RobMcCaffery

Re Championship meetings, I think it's pretty clear that this deal was a single season emergency substitution for Sky when it became clear they weren't going to change their minds about dumping speedway. Clues are in the very restricted number of meetings, with a June start and just eight regular season matches. Expecting Championship matches as well was a little unrealistic. It's up to the BSPA to take this last chance and make it work so that we can have a proper deal in place for future seasons with 'extras' such as SGBC matches next year and in future seasons, whether with BT Sport or Sky. I suspect we should be grateful that we have even this half-season! You can guarantee there'll be no such gratitude in the BSF which will as ever just tear it all to pieces.

I think my wife would be happier if I was seeing another woman than spending money on speedway ;-)

Poor phrasing by me, I meant the Rockets fans as a whole, rather more important than your own situation and needs.

There's one thing being a hard and determined rider, and then there's injuring people.

Well, you're all going to have to find other things to do on Saturdays with just three more Saturday home fixtures left this season. You can't fault the current promotion for ambition and preparedness to fund that ambition but I do wonder about their actual understanding of the sport. I know one of them had a friend worried when they had to have team riding explained to them. The sad truth is that Saturdays and 'top flight' speedway in Britain just don't work anymore.

Two delayed round 7 Ekstraliga matches are being staged on Thursday night, 22nd: Rybnik v Leszno Czestochowa v Gorzow Neither are being transmitted live but nsport+ are showing 30 minute versions of both matches later in the evening. Going on past performance they should both contain all 15 heats and will probably be uploaded to You Tube by Speedway For All later, probably during Friday. The Rybnik match is at 21.35 UK time and Czestochowa at 22.05. They are preceded and followed by a couple of speedway magazine programmes. One translates as 'Speedway, the other as 'Villain'. As if slag wasn't enough Added to this Eleven Sports have live coverage of Tarnow v Daugavpils, starting 18.00 UK.

It's the price of entering the top division in its current state, running only when others allow it to. When I watched Scott Nicholls working on the first Grand Prix of the season I wondered how many TV appearances he'd miss because of Rye House commitments. At the time it was just one - away from home. The Rockets' promotion threw away continuity when applying for promotion. I expect the increased crowds will pay for the chronically short season (or mitigate losses).

Full coverage of Lejonen v Piraterna in English https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjJhzqSFnqk "Full fat" coverage of Leszno v Czestochowa (Polish) for those who prefer the longer version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TaEtXd4nW4 Speedway For All have also made two uploads, both tom their usual short format: Lejonen v Piraterna (Polish Commentary) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25HiIymOj-I British Final (Polish Commentary) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYflC39OJB4 That brings things pretty much up to date.

I'd say Miedzinski needs a proper translation himself. He was involved in the incident which put Emil Sayfutdinov out of the GP series in 2013, just when Emil was looking like a potential champion.

Don't worry Dave, he's long gone now, well unless he's using a new name and behaving himself now.

I thought it was on mental health grounds.

Chris, it took me years to get over the scars of seeing the sport from the inside. Now I just pay my cash, take a seat in the corner and remember what it was like that magic day I first walked into Rayleigh Speedway nearly 50 years ago. You're certainly not the only one with ability to have gone through this. It's not just fans who have walked away over the years.

