Teromaafan Posted Wednesday at 10:31 PM Report Share Posted Wednesday at 10:31 PM 20 minutes ago, Hawk127 said: Those in charge of the sport have created their own self inflicted nadir. It is not just about Ipswich or Mayfield (assuming they are officially the new owners of the Witches) it is collectively where the sport goes from here. Club owners/promoters are treating loyal supporters with such contempt, riders think the punters owe them a living and the up and coming talent is squeezed out by the double uppers who selfishly could not care one iota about the pipe stream of potential talent that is trying to break into the sport. Promoters, management and double uppers are the ruinous tribe who are bringing the sport to its knees and for it to survive a radical shake up is needed. Ipswich have ignited an issue but in reality the sport is on its knees and things need to change. Doubling up is the sport’s biggest problem for me. Whilst you could accuse riders of being greedy, they are only going along with what the controlling body permits. For that reason, you cannot blame riders for wanting to maximise their earnings. We all know that Premier League footballers are paid obscene money…..but if someone is prepared to offer these amounts? The BSPA are afraid of the (short term) consequences of doing away with doubling up, but it is essential for the future of the sport if it is to move forward. As I’ve said previously, riders should only be allowed to double up if they’ve been kicked in the b*lls. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikebv Posted 23 hours ago Report Share Posted 23 hours ago 10 hours ago, Teromaafan said: Doubling up is the sport’s biggest problem for me. Whilst you could accuse riders of being greedy, they are only going along with what the controlling body permits. For that reason, you cannot blame riders for wanting to maximise their earnings. We all know that Premier League footballers are paid obscene money…..but if someone is prepared to offer these amounts? The BSPA are afraid of the (short term) consequences of doing away with doubling up, but it is essential for the future of the sport if it is to move forward. As I’ve said previously, riders should only be allowed to double up if they’ve been kicked in the b*lls. Doubling Up is cost effective for both leagues as they both can share the wages of the rider.. The top league certainly couldn't afford to pay third HL's and Second Strings what they earn collectively from their two jobs, given the GP riders will be high earners... And, if no doubling up, the second tier could only maybe afford one of these riders each in their teams, (rather than 3 which some have), resulting in them having to fill the bottom end of their teams with several NDL level riders... What started out as a laudable development tool has been allowed to become a farce.... Driven by the usual lack of any mid or long term plan to develop enough riders to compete (especially), in the 2nd tier... 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FAST GATER Posted 2 hours ago Report Share Posted 2 hours ago 21 hours ago, mikebv said: Doubling Up is cost effective for both leagues as they both can share the wages of the rider.. The top league certainly couldn't afford to pay third HL's and Second Strings what they earn collectively from their two jobs, given the GP riders will be high earners... And, if no doubling up, the second tier could only maybe afford one of these riders each in their teams, (rather than 3 which some have), resulting in them having to fill the bottom end of their teams with several NDL level riders... What started out as a laudable development tool has been allowed to become a farce.... Driven by the usual lack of any mid or long term plan to develop enough riders to compete (especially), in the 2nd tier... Half the problem is riders trying to make a full time living out of the sport instead realising it's a paying hobby for the vast majority of them . 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Siggytastic Posted 2 hours ago Report Share Posted 2 hours ago (edited) 8 minutes ago, FAST GATER said: Half the problem is riders trying to make a full time living out of the sport instead realising it's a paying hobby for the vast majority of them . As it was in the halcyon days of the late 60's and 70's Edited 2 hours ago by Siggytastic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FAST GATER Posted 1 hour ago Report Share Posted 1 hour ago 5 minutes ago, Siggytastic said: As it was in the halcyon days of the late 60's and 70's True but I don't remember there being doubling down then only up ,once a rider was past it in the old first division they dropped down to the old NL and had a couple years there before leaving the sport . 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikebv Posted 1 hour ago Report Share Posted 1 hour ago (edited) 52 minutes ago, FAST GATER said: True but I don't remember there being doubling down then only up ,once a rider was past it in the old first division they dropped down to the old NL and had a couple years there before leaving the sport . It was used as a development tool so riders could move up to see if they could compete, but with a safety net of being able to still ride in the 2nd tier if they were not of top tier level... Now it is the most important fundamental part of the operating model and business plan, even including which nights clubs have to race on... Incredible how it has been allowed to happen.... Edited 1 hour ago by mikebv 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YeOldPitGate Posted 21 minutes ago Report Share Posted 21 minutes ago 40 minutes ago, mikebv said: It was used as a development tool so riders could move up to see if they could compete, but with a safety net of being able to still ride in the 2nd tier if they were not of top tier level... Now it is the most important fundamental part of the operating model and business plan, even including which nights clubs have to race on... Incredible how it has been allowed to happen.... The difference when I started going in the early/mid 80's was vast Joe Owen was the king of the national league but really struggled even at reserve in the old british league. Jen's Rasmussen was a 5 point Oxford reserve he dropped down and was virtually unbeatable in the old second division. When Havelock & Silver moved up two very gifted young riders at the time it still took them 2-3 seasons to bed in to the top league before they started to kick on. Now days other than a handful of riders the bulk plying their trade in the UK can be seen in both divisions for different teams. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevin bass Posted 10 minutes ago Report Share Posted 10 minutes ago (edited) 2 hours ago, Siggytastic said: As it was in the halcyon days of the late 60's and 70's And the majority of the riders rocked up in the pits with 1 bike or 2 if they were lucky strapped to the back of a car, and if they had bike problems they'd fall back on the track spare to use, not like now where they all expect sponsored sign written vans with 3 or 4 bikes in the back. Edited 1 minute ago by kevin bass Correction 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FAST GATER Posted 5 minutes ago Report Share Posted 5 minutes ago (edited) 19 minutes ago, YeOldPitGate said: The difference when I started going in the early/mid 80's was vast Joe Owen was the king of the national league but really struggled even at reserve in the old british league. Jen's Rasmussen was a 5 point Oxford reserve he dropped down and was virtually unbeatable in the old second division. When Havelock & Silver moved up two very gifted young riders at the time it still took them 2-3 seasons to bed in to the top league before they started to kick on. Now days other than a handful of riders the bulk plying their trade in the UK can be seen in both divisions for different teams. I agree there was a vast differences between the two leagues now the lines are so blurred , Bomber would have been a number one in old NL at his age no disrespect but Scott Nicholls would be no where near the old Gulf league at almost 50 yrs old . Edited just now by FAST GATER Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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