mikebv

100%.. Which is why I do find it amusing when fans berate riders who miss UK meetings but keep riding abroad.. "Taking the pee out of UK speedway and its fans" "No wonder Speedway over here isnt taken seriously" are often the refrains... I think they need to look a bit closer to "home" to see the real reasons why the sport is where it is... Another often used quote is.. "The promoters don't help themselves from time to time by their decisions".. I disagree.. They 100% help themselves by their decisions... It is the overall sport itself they often don't help by them...

It just wouldn't be the same without Bomber riding for one team in a semi, and another in a final now would it? Neither of them being his own obviously, as that would be crazy...

All teams would have him I would think...

Shush!!!!!

6.5 per rider... Would make it difficult for Ipswich/Anyone to go with a powerful top two.. Two nine pointers would need to be balanced with two four pointers... Add a RS and that would be a very long tail... 39 points would suggest one big hitter per team, with each club being able to get one...

Lublin permitting...

Could they just not rearrange the Cup Final? Maybe do a double header with the Jubilee Cup...?😜

Spot on .

Is it on Sky?

Giving up Thursdays so "their riders" would be available, has been a huge negative for the UK.. The UK lost Thursday's and "their riders" are still not available.... Cannot see any benefit whatsoever as crowds haven't "boomed", and "guestfests" are now the norm... The UK has zero leverage to make any changes too...

Are they using the "NKI" sub reg?😁

Many contracts stipulate any missed meetings due to getting injured in other leagues will mean a return of some, or even all, money paid up front... FIM meetings are usually exempt from it... As Doyle has said, one point in Poland equals a max worth of money in the UK... They pay the money, they (quite rightly), dictate the terms....

Bonuses for winning things reduced? Up front payments, or pro rata part thereof, needing to be paid back? More than five fans on the internet moaning at you? .... You don't Riss off your fans in Poland... And riders will want places next season, and well beyond if you are Basso's age, so you don't want to get a bad rep for not following their instructions, unless maybe of course you are "irreplaceable", but there are not many of them...

He certainly has also helped many clubs reach play offs during a season too, even if not his own those same years....

There's a result involved? 😀

Sheffield is definitely a track thaf, as a spectacle, serves up the raw nature of the sport ie "speed".. TV never makes the spectacle look good though unless you have two riders racing together, as the speed that they are going at then becomes more "visible" and appreciative... When races get spread out at Sheffield like the majority do, (as happens at pretty much all tracks), the speed element, (on TV), doesn't cross over, hence it can look predictable and boring... I love watching Kurtz at the NSS flying around the boards even when 30m in front of anyone else, but when watching on TV, it doesn't generate the same reaction.. Sheffield has a similar feel to it, but, with less racing lines to make up ground when behind...

Then it will stay in the doldrums as that day will never come... Similar to the guestfest nonsense which forms an integral part of the operating model, what you could do, (and get away with), 25 years ago, and beyond, you simply cannot get away with now, as instant news, (and instant feedback), holds you to account... It won't change... As if it could it surely would have done so by now, especially given the clear and obvious requirement to do so for such a large length of time... You only have to go "back in time" on here to see exactly the same brand damaging, adverse crowd impacting issues, getting commented on season in, season out, time and time again, to see that those who run the sport cannot do it any other way... Hence the only way isn't upwards for it...

But apart from all that.....?

Been that way for decades... I would think the betting companies might want a bit more clarity too...

Ahhhhh,... The old cracked ribs, difficulty breathing, gone to hospital excuse.... 😁 Hopefully back for weekend as the Polish play offs should be a good watch, but cannot imagine riding a speedway bike and damaged ribs are a great combination..

All very valid, however.. Meetings still get planned in knowing riders won't be available due to riding elsewhere.... Which suggests the whole shebang isn't taken too seriously even by those who run it.. Thus, riders seem to come and go as they please, or, possibly more accurately maybe? as Poland tells them..

On the unofficial FB page someone (presumably in the know), said that they do lots of social media in the background to those who don't currently follow the sport.. Which sounds good.. However, peeing off your actual customers by not communicating to them isn't a good thing to do, I would suggest... Mark Lemon a while back talked something about Speedway being "a best kept secret"... Well, given their lack of promotion of the sport, it always will be... I've said before.. Literally thousands of kids play sport at weekends... Therefore why not sponsor some of the leagues? You would have access to thousands of parents, carers and their kids, for very little outlay... The league my lad used to play in as a kid had over 2000 kids aged U8 to U16 and took two days to do all the prizes at the end of the season prize giving.. With the trophies costing around £4k.. There are dozens of various sports leagues right on the doorsteps of speedway clubs, with tens of thousands of kids and parents who have never been to speedway, or maybe even never have heard of it... A perfect demographic to aim for..

I have often paid to get in to a meeting to find out that the line up had changed somewhat from the one advertised... Often with one of the best riders no longer being there.. Even in these days of immediate news on line, it seems this trait continues...

Reading the comments from the meeting at the NSS, it was said that Kurtz was riding "within himself" and was being hampered by some kind of injury... Therefore, it makes sense not to risk making things worse by doing any more racing... It was even questioned on a FB forum if he would be at Sheffield given his issue... If he rides in Sweden tonight then it wouldn't look "good", however I would imagine be has more than one eye on riding for Rybnik this weekend, who will no doubt be advising him... I do find it amusing though to read about riders "taking the pee" and getting 28 day bans, in a sport where running a meeting with a side made up of four guests and RR, isn't "taking the pee"... Like it or not, the bottom line is that riders missing meetings in this country doesn't devalue any competition any more or less than currently gets done by the operating model used each night... Meetings get actually planned in don't forget, when it is known some riders will be riding elsewhere, therefore, not sure why riders missing meetings is such an issue, as it obviously must be deemed "ok" to do so on other occasions...

Between his hand and his forearm....