RobMcCaffery

Oh it's back. Be still, my beating heart. Don't know about you, I'm only still watching out of morbid curiosity.

Well that woke 'em up. Longest meeting I've ever known was the World Ice Team Championship in Leningrad. -25 with a full interval entertainment by local kids. I've no idea how long it took but it was the longest day of my life - except for day 2 when it all happened again. Oh, and now they've pulled the plug on the streaming! Another triumph of professionalism by One Spot - "Let's make (cr*p) speedway"

And so it goes down in history - the meeting that beat the BSF........

I do feel for those supporters. Not so much a speedway meeting as a hostage situation. Apparently the Red Cross are organising emergency aid parcels to be flown in.

So, this was £20 to get in. How much are they charging them to let them out?

They may have plenty of cameras but they don't know how to use them properly. Plenty of wobblyvision. They seemed to be having problems getting the mic to stay in one place. Nice to have a free stream, but broadcast standard? Certainly not.! 48 inches eh? Glad to see you've carried over your 'mine's bigger than yours' mentality that's polluted the EL section.

This one's for Pawel, but may be of interest to others. We were discussing the possibility of riders racing for Polish clubs facing financial penalties if they do not ride through injury. Sportowe Fakty's latest report on Jarek Hampel contains a paragraph that in the Google Translated version suggests that Zielona Gora may be invoking such a penalty. Here's the original Polish: O ile brak Hampela to dla Ekantor.pl Falubazu duża strata sportowa, to pod kątem finansowym zielonogórski klub nie powinien odczuć większej szkody. - Regulamin mówi jasno, że pieniądze wypłacone zawodnikowi za podpis pod kontraktem są pomniejszane o każdy nie odjechany mecz z 14 spotkań rundy zasadniczej. Jeśli Jarosław Hampel w tym roku nie wyjedzie na tor, to zarobi okrągłe zero. Tak to trzeba rozpatrywać - zdradził Grygier. Here's the Google translation: In the absence Hampel it for Ekantor.pl Falubaz big waste of sport, it is for financial zielonogórski club should not feel greater damage. - Regulations makes it clear that the money paid for the player's signature under the contract are not reduced by any spacey match of round 14 games essential. If Jaroslaw Hampel this year does not leave the track, it will earn a round zero. So it must be considered - betrayed Grygier. Pawel very kindly offered to check such a translation. perhaps if he could in this case it might help to shed light on why certain riders are racing in Poland while clearly unfit to do so in order to avoid financial punishment over and above lost earnings? (If the Falubaz troll does respond with his own twisted version of events please just ignore him and please don't quote him - it only encourages more poisonous bile from him. Trolls hate being ignored most of all).

Had the chance to watch it myself now and what a match! It was fascinating to see Hancock interviewed early on after the two home 5-1s expressing his confusion with the track, then seeing him solve the puzzle (bear in mind Avesta is a new venue in the league this year after many years' absence), put his discoveries into practice then lead the team to an improbable victory. Apparently he's boring...... Glad I avoided another Eurosport fiasco and it was well woth the extra few days' wait.

Ironic that Wozniak is dropped by his Swedish club after his Polish club ordered him to quit his British team.

People notice the prices but forget the wages. I saw a photo of a petrol station in 1987 showing petrol costing 36.9p per litre. Sounds incredibly cheap until you realise that after 30 years of price inflation that converts to about £1 - about 10p cheaper in real terms. One thing that HAS risen in real terms is the cost of speedway admissions, along with many other sports. Some things are cheaper in real terms, mainly electrical appliances and high tech gadgets but others have gone the other way - badly.

I really, really wish that people would peddle their political bigotry somewhere else than in a sports forum. The politicians have suspended their campaigns out of respect to that poor murdered MP. Some people don't get the hint do they?

