lucifer sam

Nicki had two very good seasons in 2007 and 2008. But when judging the overall record over the 5 seasons, it's Crumpie for me: World Championship: Crump Pedersen 2006 1st 3rd 2007 3rd 1st 2008 2nd 1st 2009 1st 6th 2010 3rd 10th All the best Rob

Humph, again I feel you're wanting to change things for the sheer sake of it. Personally I think having a scoring system of 2-2-0-0 for some races (for a 5-1) or 2-1-1-0 (a 4-2 or a 3-3) is only going to confuse things for the casual observer. 3-2-1-0 is simple and it works. If it ain't broke, then don't fix it. Speedway's challenge is persuading the general public that a night of speedway is good entertainment and a good night out, compared to all the counter attractions. It's all about the show and what can be done to improve it, not about re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic, by making pointless changes to averages and the scoring system. All the best Rob

Steve, Lukas's home average was in excess of 9.00,so he was no slouch around Cowley. But it was an oddity that Martin Dugard could guest for him. There were other anomalies as well across the EL, with second strings and reserves being covered by heat leaders. It didn't work, and that's why it only lasted one season. All the best Rob

Steve, Cocker was fourth in our averages for most of 1985 (he even spent one month at reserve, during which he broke the track record in Heat 2, because Hans had been shepherding around Mel Taylor in Heat 1 to a 5-1), so a guest couldn't have been used for him. Facilities for only available for the heat leaders - at Oxford in 1985, that was Hans Nielsen, Simon Wigg and Andy Grahame. Riders 4-7 in the averages had to be replaced with riders from the National League, which is how Alastair Stevens and Nigel De'ath had their spells in the limelight towards the end of that season, after Klaus Lausch was injured. As for having home and away averages for guests, the year it was used was 2001. It enabled Oxford to use track specialist Martin Dugard in place of the injured Lukas Dryml. Not surprisingly, the Eastbourne No 1 romped to a maximum around his favourite track. It was one of these rules brought in with about five minutes thought, which was then dropped after a year because it clearly didn't work. The current rule used for the last several seasons, average + 5% for guests for home meetings, works much better. All the best Rob

I agree. No point in changing things for the sheer hell of it. It doesn't need fixing. All the best Rob

Looking forward to my first trip to Assen since 2012. All the best Rob

For someone who claims to be anti-PC, you're doing a very good impression of doing exactly the opposite here. I can't put it better than Ben Jones (Cooter) from the Dukes Of Hazzard: That flag on top of the General Lee made a statement that the values of the rural south were the values of courage and family and good times. Our beloved symbol is now being attacked in a wave of political correctness that is unprecedented in our nation of free speech and free expression. activists and politicians are vilifying Southern culture and our heritage as being bigoted and racist. We know that this is not the case. And we know that in Hazzard County there was never any racism. We are not racists. We despise racism and bigotry. and we think the people who are creating this 'cultural cleansing' are the real bigots in this story. When we say our flag stands for 'heritage, not hate' and 'pride, not prejudice', we mean it. And we believe that old saying, 'you can't know where you are going if you forget where you came from.' I'd say someone from the Southern States has a better idea of their values than someone from South Wales. Why do you want to take the heritage of these people away from them? All the best Rob

But comparing the Confederate Flag with the Nazi flag is ridiculous and shows your desperation. No-one in their right mind would use the Nazi flag from the outset of the second world war. On the other hand, the Confederate flag was plastered everyone in the 1970s, a hundred years after the American Civil War. Even over in the United States. Dave Lanning was/is a highly intelligent man. Would he introduced a flag if it had any connotations? Of course not. In fact, the whole '72 Oxford programme had a theme - a cartoon of Lanning in Southern uniform, etc. The flag was never the problem. The problem was the people who have perverted it, in recent times. Most notably, last year. Fair play to Somerset for changing it, but there was no problem to anyone using it in 1972 or 1976 or 2000. All the best Rob

Typical Shawn But it's interesting the lack of response he gets - people were hardly clamouring on board asking for the Confederate Flag to be removed from the Somerset race-jacket, were they? All the best Rob

