uk_martin

I get the feeling that there may some copyright "enforcers" out there, and so I'm not taking any chances. One of the best sources of HD full meetings has been taken down. Now if anyone else (and there are one or two who do) posts a full meeting of interest, I download it to my own PC before it too becomes a cropper.

I was searching for a copy of Wroclaw v Gorzow so was looking forward to using this link...sadly though the video was "removed by the user" - OR more to the point, I think I heard or saw something, somewhere, about a multiple copyright breach causing someone's YouTube account to be suspended. The ZG v Leszno link is broken as well. I've not had the chance to check them all, but I suspect that there may be some more broken links in there. Sorry and all that.

Really? Sorry if I left less impressed than you. Zach has flat-lined compared to last season. He is our #1 and at home that means he has to win races. He's not doing it nearly often enough. Hume looked like he was riding a bucking bronco in a couple of his races before he pulled a win out of the bag, Reidar Replacement - didn't score what Tom Perry would have scored. Darryl - par for the course and bags of effort for not enough reward. Jack Smith - reasonable showing and signs of improvement compared to the start of the season, albeit inconsistent JPB - Was overtaken too often. Are his bikes in need of some more power? He has the style and the confidence but seemingly down on horsepower. Arthur Daley - not fair to comment. BSPA - at the root of the Brummies problems. Fans want their riders to cheer for, even if they are only temporary. If we are going to be forced to field guests and RR all the time, we might as well go back to the EL. The Brummies are 3rd or 4th in the league material on this showing. I doubt if they will get away points at Eastbourne or Kent both of whom have scored league points at Perry Barr, and crucially, in 2-legged finals, both of those teams will ensure that the Brummies will get runners-up medals at best. I'm sure that it won't be long before someone else visits Perry Barr and has 60 points stuffed past them, and the Brummies will look like world beaters again, but when that happens, all it will show is the gulf in class between the top 3 or 4 teams in the NL and the bottom 3 or 4.

Check out the article I linked to above. "Innocent until proven guilty" is a nice theory but if all it takes is the victim's say so that "he diid it" then it doesn't hold much water does it?

Maybe not is Sweden. Different legal system. https://erlinghellenas.wordpress.com/2010/09/01/the-swedish-rape-law/

I bet that's boosted sales of Speedway Star as everyone now rushes out to buy a copy :rofl:

They were a lot more switched on at the start of the meeting than they were at the end when they threw the towel in. Ours is a team of young novices too. Look, I said that I thought that Rye House fans deserved better than to have riders give up on you. But hey! You're a Rye House fan, so if you're happy with your team, then I'll be delighted for you. We can leave it at that.

Heat 14 springs to mind. Hume and Smith were away and gone. Locke and Leek pootled around, not even sliding around the corners. The guy next to me jokingly said they were trying out their ice-speedway techniques by keeping their wheels inline. Speedway Updates described Jack Smith as having "mechanical issues" in that race as he almost came to a stop on the last lap, before looking around, and then riding on to still come second. Later Smith was reported to saying that he thought he had miscounted the laps and thought the race was all over, as there was nobody behind him looking like they were still racing. When a rider can almost come to a stop, restart and still come second by almost a quarter of a lap from the guys in 3rd and 4th, then it paints a dim picture of those guys at the back.

One way traffic last night with Rye House only managing to get to 30 due to the charity of the referee in his decisions on what does and what doesn't constitute "rolling" at the start. Big thumbs up to JPB and Darryl Richings for the one race of class, with both of them sweeping round Ben Morley from the back. Big thumbs down to some of the Rye House riders who threw the towel in, in some races looking even slower than a rider with engine failure. I feel sorry for any Raiders fans who were served up with that lack of effort from their riders. The fans deserve more from the riders that they shout for. I hope Tom Bacon gets over his injuries soon, but I don't think it will be a 5-minute recovery. Nothing known yet for certain but the Brummies Facebook press release suggests that it's a "suspected" fractured foot. If it's confirmed then that's likely to be many weeks out of action. So, now the next question is, who else can the BSPA prevent the Brummies from signing as temporary replacements for the two injured riders? How determined are the BSPA that the NL siverware follows the EL silverware down to the south coast?

