BWitcher

Bloody awesome. Once again when the pressure was really on he stepped up to the plate. 3 x World Champion. Brilliant! WOFFY WOFFY WOFFY!

And Woffinden didn't

This title could end up being decided by that disgraceful decision to exclude Woffinden for delaying the start a couple of GP's ago.

Wow. Fair play to Chris Harris, that was absolute magic. Much as I didn't want Poole to win, can only applaud that.

Brilliant start from Klindt. And given a warning? Ref should have realised was wrong.

Absolutely nothing wrong with it. Doyle was clearly not injured in any way.

Not classy, truthful. I have said nothing against actual victims, just those celebrities who seek to usurp them with their own 'look at me' story.

And is a sexual assault survivor... i.e. a male touched her on the shoulder once in 1987.

Often the best racing occurs when tracks are actually enjoying a less than successful season.. closer home matches, decent racing.. crowds plummet. Wheareas a team winning easily every week with less good racing enjoys higher crowds. The fact that your 'better example' is another team with awful gates says it all. Doesn't exactly help your argument.

Really.. So you're telling me across the world of football the big teams who get the best players don't win. Nonsense. US Sports don't really do it either, it's something of a myth. They still have the big teams with the money and those without.

Agreed, but the simple premise of cutting the product and keeping the price the same for any business is doomed to failure.

So, that happens in all sports and they continue just fine. Speedway continues down a path of trying to do it differently.. and it keeps failing.

The quality of racing has been discussed numerous times, it's no different. If Belle Vue was packed out every week that argument could be used... it isn't though.. and neither are any other tracks that are meant to have the best racing.

Utter nonsense. For years and years the big teams have pandered to the small teams.. That is what hasn't worked. Constantly dumbing down to the lowest level in the league, losing both sets of clubs fans. The 'smaller' teams used to get bumper crowds when the likes of Holder/Ward visited with Poole.. The league has been steadily weakened year after year... and crowds have fallen. As some riders are forced out, the next level of riders name their price and so you end up still paying out but for a lesser calibre of rider.

That problem lasts for precisely one season. Then hey presto, everyone has a fresh new average applicable to the league size. All you have to do is get the initial team building average correct.

No it isn't. I've seen junior riders such as David Haynes, Matt Cartmell, Ade Hoole riding in the top flight in years when the league was way stronger. They simply got promoted to No 7 when required.

Not so much, the problem with the team this year was he had riders such as Thorssell and Howarth who were never going to maintain their averages. In the side above, every single one of those riders can increase, especially Thorssell, Morris and Howarth, especially as Howarth would be starting at reserve! We would also have a very strong reserve throughout the entire season. Indeed, given a similar structure I would have that team down as favorites without even seeing the opposition it would be that strong. I highly doubt it will be the same setup though.

Sidney, when you don't understand something and make no effort to understand it, it's best if you simply say nothing. I don't have to make anything up, I don't have an 'argument'. What I have said is bona fide fact and no matter how much you bleat and whinge it won't change it.

Come on, you're more intelligent than that surely? It isn't an 'argument' to buy. It's a reality. The 4th ride is 1 & 5 v 1 & 5 or 4 & 6 v 4 & 7. So by 'not buying' the argument you are claiming that racing against two reserves is not easier than racing against two No 1's. Then of course if the other team didn't have their second best rider at 4, it's even easier still. The effects are quite obvious just by looking at the Wolves season. Schlein started at No 4, easier riders, average soared, went to No 1. Harder position, began to struggle. Meanwhile, Masters who had been struggling by his previous standards was moved to No 4, hey presto he suddenly starts scoring heavily and he moves to No 1, where of course his scores drop again. The difference between riding at 4 or 5 is 1-2 pts in terms of average over the course of the season.

Grachan has answered them brilliantly once he understood what the discussion was. He agreed. Ashby in the format as it is now would be a SECOND/THIRD heat leader. Glad you finally agreed Sidney.

There are no opinions being discussed. This is your problem, you don't understand what an opinion actually is. Your argument is the equivalent of saying 5+5 = 20 because it's your 'opinion'.

You've got it spot on. In a similar fashion it's why riders like Andy Smith, Chris Harris and now Craig Cook have been mocked over the years as being rubbish because they struggled in the GP's. Someone who just watches GP speedway on TV and has no knowledge of league racing would really think they were awful!

The only valid comparison. You don't change the riders involved, simply the league size and heat format. My point is simply, the bigger the league the more 'stars' you have. Especially in a 13 heat format. Hence in the 70's you had a lot more 'star' riders who had that mystique about them because you rarely saw them get beat. When it actually came down to it though, you still had a select few who were above the others as you do in every era.

The standard of riders in the league at the moment isn't relevant. That's an impossible debate. A 6pt rider now could be better than a 10pt rider of the 70's and vice versa (although far less likely in the second scenario). We can never prove that one way or another. The point is simple. The 10th best rider in the league in a large league in a 13 heat format appears a hell of a lot better than the same rider in a smaller league with a 15 heat format. If we look at Poland, perhaps the best comparison in terms of 'strength' of rider, the 10th averaging rider is about 8.5. Again, not something that sets the pulse racing when that rider comes to town. Not sure how many times the top riders face each other in the Polish heat format?

Barely relevant. In the 70's for example, Ashby might race Mauger twice in a season. Once at home, once away (putting aside tacs for the moment). In a set up as it is now, he'd be racing him 12 times. Take the same with the 2nd and 3rd best riders in the league and so on... the difference to the average soon builds up.