martinmauger

So TWK, where do your loyaties lie: with the Rebellian (not the Somerset version) / Resistance or with the Empire / First Order, Light or Dark Side of the Force ?. Always loved Star Wars, don't mind Star Trek & Indiana Jones, Harry Potter is really for kids I but can't get into Lord Of the Rings. I'm told by Sci-Fi / Fantasy fans, more serious than I they are (!), that the arguments on the Star Trek forums have to be read to be believed. Still, wouldn't life be boring if we all liked everything ?...

Mine arrived today, Saturday, annoying for sure but to be fair post has been a week or more late in this area....

No, I have't been at the Chrimbo egg-nog already; that starts tomorrow. I hit the flicks and Star Wars: The Last Jedi, sees our heroes searching for someone to help them give the bad guys another kicking (no spoilers but it's actually to stop the bad guys wiping them out) when they travel to an up-market casino-planet where gambling is the thing and betting on the old space gee-gees is the way. Some action shows said space gee-gees racing around a oval huge track, maybe half a mile long, of loose surface with at least one enormously banked corner which woud be turns 3 & 4 as races were run clockwise. Can't say I noticed turns '1 & 2', but it looked one heck of a track. Meantime "just jump into an X-Wing and blow stuff up", and you all thought I'd just say May The Force Be With You.....

Plus, laters when you review a meeting or even an incedent comments like "Fell, hit fence, bike too damaged to contimue" I find it takes you back and you remember loads more. Returning briefly to F1, I know peeps who when playing video games on Xbox P Stations always do the full race distance: 70 or so laps over 1 1/2 hours, playing over a few weeks or so the full 18 races or so season. With the obligatory steering wheel and pedals game controllers. And some say speedway fans are anorak geeks; on the rare occasions I can be bothered I get bored playing racing games over more than 25 laps....

Some fans do write down such things for other mortorsports; qualifying times, 'timed' & 'untimed' practice laps + lap times during the race actual: for F1, F3, F Ford, Touring Cars, Ginetta Cup, BSB, MotoGP, etc. Just think; lap times of each car for a full-distance F1 race, 70 laps or so, I know folk who do just that . A publication which would be a programme to speedway fans, they call a 'scoresheet' (or timing sheet, don't recall) and the actual 'race programme' is akin to a full-blown magazine. So it does happen in other motorsports. Filling in proggies is a choice for speedway fans but as a meeting is a 'flowing' competition with natural breask, between heats, it's difficult to keep track without a proggie if you are really following the scores....

This ^^^ (again), wouldn't take huge investment i.e. mostly none, to achieve most. Nail really getting hit on the head at the moment....

As others have already posted: but promote meetings. Its' all very well advertising 'entry for a tenner' when it's on TV once or so a season but then don't not promote anymore, it must be promoted each & every week. + too many rule changes, the rule book should really be torn up and start again form scratch. e.g. a riders average is 5pts because that is his average now, not from when he last rode 8 years ago for 5 matches 3 of which were away and were under some special dispensation or other. And run at night whenever possible, speedway always looks better under floodlites and going out anwhere at nite is always a little bit more exciting than during the day. I still watch live speedway whenever ever I can but I'm at the stage wehere the exact ins and outs of rules don't really intrerest me anywmore as once you get your heads around it, they change it again. I just go to enjoy the racing these days....

Never knew him, but defo heard of him, think he once had tiger stripes put in his hair once (and / or a tattoo) to commemorate something John Louis did; qualify for 1975 World Final ? Either way he was a speedway superfan. RIP....

It certinaly does. Assuming this a family forum: "round things to the wall, kick behind, guitar orientated rock and roll". Difficult getting kids into suff, they mostly can't be bothered. Friends run Operation Raleigh-type schemes, went into schools saying to kids if they wrote sponsorship request letters to big firms they would probably (definately) get some money (all of it) towards funding the trips. i.e just write a few letters and get everything, that's everything, paid for to do cool, worthwhile things and learn new skills, make new friends, in interesting countries all around the world. The take-up figure was around 10%....

And promoters don't seem to appreciate that with every unpopular rule, the ones promoters themsleves admit to then change, you lose fans who may never return. The latest less than popular rule being the 'one over the eight' rule for 8pt riders. Fixed race nights is good but then a lot of good is undone by that new 8pt rule, so the likes of NikiP, Woffy, Greg, Russkie Emil, NKI, etc can't return to ride in the UK even if they wish to...

Irrelevant, gotta actually get the kids in first. Though oldies may well bail, then you have next to no crowd. Ideally play a mixture of up to date chart stuff & some faster rockier numbers most folk will like, but as already mentioned, not the same blooming stuff every single blooming time. Knew a DJ who used to do that, he may as well have just put a mix-tape on....

