False dawn

You say potato and I say banana

Now I know you don't like American sport..... Just kidding, I know many of you love American sport. Maybe we can learn from the US. I don't know all the details of how games are organised in American Football but they basically organise the divisions on a roughly geographical basis. Games are played and teams are declared division champions. Each one of two conferences organise games at the end of the season to determine the conference champions and then they meet in the Super Bowl. My point is that the league structure means that they don't have this ambiguity between the team scoring the most team points and who wins the playoffs. Winning your division gets you to the next stage of being the champion. Let's have one big league. Split it into 4. Doesn't need to geographical, race night might be more logical. Organise the fixtures, which don't need to all within division but would be for the most part. Division leaders would race in semi finals and the winner of those meet in the final. Adopting this kind of idea has endless possibilities but we'd all know who the League Champions were at the end it all.

Hey, I didn't know I was one of them!

I also had a similar idea, a sort of Super Bowl (AFC va NFC). Unfortunately, to be all things to all men, they would allow doubling up between north and south divisions. This could be practical if it was arranged, as far as possible, to avoid clashes between north and south fixtures. The trouble is, Sod's Law would dictate that at least one rider (maybe as many as 7) would ride for both the North and South champions . Then what do you do? P.S. if you think our playoff system is daft, they said on the Swedish speedway TV programme a couple of weeks ago that the Swedish second division has a 4 team playoff at the end of the year. Why daft? I hear you say. Because there are only 4 clubs in the Swedish second division.

About 1.27 per meetingAlthough my analysis did not include the NL. I hope (please) that this brought the average down a bit.

That's his dribbling dog is it?

No. Don't feel hard done by. For my part, I just want clarity. If something is done that is clearly going to cause controversy, is it not simpler to communicate that it is happening, why it is happening and what rules are in place to cover the situation? Either that, or you have to accept the conspiracy theories, speculation and general anger from the paying public (of which I was one).

I agree. I think Jason was lucky since the ref had already decided it was an unsatisfactory start. Two things.... 1. Can anyone see why it was an unsatisfactory start? Hans came off gate 1 well, but this was made to look good by Jason coming out of that graveyard called gate 2 (stats available). 2. If it was an unsatisfactory start, why was no one warned?

I hope no one saw my analysis as a justification for moving to 6 man teams. If nothing else changes I think the percentage of guests and RR used would remain about the same meaning we would rhen move, effectively, to 5 man teams. Averages are, as I alluded to, a course measure. Can a rider with a 4 point average sometimes score 8 or 0? Well of course he can. But measure his performance over 10 matches or move and you would ecpect him to score about 4. This is the same. If there 2 riders "missing" on average per meeting do we expect a guest or rider replacement every time we turn up? Well there are more scientific answers to that question other than straight averages. But what is your experience? 19 meetings out 95 where both teams were fully manned with their own riders. Surely the most damning statistic of all. We all moan, yes. But we're almost conditioned to expecting the odd guest/RR or 2. These "facilities" should be the exception, not the norm. We have a rider injured or riding in the U21s tobnight, well okay. We have multiple riders riding for someone else. Excuse me, that cannot be right.

Surely the other 13 riders will have something to say about the final result?

No that's BWD on the golf course in North Dakota

Ooo I'm not sure about that. Let me think about it? Alright, I'll get my coat.

You choosed wrong, you loose (like what I would of done)

Trust me, riders do not care about trophies. Wining a GP has a massive effect on your chance of making next year's series, either through the points you've scored or increasing your chance of a wild card. In addition there's the sponsorship opportunities. And there's your place in history. When there have been 8 different winners in 9 rounds, it no small thing to win a round. Trophies just gather dust.

