CUFC_Brummie

I think Sam is your archetypal second stringer, he's never going to set the world on fire but he's always good for 5 or 6 points pretty much wherever we ride, doesn't seem to venture too much either side of that, I think he's useful to have from that respect and I'd certainly keep him. Would agree with those 5, you'd suspect then you're going to need another 3 pointer (barring a huge rise in the points limit) and then the final rider depends on what the limit ends up being, if we're NL.

I expect it will be too but I selfishly hope it isn't. On the list, think they start a Sheffield Shield match on the Tuesday at the MCG so will definitely check that out. Will be travelling on me lonesome so if anyone wants to be my beer tour guide as well then apply within.....

Yup, can't wait! Fairly short and sweet trip for me but got a few things lined up and heard a lot of good things about Melbourne, just hoping Tai still needs a point to win the world title....

Didn't Drury say a few weeks ago that the crowds were right on the borderline to make a move up to the PL viable? I would like us to do so but I'd wager that we will probably stay in the NL, safer option, seemingly have a decent thing going with Cradley, and there's no guarantee there'll be space in the PL anyway.

CHAMPIONS!

Absolutely brilliant result, best of the admittedly few meetings I've seen this season. Thrills and spills for both sides, but credit to Adam and Zach (who did his job of bogging down BWD in turn 1) for pulling out what we needed in heat 15. Now to find a way to get to Mildenhall on Sunday....

Tell you what, I've always been very critical of the racing at Lakeside, but that was one hell of a meeting, brilliant stuff from start to end.

Good to hear, definitely needs smartening up and unlike a lot of tracks there seems to be scope there to do something half decent.

First visit to Rye House for me last night, never made it in the Premier League days, I know this will antagonise some people but it was a bit of dive to be honest, I've said elsewhere that the biggest issue with the sport in this country is the piss poor facilities and Rye is sadly a good example, I'm not sure how many first timers would want to return to somewhere like that. Shame as there's seemingly space there to do a bit of work behind the first and second bend at least. Fully deserved win for the home side, looked like we might have snatched it at the end before Kirby fell off on the final bend of lap 4 in his penultimate ride, but it would've been unjust. Last night showed what the well known issue is with this team, if one of the "big hitters" don't have a great night then we struggle, and it was Zach last night who just wasn't on the pace, first time he's ridden the track I assume because he just couldn't seem to get going. All hypothetical of course but turn those first two rides into 4 points instead of 1 and we win the meeting, and it's unlike him to be running thirds and lasts this year. Ellis was outstanding and Josh Bates looked really good too, good riding style, it'll be a shame to have to lose him when Tom Perry is back. Kirby is frustrating, you can see why his average has dropped, the bloke just can't stay on the bike when in scoring positions, he's never going to be the fastest but everytime I've seen him he's left at least a couple of points out on track through only his own undoing. Wilson struggled and Phillips was a bit of an embarrassment, to be blunt, I suppose there aren't a whole load of credible options to bring in on a 3 point average at this stage of the season but we've been struggling with that one spot all season ever since Harvie Banks started with it at #4. Was only my 3rd meeting of the season for a number of reasons, but I have to be honest that the National League isn't really doing it for me, too many individual errors and not enough racing in what I've seen so far. I hope the crowds are there at Perry Barr to give us the opportunity to move up to the Premier League next season.

Speedway has a lot of problems but the biggest, and sadly the hardest to overcome, is the piss poor facilities. First impressions are everything, you could take someone to the best speedway meeting there's ever been but they'd be hesitant to go back after spending 3 hours at most of the ramshackle stadia in this country. Change the bikes, tweak the rules, bring over the best riders, but speedway will never become a "respectable" sport again until this problem is solved, times have changed and people expect to watch sport in a modern and clean environment. What the sport in this country needs is for Belle Vue to get big crowds, make a good profit, and runaway with the league for 4 or 5 seasons. Hopefully it'll then kick a few more teams into gear.

It'd have been a dangerous game throwing a heat that early to get an opportunity to play the joker, Woffinden ran a 3rd and Hancock did the same whilst on a joker ride, you screw up then and it's game over with a long way left to go, we got to within one and whilst I agree that we probably should've put Woffy or Harris out first at least, I thought initially the Aussies had got their selections wrong and that it'd go to heat 20, but Morris beating King was what ended it. A good effort but don't think we'll be close on Thursday, which is a shame as we'd have had half a chance of getting a medal against the Swedes in the final had we gone straight though.

First 9 heats were absolutely dire, good meeting with some excellent heats after that, still think that'll prove the exception rather than the norm with Prague though. Well ridden Woffy, great stuff.

In person, I spend a lot of my spare time following my football team, tend to only miss 1 or 2 games a season, and pick up about a dozen other games a year either in England or overseas. Do the NFL Wembley games and try to do a game in the States every couple of years. Started going to Milton Keynes Ice Hockey this season occasionally which is a lot of fun. One day at a test match every year, and baseball at least once a year when I'm in Seattle. In addition to that on TV, normally watch the F1, sometimes watch Rugby League but not as much as I used to, and tend to watch the last day of the golf majors. So a fairly wide selection, only mainstream sports in this country that I really can't stand are Rugby Union, Athletics and anything cycling related. I've tended to rank Speedway at #3 on my list of "favourite" sports but my patience is getting tested, luckily the NHL season is nearly over and I don't get to watch as much cricket as I'd like to so it's probably safe for another year unless (although I wouldn't put money on it).

Can BSI just refund my Melbourne flights and ticket now to save myself the hassle later in the season? Farce, no more temp tracks, do what's best for the sport rather than best for your wallets.

