chunky

Serious question, John... What is it about people providing fact and real statistics that antagonises you so?

I went to a grammar school in Surrey, so it was exactly the same for me. In fact, a school friend of mine (he was a couple of years older than me) was Ian Skinner, who captained the England youth team! The only football we had was the "Pupils vs the Masters" annual challenge...

Having seen your post, I went back and checked that also. I do remember that now, and yes, I certainly agree that Bwitcher was referring to the flu. That also ties in with some of the comments I made a few hours ago.

How mature...

Pathetic. Really...

Gets away with what? Posting facts? And truth? Your comment above is pretty despicable also...

That is why I pointed out that other things are "worse" than Covid-19, including the flu.

BWitcher does come across as harsh sometimes, I will admit. However, reading exactly what you said above, I can see that he said exactly what I said in my post. I'm sorry for what you had to go through. However, it was no worse than what I went through watching my father die. Or what anyone else suffers in that situation. What he said was that, prior to your father's situation, you never gave a second thought to lung disease. Or to those who suffered and passed from it. That is what is happening now with Covid-19; people are scared, and think it's worse than anything else out there The trouble is that, because something happens so someone we love, we have a tendency to take it personally, and even make it personal. I get tired of people claiming that cancer is the worst thing. Cancer is no worse than any other ailment that causes suffering and death. Nor is lung disease. And before you say anything, I lost both parents and my grandmother to cancer. People say that losing someone you love is the worst thing in life. It's not, and the cause(s) of their death is irrelevant. The worst thing in life is watching someone you love suffer....

Absolutely not. What he - and others of us (including me) is asking is this; Why is everybody so worried about a virus that, while it IS a major concern (and BWitcher has said that on many occasions), and the number of infections is extremely high, the fatalities are nowhere near the level of other common diseases/illnesses; diseases and illnesses to which the majority of people don't give a second thought? This isn't a competition. People don't need to claim that Covid-19 is worse (is causing more deaths) than the flu, than cancer, than heart disease. Because it isn't...

Agree 100%. My wife is a Type 2 diabetic, and was rushed into hospital in a diabetic coma during the lockdown here. She was in a critical condition for several days. They kept her in for a couple of weeks, and even though she was "better" when she came home, they still hadn't been able to stabilise her levels completely. Twice I had to call an ambulance when she lost consciousness from sudden extreme drops, and she came close several other times. The big problem was that she needed to see an endocrinologist, but of course, under lockdown they weren't seeing anyone. So, I know how close I came to losing my wife during lockdown, and we can be sure there were plenty of people who weren't - and won't be - quite so fortunate.

He wasn't the only one! You may also recall the incident at Plough Lane with Eric Broadbelt after he clashed with Johnsy? Broadbelt came back to the pits, and lashed out through the railings and hit Ian O'Neil...

That's my point!

They CAN, but it doesn't mean they DO. You say that having backing and family DOES help, but a lot of the time it means nothing. Having successful family members in the sport can actually hinder you because of the pressure and expectations. Having followed a famous father into a sport, I can speak from experience. Anyway, what did family do for Steven Collins, John Grahame, Kym Mauger, etc? Dedication and desire is far more important, but it really comes down to mental strength and CONFIDENCE.

Again, it goes back to what I keep saying; that we have been forced out of city centres (for various reasons), and just aren't as visible and accessible as we used to be.

Yup... Eriksen certainly wasn't the most popular visitor to Plough Lane in the 80's! Of course, a few years earlier we had a similar situation with Steve Bastable, when Rudy ended up in hospital. Even though he eventually came back, he was never the same.

Went there a few times in the 80's for stock cars (we had some hols up there). Narrow track, so it may take a bit of work. Of course, if they couldn't get it back when speedway was still "popular", I think it may be a struggle now... In response to old Bob's question, there have been quite a few tracks that have reopened after being out of action for a while. Unfortunately, most have since been flattened. The ones that spring to mind since the mid-60's are the London quartet (Hackney, Wembley, White City, and Wimbledon), Plymouth (Pennycross), and Birmingham (Perry Barr). Berwick (Shielfield Park), Newcastle (Brough Park), and Workington (Derwent Park) all reopened successfully, and although we don't know what will happen with the latter, it is still standing.

I'm sure Terry Mussett would agree...

Dunno what kind of fantasy world you're living in, Tony???

Sadly, Jimmy passed away on 18th June, 2011, at the age of 83.

Was that you yelling, "Can you hear me, mother?"

Well, he did threaten Mr Farndon's position as the best Englishman... Still, had he sung in a group, you'd have been a fan!

I enjoyed my visit to Coventry (except that Dugard won!), but the trip to Hackney wasn't great as we couldn't see sh!t...

Who isn't? Sometimes you have to take what you can get...

A lot of them are - it's just that some people are just a little more volatile at times!

Nail on the head, mate! That's exactly what I was getting at! As I said, on the face of it, I "prefer" World Finals because of me going to Wembley, but as a "speedway fan", I want to be open to ALL speedway. Sure, some meetings I watch are crap, and I will say it. However, PLEASE do me a favour and watch last year's Wroclaw GP. It had everything. For old people like me and norbold to say how incredible it was, that should tell you something.