I was surprised at the camera work, especially the main home straight camera which was too wide and yet still managed to miss races for minor positions. I thought from flagrag's postings that this was going to be the same crew as from the Sky coverage, just smaller. I had this problem back in the eighties of teaching cameramen new to the sport that it wasn't just about the winner so it's nothing new, just a case for education. I thought the commentary was a little less 'hard sell' than with Sky, which is the BT house style, as were the graphics. Judging coverage by its graphics does seem to be the same as voting for someone with the nicest clothes..... As for over-running, I'm not familiar with the Sky boxes but on Virgin's Tivo any time you select a recording of a live event you are offered the chance to manually extend the recording by up to 3 hours. Equally, if you set up a series link you can manually add an over-run. The problem is not usually the broadcaster's but Sky or Virgin failing to update their programme guides which are what the recording timers work from. Just extend your recording or record the following programme. It isn't rocket science. As for presentation Natalie Quirk and Steve Brandon were worlds away from the cute young girl, just doing speedway as a stepping stone to better things. Both know their stuff thoroughly and the final interview with Craig Cook, including his proud walk up to the interview poit with his trophy was superb. Yes commentators and presenters make the odd slip in nearly three hours of live coverage. Yes they will repeat themselves occasionally. Apart from the usual cranks the fact that the main bitching is about mentioning Kyle Howarth's local origins perhaps tells all. Significantly I see nobody's mentioning Pearson's repeated efforts to get people through the gates for next week's meeting at Poole, with frequent mentions of the under-11 concessions. Perhaps that doesn't suit their agenda? The graphics were BT house style by the way.... It was a start but the bigger test will be with the league matches. I enjoy BT Sport's work generally , which I find much more like the BBC's authoritative coverage and wasn't let down last night. The camera work can be simply corrected. Looking on from the sidelines it looks like this is a test sea\son on both sides, BSPA and BT and I hope it works because I do suspect that this is the 'last chance'. Hopefully it'll succeed and we'll get a long-term, full-season and financial commitment from BT. It's very much in the BSPA's hands. They have to work for the money. It was good to have coverage that assumed the viewer could think for themselves instead of the relentless hard sell of Sky.

As you can see, the number 8 is taking all the writes.... Friday's match delayed to Sunday. Wasn't live but Speedway For All captured the 15 heats shown after the main matches: Gorzow v Grudziadz https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pg3spgwjPVc It's the usual treatment. That's everything from the weekend now, I think, unless the full version of Krosno v Opole gets posted by Carpathian TV. . British Final's already up thanks to our Ukranian (I think) friend. Full BT Sport coverage in English (i.e. no Ermolenko...) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SL_hgkob9j4 Must stop running on New York time, especially considering I'm in the west of England.....

In the absence of r&r this week we are operating writer-replacement. Today's Second Polish Championship Semi-Final from a no doubt deserted Swietochlowice is now online. It's the full Sabmar TV production : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xiZs72tzbmE Short version of yesterday's Krosno v Opole in Division 2 here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7-Hdi49lf0

What gets forgotten in this situation it's the paying public who are defrauded when and if this happens. It's one of the many reasons why people decide the sport isn't worth the money and why most journalists steer well clear. The fact that people accept is part of the sport is frankly quite chilling.

Yes, they are providing a really comprehensive service, until the authorities eventually get to them. Polish speakers will realise that the opening caption on their videos is a claim that they are providing an educational service and are encouraging people to subscribe to nc+. At least that's what Google Translate says... Clearly a few shots have already been fired 'over their bows'. Enjoy it while it lasts. It does seem though that others who would have put complete broadcasts on You Tube aren't putting so much on and leaving it to Speedway For All, which is worrying if and when that service does finally get caught up with. I rely on the You Tube versions since the live broadcasts are at completely the wrong times for me. Before the Polish troll starts up his childish goading about 'thieves and criminals' as someone who actually has a clue about copyright (my copyright is abused all the time on You Tube) it's the one uploading the programming that is the offender, not necessarily the receiver. Law is behind reality though as technology races ahead, as Kodi users are beginning to discover after the recent clamp-downs. The recent initiatives by isps have related to downloaded content rather then streamed but pressure from the football authorities and the likes of Sky and Canal + are putting pressure on as well. Streaming will never be eliminated but there is now a serious effort to clamp down. As ever, the key thing is to enjoy it all while it lasts, not to take it for granted and don't be suckered into buying devices from con men who promise you the earth and forget to tell you the risks.

