RobMcCaffery

That may be the case at Swindon but ask the fans of Berwick, Rye House, Stoke, Workington and next year it seems Leicester. The trick seems to be to run meetings that don't involve GP riders. Of course Saturday night speedway is viable - if you remove the parasitical GP system. Rob McCaffery.

Too right! I normally just ignore them as an irrelevance but this bunch had personality and were out to entertain. Apart from that it was a dire meeting and sadly not the first one this year. We keep getting told that shrinking the BEL fixture list will work because "less can be more". Isn't it time to take a similar view about the GP circus given the consistently appalling quality of racing at several circuits clearly chosen solely on political grounds? Still it gives the FIM 'dignitaries' plenty of foreign travel and some very good meals. With Jason Crump so far ahead, and good luck to him, it doesn't even make the scores interesting. Once about this time of year we used to gather in places like Wembley, Ullevi and the Slaski stadia to share the tension of a one-off world final. Now we get an endless procession of dull meetings wrapped up in hype with the champion normally decided weeks before the end of the series. At best only a handful have a chance after the opening few meetings. Still the sport has moved on many will say - right into a brick wall others may say... It wouldn't be so bad if most of the meetings weren't so dull. Those who were cut off at heat 8 tonight by Sky were really the lucky ones. Rob McCaffery.

I think you'll find that's a question of capacity. There are only so many signals that you can send through a cable system wheras the satellite system is limited only by the number of satellites that are put into orbit, and there are quite a few used by Sky! BBC interactive services are always likely to be a far higher priorioty than Sky which despite its hype and continuing growth is still a service watched by very few people compared to the main channels. We're talking hundreds of thousands against several millions. I think people should be worried about the last two GPs being relegated to the 'red button' service because it certainly doesn't show Sky having a commitment to the sport at the moment. Perhaps the BSPA's renegotiation of the speedway rights is about to backfire in a major way? Either way that tedious meeting tonight got the coverage it deserved. When the inside gates are so totally dominant and there's virtually no scope for passing it really was a waste of TV space. Remember when Channel 4 showed GP highlights - then moved them to four in the morning? I hope it's not the beginning of the end but far too often when you cut away the GP hype there's not a great deal left. Rob McCaffery.

But viewers still pay Sky either way, it's just in one case they pay via a middle-man, Virgin. Bear in mind a lot of people aren't able to have Sky direct due to planning regulations about dishes or lack of a sight-line to the satellites due to obstructions. If Sky are prepared to sell their services via Virgin then the end consumer has the right to the same product. Rob McCaffery.

A typically crass and insensitive posting. Try to consider the many cases where people aren't allowed to have dishes and have to rely on cable instead. Of course you'd have them move house, or more likely flat. It's not necessarily about price. See my response to Blazeaway. It's more complex than you'd like to think and people have a right to voice concerns without being accused of bleating. Rob McCaffery.

Because Virgin buy channels from Sky which makes their customers Sky's, just indirectly, or do you think Virgin Media get access to Sky programming for nothing? Rob McCaffery.

It's not pool for a starter. It's a form of billiards that's very popular across Benelux. You score points for cannons only - hitting the two other balls with yours in one shot. The legendary Tony's Tattoo Bar in Groningen, haunted by a few ice-racing followers, had a good table although it was a bit tricky getting the local 'ladies' to let you have a shot. Er, should I re-phrase that? Even without Cribby it's well worth getting over there for more - ice-racing that is, not pocketless billiards ;-). I was once blamed by Cribby for him failing to qualify from a meeting because I was wearing green. It's a bit ironic considering his history of UK tracks... 25 years on and Posa Serenius is still winning races. Fond memories of a very mis-spent youth - finish commentating about 10 on the Saturday, head into town and try to sober up for lunchtime on the Sunday for day 2. Rob McCaffery.

Because what you post is offensive, boorish, disrespectful, arrogant and complacent garbage perhaps, all delivered in total cowardice from behined a moronic name? Apart from that it's fine. Rob McCaffery

I think you've read the situation superbly. Any SWC event is a marathon at 25 heats but to add the need to cover for an hour on Saturday and then to cover the delays on Sunday turned it into a very, very difficult task. To then have to do it in the morning without the benefit of Messrs Pearson, Heuwen and Green just takes the achievement to another level. Tony Millard is a very experienced journalist who has a good record in reporting sport, mainly football plus of course speedway for BBC radio as well as announcing for several years at Eastbourne speedway. Given such an impressive cv I could never understand how his speedway commentaries became so stale, factually-inaccurate and cliche-ridden. Equally I am sure he would have had his own strong views on my own efforts in the genre if he came across them. It was a relief to hear Nigel take over even if his work is sometimes over-projected (NOT shouted) but his factual knowlege and authority would not be challenged by most knowledgable speedway people. As I've said before when ypu commentate, present, interview or report your style is often dictated to you by your editor or producer. Few have total freedom to do it their own way. That was a heck of a challenge to all and I think they did a magnificent job in the most difficult of circumstances. Charlie Webster really came of age in these broadcasts; she's clearly been doing her homework and I can confirm from personal experience that getting the timing right when having to seek out pit interviews is downright tough. She did her job, got the mic in there and dealt with the situation effectively when inevitably riders weren't able to help her. It isn't easy, I can tell you, even at a minor league match, let alone a World Cup Final. Congratulations to the Pearsons on their new arrival and I hope the rumour's not true that certain posters on this forum have been whingeing because the youngster's crying is "dooin' their 'eds in". Rob McCaffery. (The ex-Screensport one, not the ex-Sky Sports one)

I do suspect that is about the only smart aspect of this incident. Rob McCaffery.

