rabbit

Sure I read somewhere he was having a practice on Tuesday morning to see if he can ride. I reckon: Denmark Sweden Australia Good luck to Team GB though, would love to see them go out and prove everyone wrong about our chances.

And you were doing so well on the Havvy front earlier in the season Gem! Almost thought I'd got you converted, had the fan club address all ready to send you and everything!!

Poor old Middlo...whatever he does will be wrong. I wouldn't want his job for anything! I'm wasn't sure about the Floppy decision either but then I don't know what the Danish track we're due to ride is like either!!! Problem is, if we don't get a result, or any one of the 5 has a duff meeting everyone will be pointing fingers and making accusations saying why wasn't so and so in it. From what I've seen, Joe had a great meeting last night admittedly, but this is on the back of a not so hot season for him so far. As for Stoney, his gating last night was very poor against the other EL guys - that's nothing against the guy just an observation and one of the main differences I've always noticed between the two leagues and as Peter said fast starts on the Danish tracks will be crucial. So, in the absence of anyone else out there screaming to be included on the basis of a whole season's racing...and there isn't anyone with all the credentials, I'll give Middlo the benefit of the doubt and say he's right to pick Floppy!

Don't they have transfer deadlines in Sweden or Poland already? I guess they operate more of a squad system in those countries so maybe it works better with more riders available to track in a season. And isn't there a cut-off over here anyway towards the end of a season when you can't make changes, so perhaps this is already happening in a limited form. I quite liked the red/yellow card idea...although I've not seen many meetings when there are frequent attempts at dangerous riding for it to be used a lot. Perhaps this could be expanded for delaying the start and other rules where fines are currently handed out to riders. Maybe then it could be not so extreme as chucking a rider out of a meeting, but could operate as in football where when you've accumulated so many red/yellow cards you get a fine or match ban or something. Just a thought...

Read these comments from Sam today in Tricky's column in the Bournemouth Echo. Thought they were quite good so I'm posting them here to see what anyone thinks - I think he's got some good points. I quite like the card idea, but have a read anyhows.... Ermolenko replied: "Personally, I think the sport needs a major re-think this winter in terms of team structures. Too many riders are riding on the brink, knowing they could lose their team places. The fear of the boot creates all sorts of panic and certainly does nothing to improve safety in the sport. "I fully understand there must be competition. Without it we don't have a sport. But match by match pressure of not knowing if you are going to be dropped is a concern. The problem always seems to centre on the lesser lights in the team too. When inexperienced riders are pushing themselves beyond the limit for survival in a team dangerous things happen. "I believe team strengths, whether it be in England, Sweden or Poland must be set in stone at the start of the season. Why not follow football's lead in having a transfer cap between March until August? "The sport has to give more time for younger riders to develop without an axe hanging over them. "Let me make things clear I am not talking about any one rider or any side specifically. I am just making a general point. He added: "I also believe referees must be given more authority in terms of dishing out stronger discipline for dangerous riding. "The introduction of yellow and red cards in all speedway meetings would be a way of telling riders that they must behave on the track. "If not, they could be sent off and out of a meeting for dangerous riding. In my opinion, speedway is the greatest sport in the world: The noise, the smell, the danger of four riders vying for the slightest advantage into the first corner on bikes with no brakes and a set gearing. "It has kept the public on the edge of their searts for 75 years and if the sport can internally tidy things up, then I honestly believe speedway can emerge in 2004 in a far stronger position." Mods - wasn't sure whether this was relevant enough to make the Way Ahead section, so please move it if it fits the bill!

Seem to remember they tried to bring in pay restrictions in the early 90's. At the time Stewkesbury was promoter at Poole and stuck to it. Marvyn Cox was one rider who refused to sign up to the pay structure and we struggled through that season with no number 1 rider (think John Cook came in late in the season to help out). All the time other clubs were getting round it by paying their riders the bog standard rate but beefing it up to the usual amount though other means. Now how anyone could prove who was being paid what I don't know without the books being looked at by the BSPA, but it didn't last longer than one season...Has anyone else got a better memory of that season and what the deal was - I was a relatively new supporter back then and it didn't really register what was going on - only that we were cr@p that year! :roll:

At 344m that sounds more like the European tracks - have any of the riders from Europe ridden there? Shame the AMA can't sponsor a tour to Europe for a couple of weeks a year to bring some of the up and coming youngsters over for a taste of what speedway is like here - not only the tracks but the leagues and the set up etc. Give them some track time to see what they think with some guidance from some of the Americans already riding here. You have to feel some sympathy for the younsters like Yarrow and Carillo etc who get through to the U21 rounds over here only to end up on tracks so much bigger than they've ever ridden before and end up against lads who are used to the conditions. Hardly good for confidence or ambition if they want to be the next Hamill or Hancock.

Please don't take the lack of replies to mean people don't want to know or a lack of interest in the sport's future...if you have a look back at the forum archives you will see a whole stream of threads throughout the months in a similar vein (usually most prevalent during the close season) which I and a lot of other forum members have contributed to over time. I still read the threads like this one to see newer members points of view or a new slant on things, but having previously posted my thoughts and with nothing new to say don't feel it worth repeating myself. I'm sure there are other forum members who do the same. Wait til conference time and the threads and replies that generate around that - then you'll see the trivia left behind and some real fun start! 8)

Cool site Ryan..love all the bios and info on all the riders taking part. 8) Despite the apparent lack of enthusiasm from the AMA it looks like speedway is still alive and kicking in the States. Any new up and coming names we should keep an eye out for :?:

I can only echo what everyone else has said. For Lukas to come through that relatively unscathed is a miracle. I know he'll be greatly missed by the Poole fans while he's out but I for one am so relieved that it wasn't as bad as we first feared.

