RobMcCaffery

I posted this: 30.04 BT Sport 1 17.30-21.15 Live There, I've highlighted it now. I really don't know how that could have been misinterpreted. Krsko uses CET and so 7pm local time will be 6pm BST, thus giving BT 30 minutes for the build-up.

I read a post on a TV forum from a Motocross supporter lamenting Eurosport's handling of his sport. It seems that even after the Discovery takeover Eurosport's haphazard scheduling carries on. It really is an abuse of the rights. Looks like a couple of weeks searching for a reliable Swedish streamer. Unlike the deal with One Sport which is with Eurosport Poland I expect that the Swedish deal isn't so I wouldn't be too sure of the Polish version being any better than the general service in this case. Time will tell, but it's not such good news.

You're missing the point. Look at the wider picture. As ever it's a little more complex than how it affects you. Sky now charge more for their services than they did when they had a monopoly. People are blaming BT for making them pay more overall when it's Sky, as ever, who are the real problem. They abused their monopoly position for years and still continue to overcharge to pay for their suicidal football deal. But the mugs still pay and bleat about another business naturally trying to undercut. Why not ditch the Sky leech to solve your problem?

If Sky hadn't been ripping people off for years with ludicrously high prices BT wouldn't have entered the market. Why should Sky have a monopoly? There is life beyond paying over far too much of your hard-earned cash to Sky you know.

Premier League, less stress, more fun, normally devoid of Poole fans except for the doubling-up village idiot at Somerset.

Now, now, just because you're paranoid, it doesn't mean they're not out to get you.

First GP is on BT Sport 1 which will please some.

BT's schedules for coverage of the Slovenian Grand Prix have been published: 30.04 BT Sport 1 17.30-21.15 Live Replays: 01.05 BT Sport 2 08.00-10.00 02.05 BT Sport 2 21.30-23.30 05.05 BT Sport 2 13.30-15.30 Those with the basic free BT package will probably be happy to see that the live coverage is on BT Sport 1.

I expect it's a last-minute decision on a reduced fee. Great news though - I love watching the Swedish League. Much prefer it to Poland. Let's hope for a drier start to the season and better scheduling by Eurosport.

More to the point, Ford found he couldn't make money from it. Joke competition, created only so the Polish teams have a strong chance of declaring themselves World Champions to please their sponsors.

And there we have one of the key factors why Poole Speedway has such an appalling reputation outside Dorset. What an attitude to have!

They always have an excuse, don#t they? It's not a case of 'hating' Poole - very little in sport is worth 'hating', despite the attitudes of too many football fans, but having a strong dislike for the arrogance of so many of those involved with Poole Speedway. They in turn try to shrug it off by describing any criticism of their actions or attitude with the term 'Poole hater', trying to discredit such criticism by suggesting that such critics are just following some standard line instead of being able to see and think for themselves. It doesn't work. I've enjoyed my trips to Wimborne Road over the past forty years but under the current regime it's become an arrogant, ruthless business which treats outsiders with contempt, as in Ford's sanctimonious utterings in the local rag. "Why wouldn't any club report emphasise their own club?? Its only likely to be read regularly by the club's own potential fanbase." It does rather treat their own fans with contempt - that they are too feeble-minded to be given anything other than a distorted report.

The last population figures show: Birmingham 1.01 million Scunthorpe 72 thousand

I think economics is a little beyond the heads of the likes of the poster. I doubt he even knows that there are steelworks in Scunthorpe or that thousands of jobs have been at risk through the town.

You have an excellent race track, a very impressive team and a good grandstand to watch it all from. Sometimes it's just best to sit down.

Steering quickly away from politics, it has to be remembered how much of a fight it must be to run speedway in both towns.

In a town like Scunthorpe it's impossible not to see the huge reliance on those steelworks. They really dominate the town, I do wish them well. The fact that a small town like that has had three tracks shows how much fight there is to keep the sport going there.

