rhidassa

Great news, look forward to some afternoon's (at least I hope they'll be afternoon meetings) at Mildenhall.

I tried that too this morning but wasn't showing up there yet, though I was doing it in a rush. I would imagine the stand-alone clubs wouldn't be overly happy; I doubt less meetings will benefit them.

I see it is now confirmed on the BSPA that 9 teams will be competing in the 2011 National League. Sadly, I can't read more yet, as the faulty link that leads to a blank page with a years-old date as header problem on the main page news stories seems to still not have been fixed.

Which is, technically, history. And not really relevant in a discussion of future rules and how useful/good they may or may not be... One thing speedway fans (and I'm not directly this at you, but in general) seem very good at it is remembering things they disliked and holding grudges, which usually crop up on such a large majority of topics that are unrelated. Bit of a shame, really.

I admit the Plymouth/Buxton comment jumped out at me. I wasn't referring solely to sport.

I wouldn't expect any; other area's of life that are supposed to be decent and humane seem to struggle with it. Apparently, the modern world does not call for compassion.

It is true. Where I work we operate a heavy plant hire business out of a village farm. Residents move in, often holiday homes, and complain to the council. We have limits on how much machinery we're allowed in the yard, operational hours, what machinery is left in view of the road, etc, and most of it is made by people that moved in after the business had started, or just have holiday homes. Sadly, the council likes to listen to people like this.

To what aim are you posting this morning, Steve? You are creating a bad name for yourself with neutrals that have heard nothing of you, and judge you solely based on your postings, and are certainly not helping your situation.

All respect to you, Nikko, you have remained professional throughout this. Reading the postings still on the thread this morning, I'd suggest if Steve Ribbons is unable to post in a professional and polite manner, regardless of what may be directed his way, it may be better for Mildenhall if he does not post at all. Whilst it is hard to respond to personal insult, when operating in a professional capacity, you need to be able to maintain composure and be nothing but polite. Especially on the forum - you have the time to think before posting. Though please be aware, I'm not justifying the attacks by some posters, as you will see from my earlier posting(s).

Which is a different topic. In answer to your question, Trackside, a lot of riders weren't signed until the AGM earlier this week. I'd imagine in the next week or so we'll see more signings, probably of some of the 'bigger' names of NL.

Do you mean to which club they are an asset, or for which club they've signed?

I didn't say the NL had to go by PL/EL rules, though whilst I appreciate it seems the NL is of less importance to the BSPA than the other leagues, that doesn't mean to say the NL should shun them, or act as if they are completely separate. Ideally all 3 leagues need to run coinciding with each others so riders are able to progress through the ranks easier. Though that's slightly off topic... First, the number of teams hasn't been confirmed yet. And yes, places may be harder to come by. But at least at first when moving to the PL, a young rider may need to ride both leagues to be able to afford it - whilst you get stars, not every rider moving up will immediately be scoring big points. I don't think preventing doubling up is the way to go about it; it isn't necessarily always heat leaders in the NL that double up. Besides of which the number of teams isn't set in stone yet, and the rules haven't been announced. And if other rules such as relating to foreign riders in the NL, and age restrictions, for instance, were introduced, it may change the situation and thus the amount of places available to different 'groups' of people.

That seems strange to me... particularly as doubling up is permitted between EL/PL to enable PL riders to progress to EL. Is the point of the NL not to allow young british riders to improve, ergo try and get into the PL to further enhance their skill... and would no doubling up not be a stumbling point on this? Whilst fixture clashes can be an issue, particularly for those teams that are stand-alone... it would contradict what is theoretically one of the main reasons for the existence of this league.

And the way in which people express their opinions says a lot... whether you agree or disagree with someone (and I say 'you' in general, not directed specifically at you), you can still be polite, without being rude or insulting, or coming across that way. Whilst emotions always run high in such instances, there is still no reason for it. The great thing about this is you can re-word what you say before others hear (or technically see) it, rather than speaking before you think (so to speak!).

