican waves immediately before the Semi and Final. When BSI have their endless series of meetings 'when nothing is left to chance' perhaps they should be a little more self-critical than usual. The truth is some of us really enjoyed our weekend DESPITE them not BECAUSE of them. .