Dave_minall

Eurosport and Sky are happy with the commentating presented by Pearson/Tatum, otherwise they would have done something a long time ago. They have a clear idea on what they want from them. They have a good production team and anything that they're not a fan of will be nipped in the bud very quickly. I'm sorry to say this but lump it or leave it. If you've got any issues then speak to Eurosport/Sky direct.

Can't help but think that these 2 things are entirely unrelated and would not constitute as 'double standards'. You have a valid point that both carry a very heavy weight with regards to regulation, but they are chalk and cheese. No double standards here at all.

One thing I am enjoying though is how much certain riders got a lot of stick pre-season suggesting that they would struggle, and that's the complete opposite of what's happened! Ace!

Oh for god's sake - it's easy as hell to compare any job to that of a genuine grafter like someone in the army/police/fire service. I work in an office but can't be criticised because it's "easy" compared to that of our armed forces. A couple of the points I've seen on here now are just plain ridiculous when trying to ridicule Pearson and Tatum. I've said it countless times, just watch it with the sound off, or quite simply don't watch it at all. Whilst I'm on the subject of people being out of order... to the absolute creature who tried to email Pearson just to call him a t**t, please sir, run with scissors.

When you look at the class of the top 8 (and deduct Holder from that) there is only really room for 1 rider to move into that, I'd be inclined to think that Ward will be that 8th rider. In my opinion Gollob will retire at the end of this season, Holder and MAYBE Lindgren will be given a wild card, the rest will not be considered. Jonssonn and Lindback are a farcry of their former days and need time to recuperate before coming back. It's a shame because if all riders were to hit the form we know they're all capable of, this series could have been the best we've ever seen.

Is it just me or did anyone else think that we should have given Worral a chance at Kings Lynn? Granted he is VERY inexperienced at this level, but Lynn is his home track. Couldn't have done much worse than Kennett did. Also, Please Middlo (or whoever ends up as GB team manager next year) - give some of our younger riders a go. At least then if it goes ** up it's because we're chucking our youth in at the deep end to give them experience at this level.

From what I've heard, polyfoam fences are initially more expensive, but cheaper to maintain. A better investment methinks. I bet Colin Meredith is rubbing his hands together now...

So nobody has picked up on Harris' empty threat of not riding in the WC if he didn't get his own way and be gifted a wild card slot in the GPs?

I agree with you SCB. As much as I wanna see him back out as fast as possible and to continue putting pressure on Emil for the top spot, he's got many many years to get it right a second time. if he rushes back, he could risk his whole career. Lets look at Crumpy - granted he was at the tail end of his career but he rushed into getting his collarbone fixed and that was definitely the wrong move. Don't do it Tai!

I thought the cloaks were an excellent idea, very fresh and really what I think the sport needs. It needs a kick in the theatrical arse, and this was just that. Call it corny, call it tacky, it works. I loved it.

When you're proper going at a fair pace, you'll need to be pretty fit. You probably won't notice out on track but when you get off the bike you will know how fit you are. I rode in the (what was the conference league) and at no point ever went to a gym or watched what I was eating. I was about 9-10 stone though, and I probably took about 2 minutes to catch my breath.

Providing the problem areas do not cause any crashes, this can only make the meeting more exciting. We've all seen in the past how a slightly dodgy track can make for a very interesting meeting! Can't wait!

Is anyone on here at practice right now? Is today's practice open to the public? How's it looking? I did see a picture last night of Tai having a practice... lets just say it wasn't a pretty picture.

I remember the legendary fight between Scott Nicholls and Emil at Cardiff a while back, and the first chap to run onto the track to split them up was Pete the gate man from Newport, I miss Pete. He always used to rib me for eating burgers before a Mavericks meeting. Whilst I'm on the subject, I miss Newport's burgers. Best burger of all the tracks I've been to/ridden at.

For those of us too lazy to google, or to navigate to the first post: http://www.thefreestyleshow.co.uk/

I definitely agree, it will never happen, but it would be a potential solution to increasing crowd sizes and income, it's just too much of a risk.

don' t go there!

If a club charges £17 per meeting and drops this to £10, they would have to "pretty much" double their crowd to make that work - I did say: "they'd have to bring in nearly twice the crowd" that's basic business. it's pretty logical. Riders are never going to take pay cuts, equipment is never going to get any cheaper. Promoters need to think outside the box to make ends meet and it won't involve cutting costs when it comes to paying riders.

Just take one of these. Everyone will hear it.

It would be interesting to see if a track could survive by charging £10 on the door week in, week out. Granted they'd have to bring in nearly twice the crowd, but the increase in food/drink/merchandise sales should also increase as a result. An experiment I'm assuming will never be attempted.

Indeed, it was the broken scaphoid that did it

If you consider how Starke simply slid off and stayed down, compared to Smith's high speed crash into the fence, that should put it into perspective. If one of these riders had less chance of getting up and off the track, it was Smith, and he was straight up to clear his bike. Disgusting thing to do. The replay shows that Starke was miles behind Smith and would have had plenty of time to get out of the way, rather than put it down. This was blatant cheating and he deserved his fine. Aside from that blip, the meeting was fantastic and clearly shows that the Berwick promotion are doing their job properly. If only all tracks were run like them.

I did find it quite funny how Tai said in an interview in Prague that everyone at Cardiff will be there to watch just him - cheeky little dig at Bomber there. Could be fireworks between them at Cardiff

I wish I had been drinking - I was at work when I posted that! No idea what I was going on about. Temporary moment of stupidity.

Fantastic news - Sophie was always great when working for Sky. Nice to see her back and it's also great that Sky haven't decided to use Sky's current girl (I can't even remember her name...)