topsoil

You can't script sport. Everybody would every meeting to be a last heat decider, every game to be decided by a last minute winner, but sport isn't like that. Seen a lot of football games spoilt by a sending off. The game goes on.

I'm willing to get shot down here, but rather than describing this as a farce, I would say the sport deserves more credit than it is getting for at least trying to put on a show. I get more frustrated to hear of another call off. I would rather see the riders give it a go, I accept the normal levels of skill will be diminished. I've played in and watched as many football and rugby matches in horrible conditions to accept you are going to have games where the elements diminish your enjoyment of the game. Let's face it we live in an era where TV is king and unfortunately, if you want your sport to survive and prosper, you need TV exposure. It's not an ideal world, but it's the one we live in. What would do more damage to the sport, another meeting called off and the TV programme replaced by another sport, or the meeting going ahead, albeit not at the same level as usual? I honestly think that the sport would benefit by trying to get more meetings to go ahead in difficult conditions, rather than calling off if the meeting is in doubt. Very few fans travel to meetings these days, knowing that meetings are called off. I've lost count of the number of times I've seen rugby and football fans, in wind and rain, still turning out to watch games. You stick some waterproofs on and get out there. I'm ready for the hail of abuse, but I get really frustrated at this sport. Really hate meetings being called off.

I've thought for a long time that for the televised meeting especially, it makes good sense to reduce prices, but it has to be thought out in advance. Firstly, the club will receive TV money. Secondly, you would expect to get a larger crowd. Thirdly, if you can attract a sponsor to meet some of the meeting costs. You then give the sponsor maximum exposure in front of TV cameras and a larger than usual stadium audience to keep them happy. On top of this the sport as a whole receives a boost by playing to bigger crowds for the TV cameras. Examples of this lately are Glasgow and Swindon. Like I say though it has to be thought out in advance to make it work properly.

I remember Jan Staechman posting on twitter last year that young Danish riders were being sent to FIM run workshops where they were given lessons on how to go about approaching sponsors, what they could offer sponsors, how to keep them happy, that sort of thing. I think it could be a very useful lesson for promoters / riders over here. Could be very helpful towards riders to meet the costs of running machines during the season. Whether they approach sponsors themselves, or the promoters do it on their behalf. If promoters / riders were more savvy in this regard it would help the sport out a hell of a lot.

Again, lot's of positive things to say. Obvious you have an personal agenda with the team, the promotion and in particular Ben Barker. Tedious. Thank you Michael Palm Toft, you can come back again! What a performance. Certainly a better outcome than I thought this would be when I heard the line up this morning. A track we never do well at, so I was expecting a heavy defeat. A similar sort of outcome in the Cup would do.

Not a lot of luck going at the moment, Richard Hall the latest victim. Surely Claus would have scored more than the 3 Fisher got? On to Dry House.

Yawn

Band (its) Aid

Case closed

And where were you when Edinburgh came? or Scunthorpe? you've already admitted you don't go.

They would accept it if their team was winning. All about the team. You pick up 3 points, who cares how the points are made up. These will be the dinosaurs and nuggets who actually attend the meetings? Like you've admitted yourself, you don't go near the place these days.

Only Berwick forum fans could still be moaning after two home wins, an away draw and a cup aggregate win in just over a week. And i find it hilarious that certain fans on here openly admit that they will not go to meetings but still moan about the team on here. Forget that TJ, Claus and Richard hall are all riding really well at the moment, let's focus on Ben not riding to his average.

Good luck trying to afford Martin Vaculik on Berwick's crowds

Perfect week results-wise for Berwick, two league wins and an aggregate cup win. Desperately hard luck for Claus who was giving it his all to get past Roynon. Just when it seemed Berwick were getting a decent team together as well. Redcar missed Matej Kus tonight, surely would have scored more then the four points that they got from r/r. Richard Hall getting back to full fitness and seems an excellent signing at reserve. Couple of good passing moves tonight, but none to compare with Barker's in heat 15. That one had a few of us shaking our heads.

Steady on :-)

This might even entice you back to watch

They've only gone and done it! I'll be honest, after the first leg I gave Berwick no chance of going through. Ipswich hasn't been a happy hunting ground in the past and this performance came out of the blue. Hopefully, behind the Newcastle win this could turn around the season. Brilliant!

Post 21 to the Somerset v Berwick sums up perfectly some of the Berwick "fans" on here. Lost all credibility through that post.

According to latest e-mail, the meeting against Sheffield (was 6 June) has now been re-arranged to August (from memory I think this was because Claus and TJ are in the Danish championships). So according to the latest programme, after Saturday night there will be three weeks in a row without a home meeting.

Sent in a couple of suggestions and received very long, detailed replies. Told the reasons why both of my suggestions could not be carried out, which was fair enough. But at least they took the time and effort to go reply and the level of detail they went into, obviously shows they had put a lot of thought into it. I would recommend that if anybody does have a valid suggestion, they put it to the club.

Agree with all of the above, added to the fact that in general terms of entertainment, the sport has failed to move on in the past umpteen years (how many track presenters still playing music from the 70s and 80s for a start) doesn't help. Okay for the older generation, but it won't help attract any youngsters.

The problem is far bigger than the Berwick promotion or Berwick club in general, the problem is the sport and the people who run it. It is paying the price for basically treating fans (customers) very poorly over a number of years. There are far too many examples to quote of meetings called off at the last minute or without fans being informed at all. Too many meetings spoiled or even abandoned by poor track preparation. The last but one Grand Prix was a perfect example. To have an event cancelled because of the tapes not working, in the 21st century, is inexplicable. Promoters have not invested in stadia, track equipment, safety equipment or facilities in years. You only need to look at air fences. These should have been brought in years ago, but tracks waited until basically a gun was pointed at their head before they did anything. Basic track covering has still to be addressed. Meetings are held up / abandoned because of lack of medical cover. In this day and age and with the competition the sport faces against other forms of entertainment, is it really surprising that the sport is suffering when it fails to look after it's customers on such a scale?

Hopefully they will learn from this, maybe even try and sign Luke back and ensure that any future young riders coming through are signed before anybody else gets the chance. Running a junior team is a great idea IMO and hopefully this will bear fruit in the future by producing local riders for the team.

Luke Ruddick isn't a Berwick asset, he never signed for Berwick. Major oversight by the promotion IMO and makes a bit of a mockery of running a junior team if you are not going to sign up your riders. I think it's a great idea that Berwick are running a junior team, but to then let riders slip away can make you look a bit silly.

Again I'm not going to turn this into a Dick Barrie debate, but I will echo what I have said previously. The man has an enormous wealth of speedway knowledge and I genuinely think he tries his best to entertain and have banter with the fans. Unfortunately, he, like speedway in general, has not moved on in a long time. I think if you could harness his speedway knowledge with a younger presenter, who could have more interaction with the crowd, it would make for a better presentation. Perhaps one of the young DJs on Radio Borders? But like everything else, this would cost money, which is not exactly in abundance at the moment. think this post says all we need to know about you