RobMcCaffery

Certainly not with any I operated - always aimed to get the info out fast, headlines to get the main points out then a longer, in-depth call for those who wanted to stick around for more. . To me it was all about informing the customers. Better to have plenty of repeat short calls than one long call and a customer feeling ripped-off. Needless to say I wasn't that popular with those in charge but what's new there?

I mourn almost all of the lost tracks, especially Hackney, but at the heart of it all one loss for me dwarfs all others. Rayleigh - my first and only true love. Found her and lost her in just three short years.It really wasn't long enough.

Vwod-zee-meerz sven-drovski? Sorry, ....... old habits die hard....

I have such fond memories of watching Joe racing at Czestochowa on Polsat in the nineties. It was like watching PC or Chris Morton on the old Belle Vue. It did make me wonder what a combination of Hyde Road and Joe in his prime would haver been like . Wonderful, I suspect.

I'd say the reference is to the Cearns family who were involved not only with Wimbledon Speedway but also West Ham United, and I presume from the above West Ham Speedway as well. I remember there being a Cearns family factory or warehouse in Carpenters Road on the way from Stratford to Hackney Speedway - don't know if that was also connected.

There's a heck of a lot of difference between correcting appalling mistakes and re-creating the past. Anyway, it's clear that I'm wasting my time here - the sport's doing fine and can carry on blithely as it is.with no need for change, just a bit of tinkering round the edges. Ignore anyone who recommends a tougher course, after all the world's moved on and nobody can achieve anything. The sport's trying to live on gates that would have closed any track in the not too recent past. At what point does anyone accept there's a problem - when the gates hit single figures? I listed ideals earlier that I still believe in. Obviously I'm very much in the minority so it's pointless to try to help. "Mr.Speedway, I have news, you're seriously ill and need to change your lifetstyle" "No, why should I? The world's moved on and I can't do anything about it. I was healthy once, no need to re-create that, it's in the past"

As opposed to the 'ignore the past, just stumble on and hope for the best' "brigade" (a perjorative term typically rolled out to insult those who have differing views) who have brought the sport to its current level of outstanding success and of course see both sides of the story but just conveniently ignore one. I've already stated my position - learn from the past but don't live in it. What I find staggering that those in control of the sport cannot see the appalling mess that they've dragged it into and myopically dismiss anyone who CAN see it as 'living in the past." Right now I see the sport as like a very ill individual who needs to change their lifestyle but refuses to on the basis that health was 'in the past' and nothing can be done to cure themselves - they have to plough on doing the wrong things and hope for the best. Who can argue that the ideals I listed earlier aren't desirable? Well then, why can't we even begin to find a way to find a way back?

Sometimes you need to do the small things well in order to make the big things happen. Well done Tai and good luck on forcing the publicity door open wide next year.

Those who decry learning from the past - where has 'only look forward' thinking got us? It's hardly a healthy situation now. The trick is to learn from the past, try to re-create what was successful but not to live in it. Here's a few things from the past that I miss and would love to see a modern version of: Larger crowds More tracks Promotions making money Better (no, not perfect, it never was) racing - with riders going for the outside sweep having a fair chance Weekly speedway Close-fought test matches Appreciation of speedway for the racing and entertainment rather than just the winning Affordable speedway. Yes, the past is irrelevant isn't it. How can we possibly learn from times when the sport was successful?

In over forty years of watching Speedway no rider has ever entertained me more with his remarkable ability on the bike than Peter Collins. A gentleman on and off track, a superb ambassador for the sport, recipient of the prestigious Segrave Trophy, honoured by the Queen and a thoroughly-deserved World Champion cruelly denied a realistic chance of defending his title by the crassness of a badly-placed drain cover at the old Belle Vue that shattered his leg. The man gave me more pleasure and excitement than almost any other sportsman I have been lucky enough to watch. He is simply the most entertaining Speedway racer I have ever seen and if I could I would personally pay for him to watch any meeting he desires. I'm sure I'm not alone. Stupid, stupid comments from someone who clearly knows a lot less about our sport than he thinks.

Far too many words for that bastion of the printed word 'The South London Press'.

