lucifer sam

O'Sullivan is wildly inconsistent, and a number of players such as Peter Ebdon knew how to grind him down. O'Sullivan has never achieved anywhere near the level Hendry maintained from 1990 to 1996. I stopped watching snooker at one point, because it was so boring with Hendry just winning everything time after time after time. I disliked Hendry with a passion because he kept on beating Jimmy White, but I still admit he's very easily the best of all-time. Snooker's an easy one to determine the all-time great. All the best Rob

Nope, Hendry by a country mile. O'Sullivan has always been erratic, whereas Hendry was almost unbeatable for most of the 90s, winning tournament after tournament, year after year. Jimmy White played brilliant snooker in the '92 and '94 world championships, but still couldn't dislodge the impossibly-consistent Hendry. As for speedway, much harder to judge. How on earth do you separate Wilkinson from Duggan (never World champ but won the '48 equivalent) from Young from Fundin from Mauger from Nielsen from Rickardsson from Hancock? The machinery has changed too much to tell. All the best Rob Muller was deserving champ in '83, but it was only Nielsen's e/f in Heat 19 that allowed him to score the full maximum. Mich in 1974, Olsen in 1975, Nielsen in 1989 and Jan O in 1991 were all more dominant performances in finals that exist on video. All the best Rob Some research 3 or 4 of us did a few years ago. Highest-ever top-flight league averages: 1. Nielsen 11.83 (1986) 2. Nielsen 11.73 (1987) 3. Fundin 11.60 (1958) 4. Michanek 11.55 (1973) 5. Duggan 11.54 (1947) 6. Mauger 11.53* (1969) *widely reported as 11.74, but two tapes exclusions were accidentally excluded from the figures. All the best Rob

Good news. Tyler and his dad are smashing people. All the best Rob

With Danno, it was eights months from the offence. The offence was at the end of September 2000, he could ride again from the end of May 2001. All the best Rob

SCB, the only previous case of a speedway rider failing an alcohol test before an FIM event that I can think of was Stefan Danno, who was banned for 8 months. All the best Rob

SCB, I'm not really sure who I've ended up agreeing and disagreeing with - unlike some, I don't come on here just for a good argument, but rather to make my own point. But I do disagree with anyone trying to place the place solely at the door of the BSPA and the promoters. It's quite clear, after doing minimal research, that other sports have had similar problems e.g. Rugby League, which had to get its house in order. It's just taken UKBA/UKV&I a bit longer with the less high-profile sport of speedway. All the best Rob

Here's proof this is not a unique speedway problem: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_league/super_league/celtic_crusaders/8207827.stm http://www.superleaguefans.com/rugby-league/2011/04/28/ukba-to-work-closer-with-super-league-clubs.html Every sport has to comply, and every sport has misunderstood the regulations at times. All the best Rob

SCB, I see what you're saying, although I would say EL and PL are both at a very similar level... as many riders compete in both. There are many riders in the PL who have competed at international level (e.g. Speedway World Cup, wildcards in the GP, etc), so I would say it's higher than League 1 or 2. The only football division with lots of international players other than the Premiership is the Championship. Since 1997 and the current the league set-up, the PL has been a cosmopolitan league, consisting of riders of many nationalities and not really like Leagues 1 and 2 in football at all. It's set at a higher level (if only the riders were paid at a higher level!!). But yes every sport has to comply with the guidelines. It's clear speedway isn't alone here, and the problem does seem to be education rather than deliberate avoidance, hence the need for workshops before the Sponsorship Certificates are reinstated. All the best Rob

BWitcher, your stats are impressive. However, I don't quite see what League 2 has to do with it. In terms of level: Elite League = football's Premiership Premier League = football's Championship The National League is then at a much lower level, maybe on par with the Blue Square Premier/Conference in football. So, the obvious question is, non-British players in football's Championship? In particular, players on a visa. How many are there? Even then, any comparison is just that... a comparison. As every sport is unique. Some are easy to play, with e.g. just a pair of boots. Others require far more equipment, skill, etc. All the best Rob

What odds can I get on: "Before the end of January" i.e. before Darcy's verdict. All the best Rob

When ages of riders are taken into consideration, it's the age at the start of the year. If a rider is 21 on January 2nd, then they can still compete in the Under-21 events for that season. All the best Rob

Hi all, It's been really interesting to read through this thread. Just a reminder of the meeting at the Warren Lodge tomorrow (Tuesday) at 7.30pm: http://scunthorpescorpions.co/?p=2319 All the best Rob Peasley

In the meantime, you could use full editor and edit your OP All the best Rob

I forgot: Pawlicki and Janowski All the best Rob

Blackbird & Halsey Ellis & Morley Worrall & Greaves Ward & Janowski Schlein & Bjerre All the best Rob

He will be a very good signing for the Heathens - he was looking extremely competitive towards the end of last season. I expect Arron to add at least two points to his average, if not more. All the best Rob

It does sound very promising. All the best Rob

Looks far more appealing to me - with the NL returning to what it's really supposed to be about. The best two NL meetings I saw in 2014 were Buxton vs Scunny and Scunny vs Buxton. Two good, competitive meetings between two cracking sets of young riders. Only went to Brandon for one NL meeting in 2014. May go to quite a few more in 2015. All the best Rob

Points limits seems about right. I think Mr Morrish looked in the discussion that Greyhoundp and myself had around a month ago.... we decided on 36 and 30 as well All the best Rob

But regarding MPT it's really not that complicated. Next year, his PL average is.... his PL average. All the best Rob

That's more of a challenge. I'm going for: Greg Hancock Barry Briggs Ivan Mauger Hans Nielsen Nicki Pedersen Ove Fundin Erik Gundersen Tony Rickardsson Mark Loram Jack Young All the best Rob

Questions are a bit easy, aren't they? Got any difficult ones? All the best Rob

Of course MPT is on 4.92.... it's his PL average. It's not assessed, but an actual average. All the best Rob

Ok, I'm going to test this one out: Stubborn Alright, you can have that one. Miserable And that one Dull Not at all... well maybe... sometimes. 60+ Nope who drives a Ford Nope watches Pointless Yup and longs for the Bill to return? The Bill? Utter crap. If only you'd have asked about Juliet Bravo Seriously, though, the sample is far too small to be representative. A sample of 1000 and the results would then be worthwhile. All the best Rob

Agree, although it will be the end of September rather than end of October, as Rob G's planning the play-off final for Sept next year. All the best Rob Strange how he was on nearly 9.00 in 2012 then. Josh had a tricky last season, due to lack of meetings (not having an EL team), a few bike niggles, and illness. Josh is a quality act, and easily has the ability to add at least a point to his starting average. All the best Rob