No, not Led Zeppelin, I'm talking about telling us fans what the flying figs is going on. A few examples.... 1. Meltdown Thursday I accept that a club can wash it's dirty laundry in private. But if I was a KL fan I think I would be entitled to some explnation as to what took place and why the promotion took the action it did. But hey ho, maybe I'm expecting too much. As a fan (KL or otherwise) I think an official statement from the "Authoriries" regarding Chris Holder's punishment would have been appropriate. I can't remember where I heard he was suspended for 28 days. And we all thought that was it didn't we? Oh no, suspended means put on ice pending further investigations, apparently. And so, later, he gets a 9 month ban. I'll read the official statement, thinks I. No you won't. The only "official" statement I've found was on the speedwaygp site. A news report. I seen more from Chris on Twitter than from the BSPA. 2. The Threes (The Fours without Jack) The club were forthcoming with a statement about the agreement that was, "For the good of all parties". We were left to infer what this meant. But that's their business right? Well apparently not. The authorities have taken a dim view (apparently) and suspended Ged's promotional ticket. Suspended, mind you. There's that word again. And where do we get notification of this? On the Peterborough website. No official statement. No indication how long the suspension is for or if further sanctions are to expected. 3. Chris Harris at the Masters The ACU granted Chris a Masters wildcard some time back. Oh, he didn't qualify, didn't you know? Then how would you? The tenuous link between grasstrack's only event that is recognised by the FIM and counts towards competitors being able to take part in next year's longtrack championship is a well known fact, crystal clear to all speedway fans affected by a fixture clash. Yeh, right. It beggers belief that the authorities doin't feel it necessary to explain. Or was this so indefencible? I choose only these three examples because most of you will be aware of them. Feel free to add your own (or shoot me down in flames)

Now you all know I'm a nerd. But my interest here goes beyond simple statistics. Does anyone have the race times for last night's GP?

See what I mean?

Sinister? Where no information is forthcoming, can you blame anyone for drawing their own conclusions? The Chris Harris situation is a little complex in that the Longtrack championship is involved. Not something the average speedway fan would relate to, especially when it comes to participation in a domestic grasstrack event. A three line explanation and the reason a rider replacement facility was granted before today's meeting would have defused any speculation. Given the other recent absence, I would have thought Peterborough would be quick to keep fans in the loop.

One man's dangerous is another man's track record (almost) apparently.You ride a bike, a very powerful (tuned) bike, set up for a badger's arse on a grippy track and it'll frighten the life out of you.

Hey, don't hold me responsible for the Panthers lack of communication or Worky's for that matter. I'm a Bees fan and should therefore be treated with some sympathy. Seriously, my point was that many clubs don't communicate well with their fans. There is no excuse with the availability of their websites, not to mention FB, Twitter or a bloody pigeon if you like. I'm fed up with being taken for granted. Team changes, absences due to injury, or riders riding in another country are all of interest and could be properly communicated in a timely fashion. Why is silence seen as being justified?

Getting the facts straight by reading the Peterborough / ACU / SCB / BSPA website you mean? Oh, that didn't work. Or is the average fan supposed know the rules governing such cases?

But for the only proper explanation to be given at the meeting today at Peterborough over the tannoy in a noisy stadium is less than ideal. I thought that was what the club website was for, before the meeting.Oh, and the absence of 2 Workington riders due to injury, albeit from a meeting held last night, might have been nice to know about before the meeting.

Was it Kelvin in commentary that said something to the effect, "Dry, wet, grippy, dusty, you've got to ride them all"?

Don't kill the messenger....It was announced at Peterborough today that Chris was forced to ride in the Masters by the ACU in order to qualify to be a long track rider next year. I have a vague recollection about long trackers having to take part in a minimum number of international events and the Masters counts. Especially the foot stamping when he was beaten into 3rd place in heat 15.

Deserving? Worthy? Anymore words? I guess we have to define what being World Champion really means. Here's one definition to get you going... The World Champion is the rider that wins the World Championship. And for completeness.... The World Champion is not the rider (necessarily) that most deserves it or is the most worthy or anything else actually.