Grachan

After reading the forum this week maybe you would prefer Speedway Friends.

Yeah, but they also smashed anything the NL ad to offer that year, so not really a fair comparison. I could quote Cradley of 1983 as a yardstick for how strong the top flight is, but it's not a fair comparison. For every Cradley 83 there has to be a Swindon 83. I think the PL nowadays is stronger than the NL was - certainly in the 1970s when Michael Lee was in it. Back then, as soon as riders became half decent they would move up into the British League, but now they seem to stay down. Riders like Nick Morris and Craig Cook would never be riding in the lower flight then. It's even debateable if Robert Lambert would still be there.

Give him a chance! He hasn't ridden competitively for nearly a year. If he gets double figures he's done ok in this one.

Agree with you on Michael Lee, but I do think the PL today is a higher standard than the old NL. The fact he averaged over 7 for King's Lynn in the same season is more impressive.

Should be a good meeting. Just hope the commentators remember which side he's on. Not at all difficult to justify, actually.

Just think. In 100 years time, if speedway still exists (long shot, I know), we'll probably have the Bradford "Jihadists" sporting a race suit showing the black flag of islam. And anyone who objects will be called one of the PC brigade.

Didn't happen rarely if you went to Swindon. Bob Kilby used to do it every other week. But we were 'appy.

It's not tape touching that causes constant restarts. It's the pulling them back for movement. You seem to get less tape exclusions now than you did when touching was allowed.

Best give it to someone from the National League then.

I thought you said he was a crap manager?

Glad we sorted that out.

I was being ironic.

Just to confuse Gemini even further, I can now confirm that the mean of the highest and lowest numbers is called ... Da da daaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.......... The mid-range. No I'm right this time. I really am. I double checked.

So what is it if you take the highest number and the lowest number and take a midpoint? Is there a name for that? We need a name for that. Edit. Just googled it. It's the range. Pretty obvious when you think about it.

He quoted the highest and the lowest numbers and took the middle. That's the median. There were about 18 teams in the league. Had there been 2 teams it would also have been the mean.

Hate to be a smart arse but that's actually the median, not the mean. :-) But yes, you're right. It will always, inevitably, work out at around the 42 mark when all 7 get an average.

I'm wondering about this. Remember the old days of rider control? Averages weer really a good old nerdy guide to form in those days. I'm not sure that rider control would work any more, but if averages were taken out of the equation, Swindon would probably have been able to sign Darcy Ward without relleasing Kyle Howarth. Also, even if they did, coventry probably wouldn't be able to sign him because they are top of the league. Yet, because team strengths are governed by averages, both could happen. Certainly, if team strengths were governed by a committee, it would have to be a neutral one, not the BSPA. I guess averages are so ingrained in the psyche of team building nowadays that people would never accept uneven averaged sides. I have a programme somewhere from 1976 that showed the averages of the sides at the start of the season. The highest was around 55 and the lowest about 39. Nobody gave it much thougt then. What other methods could there be to ensure even balanced teams?

So what should Swindon have done then? Got rid of their best rider just to suit you? People, eh?

Yeah. Can't have people enjoying themselves can we! Took my wife to the Grand Prix. She was laughing and booing Nicki like crazy, but had no idea who he was beforehand! Then, when he actually brought someone off, it capped it perfectly. Then she came away saying Nicki was brilliant because he was the bad guy and one of her favourites. It's great. Nicki should really take advantage of this and play up to it. Nicki Pedersen. Boooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!

What is it with you and your obsession with this? It's fine for Coventry. They are sitting on top of the league table and, despite this, also in a position to strengthen if they want due to how the averages work. In fact, they could even be in a position to sign who Swindon are forced to release. Swindon will be no stronger after this. Coventry could well be stronger thanks to the miraculous drop in the averages of their top two over the last month.. We, meanwhile, have been left in a position where we don't have a number one rider. This is due, in no small part, to the points limit from which you have benefitted. What choice do we have? Swindon don't want to release anybody, but they have no choice if they want to sign the only number one rider available out there. Enjoy your league title. It must be nice to be able to have the British number 4 at reserve all season.

Black Boy Hill in Bristol is named after the Black Boy Inn that once stood there. It is believed to have been named after Charles II, whose nickname was The Black Boy.

I'm not betting man, but if I was I'd have something on Bomber at those odds.

Have you ever tried applying for a visa for the UK? It ain't that simple. Plus he couldn't apply without a sponsor so had to wait for a team to sign him. I wonder who that could be?

Ha ha! The exact same words I typed earlier and then deleted because I couldn't be bothered with it.

And the weakest top 5 rider.