4thbender

Beer and fags in a muddy field might satisfy a Neanderthal like Jenga, but 21st century shale fans like the option of a civilised G & T in warm and friendly surroundings before we enjoy our Guinee Fowl Blanquette, served of course with a pinch of thyme and a few alliums and hazelnuts.

Here's another one you should try explaining to a young kid... Broc Nicol scores 5 points for his team (Sheffield) on Friday night against Scunthorpe; on Saturday night he goes out FOR Scunthorpe and scores 15 against Eastbourne. How can anyone take this sport seriously?

This is a massively unfair indictment of the stadium owners, who have been very enthusiastic landlords and given successive promoters every encouragement. Where else in speedway can you find facilities like the ones enjoyed by Sheffield? The stadium management have invested heavily over several decades, providing the Panorama Room, executive boxes, the restaurant and shortly to incorporate a swish banqueting suite. All this is far superior to what is provided in any other speedway venue, including the National Speedway Stadium at Belle Vue. Promoters have always been at pains to point out that they have the best landlord in the business, and there is no evidence whatsoever that we have "greedy landlords that don't care about the sport" as you suggest. Owlerton Stadium and Sheffield Speedway go together like fish and chips and long may the two prosper together.

Notice how quiet it's gone in Jenga's corner?

On 2nd January 2017 you said "is this the same kyle howarth that couldnt be bothered to turn up for the end of season doo a while ago and rode like a pure dooosh bag cos he could not be bothered. some captn he may turn out to be."

What have you got against Howarth? Even when he was a Workington rider you didn't have a good word for him, but he's always shown himself to be a regular double-digit rider for the Tigers. Did he once ravage your grannie or something?

One sane voice in a cacophony of baloney.

Don't know where you get your ideas, but you couldn't be further from the truth in suggesting the Bates family have run the club down. We've been greatly blessed at Owlerton down the years with having promoters who have done the club and the city proud; from Frank Varey through to Neil Machin and latterly the Bates family we have been lucky to have promoters who have placed the interests of the club as first priority. People like me have criticised specific decisions (which, as paying punters, we are entitled to do) but we have never doubted the promoters' commitment to the wellbeing of the Sheffield Tigers riders and fans. Unfortunately the same cannot be said for the legions of numpties on the BSPA who in recent years have made decisions to feather their own nests regardless of the impact on the sport as a whole, and whose ineptitude has got the sport into the mess it's now in.

If Sheffield goes - as seems distinctly possible (if not likely) - with so many other clubs teetering on the edge, there will come a point when competitive speedway in the UK will reach a tipping point. Running two leagues with only 7/8 teams in each will not provide a viable option for the sport. At that point, combining the two upper leagues will be the ONLY option for survival of the sport. But I fear it will be too late to resurrect teams like Sheffield that have fallen along the way. Once they're gone they're gone for good.

Nine points in Glasgow is a good result against a quality field. Hope he hasn't driven back from Glasgow overnight and is too knackered to get out of bed.

Click here for picture: https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@53.4055911,-1.4940825,57m/data=!3m1!1e3. The turnstiles are the white-roofed building on the right. The front row of parking bays are designated for disabled parking. Entrance to the car park is on Livesey Street (S6 2ET).

In the car park, as close to the turnstiles as you can get.

With King's experience at no. 1, Howarth back and new man McDonald wanting to prove his worth, I get the feeling this might be the match which turns Sheffield's fortunes around. I fancy us for a win.

I feel very sad for Kasper - dropped by both his teams. He showed at the end of last season what he's capable of, but just hasn't managed to reproduce it in 2019. Hope he gets fixed up somewhere soon. Maybe a spell back in Denmark will help him restore his confidence.

….and a heat leader who's been a passenger!

