Grachan

I am a Swindon fan.

It should be the Rebels. I'm adamant on that. I'm actually upset that it isn't! For some reason I think I would actually go more if it was (this possibly makes me slightly weird, but I can live with it). Opening night they could have Dag Lovaas, Lee Kilby, John Davis, and others there. Return of the Rebels. I'd love it. I'd get well nostalgic. Missed opportunity I reckon. Somebody should start a petition. I'd sign it. "Spires" my backside. Rubbish. May as well be calling them the Oxford "Corn Dollies" or the Oxford "New Theatres".

Yeah, but I'm talking about things that are out of the ordinary.

Surely this will be more succesful if the same core riders - maybe the top 4 or 5 from championship - are in both teams. Imagine if, say, Sam Masters is at number one for the Cheetahs one week, then turns up riding against the Spires a week later and celebrating a last heat decider win, or getting excluded for knocking off and injuring an Oxford rider. Then he's back for the Cheetahs a week later. It would be a bit strange to say the least.

Exactly. I made that point earlier when I said Theale is pretty much Tilehurst. That is why the "within 45 minutes of Swindon" thing is so bizarre.

Not if it's in Cheltnham I won't. I will if it's in Theale though.

I really don't know how to feel about that statement. The obvious, first reaction is to ask myself if I trust Clark Osbourne and Terry Russell and the obvious thought is to doubt them. But, why would they put out a statement like this if it isn't true? Surely they wouldn't build people's hopes up like this just for their own means. Would they? Osbourne might, but would Russell? Surely he, at least, would think about how fans would feel about that. I guess we'll have to wait and see if anything comes of it. Don't forget, after all, that land was secured for a new Reading stadium too, but it as never built. If it happens, though, what is this "45 minutes from Swindon" thing all about? I live in Newbury. It used to take 30 minutes to get from there to Blunsdon. And Newbury is hardly Swindon. It's more Reading territory than Swindon. Add another 15 minutes on the motorway and you're at Theale roundabout - which is pretty much Tilehurst. I will take some positives from this statement being released, but I'm far from convinced yet that anything will come of it. If it does, I hope it's east of Swindon rather than west!

I do wish they'd gone with The Rebels if they're not using Cheetahs for the top team. I looked it up and there was even an Oxford Rebellion in 1596. The flag was the flag of Mercia - a yellow cross on a blue background. Perfect for a speedway logo if the confederate flag is deemed unsuitable. I don't know why - maybe just because they were called that when I starte4d going - but I think I'd be more likely to be inspired to go if it was Oxford Rebels. Oxford Spires sound like an NDL nickname (but better than Silver Machine!). Come on Oxford. It's not too late. Oxford "Rebels". You know it makes sense!

I also wish they were using "Rebels" again. I think they are missing an oportunity there. The return of the Rebels would have been a good idea and meant something to many Oxford supporters.

I was surprised that Sheffield decided not to go with Tobi, but was even more surprised to see that he is averaging nearly 9 points a match. Taking that into consideration, I guess it's a classic case of a rider riding himself out of a job. If that line up is correct, Holder on 6.67 makes sense considering what they have to fit in, but the averages game is always unfair on riders who have a high average that might be difficult to match. He has always been one of the most loyal Poles in British speedway, so hopefully he will get a team place elsewhere if he wants one.

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Having re-read the original question, you could have a point. But, in my defence, it was a better answer than Dave Jessup.

Dag Lovaas. He was so good but seemed to just lose interest and retired at the end of 1976. He was almost unbeatable in the wet. If he'd been in the 1977 World Final he might well have won it with conditions how they were.

This looks pretty much over already. Glasgow doing exactly what they need to do.

That's Russian as a team though - representing their homeland. It's not about people being allowed to compete as authorised neutral competitors - which happens in most sports now. They are punishing two individuals with Polish citizenship in a move that has no bearing at all on Russia.

Not over yet, but Poole chucked away so many points early on they have made it difficult for themselves. Could go down to the wire this one.

Ok. So what's the actual score then? 50-34 or 49-35?

Tarasenko giving up at the back. If Poole can keep this to 14 they can still win this overall. Harris is amazing tonight.

Team manger's fault that one. Come on Poole. Keep it close!

Totally Pijper's fault to me. He was out by the fence and came in as Thompson was passing.

Maybe Ipswich will propose a really low points limit and only allow teams to have one rider with an average over 8.00 like they used to do when Swindon had a good team.

I just checked the Eurovision Song Contest website and he definitely is.

If that was an unsatisfactory start then why didn't the red lights come on straight away?

As long as they continue to block the Russians it's pretty much invalid as a World Championship as far as I'm concerned. I wonder if they should put in some sort of legal challenge against this, seeing as Russian competitors are able to tale part in other individual sports under a neutral flag. Look at tennis, for example. The recent US open had a Russian in the men's final and a Belarussian in the women's final. Even Wimbledon relented this year and allowed them back in after their points were removed from the World ranking the previous year.. I even remember a statement being made by the Russian federation a couple of years ago stating that they had banned Laguta from competing for Russia due to comments made about Putin. There is no valid reason to exclude them any more than there would have been to exclude Hancock and Loram because of the Iraq war.

I agree that Holder looks the most likely to emerge from the pack as the main challenger. Bewley has it in him though. He has so much natural ability, but you can actually see him stiffen on the bike whenever there is a bit of tight racing and he inevitably ends up behind everyone. He can overcome that, though. Needs a good mentor in his corner, perhaps, to get him to the next level.