False dawn

I'll tell you how good this is. I've just had a couple of teeth out and I'm still on top of the World. When you listen carefully to what the planning officer said last night to support the decision to recommend acceptance of the housing proposal, you have to wonder what planet they are from. The justification was spurious, at best. The good thing was that the council weren't buying any of it and they raised other objections as well. And the speech by Tony Gillias was heartfelt and particularly damning of the decision to recommend acceptance. And then to have the council reject the proposal, unanimously was just brilliant. I'm not counting my chickens yet, but this was a wonderful first step on the road back.

BRANDON APPLICATION REFUSED - Save Coventry Speedway

Holding over the completion of a competition to the following season is not without precedent. But completing a competition with only two out of the three finalists, with the two remaining teams operating in separate leagues looks like a bit of a nonsense. If Leicester and Poole, jointly, want to run an interleague challenge, with Poole running a guest or Leicester having somebody stepping down for the night, well fine. But please, let's give up on a competition that "died" some time ago.

Ah, but. We're going to field our NDL team. Imagine your embarrassment when we still beat you.

The NSSC is a selfless, long-standing organisation that has consistently supported speedway youth for many years. It is widely recognised within the sport as having helped many of today's more well-established riders. And it's no surprise that speakers are prepared to attend NSSC evenings. For those of you that are able to attend, I would encourage you to come along. There is invariably a "good story" and I promise you that you'll rarely be disappointed. And when you see that NSSC logo on the chest of the next world champion, you can take pride in knowing that you were, in some small way, a part of that.

Who now wins/is awarded the Championship League Title this year is becoming a secondary consideration. I sense that even some diehard fans, even from the two clubs involved, are losing all sense of real enthusiasm for this competition. And before you ask, yes, I'm planning my trip to KL tomorrow to support my adopted team. Surely, now is the time to learn the lessons. Yes, the weather has been exceptional, but there is a view that this is going to become more the rule rather than the exception. Either way, the sport has painted itself into corner with no way out with this competition. Let's have a sensible, grown-up conversation about how we got here and without all the finger pointing design a fixture regime that avoids this going forward.

Hey, I'm the host (well, sort of, seeing as I'm really a Bees fan). You come and see me.

Amen to that, me old sparring partner.

Congratulations to Ipswich

Or they run out of scraps of paper!

So my Super Heat suggestion wasn't far wrong.

Replay? Are you kidding? My diary has been in tatters for weeks.

So, I reckon that October is the new September. Let's talk to and about Glasgow nicely and we'll run the three-leg final in three weeks' time.

Oh alright, you are correct. But does the ref know that? Or do we get the cardboard box out again?

Hey, I'm on a roll. Don't pour water on my happy mood. Let's talk about the riders, how well they go at Leicester, who might beat whom, are we going to get a Super Heat? Anything but the weather, please.

Capital F, small d if you don't mind.

To be fair guys and galls I did give credit to the Ipswich website in my original post. And yes it's not a pic of the track today. I just wanted to refocus us all what is to come. The play-off final 2nd leg. We're going to decide the League's best tomorrow (and Poole are going home unhappy). Let's lighten up and hopefully get past the weather and enjoy a fair and hard-fought match between two top sides (yes, even Poole).

Someone did say, let's get a random number generator, adjust for the teams and riders in alphabetical order and take into account league position (not counting the play-offs of course). Then the ref said, "where's the cardboard box?"

We're ready for you !!! [Courtesy of the Ipswich website]

Very good. But I've heard they are going to call it "Au Revoir to Armadale" just to cover all the bases.

They'd have said he was guesting for Wolverhampton.

Hic! I'll drink to that.

Especially as it was originally called the Summer Trophy was it not?

I am a little more optimistic about who might ride here next year. I follow your logic, but given that Max Fricke surely has similar ambitions, why would you think he'll come back?

Ah but. You heard it here first (well sort of)...... Edit: All joking aside, Congratulations to the Edinburgh promotion on securing another year at Armadale. And a sincere hope that the future of speedway in Edinburgh can be secured going forward.