enotian

If Aarnio, Wethers, Morris and Phillips are nailed on, that would leave about 17.95 for the remaining three. If they can regain fitness/interest I can't help think Lewis' Kerr and Rose have unfinished business as Diamonds. Would leave about 4.86 for the final rider. No out and out No.1 (less likely to be available on a Sunday) but three challenging for the role and potentially strength in depth, assuming most teams go for two 2.00 riders.

I'm inclined to agree. Not about the chap being deluded but about 15 mins action in 2 hours being viewed as boring. If I went to a gig and heard 5 (3 minute) songs in two hours I'd not go again. So is the answer more heats per meeting? Say 20 or 24? Could solve the problem of doubling up if each rider had extra rides per meeting? But the ticket price would need to rise and whilst it's not unusual to charge more for a better product it would be a bold move. Or more simplistically run 15 heats in an hour..... …..but then there's a danger interval sales of Bovril would decrease. Until promoters realise the product is flawed in a society in which most things are instant they'll only ever be re-arranging deck chairs on the Titanic. At least they acknowledged it last season with heats supposedly starting within 2 minutes of the previous but I still spent an awful lot of time watching tractors which didn't appear to have any material effect on the standard of racing.

Exactly. This is a sport after all so no matter what restrictions are in place some will be able to invest more than others to gain an advantage. The worst strategic choice made was to reduce the gap in standards between the top two divisions making the sport unaffordable for promoters, riders and supporters alike. As well as diluting the product for those who could afford it. All facilitated by doubling up. Disaster. The best strategic choice was to concentrate on youth development. Surely now's the time to reduce the standard of the Championship so it's a stepping stone for those young riders and part time 'old hands' making it affordable for promoters, riders and potentially supporters.

In the context of a development league isn't that what you'd want? And of course the allocation between classification's is fluid. Could be 1, 2 or 3 whatever is appropriate based on rider availability or strategic approach to giving more opportunity to new talent. It's the concept of categorisation based on number of matches (=experience) which is the point for discussion.

So rather than age is it number of competitive matches that should differentiate. Or a combination of both to encourage youth. If a season is 25(?) matches then after 100 matches a ride should no longer be eligible to ride at reserve, for example. Probably only appropriate for a development league level (somewhere between Championship and National) where teams could be made up of: UK under 23 rider Non UK under 23 rider Rider with over 100 matches 3 UK riders with less than 100 matches UK rider with less than 10 matches all criteria applicable from the start of the season. Clearly it'll still be manipulated with riders missing matches at the end of seasons to remain eligible but rules are there to be 'manipulated'. It would mean that teams could be less evenly matched but the finances will probably dictate otherwise, at a development league level.

the usual https://app.box.com/s/fzngmofjdpxqb3ycqmkihyjmezg8mepe

spreadsheet or pdf https://app.box.com/s/fzngmofjdpxqb3ycqmkihyjmezg8mepe

the usual https://app.box.com/s/fzngmofjdpxqb3ycqmkihyjmezg8mepe

spreadsheet or pdf https://app.box.com/s/fzngmofjdpxqb3ycqmkihyjmezg8mepe

spreadsheet scorechart or pdf here https://app.box.com/s/fzngmofjdpxqb3ycqmkihyjmezg8mepe

pdf or Excel spreadsheet can be found here https://app.box.com/s/fzngmofjdpxqb3ycqmkihyjmezg8mepe

There's no incentive to do so. Why would a rider jeopardise getting paid for 3 points to help a team mate earn more? Might sound cynical but who else would risk less pay so a colleague might be paid more? Money trumps glory nowadays.

Excel scorechart for live gate stats or pdf for fans of pens https://app.box.com/s/fzngmofjdpxqb3ycqmkihyjmezg8mepe

Excel spreadsheet score chart and pdf for those who prefer to write. https://app.box.com/s/fzngmofjdpxqb3ycqmkihyjmezg8mepe

Because it's away??