Cue the Die-Phone v Android debate to ignite.

I'm sure that for the price of 4 or 5 saved programmes you can buy a cheap second hand Android phone, download an Android app (for free) and by mid-season you'll be quids in, even if you don't use the phone for anything else. The App that I have saves the programme as an A4 sized PDF document, and if you have a wifi or bluetooth or network enabled printer, you can print out some very nice scorecards straight off the phone. As an Android Phone user, I find it ironic that for once there's an App available on Android that the other formats don't have.

Under most circumstances I'd agree with that but the crowds are getting older and dwindling in numbers, so unless there's something like a winning team on offer then there's little to encourage newcomers to come in the first place let alone stick with the sport. Ideally, another JPB or ZW is waiting in the wings to wow the crowds, but if not, then Richard Hall, as a "mature" rider to temporarily replace another "mature" rider isn't such a bad thing. Idealism is cheap though, and maybe winning at all costs is the price of sustainable existence.

I was at the Mickey Mouse v Stal Gorzow match, having the "honour" to view it from inside the cage. Great fun, great atmosphere, and wouldn't miss it for the world. There are always going to be antics, mind games, and shenanigans between these two teams. There was a perfectly good racing surface and a packed stadium in Gorzow for the play-off's 2 years ago that Mickey Mouse (the team who can ride in the snow when it suits them) cried away from (and thanks to them my air fare was wasted) and then they offer up a track like the one that they did on Sunday? Several riders hit holes or ruts and had their "moments", and it could have been a worse tally of injuries than just the one suffered by Jason Doyle. But as I said, where there's Mickey Mouse against Stal, there'll be some controversy. It goes with the territory. Couldn't help feeling that the referee let the atmosphere get to his head too. Some of those "All 4 back" decisions were increadible. One or two of the home team owe the ref a few Tyskie's for letting them get away with what they did. As for crying over a weakened team, and mentioning Loktaev in that...well, serving a ban for being a drugs cheat isn't he? Will he get a team place back after his ban anyway? With Dudek and Loktaev in the team, you'd just love to be at one of thier parties wouldn't you?

I see two sides to this issue: Firstly as Screm says, this is supposed to be a league for developing young talent and shouldn't be a place for oldies like Hall. Perhaps there could be a "Seniors" event(s) / league like they have in Golf and Tennis if there is a demand for people of his generation. Secondly though is the arbitrary way that the BSPA decide on what's in the best interests of British Speedway, seemingly depending on which side of bed the decision makers get out of. Bowen and Purchase have been mentioned and this inconsistency and abject ineptitude is simply symptomatic of what is wrong with the sport right now. The idiots are running the asylum.

And while Tom's out injured there'll be the small matter of Eastbourne at home in the league and Kent in the NL Trophy final.

Tom Perry update taken from his Facebook page: "At Russell's hall hospital, quick update on Tom, broken collarbone, dislocated shoulder and swollen knee. Looks like operation in the morning to plate it. Be back soon" Best wishes to Tom for a successful operation and a quick recovery.

Can't wait to see the first round at Güstrow. Great track and great prospects for great racing.

Where have all the fans gone? I remember the days when we'd be on page 10 of this thread by now.

Been saying the same thing about the England football team that just stand there during the anthems looking like they don't want to be there.

May have to catch up with the telly version on YouTube when I get back. I plan on being in the cage with the Stal Gorzów fans next Sunday :-)

Birmingham may well reach the play-off's but that's as far as it will go for them. Over 2 legs home and away I think that both Kent & Eastbourne would beat the Brummies so a runners-up medal is the best that they can achieve.

Pretty soon be at the stage where there are more threads about low crowds than there will be speedway fans to read them.

I dare say all the riders do their own cost/benefit analysis. Seems that the answers that the Lagutas get are different to what others get. Just a guess like...

Hands up anyone who has never changed jobs for one that pays more money? Keep your hands up if you'd happily pay for the privilege of going to work? So why should speedway riders be any different?

Here you go...one for Darcy's Onion and one for Gustix (leaving a couple of spares in case you need them)