You can say that after the event BritPeter - but what if it had been Sullivan instead of Lukas in that horrific crash? I stand by my earlier view - with all those incidents tonight Sullivan was lucky not to have been involved in any of them...as someone said it's a fine line.....

Some good performances tonight...especially by Scotty to finally make the final he's been so unlucky to miss out on in the last 2 and to David Howe for getting stuck in. Also to Mark for doing so well and laying his bike down so quickly in that crash when it could so easily have re-injured him again. Like most people, the meeting was ruined by that horrific crash to Lukas and a text that followed it from my mate out in Slovenia who was sat right in front of where it happened. Until I heard the good news later on, the meeting had no significance whatsoever. Best wishes to Lukas and hope that all he is back on track again soon.

I think 100% stupid...I read yesterday on the GP site that his specialists have told him his back should be pinned and he needs a skin graft on his arm - he apparently is struggling to stand up straight! Does the fact that Cegielski is still in hospital trying to walk again after injuring his back on track not register with Sully? If he comes off again tonight what untold damage to his back will he do? He might feel safe in his abilities but how can he guarantee another rider isn't going to hit him? And what about the other 23 competitors - would you feel happy going into a race with a bloke who has a back injury? There is a fine line between bravery and stupidity and if the report on the GP site is accurate then this ranks up there as one of the most reckless and selfish decisions I've encountered in this sport and he's obviously lost the ability for rational thought. Your back is such a delicate piece of your body to take this risk is idiotic. I only hope the FIM step in and stop him competing on medical grounds. :?

Bryce, then just make sure you avoid the forum tomorrow night...you'd have more chance of finding dirt on the Poole track than not finding out the result...

We didn't have the strength in depth even with Mark riding, for him to be considering this is bad bad news for the GB team with a question mark over Lee as well. If I was Middlo I'd say s0d it and just track Scotty and our youngsters and just go out for the experience like the Danes did a couple of years back. At least that way there's some benefit and measure for the future rather than tracking a middle order senior team, knowing we're likely to do diddly squat and having the humiliation of going out early! :?

Andrew Silver

You jest...the amount of waving my arms about I do during a meeting it has happened before...literally!! I'm really looking forward to this one. With an evenly matched field (OK Lukas and Barney do have a slight advantage! ) the potential is there for a cracking meeting with those GP places on offer. All we want is for the weather to behave and for a few forum memebers to make the journey to the sunny South Coast...

I would think so Strop..there's so many riders out injured they're soon going to be calling up retired riders to get a line-up. I think David Howe is the latest one to be told to get out there... :roll: Would like Scotty to actually make the A Final this time, but it's a fast track and unfortunately I think it'll suit Crumpy. Even Sullivan with his injuries must fancy his chances if he can get out of the gate and just wind the throttle on. I'll stick my little quid on Lukas again though - he's got to win one soon and this is as good as any!

No I get your point completely...my point was I don't see how Sky can be responsible for cable companies who don't pick up on certain of their channels. It's obviously a scheduling decision for the GP to be on Sky Sports Extra and it's something they've done one or two times in the past when the need has arisen so it's not a completely new problem. It does need sorting out, but the fault lies with the cable companies IMO. I used to get narked with cable when I wanted to watch Superbikes on one of their channels that never used to start transmitting until midday - every now and then there would be a morning race and the cable companies wouldn't show it beuase it was before the slot they'd paid for so I'm well aware of the inadequacies of the service given by cable. :?

I think the people you should be getting mad at here are the cable companies not Sky... Anyway have you looked at next Saturday's schedule when the Slovenian GP is on? Sky Sports 1 - Live Cricket until 7 Sky Sports 2 - Live Golf Sky Sports 3 - Live Superleague Rugby It doesn't take much to work out that speedway in terms of probable sponsorship and audience probably ain't up there enough to bump any of those down the list. It's not a vendetta by Sky to pee off the speedway fans. Besides its a legit channel for them - the fact that the cable companies don't have the deal to show it is down to the likes of NTL etc who are the people you should be sending your emails to.... We're getting pretty good service from Sky throughout the season - there's virtually 2 meetings a week on live and for the most part they're on the main Sky Sports Channels. If you don't like the service you're getting, do what we did and dump cable and move to Sky Digital (found it kicks cables butt anyway). :twisted:

First bit of Polish I've managed to translate! :twisted:

What happened to pride in appearing for your country... And I thought the Americans were top of the list when it came to patriotism! :? I'm really hoping that what I'm reading here doesn't happen. I know the Americans don't get much help from the AMA, but is the situation this bad? I mean these are some of the same guys who disappeared back home a few times at the end of last year to take part in their National Championships so what's different with the SWC?

Great pics Addy...already it seems a long time ago. :? Have a great time on your holibobs too! 8)

Cracking photo - if only!

Please no!!! Anything but that.....