Apologies for the sort macro gaff for Tuesday's meeting Fingers crossed its been corrected for the finals Excel spreadsheet score chart and pdf's for both Finals here https://app.box.com/s/fzngmofjdpxqb3ycqmkihyjmezg8mepe Spreadsheet version now fixed for Saturday's Final.

Excel or pdf score chart for Tuesday night https://app.box.com/s/fzngmofjdpxqb3ycqmkihyjmezg8mepe

I wouldn't normally have a pop at the commentators as it's not a job I could do but that was embarrassing tonight!! In a poor meeting the only point of interest was the result of heat 21 deciding who would meet Denmark in the run off for the last place (as heat 22 was defunct thanks to USA not picking a reserve [as an aside it would have been a better meeting if they'd selected Ricky Wells]) yet we were continually told during the ridiculous break before heat 21 that it was a dead rubber. The one bit of faux drama the meeting provided for the commentators to add colour and they failed to work out that even a 3-3 would have taken one of the teams past Ukraine. That's just adding up which is a basic requirement for following a speedway meeting. Doesn't Pearson do darts? And that's take aways!!! How does he cope......

I think it's the same meeting twice over with cumulative scores across the two meetings. (presumably only the riding order changes) top cumulative scorers through to the final, 2nd and 3rd run off to reach the final. "winner" of the final are champions. "winner" might be finishing 2nd and 3rd. I think.

https://app.box.com/s/fzngmofjdpxqb3ycqmkihyjmezg8mepe Excel or pdf for race off 1. Hopefully the format is correct, apologies if not.

Spoken like a true innovator. I look forward to nothing new ever happening ever again on the basis that it would have already been done if it was worthwhile doing.

Both are forms of entertainment, both competing for custom but if you want a more direct comparison how about speedway itself. Based on the potential for injury (or work permit issues if you want an example from today) what guarantees are there that the advertised line up at the time of purchase will be the actual participants? Absolutely none. You also have people who buy their tickets a year in advance. Effectively they don't know how will be appearing but it's the event that they subscribe to. i.e. a whole host of people didn't stop watching SGP when Rickardsson retired. You'll also find that not everyone in Kiev tonight is either a Liverpool or Real supporter. You don't have to be a supporter of a team or individual to enjoy an event. Granted you might not enjoy it as much as a supporter of the winning team but you enjoy it if the product is entertaining. Sport has moved on. It competes as a form of entertainment against anything else people can spend their disposable income on. If UEFA thought they could make more money holding Champions League semi finals at the same venue they would. Alas those poor footballers aren't able to perform on successive evenings so it's not feasible. You've got me on that SWC nail in the coffin though. They'd never replace it with SON which has finals on a Friday and Saturday night at the same venue. Apologies for resorting to sarcasm but some of your arguments are wafer thin.

I presume the majority of those staff attend practice and their cost is marginal. Might as well utilise them in managing a meeting that you can create income from (ticket sales and TV, potentially sponsorship). Check out sports channels Friday night schedules particularly during the summer. Zero content bar T-20 cricket. As I understand it they now often run a pre-meeting on the temporary tracks anyway and they run practice the day before a GP but I agree that must be a consideration as track conditions are essential to the product. But just because something might be difficult doesn't mean you shouldn't do it. To be fair I'm more than happy with the GP series as it is (although there needs to be more than 10) as I have stuff to do on Friday nights but others expressed that only 15 GP regulars didn't offer sufficient variety. So rather than change the almost perfect 23 heat format to allow more participants I suggest having a pre gp qualifier

So nobody bought tickets for tomorrows Champions League Final because there's no guarantee Ronaldo will be playing.....? If you're that fixated on seeing a certain top star wouldn't you buy a ticket for the qualifier knowing that they were in it? So people would pay to watch a qualifying meeting after all? Then another ticket if they qualify for the GP.

All bar 4 riders qualify by on track performance. Either by finishing in the top 8 in the previous year or via the GP Challenge. Of the 4 wildcards I'm sure if money talked there would be more Poles selected. I look forward to hearing your evidence as to who has bought their way into the series...….