Like I said, best avoid the petty, childish squabbling that blights the BSF (even if some of the points raised are highly valid ) Sadly, as ever, once we get an interesting, positive discussion going someone has to post with the clear intention of provoking others which inevitably gets responded to. Perhaps Gresham, the best way to enjoy the sport is to keep away from the BSF and some of the sad cases who live to abuse the chances offered by it. Carry on enjoying your return to the sport and bear in mind we've always had these types in the sport - the internet just gives them an easier way to annoy people for their own dodgy, rather sad needs ;-)

I expect many potential customers were at home, worried sick about the future of their jobs at the Tata steelworks. Thankfully it looks like they still have hobs, albeit not so well-paid. In a town like Scunthorpe which is so dependent on one major employer it is a vital factor in getting people to spend money on leisure. Hopefully with greater certainty people will be able to think about spending money on non-essentials such as speedway. It's such a great speedway track and I loved my visits there.

If any group of people in sport deserved their dreams to be fulfilled it's Cradley having their own home again. It's remarkable how the flame still burns.

I'm delighted you've returned to the sport and are giving valuable insight into the experience. You are right that some knowledge is important to understand the context of what we are watching but the knack is not to look to far 'behind the curtain'. I did and it didn't help my enjoyment of the sport. The worst part was having things that I enjoyed being revealed to have an unacceptable side. Silly things like split monies in second halves, what some riders got up to away from the public gaze and the petty skullduggery going on between promoters. Seeing badly injured riders also didn't help. My first-ever match report assignment saw a rider killed. It's hard to get over that. It all gets in the way of what is so often a wonderful sport. Enjoy, try to ignore the childish, petty squabbling here and don't look too closely and you'll find that what you loved before is still there, even if the crowds aren't. I have severe reservations about what goes on in certain areas of the sport but I don't let it stop me watching as many meetings as I can. I spent last night watching Pila race Gdansk on Polish TV. It was four riders racing over four laps several times - and while not all were thrilling it didn't stop me loving every race. Don't fight that urge. Welcome back.

There's always one 'expert' who knows better....

I've long argued for an amalgamation of the leagues but when you read an interview like this you really don't want the Poole promotion anywhere near the Premier League. There may be one set of rules but success doesn't come from following those rules but by manipulation of them, stretching them to breaking point and ensuring that there is always a fresh supply of riders on suspiciously false averages who miraculously blossom back to their known form when they arrive in Dorset. The accuracy of the heat leader and fast track reserve lists have been rightly called into question and, amazingly their errors have favoured Poole. So, having twisted the sport, within its poorly thought-out and expressed, often contradictory rule book Ford then adds to the insult by coming up with this sanctimonious claptrap. You may operate within the letter of the rules but not their spirit. The ruthlessness is killing speedway and to try to dress it up as an achievement for others to follow is an insult to sport, natural justice and anyone who has a genuine love of the sport, and not just whether their team is winning. When Ford finally kills off the Elite League perhaps he can put Poole in the Ekstraliga and leave us to enjoy a uncontaminated sport of our own, on a lower but worthwhile and more enjoyable level?

When I see these kind of stupid, obnoxious comments from Polish fans I think of the TV pictures of many of their supporters on the terraces behaving like vile football thugs. You soon realise where the mentality comes from. It's not speedway supporting as we know it. Best just to enjoy the racing - they're not worth the effort of telling them to get back under the stones they came from. It's sad, the international section used to be so enjoyable. Now, let's hope for a good day's racing today and tomorrow. It all makes it so much more pleasant when Zielona Gora use and their thugs go home to their empty lives devastated ;-) Why do we care about their league? Because we love speedway. They wouldn't understand that. Sad really.

I suspect the rider was given the choice of making progress in the SGP through the year or making a fortune in Poland. The ruthlessness of the Polish clubs is surely obvious by now? They're doing the paying and in turn expect that they are put first, no matter what principles or agreements exist.