Good job nobody here had a past life in illuminating manuscripts or the bandwidth would implode ;-)

One name that I don't think has been mentioned yet was the late Doug Adams who brightened up many an evening for me at Ellesmere Port, although his major role was over the Pennines at Halifax, and I seem to recall Sheffield. I also used to thoroughly enjoy Laurence Rogers' work at Cradley Heath.

I had the pleasure of working with Edwin at KM Video and Screen Sport, and not just in speedway in the case of the former. I agree he was a perfect gentleman to deal with, unruffled and polite, but also quite authoritative. He was, and may still be a teacher which might have helped in that. As I said before, finding trustworthy talent and trusting them has been replaced by licencing and fear so inevitably people now play safe. There is always a danger in overstepping the line but a quiet word from officialdom or the promoter should be enough, not the intimidating system we have now. Unlike Mike I was always far happier in the box than in front of the public. Looking back I had to conquer two things when I started out clinging to the roofs of stadia (sometimes literally*) to commentate on videos and later present. It was hard to tell which was the harder fight, chronic fear of heights or chronic shyness. Somehow a different persona takes over which you 'wear' like a costume until the end of the meeting. As Mike said, it is a performance. The key is not to get too fond of your voice. (*commentating at the classic Belle Vue involved the cameraman and me sharing the crumbling spotlight platform on the roof with me lying prone and peering over the edge of the roof, relying on a monitor for the bit of track I dare not stretch out to see properly!)

He misunderstood the British fans and paid the price. Back home throwing the race to get fellow Americans through would have been seen as patriotic and celebrated. Here we have a different attitude. I was in the pits at Belle Vue once not far from Bruce and a certain ex-World Champion. The crowd was hostile, backing their own favourites rather than fawning over the Americans as at many other tracks. Penhall was clearly distressed. The ex-World Champion turned to his crew and observed "Interesting, he can't handle it". I think the retirement was on his mind from that day at White City. Yes discretion is important and if you are going to play to the crowd it's essential you understand them. Rogers was shrewd enough to know that the increased gate receipts would more than cover any fines. Allan's comments were in a different and far less tolerant era and while probably sincere were very unwise. The days of promoters/managers making protests very publicly from the centre green to get the crowd going are gone. There's a fine line between having a sober, disciplined sport and one where there's a bit of latitude to spice things up with a bit of controversy. That line is probably called 'malice'. We've squeezed the fun out.

My wife remembers talking to Vic in the pits just before he went out for that final ride. It still affects her and I think played a big part in her eventually falling out of love with the sport. It was a distressing loss - she tells me he was a lovely guy.

No not all.

Customers have a right to a full fifteen heats (minimum) of racing. Had this match been re-run they would hopefully have got that. Sadly today the result is more important than a night of value-for-money racing and that is one major way in which it has screwed itself up. If it's only about winning then you can only have a handful of tracks with satisfied customers. The emphasis is wrong, which is partially cultural and a spin-off from football where appreciation of a good match is apparently impossible unless you win. We once had 26-30+ meeting seasons at most tracks. Then along came 'meaningful'. What is 'meaningful' about dragging waterlogged 'matches' to heat 10 just to get a result? What is more important, having a charged re-staging of the match or giving four points? Note I used the term customers. Speedway has forgotten that they take money from customers, not supporters and certainly not 'punters'.

Ego is a huge problem once you hand many people a mic. As ever, the skill is knowing when to say nothing. I have heard tales of notices being fixed above mics in studios reading "It's not about me". A very sad story, but unsurprising. I would have done the same. While fines were not involved in the final meeting that I worked at I was placed in a totally unacceptable situation and did exactly the same. The discussion is perhaps talking only about extreme cases where totally irresponsible comments were being made. But what about situations where a knowledgeable presenter makes a genuine error, without malice, and gets hit with fines? You end up with a situation where only the fool or the very gifted take chances. It's one thing keeping discipline in the ranks, another stifling talent. It's one of the many ways in which narrow-minded short-termism cripples the sport in Britain. Hire people you can trust - and trust them!