What a difference a week makes eh? Great effort lads, and what a response from Adam Ellis!

It is difficult not to be negative after last night to be honest, the racing was one sided, dire, and stretched out for the most part, and to be honest considering it takes me an hour and half to get there and back it didn't particularly leave me wanting to go back for more, I will, because I support the team and I'm aware of what the National League is and the challenges that a lot of the riders face, but I think any first timers would think twice again despite the big (but very subdued) crowd turning up. There will, obviously, be a noticeable drop off in crowds for our home meetings going forward (including myself as I can't make every meeting), hopefully it will be enough to keep balancing the books though. Tom Perry by far our best rider, Chapman scored about what you'd expect him to, and I thought Zach (still learning the surname...) was by far the most promising of our rookies, on the pace and looked like he was willing to have a go but there wasn't a lot of dirt on the outside when he tried to make a move there, holding out high hopes for him as the season progresses. The rest all need some work, Harvie Banks in particular, read he'd blown a couple of engines pre-season but he just seemed to completely come off the throttle after the second bend of lap 1 every time. Can forgive a newbie finishing last consistently on his debut, especially in the main body of the team, but he wasn't even close, don't think he'd have scored at reserve either. Cradley were very impressive, Clegg a class apart and Perks looks absolutely top drawer. Again with my limited NL knowledge it's hard to properly judge but I find it hard to imagine anyone else being able to match them over the course of the season, which I don't think would be a massive surprise from the sounds of it. Good to be back but first impressions not great, let's hope the only way is up from here.

Looking forward to being back tonight, know next to nothing about National League speedway beyond what I saw from the reserves in the EL last season so intrigued to see what it's like. Hopefully a well run meeting with a good crowd and some entertaining racing to get this third rebirth off to a good start. I need something positive to look forward to considering the shambles my football team is at the moment.

3 month holiday, get back up to speed, get the GP challenge wildcard so he can qualify "fairly" for 2016, ride in the playoffs, ride in Aussie GP as wildcard. Job done. Well done Mr Ward's legal team, you've certainly earned your pennies on this one.

Does anyone know what has happened/is happening to the money raised through the fighting fund? I assume it will be going back into the club obviously but curious as to how it is going to be spent, and whether it's at the discretion of the supporters or if a lump sum is going to be handed back to Tony Mole. Would be nice to see it invested in a bit of infrastructure rather than just throwing it at riders wages for the upcoming season.

Excellent news

Extremely disappointed to say the least, and with the venture in Milton Keynes (where I live) seemingly not going anywhere, that is probably another supporter lost to domestic speedway. Despite only being in my mid-20s and therefore missing the previous incarnation of the Brummies, there's been some fantastic memories in the last 7 years, I'll continue to proudly wear my red and yellow scarf, and will be a Brummie for life, even if they never take to the tapes again. I hope this isn't the end, but it sure feels like it at the moment.

Fair play to Bomber, he's qualified by right and I will certainly cheer for him next year as an Englishman, but right now I am not glad he's in there, he's going to add absolutely nothing to the series except maybe a couple of decent rides at Cardiff, when there are plenty of others out there who could. I hope I'm wrong, but I doubt it.

I'm completely guessing here but I would have thought that the series reserve(s) couldn't be nominated as a wildcard in case they were needed to replace someone. Would have still picked Kildemand anyway.

I think it's human nature to be reminiscent about the "old days", speedway isn't unique to this, it's the same with football, music, pubs, cars, most things in everyday life, generally the older you are the more fondly you look back on bygone eras. Heck, I'm only 24 and have been going to football for 19 years but I find myself despising most things about modern football, but professional sport has still only been around as long as the lifetime of a human really, so it's still a fairly new phenomenon, in 100 years time I think it will just be accepted that everyone always thinks that the experiences from their youth (however you class it) was better than the present. With the way technology is continuing to evolve at even greater speeds than previously before, then that time frame is going to keep coming down as well and people will start looking back at the "good old days" as 5 years ago rather than 50 because everything will just keep changing so much. The problem with speedway in that respect is that it has stood still with the view of it's largely older fanbase. Football in particular but also rugby, cricket, Formula 1, the big 4 American sports, have all modernised to bring their sports into the 20th/21st century (as applicable) since the early 90's, not just in the game itself but in the facilities they are played in and the "at home" experience, in the process annoying a lot of what at the time was their core fanbase. The thing is because of how successfully they have marketed it, for every fan they've lost, they've gained two, which is why they are thriving now as the "businesses" they are today. Whereas for every fan gained for speedway (like myself, 2006), they've probably lost 10, which with an aging fanbase means it's hard to see a positive future. But, and I saw this analogy elsewhere which I quite liked, British people would pay £40 to see an envelope opened if it was given enough hype. We moan and moan about prices but we still have the 2nd best supported football league in the world (only held back because we insist on all-seaters unlike the Germans), sold more tickets for the Olympics than ever before, get 100,000 people at Silverstone for F1 every year etc etc. Cardiff gets such a big crowd not because of the racing but because the stature of the event is promoted, it's made to sound like a big deal (which in speedway terms it is), so people go, and it's that factor that you need to somehow incorproate into league racing before you even start thinking about tinkering with rules and riders. There are many things that need to be done to make speedway, not just the EL, in this country thrive again, and it will mean pissing off a lot of the current fanbase, but it's a necessity for the sport as a whole to move forward for the next 5, 10, 50 years. However, I'm absolutely certain that there is no-one currently involved in the sport in this country who is capable of making those decisions.

Another great weekend for speedway.