pointsmeanplayoffs

After Lakeside on Friday, it made a nice change to see a track with some material on it and it certainly made for a much more entertaining meeting (also helped by the lack of idiots shouting abuse at opposing riders which never helps). Some really good racing, particularly pre-interval. Did look a little heavy on turn 3 though which was catching a lot of people out when they went in deep. Anyone who didn't enjoy watching King, Lambert and Ostergaard pin it around turns 1 and 2 doesn't like speedway, it was glorious. A good night's entertainment from a neutral perspective, I didn't care that the home team had massive home track advantage as the racing was good.

Great debate although there are some pretty sensationalist statements. I guess it depends on peoples interpretation of what makes a 'good track'. Buster was asked at a team presentation evening a few years back about the track. It was suggested that Lynn don't dominate their home meetings as much as other teams do because we don't have much of a track advantage. Most teams are full of riders who are openly fans of the track and therefore over perform there compared to other 'away tracks'. It was even suggested by a fan that Buster should dig a few holes in it which only the Lynn riders know about to give us more of an unfair advantage! Buster to his credit dismissed this ludicrous idea and explained the great pride he takes in preparing a quality race track. Yes, he owns the place so has unlimited access, and yes he own loads of machinery so can do whatever preparation he likes but the fact remains the track at Norfolk Arena has won the best prepared track in the Elite League for a few seasons on the trot now and it still remains popular with riders like Chris Holder and Troy Batchelor. Good enough for me. No track is perfect all the time though, no one is saying that. At Lynn we feel that our track is better prepared than most. Sometimes this is to our disadvantage like in the play-offs semis last year when somehow Buster got the track ready so that the meeting could go on despite knowing that the conditions would level out any home advantage we might have against a mighty strong Poole team. And so it turned out, we took no real advantage to Wimbourne Road and just fell short of making the final. This season is still so early, the conditions for speedway are frankly still a little ludicrous with rain and freezing's conditions prevalent which cannot help track conditions. Some of the racing seen at Lynn this year has been a bit processional but to start rubbishing the track is pathetic. I'm not going to throw stones at other peoples tracks, my opinion is only my opinion after all. It might be worth considering that maybe the riders are still not fully up to speed and are making a few mistakes which isn't helping the racing. Hopefully this is coming across as a balanced and reasoned opinion from someone who visits all tracks in the EL each season.

Bet we see a different Lakeside to the one we saw last night! Would take a battling away point right now. 1pm start is better for travelling fans too, so bravo Lakeside. Bees v Leicester isn't until 7.30pm so surely we could use one of their EDR's? Buster loves Jason Garrity after his play off escapades standing in for Kerr and he did well at Lakeside last season I think so that might not be a bad shout? R/R for Nicklas seems sensible if he's carrying a groin injury.

Shhhhhhhhhhhh

Regarding the track, I'd rather listen to the opinions of riders as opposed to a load of keyboard warriors with agendas. They all seem to enjoy riding it which is good enough for me. Just happy that the meeting was on, which after the crazy weather we had yesterday was no mean feat. Racing was 'poor' last night as only one team turned up.

Is Porsing actually fit to ride tonight? The picture he put on instagram of his knee the other day didn't look promising. It was the size of a football. A lot of pressure is on our second strings this season, now our reserves aren't sooooo much better than their counterparts. It's going to be freezing later but f*** it I'm going to cheer on the boys.

How come it's OK for MotoX riders to wear them and not speedway riders? Is it because it's an FIM advisory and not a rule? Have the SCB made the actual rule? Let the riders know the risks, let them make their own choice. That's my view for what it's worth.

Legs have to be black?!? Pathetic rule. And as banning gopro's? Ridiculous. You get great footage from them. Surely the riders can choose whether or not they want to use them? As long as the choice is the riders then I cannot see the problem. And yes I know the risk of attaching a protruding camera to a crash helmet.

So despite the ruling of the FIM, the SCB are going to ignore the removal of Ward's points part as it's.....well.....a bit of a pain isn't it. Just as well the UCI didn't adopt this approach when stripping Lance Armstrong of his 7 Tour de France titles after he was found guilty of doping. Instead, they simply declared retrospectively that the there was no winner of the tours in those years. To me personally, whilst Poole's name is on the trophy (again) after winning the grand final last season, there was no real winner of the Elite League last year. Hopefully it will be much clearer and scandal free in 2015. And as a Stars fan can I just state that I wouldn't want to win the league by some kind of exclusion/ruling/default nonsense.

Pretty sure the Danish team was picked with one eye on the race off under the assumption that GB and USA would be in it from the first semi. Now that AUS are in the race-off, and with only the winner going through to the final from the race-off, I'm certain the Danes will be sweating on the win tonight - they will not want a race-off versus the Aussies. Still think Denmark will win the whole thing mind!

I'm in Pbo city centre and its been raining heavily since 4.45.

It did happen, I was standing on the entrance to turn 3 and his wheels were on the grass. Gino was covering the inside of the track, only way for Fish to pass was cross-country. Summed his determination up on the night, Fish was imperious, he did not want to get beat.

Went last night as a neutral, my first trip to the EOES for a while not since they dropped down to PL and moved around the race night. WHAT A MEETING! Probably one of the best I have seen this season. Two very even teams, and some excellent racing. Fisher and Manzares was superb. Crowd was definitely up on some of the EL attendances last season too. Perhaps the Panthers have found their level for sustainability? Riders on less money meaning the ticket prices come down which means more fans?!? The entertainment IMO was no different, I guess with a proper race track you will get entertainment. Well done Panthers, just wish we could have some A47 derby matches again.

I'm in Peterboghorror City Centre and its bright and breezy, no real grey clouds in the sky, looks like a good night for Speedway!

It's on the Sky Sports News Breaking News ticker! Great News!

Riders like footballers, can have different numbers for different teams without the world exploding - I think Suarez wears No. 9 for Uruguay as Edinson Cavani wears the No. 7 shirt : ) Fans can cope with such 'complications'. I love this discussion topic, it is making me smile.

And having things like merchandise available creates engagement for fans with the sport. I think it's a good way to 'hook' youngsters into the sport. Remember how many kids were wearing Woffy or Holder shirts at Cardiff last year? Quite a few.

But you could buy Monster from the Pit-Stop Cafe for just £2.50 a can when you got inside! Seriously, it's not surprising is it? If people took free cans in with them, then they'd take a massive hit on drink sales in the bar/cafe. I don't blame them, it happens at Cardiff too.

Seriously, It's not as if we're going to beat the Danes and even if we get to the race off, we'll not get past Poland/Australia. So why not go with the youngsters? Cook and Worrall are the future.