RobMcCaffery

So that's 14 days between matches, or as Eurosport would say, 10 days.....

Sadly not. Approve of the user name. Like to try pm? Re Scunthorpe - the attitude there is as good as the superb racing, as proved by the straightforward refunding. It's a crying shame that the local economy has been in crisis and they're not getting the deserved crowds. I wish I had a track like that near me.

I was about 300 miles away at the time - admittedly a poor excuse for not turning up at a social event, but could anyone let us in on the secret? I know it was a long time ago but when I was involved in televising PL-level speedway in the 80s the choice of tracks to go to was based on several points - the facilities and co-operation offered by the promotion and the lighting being key aspects. I also used to recommend trying to select matches between two teams with tracks of similar size and ones where the away side were in better form than the home. One of the frustrations was that we had a heck of a lot of viewers in Middlesbrough but Cleveland Park's lighting was so dreadful that we could only go there in June or early July. One track got blacklisted by the cameramen though. The deal was that the tracks would provide the camera platforms. We got to one and the first bend cameraman threw a fit when he was presented with the sight of two oil barrels and a piece of plywood.... At another track the stadium management tried to get us to pay them as well as the speedway promotion for access. Obviously Sky are operating at a much more professional level than we did but I would expect knowing they'll be made welcome and helped in every way also encourages them to return. Berwick's a lovely place to visit - wish I could get back there. Used to enjoy the presenter too....

They've decided to ignore June and focus on the key 'summer' months of April and September, all for the good of speedway.

......which perhaps shows how unrealistic it was

Just spoken to Steve R for the first time in ages. Seems he'd describe his presence at Scunny as being "a cynical observer". Wonder how many others who still care deeply about the Rockets (despite that flippancy) will feel able to return now the poison's gone from the place?

Funny how they could all fit the UK meetings in before the megabucks started flowing in Poland....

Somehow related to humanity but god knows how. Must be by marriage.....

Considering the way the sport's treated Steve it's a tribute to him that he's still prepared to travel so far to support the Rockets.

Okay, there were plenty of falls and riders needing medical attention but there seemed to be a total absence or urgency when the meeting was running, although it is probably unfair to judge from a video stream rather than being there. What was ridiculous was to keep the modern ritual of having riders gather before cameras, waiting for a presenter to eventually be given the go ahead to go through the helmet colour choice for both semis and the final. Given the huge delays to the meeting this should have been cut out. The riders in each semi and the final should just have been gathered in the pits and asked for their choices off-camera and just got on with things. Some times procedures need to be adaptable even if it spoils the video.

People who only watch GPs? At league level he's a personal favourite, loyal and a great racer.

Working on the piece by Peter Oakes in the Star about the plans to run one league with two divisions of 10-12 teams with promotion and relegation and six man teams plus a further reduction in team strengths it would cast strong doubt on there even being an Elite League in 2017.

I feel people are being distracted by the promotion and relegation aspect of this proposal. What is far more relevant is the composition of the six man teams. If the first division were to remain at its present level there is no way the PL teams would be considering this. The only way that this structure could work is by a levelling-out in team strengths between the two divisions and I can't see it being the PL tracks making the changes.

Oh dear, it's worse than I thought for Gorzow.

Familiar theme here for Gorzow, two failing heat-leaders?

Thanks Pawel, that meeting was enough to drive anyone to drink - and buy the first round.

It wasn't Polish TV, just a video company. They don't carry the same 'clout' and in any case they had their own problems

That's the point, it is part of getting the rest right. Effectively they're looking at one big league rather than two separate leagues with still a large gap in standards. At present there's too many to run as one league, hence the need for a split with movement between the two divisions. If we end up with two leagues of the same relative strengths as today just with a few more in the top league then it will have been a failure. They seem to be tackling several key problems - fixture shortage, tactical rides, rider shortages and absences, at least we have to hope so. Promotion and relegation is being seized upon by those who struggle to think of sport not being organised like football and is far from the essential part of this it seems to me.

Not a problem, it's a common tactic by papers to take their official, audited sales figure and to say, "Well about three people read each copy". The key thing is they're fighting for us.

There have been 25 pages of information about the meeting here by those who did watch it.

We noticed.

Then to round things off they choose to show the race to the line in the final from entirely the wrong angle, head-on. Yes it was a free, legal stream but as much of a shambles a\s the meeting. So much for Polish professionalism. Pieszczek thoroughly deserved the win.

The sight of three peed-off, knackered riders standing by four helmets while a dumb blonde fumbles with a mic at 11.25 at night will live with me for a long time. They eventually managed to drag Erik Riss in. Sometimes you have to compromise on the presentation and just get then to decide gates off-camera and just get on with it. Sometimes.

Think of those riding in Poland.

Now now, this is all about One Sport 'making speedway'.