Isn't doubling-up/down going a bit far when it extends to Poole loaning-out their village idiot?

Welcome home Panthers. Delighted you race on.

In my limited experience of speedway politics it's a case less of 'conspiracy', and more like 'cock-up'. Things happen sometimes not due to some sinister plan, but.....just happen.

I hear the Isle of Wight needs help....

I do hope they paid the royalties for the music. It's easy to put music in videos, not always so easy to pay for it.

Now THAT's marketing! Superb work.

Okay, it's big in Togliatti.....

There are several versions of Eurosport, Philip, with some having some distinctive deals. For example the Hungarian/Romanian service used to show the FA Premier League live. As for stations in Denmark, Poland and Sweden being unhappy with Eurosport showing SGP in opposition, well imagine what Sky would have said a couple of years ago if it had been suggested that Eurosport would show the SGP as well when THEY had paid for the UK and Ireland rights?

The greatest please I got from the Rugby League World Cup was from the matches between the minor nations, especially Scotland's two games at Derwent Park. They were well-matched sporting events, unlike those at the higher level. Now I wonder which sport that reminds me of?

By a fundamental change in mindset when dealing with the media and many years of very hard work. A good starting point would be when making a decision or public announcement considering what impact it would make on the wider world outside speedway and those many lost or future supporters. Of course we should try to exploit Tai's success but it is only a part of a much longer battle. The sport's reputation needs rebuilding in so many ways.

Of course both Rugby Union and Cricket are played at all levels of society, but that does not mask the fact that they are both cornerstones of public school sports, and as such are a firm part of Britain's social elite's culture. They are very much 'establishment' sports at heart despite involvement at other levels of society and as such have a huge advantage over others.. At my state school they had pretentions of being some kind of quasi public school and so competitive football was banned with only 'rugger', cricket and hockey allowed as team sports so I've really resisted all three sports since. They are important sports but along with football they are allowed to dominate the sporting 'conversation' far too much. As for Rugby League, it is an odd case but the BBC did rely on it as a convenient Saturday afternoon live sport and so, helped by the unintended comic novelty value of Eddie Waring's commentaries it was a major exception to my point but then I was trying to offer a suggestion as to the problems speedway faces, not absolute fact. If only the world were that simple. Anyway, perhaps I should have just posted. "Speedway's face doesn't fit." My previous employers long ago decided to ask the IBA if mud wrestling was acceptable as a sport. The answer was "As long as the audience doesn't join in'".

Again, whatever your views on whether sailing is a worthwhile sport Ben Ainslie has in successive years won Olympic gold and the Americas Cup and received much media attention in the past. I again suspect far more people would be familiar with the Americas Cup than the Speedway Grand Prix It's really a matter of breaking into what you might call a journalistic 'circle' of 'worthwhile' sports. Every cock-up speedway makes just makes that entry barrier higher. I read the autobiography of a particular sports commentator who questioned on his first paper in the 50s why public school 'soccer' and athletics were given such priority. The answer was that it was the way of the world. What in fact was going on that people from a certain social level were reporting on what they and the elitist colleagues were interested in, not what the general public might want. You see this in the disproportionate coverage given to sports like rugby and cricket. Essentially if your sport isn't played at the public schools or in the Olympics you struggle unless you're a huge corporate juggernaut like F1 or are dirt cheap to cover like darts and snooker. The battle for hearts and minds of those with the true power in sport and sports journalism has a hell of a long eway to go.

Whatever your view on what constitutes a sport those included in the BBC list all have prominent media, especially TV exposure on the major networks. Sports such as sailing and the paralympics do benefit from rather significant TV coverage, even if only every four years in the main. Tell the average person that Tai is a speedway racer and most would ask which car he drives, I suspect. Speedway simply has a low profile, even amongst other minority sports and that's where the real problem lies.

Oh no, I'm not implying that the EL would or should follow either formula, but since the new scheme compares itself with those two countries I thought I'd show how they arranged matters abroad. If the reserves are up to the standard of the top five the system works well, but otherwise it's harsh, especially in Poland for many youngsters getting two rides and thoroughly beaten in the process. Shovlar's endorsement clearly shows he believes Poole will have the best two juniors.....