Glad to help someone who's helped me greatly in here :-)

I would strongly suspect that many fans in those countries would love the idea of having more than 7-9 home meetings a year and be able to watch racing almost any day of the week like we are fortunate to be able to. To think some would flush that privilege away in the vain hope of attracting 'names' who I suspect put forward the 'too many fixtures' argument as reason for their absence to cover for 'not enough money' sounding greedy.

Apparently it's Starman's other job at Wimborne Road, apart from flogging the Star.

Actually that shining example of perfect sporting organisation and credibility (apparently) football is an example, Cinderford Town refused to be promoted from the Southern League South and West despite winning it, citing increased cost, especially travel. They have now been forced to accept the promotion as a side issue to Evesham Town's successful appeal to be included in the SL South & West rather than the Northern Premier, thus leaving the SL division with too many clubs. Cinderford are now claiming their entire business model is under threat, especially the need to pay £30k to HMRC. Yes, football, a circus-like farce, eh? Money.

The full C More Sport coverage is now on You Tube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kH-4lCcvZDA

Hasn't Matt told you? Being cut out of 'the loop'?

The principle was that riders were guaranteed three rides and the fourth was dependent on their form on the night and the tactical requirements of the team. Previously it had been just 2 under the 13 heat format but they did get a second-half ride in compensation. In the same way a number 8 had to be given two rides in the second half.

The key to making a promotion/relegation system work is that the rewards gained from promotion outweigh the cost and equally that relegation does not threaten the viability of a track. There needs to, and inevitably would be a difference in standards between the two divisions but in no way as great as the present divide. Yes the system's failed before but that's not to say it's impossible, even in speedway. The real risk is for the top league to stay at its present (relative) strength with a handful of PL tracks brought in to make up the numbers like Leicester this year, with D1 tracks refusing to go down and D2 sides refusing to go up. After a few years the risk is that we would have the same situation as today, just with the D1/EL having got themselves a few extra tracks. There is a heck of a difference between having a 20-24 team league of relatively even strength divided into two divisions and having two distinct leagues of still substantially differing strengths. There has to be a corporate will to compromise to make this succeed. Have promoters finally been forced to the point where they are finally able to take that brave step? I do hope so. Many talk about the sport pulling together to make it work, well if this isn't a sign of that finally happening what is? As I said before though if this is to work the supporters must also play their part by focussing on the sport not the names and foolishly believing that there is a magic wand for their team to remain unchanged, just others will 'catch up'.

It all depends on the costs of the higher division. Somehow I suspect they will not be the same as the present Elite League otherwise the PL clubs would have rejected this scheme out of hand.

I am delighted that the BSPA are planning such a necessary re-structure and are testing it thoroughly first. Change is essential. I just hope the PL teams aren't shafted like in the 90s. It seems a very welcome shaft of common sense is piercing the current gloom and hopefully we'll all benefit, although I suspect some supporters will have to rethink their attitude to the sport.

It was always technically the British Championship - wouldn't it be a better 'sell' to use that name?

It may have no effect on the overall league table but that's not the point, it's about the meetings and matches being kept alive longer. Under the old system a score of 46-32 at heat 13 meant the match was over. Under this system there is the added interest that the away side still have something to race for. A 1-5 in heat 14 and you have a last heat decider. So, we throw this away because some people can't cope with what is a pretty basic system? If they struggle that much it's a wonder they know what the score is anyway. Anyway if someone finds the speedway system complex I recommend they keep well away from that other 'circus' sport of cricket. Not every sport has to have a football-style points system, especially when the system the have actually makes its matches more interesting or do we have to dumb down totally?

The last certified ABC figure was 16,569. Papers usually claim that several people read each copy. Nevertheless it's very impressive that they are helping in this way so it would be impolite to publicly challenge such a figure We need Oxford back - an excellent speedway track.

Why not? The EL format's been fundamentally corrupted by promoting EDRs into the team on false averages thus negating the protection. As for the PL and NL why can't the T/S return? It worked superbly in this country for decades and still works equally well in Poland and Sweden so why is there the problem in Britain? Is it a case of rider cost?