BWitcher

The jealousy of some of his peers is statement enough to his legend status There are very few riders who wouldn't swap for his 3 World Titles. Further validation.

CVS knows as long as the gullible folk like you keep showing up, paying your money he doesn't have to do anything. It's an ever dwindling gullible folk though.

Yeah, he's only won 3 world titles. Some people do talk some utter garbage! Regarding Pedersen, he's no worse than many, many riders in the past. He's simply ridden in an era of instant communication where every incident, be it his fault or not is instantly reported on. Had the internet been around in years gone by you would think him an angel.

Very convenient time to put out the news of a contract extension. Meanwhile in the same article CVS says:- “Of course it was disappointing and, believe me, the management feel that as much as the supporters,” he said. “I can never remember a night when my heat leaders didn’t win a race – but that was the case against Coventry. “A lot of focus has been on Freddie (Lindgren) and his run of low scores. “However, if you ask any of the Coventry heat-leaders I’m certain they will tell you they have been through a similar tough run at some stage in the last 12 months. “We need to stick together and get behind Freddie and help him through this. He’s as frustrated as the rest of us. “The Elite League race format is very demanding and unforgiving, although as a spectator I like it. People say the Elite League is easy, but I’m sure Freddie will tell you different! “In addition, Jacob (Thorssell) needs to race more regularly, he’s been harshly treated in Poland and Sweden and I can confirm he is on the verge of joining a Premier League club. “Jacob will remain with Wolverhampton and double-up but we will have priority over his services." So in other words... no changes are going to be made. As poor as Wolves are its highly unlikely they will be finishing below Leicester.

You could, but 99 of them would almost certainly have Nicki Pedersen in there.. the 100th one being you.

He doesn't mention changes at all. He says it was a "fighting team performance".. briefly mentions there are concerns over Lindgrens performance.. stresses how difficult it is to make changes as other teams have found out and says we'll see what the next week brings us, which suggested changes might be considered, but was quickly followed by.. with our away match at Swindon and home to Leicester... which gave it a different slant.

Like many I never actually met her but I can remember way back in the old days having some fun speedway convos in a chat room that speedway folk used to use... Very shocked to hear this news, condolences to family and friends.

Given his form this year, he wouldn't!

They already use the video on TV matches, so in essence, it already exists.

Must have got better then, only watched up till Heat 6 and it was gate and go. But, that's speedway. Anyone who thinks every match is going to be great needs a reality check. Once again though, a very disappointing crowd for a TV meeting and a very flawed promotion from Peterboro.

I suspect, rather like Sam Ermolenko, a full schedule is too much given the injuries they have both suffered. Both however still love to race and take any opportunity to do so. I haven't personally seen Kelvin race of late but if he is anything like Sam is, he'll still be pretty damn quick. Just seen Phil's post and as he says, last thing you want is a crash at that age, the body doesn't heal as quickly! It's great to see them still enjoying it though.

Spot on, I was never one of his biggest fans as a rider, but he was very successful and is well renowned for having excellent knowledge on the mechanical side of things. One the young Brit riders could learn a lot from.

Those are different issues that of course also need attention and resolving. However, that doesn't mean you don't fix what CAN be fixed. Forget old fans who don't go anymore, they're almost never going to come back. Speedway isn't the only sport that has a turnover of fans. I know of many, many people who were season ticket holders at football teams and you would never think they would stop going.. however they have.. and they simply don't go anymore or show much if any interest in going. The difference is that they are replaced by new fans. That will be the same across all sports. The issue speedway has is the 'new fans' don't in anyway cover the fans who no longer go. That trend has to be reversed.

To clarify, Zagars move was an utterly despicable one, designed to cause injury. Sam was simply very very hard, he didn't actually fence him, Zagar bottled out sharpish. It was more of a warning and fully deserved. The Dean Machine I am sure remembers it, indeed he may even have been riding that night.

That's Hancocks fault.

Swindon aren't a top team and are currently way off pace for a play off spot.

You're not grasping it. It's got little to do with the existing fans attending at £5. It's everything to do with sending a message out to NON existing speedway fans that the sport is worth them paying any form of attention too. It's really quite simple.. a sports fan flicking through channels sees something watched by a few people in a sparse stadium that he knows little about, he/she isn't going to stick around long to find out more. A casual observer flicking through, sees a big crowd seemingly being entertained, their curiosity is peeked... the sheep mentality begins to kick in. It's not an overnight fix, its a long term effect. You either want TV coverage to send a positive image, or a negative one. At the moment it is negative. What is the use in that?

Crowds are dropping off for two main reasons. The inept bordering on corrupt way the sport is run. Secondly the absolutely awful promotion. It's no good blaming Sky. Sky is the most powerful weapon speedway promoters have at their disposal to create an impression that speedway is the place to be. Instead they use the weapon, point it at their own heads and pull the trigger, match after match, year after year. The two recent meetings at Glasgow and Swindon both showed just how powerful the marketing tool of tv coverage can be. The two promotions actively promoted their meetings, resulting in big crowds that looked fantastic on tv. It's simple common sense, the average guy at home sees a big vibrant crowd having a good time, he wants to experience it for himself. Since then we've been had Coventry and Lakeside. Both put next to no effort into promotion, were rewarded with next to nobody in the attendance and did more damage to the sport. A rule should be introduced moving forwards, I think SCB mentioned it earlier. ALL sky meetings £5 entrance if tickets purchased in advance.

I'm sorry E I. Jon Cook is the last person that can speak out, he's been one of the biggest culprits of standing by allowing events to happen!

I take your point, but if the younger riders took the opportunity to perhaps learn from a rider such as Tatum the experience would be beneficial. It would be a British Final without Tai Woffinden, or any other British rider in the GP... That, I would suggest, could make the meeting a tad unattractive. I can see where you are coming from with your idea and I generally like to see out of the box thinking as that is what the sport needs, but this one wouldn't be possible in my opinion.

A British Final with 5/8000 at the new stadium in Manchester, or even Coventry. Excellent, good atmosphere. 5/8000 at Cardiff.. Awful! You're the one trying to prove something and are very much in the minority, so how about you explain. We're not interested in why you think it would work, we want factual reasoning as to why the costs would be low, why people would go to both. How you would get over the fact that no GP riders can ride a meeting at the track in the week prior.. Off you go, the floor is yours.

The most blatant fencing I have seen is by Matej Zagar on Buzz Burrows at Monmore. Zagar gated, then slowed on the back straight, looking for Buzz to come on the outside and as he did, then flung his back wheel sideways catapulting Buzz over/through the back straight fence. Buzz was carted off in the ambulance with a suspected broken leg. Anyone there that night would know how despicable and blatant it was. In Zagars next heat he was outside Sam Ermolenko. I will leave you to work out where Sam took him.

Correct and 95%, if not more, will be picking the GP.

Swindon need to make up 13pts on Kings Lynn. That's a lot. So the overwhelming probability is that Kings Lynn will be in the play-offs I agree it's not a certainty of course. Note I've discounted Wolves as I don't believe they will make the changes necessary!

My criticism wasn't aimed at you per se, there's others on the thread whose anti-BSI bias is shining through again.