Trevor

Never in the history of speedway commentary, has so much been said by someone with so little grasp of what was actually going on. It took them until, the semi-final before the penny dropped that avoiding last place was the key to the competition, and as to knowing what the score was well.....

I'm delighted with the news.

I also came back to watching speedway again after a long break, by seeing the sport on Sky. TV exposure is vital these days for any sport.

You missed out the mockery of 'playing the Joker' and scoring double points when loosing! Trying to explain to my non-speedway wife, why a team should be allowed to score double points just because they are loosing was very difficult.

If we're on silly, wacky, wild ideas, how about this one........if a team is behind, allow the loosing team to play a 'joker', and a rider can earn twice the number of points just for his team losing at that time? Too daft? ok, lets just stick to ramps and riders going through hoops of fire.

I must say I think Sky have upped their game for this year's coverage. I hope that is a good sign for the future commitment to the sport.

I also enjoyed the fact coverage never left the arena, to go back to the studio.

What's wrong with 15 heats and a short second half? People want value for money.

I like the fans view, I wish it was more of a real fans view e.g. Which rider will get the most stick? Which team do you most want to beat? Worst thing about following your team?

Ah so that is what's happening to Ipswich!

I'm glad Buxton won convincingly today, as few can doubt that they would have won over two legs, if it had been possible. We done Buxton you have kept the faith over the years.

Well done Buxton on your Cup win, I hope the people of Buxton recognise your success.

What sort of crowds are Buxton getting at the business end of the season?

I've been looking through the new publication by Speedaway on the Dukes, and there was a comment, that the Calderdale Council evicted the Dukes, in the 80's. As I had moved away from the area by that time, I do not know the story behind them going to Bradford. Could anyone tell me more on why they left the Shay?

I know there are quite a few New Zealanders riders in the UK this season, I wonder, are there enough to form a national team to ride any challenge matches? Maybe at Conference level? It would certainly be a step back, I remember seeing a NZ team ride, many years ago...

Do you know why they got rid of it as a idea? It must be better than the Joker!!!

Double points has always been a silly idea, in sport, points, goals, runs have to be earned. To double them just to manipulate the scores, makes the sport look Mickey Mouse at best. How about this idea to help create closer meetings? When a team is eight points behind allow them choice of gate positions, until they are back within eight points, then reverse back to the programmed gate positions. We often see a certain gate having the majority of heat winners, so giving that gate to the team behind would give them the advantage, but they would still have to earn their points on the track fair and square. This idea would avoid the sport looking so 'It's a Knockout' to the viewing public.

Are there any pictures?

Lets hope that good old Englishman Kevin Pietersen scores a century against the Aussies. Holta riding for Poland, doesn't make the sport look daft as it happens in all sports.

Chopper34, the current format for racing in the UK is 15 heats with the last heat a nominated race. In that, the team managers selects two riders based on their form over the meeting to face each other in the last heat. The 13 heat formula which is what I believe happens in the Kiwi League, was the set up when I first started watching speedway in the 1970's. Both formats have seven man teams, hope that helps. I always prefer a team meeting to an individual one so I hope the Kiwi league is a success.

There has been this year a limited attempt on South Island to have league racing. Three teams are competing in the new 'Kiwi League' they are racing under the old 13 heat formula. On the web site it says the long term plan is to expand in the future.

The Sky match on the 11th Oct was watched by just 80,000 viewers, not a huge audience. However it was the third most watched programme on Sky Sports 2 that week. The truth is only football and top Rugby, Golf and Cricket matches pull the really big figures on SKY. I have watched the figures for Speedway on the BARB website all summer, under the viewer summary weekly reports section. Speedway is the top minority sport, but it has hardly ever gone over the 100,000 plus viewers. The sports figures are respectable but we cannot get carrried away with our importance to Sky.

How long has Leigh Adams been riding in Russia!!!?

The two bits of news on sky tonight about the low life Andersen are interesting. A withrawl from tonight with a hand injury. Has he raced since Saturday night and did he take a injury? Or is this a move to avoid facing any more questions to a TV camera? What of his threat to sue? Who has he in mind, his Ippo team mate, Nichols, for his comments?

Andersen is a disgrace, why didn't he have the courage to admit what he did, rather than come out with such a obvious bunch of lies?