Showing an old match instead - Gdansk v Bydgoszcz Rob McCaffery

Unfortunately it appears from the Wroclaw website that their match is off and rearranged for June 11th. http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=e...gb:IE-SearchBox Click on "Informacje" Rob McCaffery.

I've watched a couple of meetings on Danish TV recently and it is definitely "Peedersen" not "Peddersen", so we've been getting it wrong for quite some time. Mind you I guess having Bo Petersen about should have been a clue. It's not as bad as the Vetlanda announcer in Sweden years ago calling Kelly & Shawn "Moron". Hmm, maybe... Rob McCaffery.

A heck of a surprise on BBC Essex's website today. http://www.bbc.co.uk/essex/content/article...s_feature.shtml Rob McCaffery.

They have a full team racing schedule, just like us with several divisions. Last time I watched vthe Polish league there were a few differences to our league match formula but not enough for it to look very different from speedway as we know it in Britain, excepting the larger tracks and crowds. Sweden is pretty much the same except without the large crowds unless things have picked up there in recent years. Apart from the UK, Poland and Sweden any league racing tends to be very limited in scope although countries like Denmark do stage it. Bear in mind most of the racing and equipment rules are pretty standard worldwide although meeting formats often vary. Hope this helps, Rob McCaffery.

People have wasted as great deal of time and money to find the supposed highlight of their season was a fiasco. And you think people should be happy? There's a heck of a difference between optimism and being out of touch with reality. Rob McCaffery.

Jamie was a key figure in the nomadic revived Rye House Rockets team in 1999 and it wasd a pleasure to have him around in a challenging season. Rob McCaffery.

I wish I'd known earlier - ironically I'm in the Southend area next weekend. I do hope it all goes well. Even 35 years on I still miss the place terribly. It's not easy losing your track at 16. I take it Terry will be re-creating the famous sandwich pic, well it seemed to appear in the Rayleigh programme about every six weeks ;-). Oh the days when you could only get photos into programmes if they were on (expensive) printers' blocks - thank goodness that technology's moved on. I do wonder if the Rayleigh celebrity refereee, one F.Ebdon might put in an appearance? Yes I seem to remember Frank was once a Rocket. Rob McCaffery...... Only here for the Weir, well it IS Rayleigh Speedway... (For non-Rockets, there once appeared a picture of Mr.Stone, clad in full racing gear, demolishing a rather large sandwich..and again,,,and again, eventually with the caption "Yes, Terry's still eating that sandwich").

Thanks - on that basis today's track is a combination of track one's back straight with the rest of track three (the track up to closure in 1993). Even so track three three was substantially reshaped in 1974 on the arrival of the Rockets with the fence being brought in quite some distance, especially on the third and fourth bends. You could see the old abandoned outside alignment for several years after. Right, any advance on five? ;-)

I've not had the benefit of Norbold's book yet but I suspect the first track was on the same site as the current one. With the present track shape being substantially different from the 1974-93 circuit due to the back straight now being on the old dog track alignment (the dog track in turn was moved out into the limited spectator accommodation during the Rockets' exile) there is an argument for counting four tracks there. Apologies, I should have said venues rather than tracks. Rob.

Rayleigh's main side were Rockets through from 1948 to 1973, with obvious gaps during the many seasons of closure at the Weir. The final run was 1968 to closure of the track in 1973 and the move to Rye House the following year. Seeing 1972-2008 is very poignant.... The continuation was Rye House Rockets from 1974 to closure at the end of 1993 before revival in 1999 to the present day. Rye House and Rayleigh were two entirely separate tracks in different counties, Hertfordshire & Essex respectively.

Sadly, such is the instability of speedway that you can never ever be certain as one season ends that your track will be there the following year as I think everyone involved in this debate knows from bitter experience. I can assure you now as a straightforward customer of speedway that I have little interest or desire to know the full details of what goes on behind the scenes, just as I have little interest in the restaurant I go to regularly , or my local cinema, favourite shops or other leisure facility. I certainly don't expect total disclosure of matters in a private business - I don't need to know and really I don't want anything to spoil what I enjoy. Rob. P.S. I certainly can't remember my last words at Rye House, although I seem to remember my last word at Sittingbourne was lost by a rather spectacular failure of a makeshift p.a....

Well then, the only person who can respond to that is Terry Russell himself. Ten years before you I saw my last meeting at Rayleigh also believing that I had a 1974 season to come. There even was a fixture list published but that was as far as it got. Whether I or the other Rayleigh fans were "strung along" is largely irrelevant - my track was gone. One thing I have learned from my time in the sport is that things are seldom as clear-cut as supporters believe and that sometimes plans have to change extremely fast as was the case with the Rockets. Equally, the realities of the sport are that you can't always tell everything. As someone once put it to me. "You want the truth - are you sure you can handle it?". Sometimes ignorance can be bliss and I now actually prefer to be another face in the corner of the bar or terracing rather than know the full gory details of what's going on. Now I can just enjoy the speedway. There's a heck of a lot to be said for that. Regards, Rob. c/o Dunannouncin', Gloucester ;-)

So, logically the only person responsible for the closure of Crayford was the person, or more likely company that sold the stadium rather than anyone in speedway. I can understand you not being too keen on Sainsbury's though. I was never keen on their Rayleigh store - or Texas Homecare's. Even now I rarely use Sainsbury's, and I'm not too keen on the Olympics either Rob.

I always thought that he moved the Kestrels out of Crayford because he knew the stadium was closing down and he had no security of tenure , or are you saying it closed because he moved the Kestrels out? As for the Arena Essex switch I really don't think you could attack someone at the time for moving from a primitive stadium to one like the rebuilt Hackney although the gamble proved to be a costly failure. I do remember hearing from someone close to matters at Arena Essex during the immediately preceding years that "this all should really be going on at Hackney". Regards, Rob.