And whilst I'm certainly not the biggest fan of Jonathan Chapman and how he goes about things, I have no particular problem with him, and unless there is actually evidence or confirmation that the Chapmans ergo King's Lynn were actively involved in creating a problem in the current situation, perhaps it would be better not to mention it? Don't forget, several people involved in Mildenhall are King's Lynn fans, myself included, and it does get annoying to see King's Lynn dragged into everything without proof. If it's fact that the Chapman's were involved, I take that back, but I've seen no evidence of this so far. And for the record, yes, I'm a Lynn fan, but I'd love to see Mildenhall return, and I would attend semi-regularly once again and thoroughly enjoy it as I have done in previous years. PS, not aiming this at you mummycaz, just at all the previous comments on the thread.

That isn't entirely fair. The younger boys, or those that aren't already rising or in the higher levels of the sport, often have more commitment, and do not go out partying etc as much as some others (not to mention couldn't afford it even if they wanted to with the drain trying to get somewhere in the sport can be without decent sponsorship, which isnt easy to get). In fact, you will find within all nationalities some riders that do have this mindset, and some that don't. It isn't fair to say all British riders are not 'focused on the game'.

However the BSPA should mention the reasons for the rejection of Mildenhall in an official press release along with news from the NL AGM. Hopefully this will be tomorrow. It can't be forgotten there has still been no official news released on the rules for the other leagues following that AGM after the well publicised incident with Coventry/Peterborough.. overlooking the fact that the agreed upon rules/rule changes could have been announced, even if the above teams weren't in agreement. Official news posted promptly would be the ideal; in essence, quashing any speculation/rumours before they start (though I appreciate the conference may be ongoing and this may not be possible instantly, but hopefully within 24-48 hours - I don't know who posts the news and how they are informed, hours of work, etc).

Stoke officially accepted.

Seems sensible suggestions. I hope the rumour I've heard of adding 1 point to riders over 25, and subtracting 1 point from riders under 25 doesn't go ahead... would somewhat contradict the point of the average system.

It's no great surprise. The attitude in both PL/EL often seems to be more that foreign riders will develop better. One example is if a new Australian is signed, the comments tend to come along the lines of 'he should be good, hes Australian' (I may have had a discussion about that ). I do agree, foreigners should not come in on low averages in either league - it should be an assessed average, perhaps higher than what they would achieve, which theoretically should encourage teams to sign british riders as signing a foreign rider would pose a risk. Shame there isn't a team in speedway other teams look up to or base ideas on.. if they started signing Brits, perhaps it would become the current trend to sign them, instead of foreign riders.

Did you miss the fuss last year?

"Grrr" sums it up very well. Very frustrating now; if a date could be confirmed and stuck to, at least an end to this would be in sight. If it is to be assumed that speedway is continuing in 2011, and Coventry and Peterborough are unable to agree with the BSPA and/or vice versa, the NL rules can still be set and teams declared outside of this situation, to allow all involved, i.e. all the riders waiting to hear if they have a place (possibly with engines to get serviced etc, which if they may not be getting a place, could not afford to do etc), all the promotions wanting to sort out a team but not knowing any rules, and any teams wanting to join. It could still be sorted out in the interim of the Cov/Pboro/BSPA situation. Very frustrating.

Not to mention riders that are left waiting to see if this meeting will actually go ahead, so they can actually know what they're doing in a few months time. Not the best situation for anyone involved in the NL, far from it! From what I've read elsewhere there are indications the BSPA are expected to release a Press Release tomo about Cov/Pboro, likely back in the EL. How true that is I don't know, but someone posted it over in the EL section. Perhaps if that's true, the NL can now become next priority.

I was under the impression it was delayed (at least in part) as they were unsure how many clubs could be running? Either way I think that shouldn't be relevant; the rules can be decided by the clubs that are definitely running; if any other clubs want to join the league, they'd just have to accept those are the rules governing the league for this season.