Bearing in mind Kemp's still a kid at 16 I think it would be unfair to criticise him too harshly. If I'm honest I think the high expectations that led to his signing were built on a couple of freakishly outstanding performances at the back end of last season. Whilst the lad is undoubtedly an emerging talent I think it would be wrong to heap too much criticism on his young shoulders. Let's give the lad a chance. As for the Scunny no.1, It wouldn't be for me to impose my views on your team's misfortune. I wish there were more visiting no.1's struggling to score points at Owlerton. My fear is that before this season is out there will be a host of no.1's scoring a hatful of points (damn them all) and our lads will be the poorer for it!

Star of the show for my money was Todd Kurtz. I've gone on record previously as saying he's a "slow burner" and will finish up in a year or two with an 8 point average. To say he hasn't been near Owlerton this season until Sunday, he rode with considerable skill and maturity. I said in the winter that Sheffield were mugs to let him go and, having seen how some of the Tigers' "rising stars" performed on Sunday, I see no reason to change my opinion on that. The trouble is, having had a good look at the track, Todd will probably come back on 30th June with Somerset and punish us. In terms of the general team performance, the rider with least excuse for such a poor showing is Ty Proctor. For an alleged heat leader, three third places and a solitary win is not acceptable and unless he pulls his socks up I can well see him being the first out of the door by July. Kasper's confidence looks to have been blown, whilst Zaine's performances alternate between brilliant and abysmal. Meanwhile Broc reserves all his best performances for the away matches (which is no bad thing). All-in-all, we've had a run of lucky escapes in the last three home matches but on present showing I fear we will be on the losing end when the stronger teams start arriving (starting next Sunday with Leicester).

Very sorry to hear of the passing of Freddie Starr who, in the 1970s, could often be found watching speedway from the Panorama Room at Owlerton. This invariably led to him doing an impromptu performance after the match, entertaining the crowds with his wild antics. My wife has fond memories of being co-opted into joining him in a conga line which went all the way round the Panorama Room - until it disappeared into the men's toilets! Whether he actually ate the hamster or not, his unique talents will be sadly missed.

Bears co-promoter Jitendra Duffill said after last night's match: "I honestly feel that you will not see a better speedway meeting anywhere in the country this year. The racing was absolutely phenomenal and we are so lucky to have such a special race track here on Teesside.” Why can't we have some of that (like we used to)?

Many of us spent most of last season saying precisely that.

That's the thing about Scunny - it's run on the back of Sheffield's cast-offs!

As long as the promoters don't ban you.

Sheffield's track woes were once again to the fore in today's Top Gun event. The stadium was reduced to a dust bowl for the second week in succession, the resulting slick state of the track making competing almost impossible and spectating equally difficult. I fear this is just one more unintended consequence of afternoon racing. With the sun still high in the sky, the aerosol effect causes any moisture in the track to evaporate as soon as the surface covering becomes airborn under the impact of tyres. At 4.00pm this afternoon the track looked well watered and perfect for racing, but after three heats it was bone dry with dust clouds swirling around. The benefit of evening racing is that the sun is lower in the sky and the latent heat in the ground is dispersing, allowing any remaining moisture to retain the particulate integrity of the track surface for a much longer period. On Thursday nights, only in the very hottest weeks of the year was dust a problem but I fear this will not be the case in the afternoons. I predict that unless we have a particularly damp summer (in itself a problem for racing), dust and drying out of the track will become a recurrent problem. Incidentally, can anyone shed light on the reasons for the removal of the edging stones from the inside of the track?

Before the days of "press releases" (which turned press reporters into press repeaters) we used to have these people called investigative journalists who would sniff out local stories and print the results in the local rag for all to see. Why don't some of you Worky fans get on to the sports reporter of the News and Star (might I suggest jon.colman@newsquest.co.uk) and suggest to him that, for once, rather than waiting for the news to come to him, he might consider getting his finger out and going out to discover what the hell is happening to Workington Comets.

Not an inspiring start to the season. Track was as slick as a board, hence 22 processional races. There will need to be a heap more shale put down if the season is to produce any excitement.