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Give Barker a chance. Invite Craig Cook to watch the meeting. Could be a right giggle.

All irrelevant figures. Until we know what they earn we cannot possibly know if those costs are terrible or not. If a rider is on £600 a point then a £600 service is loose change. As for £1,500 for an engine overhaul, really? What are they doing to these engines? I dont claim to be some sort of mechanical wizard but I've now taken apart and played with a handful of A-series engines (out of a mini) and frankly there very little to it and having seen an exploded diagram of a speedway engine, there even less to one of them. So £1,500? The riders are being ripped off. How about they have a go themselves?

One of Glasgow or Sheffield had to be the first to announce that Andre was swapping teams though, so why not Glasgow?

The only positive is I've made £12 heat betting tonight, sadly I lost a lot more than that on the Lindgren/KK bet and the Brum -2 bet. Ah well! Bring back the World Cup, thats where the money is

Probably because they effect Glasgow and they announced it? http://www.glasgowtigers.co/?p=2537

And thats were a half decent PR person is worth their weight in gold. Speedway really lacks in this area (along with many others!)

For once the bookies have messed up and I gained. I backed Emil to score over 12 on Saturday. He only score 10 in the heats and 13 with the final and they have paid out as a winner. I didnt expect the final to count as it doesn't in a GP. Bit of a result. So I've just stuck all that "free" money on the Brummies at -2 at Eastbourne. Fancy a 10+ win myself. Even if Ive got it wrong my betting account will have as much in it as I expected it to when I just logged in! Also backed Freddie Lindgren -2 vs KK, only a small amount. KK is pretty naff at Wolves so 10 or 11 should see Freddie win that one.

But if promoters were more open, there would be less speculation and less need to hate us/the forum.

That would be Cook posting on twitter that everyone hates Barker then? And if a few nasty words is what has caused this, Cook needs to grow up! (as does Barker)

If ti was that bad we'd not see the likes od CVS and Machin hanging around for years. Yes some clubs stuggle but you only have to look at their crowds of 250 to work that out. Like you, I'm very dubious of a lot of the "we're broke" that we hear from some clubs.

They don't do it so we can be entertained. They do it because they get a buzz, they love the crwods and the hero worshiping (yet hate the slightest bit of critisim!) and they get paid well. But how well is "well"? Maybe they dont earn enough, none of us know, this is the point. When a rider or promoter is moaning they have no money we're expected to believe it but have no way of working out if thats even remotly possible

I was the plumber! And it wasn't steak that I burnt on my Saturday job, it was a Big Mac

Shouldn't take too long to work out what I earn. Senior Analyst Developer (or Technical Analyst) in central Bristol. 2 minutes on each of monster.co.uk, jobsite.co.uk and totaljobs.co.uk should give you a very good idea. Now where can I go to find out what a speedway rider earns? I don't wnat to know the specifics of a particular rider, just a general figure.

I assume you have never critisized anyone in your life without giving what they do a go? Starting with murderers and rapists? What about the plumber that left your radiator leaking? Or the chef that burnt your meal?

It's the anoraks, wulfsport jackets and the need to fill in programme at every meeting and getting upset if they don't hear the heat time to 2 decimal places that's been timed by a geriatric in the referees box with a stop watch.

A number of the things he did in his riding days, his hotheadedness, stoppiness. I wonder if Mike regrets any of what he did in his 20s. Easily Lance, for me what Mikes done is irrelevant, I'd say that about most people. Lance cheated a lot of people.

Probably told him his wheels look rubbish. It's true. Barker didnt cause his team to go with a blank in 2 races so has nothing to apologise for.

tbf I did say, "what I know of him". I'm also not saying I have an issue with his drug taking, if you read back I've defended him and what's he's done. I believe he should be free to do what he likes at home in his spare time. You're right, I know more than a few people who smoke weed and I don't consider any of them troubled or down at all. As for Lance, he was a hero of mine, he did something amazing but he's certainly tainted and what Mike Lee has done is not in th same league.

i never saw Mike Lee ride. What I know of him I don't like him. But I can be objective. He's a silly boy, drugs are bad but it's only himself hes harming.

He was arrested for cultivating drugs in 2007.

He was growing his own, then they arrested him for it.

Oops. It's divide by 0.6 to go from EL to PL average. Multiply by 0.6 to go from PL to EL average.

Maybe someone can scan them so we can condemn them.

Spot on! I wasn't there. But I am capable of reading that 1.Both were punished for the scuffle/winding up 2. Cook was kicked out of the meeting for the abuse of the referee and smashing up a heater. Cook may well have been totally incent (or justified) of what he was initially acused of (but I dont see anyone saying he didn't hit Barker) but that doesn't justify smashing up other people property. Barker is a naughty boy but so is Cook.

So because Barkers a bit of a twit (always found his approachable and friendly myself) the referee deserved a load of abuse and the heater deserved to be ripped off the wall?