False dawn

I take your point and sympathise with the sentiment. Unfortunately, KK has a track record (no pun intended) of being somewhat, dare I say, very inconsistent going back years. We used to say on arriving at a meeting, "Which KK has turned up tonight?". Personally he drove me mad,

All this analysis is quite fun isn't it? Bottom line we got the "W".

I should make it clear that I really do support Leicester currently.... Leicester actually got away with a 3-3 a couple of times when on the wrong end of a 5-1 due to Panthers mechanical problems. The result could have been a lot closer or could even have been a win for Peterborough. The exclusion of Benjamin Basso in heat 5 was a scandal. Richard Lawson didn't just slow, he all but stopped. How BB was expected to avoid him is beyond me. 4 paid 5 from Nicki's rides tells it's own story. It's ironic. I think the crowd size was well down due to Nicki's absence but Leicester probably won the meeting as a result of him not being there.

The number of bike problems was quite a mystery and as you say, somewhat frustrating for us and I'm sure, the riders involved. You can't really blame the weather/track conditions. In England, neither are usual. Hopefully a temporary problem eh? It was one of those slightly odd meetings, in that the track continued to improve throughout the night despite the fact we had no track grading whatsoever. The absence of tractors was quite refreshing actually. Especially as I started to get quite cold towards the end of the night.

I think you're right. We all want a transparent application of the rules. But how can it be transparent when the rule makers are not sure of how the rules apply in a case such as this. The overall impression is that there was an ongoing "negotiation" between Wolverhampton and the authorities during Monday. The conclusion that has since been announced referring to a reversion back to Wolves original team declaration may have been decided quite late on after a flurry of phone calls trying to decide what to do. OR. Wolves and or the authorities don't understand simple psychology and didn't announce the decision in good time as a result. Thus leaving us, the paying fans, to speculate about this endlessly on forums such as this one. You decide. P.S. Issue 4 of the Premiership Team Declarations, stating that Luke Becker was officially back in the Wolves team, is dated 10th April i.e. Monday

I made no judgement about either case. I was just a bit tired. A bit past caring, if I'm honest. I'll just repeat what I said, "please, can we drop it?"

I read this on the Birmingham Speedway website... "The Curtis Sport Brummies will take to the track without winter signing James Wright though, who crashed during his own season opener at Plymouth last week and is ruled out with shoulder damage." And to their credit... “As it’s a Challenge, we’ve decided to run Rider Replacement for Wrighty and give the other Brummies some extra track time and laps.”

Wolverhampton, Tai Woffinden. Belle Vue, Robert Lambert. Neither will ever be forgotten. And neither do the sport any favours. But please, can we drop it?

As far as I understand it, Bomber didn't guest for Scotty because Scotty hadn't ridden a meeting for Wolves. Instead, he guested for Boris, sorry, Luke Becker, who had also not ridden a meeting for Wolves. As they used to say back in the day, "Confused? You won't be, after this episode of Soap"

I did attend Sheffield on a regular basis for a season or two, a little while ago, you understand. They had a rider back then who wasn't everyone's cup of tea. But my memories of his 4th lap, 4th bend sweeps will live with me forever. Maybe it was his neck scarf, which although almost universal back in day, had then fallen from use. I'm sure some of you will know who I'm referring to.

Is one allowed to ask who will be declared in the Wolves team for Thursday's fixture at King's Lynn I think it might be time to get my coat

In the spirit of finding fault with this fixture.... When did Coventry move to the the northeast. And who thought the word "demolition" was in good taste in the Coventry team name, given the sword of Damocles hanging over our stadium? And just in case anyone thinks I'm being serious, you clearly don't know me.

There is an official declaration on the BSPL website showing Scott in the team.

From what I've seen on updates it looks like a patched up Bullets side put up a good showing. Connor Coles performance, as an ex Cub is not too surprising maybe, but well done "young" man none-the-less. But the stand out performance for Berwick has to be Jamie Halder. Alright he did have 7 rides. But 11 paid 12 from reserve has to make him a candidate for man of the match (and I support Leicester). For the Cubs there were encouraging signs for all the riders. Dan with 15 may not be a big surprise but brother Joe had something of a mixed night. As to the others, there were some tricky moments but they all showed some real promise as well. Really sorry I couldn't get to this one.

Regardless of whether (no pun intended) the decision was correct (and I'm sure it was) we have to lament the loss of a really mouth watering opening match. I was looking forward to Dan Thompson beating Emil, preferably from the back. Well he did it to Jason Crump, 3 times world champ, and Emil hasn't won one (yet).

How about this one. I was scheduled to ride in a (sidecar) speedway meeting at Mildura in 2007 (you know, north-west Victoria, Australia, where Leigh Adams came from). And that was rained out (Oz for rained off). You won't (can't, actually) travel further than that from my then Coventry base for a rain off!

As a (temporary) Leicester fan, I can't imagine how anyone would approach this meeting as an 18 year old riding in the same team as Jason Doyle, Emil Sayfutdinov, Danny King and a few other guys that rate a mention. Watch what they do and keep your head down when the tapes rise Joe. And good luck. This is the chance of a lifetime (so far anyway).

He finished last season on 5.22 in the Championship. With his 2.5% British discount that would equate to 5.09 for team building purposes

No one told the more than 2000 fans that when Ole Olsen rolled at for the first time at Coventry's P&P day back in the '70s. I remember telling my Scunthorpe pal at the time and he said they didn't get that many at their home fixtures.

Although it's good to see Dan riding in the Premiership as a rising star, surely he is, without question, Championship material. The mad maths that has him riding in division 1 and 3 but not 2 is a bit bonkers.

I think there are better "challenge" matches to be had. Running the final of a three team tournament between two clubs, now in different leagues, with different riders, isn't a good advert is it?

It's interesting though, that this subject is nearly always raised and discussed with respect to the setting of rules and adherence to the spirit of the law. This is but a small part of the overall governance and promotion of the sport. We have to take a broader view of what is required if our sport is not just to survive, but to thrive and grow going forward. The quality of "promotion" at a club level is debatable , at the sport level, its not existent. An independent governing body / individual, needs to lead from the front. Not down in the weeds of guest riders or doubling up. Those are important facets of our sport and must be properly and fairly regulated. But get preoccupied with them at your peril. The nerds amongst us (and yes, I'm one) get absorbed by such topics but imagine for a moment. We double the average gate at every speedway meeting in the country. How many of those new fans are coming to see whether a tactical substitute is allowed in heat 8. They want to see exciting racing. The same reason you kept coming after that first exposure to our great sport. Top down. Not bottom up.

I think that is the point.

Forgive me for asking what might seem like a frivolous question. But will this team ride as the Academics?

He rode for the Lion Cubs in 2019 and finished the season on a 9.09 average. And he was a popular guy.