Iris, thanks for that one. No I didn't realise. In which case, that's one nickname that wasn't randomly picked from the air. I should have guessed, due to the lack of alliteration. Apart from the flag didn't have those connotations until mid-2015. Until those murders last year, did you see a single complaint about Oxford, White City or Somerset using the Confederate flag? If so, please provide me the link to the thread. Ta. All the best Rob

I suspect it's as simple as alliteration: Brandon Bees. Same as Poole Pirates, Leicester Lions, Reading Racers, (Middles)Boro Bears and so on. All the best Rob

Oxford Owls sounds awful to me Most speedway teams are nicknamed with something appropriate to the fast and/or extreme nature of the sport. Many nicknames have nothing to do with British culture e.g. Vikings (Scandinavian), Tigers (mostly Asian based), Cheetahs (mostly in Africa), etc. Oxford were after updating their image in 1972 (a new start after poor seasons from 1966 to 1971), and as you say, there was a bit of a craze on for the American South, so Rebels was adopted. All the best Rob

In that case, I think we pretty much agree. Sadly, people with extremist views have perverted the flag. However, my argument was with rmc's assertion that: "it was stupid and irrelevant to use it on a British speedway race-jacket - in Oxford in 1972, White City in 1976 and Somerset now." How can you retroactively lay out blame for using a flag four decades ago for what stands for today? It's bizarre logic. Oxford Speedway was not racist, nor was White City Speedway or Somerset Speedway, nor was the Dukes Of Hazzard. It was just a flag, which had no connotations at the time. All the best Rob

rmc, nice for you to brand me 'stupid' and 'pathetic'. However, maybe I've done something you haven't and checked the facts and the history. BOTH sides, the North and the South, had slaves. The Confederate Flag was not about slavery or racism. Yes, slavery may have taken place in the southern states, but it also did so in the north. Racism in the US was still widespread, until and beyond Martin Luther King. So are you suggesting the US flag should also be banned? I can understand Somerset's decision, given last year's tragic events. The flag isn't racist, however last year's murders were, and no-one wants to be associated with those. But if there was such an issue with Oxford (1972), White City (1976) or Somerset (2000) using it, how come no-one ever mentioned a thing about it until last June? That's where the PC brigade have gone daft, with comments such as The Dukes Of Hazzard was racist. Don't be so bloody daft. All the best Rob

I think that was exactly the plan, as well. Both Scunthorpe and Glasgow are Sunday tracks in 2016, but that Sunday is available for Scunny, because the Tigers' fans don't have time to get back to Ashfield for an afternoon fixture, but will plenty to time to get to the EWR by 6.30pm. So you'll get cracking racing at Somerset on the Friday and Scunny on the Sunday and just have to slum it at Cardiff in between All the best Rob

The PC brigade will be hammering down your door, Steve All the best Rob

Diaries out - fixtures here: http://scunthorpescorpions.co/?page_id=4682 All the best Rob

New team captain revealed: http://scunthorpescorpions.co/?p=4675 All the best Rob

NBT, the fixtures are out 9am tomorrow... and don't worry All the best Rob

Towcester Racecourse would be a good venue for National League speedway. But beyond the initial announcement, nothing else came. All the best Rob

The Ben Fund collection on Saturday raised an amazing £1346.06. Thanks to everyone who contributed. All the best Rob

Steve, I think there was only person complaining, who died of old age. By 2005, we had a Craven Shield Final / EL double-header (33 races) finished at around 10.45pm, followed by fireworks. All the best Rob

Tim Stone had his own way of doing things, but he got speedway back in Newport and then kept it running throughout his lifetime. I wouldn't mind guessing it would still be there, if he was still alive. As for Carmarthen, I really enjoyed watching the racing there. OSMA had Ben Barker at No 7, he missed the gate every single time and scored 18 or 19 points from 7 rides. We were stood up on the banking on the back straight and had a perfect view. All the best Rob

Wiggy had a band at his farewell meeting at Oxford in 1999. The promotion of that meeting was awesome, and a sign of what might have been. I'm sure Waggy & Wiggy would have been promoting partners in 2003, had Simon lived. A great loss. All the best Rob

Recollections can be unreliable. The tragic death of Peter Craven is an example. Some people swear blind he started the race off a handicap, but several Edinburgh historians put the record straight - he started off the gate. All the best Rob