wtf

Wow, I can feel the sense of entitlement from here

For me this team lives and dies along with Chris and Richie on the "improvers" in the engine room, Riss, Batchelor, and Heeps. The top two Doyle and King, you know what you're going to get, Starke and Rowe, as long as Rowe has spent winter getting his knee sorted should be decent enough, If Anders tries to ride injured like last year it'll go downhill fast. The "three" are the make or break. Riss had a bad year, has in the past been a classy rider and has won things eg PLRC Long track etc. Batchelor had a bad year but in the past has been a classy rider, won things, GP Rider etc. For me Heeps is the worry. Signed on sentiment? or caddying abilities? His premiership average is higher than his championship average so even at the end of last year in the championship he was struggling. If it's all down to his shoulder I hope it's fixed. You would like to think that he's got improvement, but it's a hell of a gamble after releasing him last year yet since then he's done nothing to warrant a return. I think it was a massive call The one good thing you can guarantee is if anyone is underperforming Doyle won't be shy in telling them.

Maybe? Sheffield were convinced they were getting Pickering, then when they didn’t they made a swoop for cook who was planning on going elsewhere? There’s been much movement the last week and the kingpin could have been Pickering?

Possibly?, but it's definitely the team some fans think they're entitled to

How do you know they didn't? But he just didn't want to ride there?

I think they have very different ideas when it comes to wages

And of course gentlemens agreements go both ways. Both sides have been known to move goalposts, not just riders.

Spent all the money on Fricke

You could have said the same about most of Peterborough Title winning side last year. What averages were Andersen and Nichols on?

The only obligation to ride in Denmark is for their sponsors. Nicki historically has had big Danish sponsors, there is no obligation from the authorities.

Think you've got a bigger surprise than that heading your way. Another local

You'd get all 3 of them for less than Plymouth were paying Crump.

At the start of 2021 all of the current Panthers team looked like they could improve their average apart from maybe Pedersen. Would you say the same about any of them for 2022? Riders who'll improve has generally been the secret to winning championships. I can see the team being broken up a bit more than you think?

People will always find the money for the things they value the most. The clubs that value it will find a way, they then need to make it of value to their customers. £1500 per meeting If that is the cost is 150 people at £10 each. I guess as a promotion they have to look at it as can I get 150 (away fans probably) to sign up for the stream? Then build from there. Just the usual risk vs reward business decisions they have to make? I'd have thought it was a lower risk and a longer term gain than some of the kneejerk rider acquisitions some of them go for. When you think of what plymouth were spending on two heat leaders each meeting this year, it makes streaming seem cheap. I guess many will stick to doing the same thing year after year and miraculously expect a different result.

I think your assessment is pretty accurate, and I think it's as much a statement on society and how mindsets have changed. People today seem to only respond to instant gratification and instant stimulation. Long gone are the days of supporters who would be there through thick and thin. It's to do with the gimmick mentality, the new era, call it what you like, there are so many things competing for our attention these days. You only have to look at a speedway crowd and they are watching a race, then looking at there phones, then watching a race etc. There's so much competition for our attention and our ££ and unfortunately speedway and it's promoters don't have the skillset or desire to keep up. They chuck in the playoff hoping to attract new supporters forgetting what impact it will have on their hard core fans, much as you stated above. Now don't get me wrong, you can't keep all the people happy all the time. But to demonstrate the business acumen of our beloved speedway promoters, consider this: We've had a pandemic for over 18 months changing the way we live, travel and socialise etc. During the height of the pandemic, some tried a streaming service a couple of times, then gave up. How do you get an ever aging fan base to watch and pay for speedway, how do you get away fans to watch speedway and not have to travel. The sport has been begging for clubs to add to their revenue by offering a streaming service, a centralised service, a season ticket holders service, just to allow say 500 fans from 300 miles away to watch their club and vice versa. So in 18 months 12 of which were sat on their backsides, both Scottish clubs have demonstrated their business acumen, Redcar have stepped up and are doing the same. If I've missed any others out, I apologise, but they obviously haven't advertised/promoted it well enough for me to notice (Poole once or twice maybe?). And that's it. My hat goes off to the promotions of Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Redcar. The rest? You deserve all you get Here was the chance to centralise a scheme, offering season long passes for different leagues. How do I add a few hundred away supporters from Poole or Kent to my revenue in Glasgow or Edinburgh ? Exactly! what about the reverse arrangement? People have changed, their attention spans have changed, the only constant is the leadership of the BSPL.

I think the general reason for the playoffs isn't that the champions gates suffer towards the end of a dominant season, it's more that no one else has anything to race for. Wasn't it the 2011 Glasgow dominant season where they won the league early that started to trigger play offs? not sure. But it's intention is so that another 3 or 5 clubs have something to race for towards the end of a season. Whether you agree with it or not, I think that was the rational behind it

Steve, you are correct, but those independent organisations have been in place for a long time, and were set up when people had integrity, could see the bigger picture and didn't see change and advancement as a threat. This lot have none of those qualities.

I think it's pretty easy to see why he and the other promotors wouldn't be in favour of an independent body. You are asking a bunch of business owners to vote for a system whereby they have less control over their own businesses as they do now. However much an independent body is needed, it's not going to happen in the uk until they are sufficiently enticed. Most of the problem is there is a long conveyer belt of less than desirable characters waiting in the wings, to carry on where others have left off. Get rid of Buster, get Godfrey, get rid of Godfrey, who's going to take over? All of a sudden Alek Harkess looks like an angel.

Yet essentially many of the same people sit on the SCB and the BSPL, so it's unlikely.

Leopards and spots springs to mind

Not the first time either, you've only got to look at his involvement in "Holdergate" at Peterborough. "Drunk on Power" is the immediate phrase that springs to mind

No flights available, had to fly out Friday I suspect

You should know Reece

Did he say he was ill? or was he told to be ill? You decide

In my experience you can't cover for every eventuality. Additional medical cover if available and affordable is preferable Sure. But you have to draw the line somewhere between what's affordable and reasonable, and commercially viable. It's a reality of motorsport not just speedway, that occasionally events happen that cannot be reasonably anticipated without assuming everything will go wrong all the time and we can cater for every eventuality but btw the entry fee is now £67. People who are going to be enraged by the delay, and feel victimised by it are the same people who will feel the same when they run out of programmes, or delay a meeting for 30 minutes so riders can see where they are going, or that the food is 50p too expensive, or something. the professionally offended will always find reason to moan. I'd like to say maybe they shouldn't go, but most of them don't, they just come on here to moan. Speedway fans are customers, speedway is a product, it's up to each person to make a call on whether they want to buy the product for the price it's available or not. Edinburgh generally do things more professionally than most, last night circumstances caught them out. It happens