BWitcher

I must have missed the NSS packing out the crowds every week. I'm not arguing against the racing there.. but the argument that great racing means great crowds is factually incorrect.

Sad news. Related to past issues?

Decimated? Hmm 320+ pages of intelligent discussion and still going strong. You've often told us to ignore averages, results, titles etc. So, let us in on the secret.. how do you judge riders, bearing in mind winning races isn't part of it? That's an honest question.

You're right Sid, your old motto of who wins races isn't relevant. Ignore titles. Ignore averages. Ignore race results. Just listen to Sid!

Gundersen was an elite rider though was he not? He'd have rose to the GP's just the same in my opinion. So although you might expect Nielsen to have won more, it may not have been the case..

I understand what you're saying.. however, it doesn't always work that way. A GP is still a case of 'rising to the occasion' and we've seen since the advent of the GP series certain riders tend to do that. Rickardsson was never the most dominant in league speedway.. he was of course very good, but not to the levels of a Nielsen in his pomp. But when a GP rolled round, he stepped up a gear. Yet someone like Leigh Adams who you would have thought a GP system would suit due to his ultra consistency.. never won a GP series. I strongly suspect someone like Gundersen would still have won titles under the GP system. Strong argument that Ermolenko would have been favorite in 91/92/93 or certainly very close to.

We're joined at the hip Iris! Sid's come out with some crackers in his time...

That wasn't the question.

Was he the best rider in the world that year?

There are qualifying rounds every year, if they're good enough, they'll qualify. Would Egon Muller have won a GP series? Or Jerzy Szakiel (excuse spelling!)?

Dress it up all you want, the series now has close to the best riders in the world.. No World Final ever had that. As for harder to win, it's a totally different thing, but easier to win on one night than over a series.

Possibly.. they would need to do something.

Sport behind closed doors is absolutely awful. Even from my own teams (Wolves) point of view. We played Olympiakos away in the Europa League. An absolutely massive game for the club, one of the biggest in recent history. However, it was played behind closed doors and it was awful viewing. I don't know of a single fan who enjoyed the game (and that's including thousands in social media groups). It simply wouldn't last.

Of course not, soon everyone will be expected to get back to work, kids back to school... but have no sport, no cinema, no pubs, no restaurants, no beach, no holidays. For the 'rest of the year'... oh.. and it's winter again then you know.. where thousands die from viruses passed from human to human.

That's brilliant business, more companies should try this! Let's introduce a lower selling product to kill of our biggest seller ...

How will they justify early 2021? Be in winter then with thousands dying from viruses again...

No, it was bloody awful wasn't it. The crowd booed and stormed out of the stadium never to return. It's pretty clear you're just trolling now. I'm no Harris fan but that was one of the greatest moments in recent speedway history... in fact of all time.

In my younger days every meeting I could possibly attend was the best ever, I had the bug that bad. In later years I'd say 1996 and 2009. Both seasons I was fortunate enough to get to every meeting home and away and in both years Wolves were Champions.

Yet the racing is barely any different to yesteryear.. and the riders are much closer together in the majority of races.. certainly compared to late 80's early 90's. Whilst I take on board the view that we all like to see good racing, there is little to no evidence to suggest it alters crowd figures.

How many people you know is irrelevant. 40,000 people go to Cardiff every single year.. somewhat higher than the people you know who 'hated going there'. Also somewhat higher than go to any of the tracks where you find 'great racing'. You're right, Cardiff does highlight of one of the big problems in speedway. Unfortunately you've just got it mixed up.. it shows people AREN'T prepared to put up with any old garbage that you get in stadiums up and down the country.. but are willing to pay extra for quality.

Let's also not forget Covid-19 hasn't killed 115,000... 115,000 have died who happened to have it. Or in some cases.. it was 'guessed' that they had it. Significant difference.

So what you are actually saying is, you don't like Cardiff... therefore it's your belief nobody does. "Nobody who goes to speedway could care less about the atmosphere" You keep surpassing yourself with the absolute stupidity (that's being polite) of your statements. Atmosphere is the biggest factor. 1981 World Final at Wembley is remembered by many as the greatest meeting they've ever been too because of the ATMOSPHERE. Stage that meeting and have the same quality of racing in front of 1000 people, it would be deemed as an average meeting at best. Besides you keep making these bold statements of 'nobody goes' etc... when the reality is, they do go... 40,000 of them. How many pack in to the NSS, or Scunthorpe, or Peterborough? Tracks that deliver the 'great racing'?

It was Rob McCaffrey I think Philip But I agree.

Do you work for the BSPA? This is the kind of idiotic idea they'd come out with. Let's go from 40,000 crowds to 10,000. That will be a major stepping stone for the sport!

Well they are directly linked so little wonder it's part of the conversation.