I remember that ^^, but not May Each Day,. Was either prob already in the bar (under age tut, tut ) or made fast getaway for the supporters coach home, depending on time. The racing wasn't the greatest at Brandon in those but what a slick, professional show in a clean stadium....

As above, good to see Briggo looking well. His books BTW are very good read, the latest (the one he's signing) is a real adventure, almost 'Indiana Jones And The Speedway'. Barry Briggs is defo a 'man who's done stuff with his life'. Updated forum looking good too....

As above, a few years ago he may have been 'up for the job'. He's a very successful businessman , and good luck to him for that, and he certainly helped keep open / reopen many tracks almost for fun over the years and I can confirm he's given advice to others trying to do the same....

In addition to (almost!) Ole Olsen Barry Briggs, Egon Muller & Ivan Mauger World Champions at Hull, Boulevard era, in the Craven Park era we also had riding for us: 1989 World Team Cup Winner & 1991 World Finalist Paul Thorp, 1994 World Finalist Jan Staechmann, 1993 U21 World Champ Joe Screen & 1993 World Champ Sam Ermolenko.....

Feel those sentiments ^^. Heard from a couple of sources that Rye House's tractor & grader circa 1994 ended up at Hull, Craven Park for 1995 season....

Or the theme from Star Wars, which I do like BTW....

And please (please), only play Simply The Best when the team has won something really worthwhile, like winning against the odds a tough close match v local rivals or league leaders; Against All Odds by Phil Collins is also acceptable in that situation. And / or only play We Are The Champions when the team is i.e league champions / KOC winners. The one worthy time I've heard We Are The Champions played at speedway was when Hull won the Premier League in 2004, still sends shivers down my spine....

Used to at Hull, Boulevard too, quite popular with fans. In addition to afore mentioned tunes: We're gonna Win - Def Leppard Chainsaw Charlie - WASP (really). The opening of the differently-toned chainsaws starting up (ok they are moped-like 2-strokes) followed fast 120BPM heavy metal guitar, a bit like Motley's Kickstart My Heart, always reminds me of the a start a speedway heat. As an aside I Keep meaning to have a musician friend 'score' the sound of a speedway bike, i.e the exact key and note. And, please, if tracks must play songs by Kiss (my fav band) please (please) don't play Crazy, Crazy Nights. The band have been in existence since 1973 and have many, many more suitable, up-tempo tunes. E.g. Psycho Circus (welcome to the show), Detroit Rock City, Creatures Of the Night, King Of The Nighttime World, I Love It Loud (used a lot at ice hockey, a bit like We Will rock You), Tomorrow And Tonight, Rock And Roll All Nite, etc. I could go on (just did)....

Seems because as I said elsewhere: not many promoters seem to promote, only when match is on TV. They run their tracks well for sure, else more would close down, but not necessarily much actual promotion....

I can easily believe that ^^, a while since I've done any acountancy work. Yet another (unamed) promoter told me he could 'accept' his speedway club losing 'up to £30,000 p.a.' as profits from his other business interests more than made up for it, any more and 'purse strings would need to be tightened'. And "the stadium owner is actually a speedway fan, and supports what we are doing though other activities take priority, and as long as we pay the rent on time and don't make too much of a mess, he's more than happy for us to continue, he's businsess man too and appreciates his stadium would otherwise be empty on speedway nights''. I would describe myself as an extremely inquisitive (nosey?) type and once I get into a subject I like to know anything & everything about it as much as is possible, good bad or indifferent. Yes, I've discovered the odd titbit I wish I'd never known and met the odd 'hero with feet of clay' (and not only in speedway) but I find most speedway folk are happy to talk when approached at the right time and in the right manner and you don't ask too many questions. In my 'past life' as a student for my own interest I built a huge spreadsheet based on information I was told directly from the horses mouth, as it were, and employing educated guesses as I was interested to discover how, or even if, speedway clubs made a profit. After playing around with my spreadsheet (which I still have saved - somewhere), changing monetary values up and down, and while it helps greatly owning ones own stadium / track, I concluded that very few, if any, speedway clubs do make much of a profit....

Thanks for clarifying. So just the 1 Tac Sub, then still better than the unpopular TR....

This ^^. Not read entire thread (still at work !) but the BSPA AGM release says 'tactical substitutes', inferring more than one per match. As always time will tell....

Didn't explain as clealry as I should have, but he meant 'paying', i.e. losing, £10k over a season, which many probably do. Being 'speedway mad' doesn't come close....

I know, but it's what I was told. Also when fans complain about the increase in admission most promoters pay way more to watch their speedway, usually around £10,000, while we critcise them I guess we should be pleased that they are willing to do so....