mikebv

But. There is no other way of running the sport....

They'll all be there next week... And at the start of next season... The sport now has die hards immune to the operating model, and immune to any "Barry White" served up on poorly prepared tracks.. Augmented by a few hundred at every track that attend play offs or BH's... If I was a rider last night, my thoughts would be about getting away in one piece, particularly if I had major meetings coming up in Poland and Denmark.. Not sure I would be worried about the views of someone who felt they had the right to expect me to take what I maybe felt were undue risks on a poor surface, given its my career that could be impacted by any crash.. It would be interesting to hear from Sheffield fans who attended the called off meeting the other week, when some Ipswich riders as well as some Sheffield riders wouldn't ride, as to how much worse their track was compared to last nights... Lads earning £500k (plus, and then some) in Poland need to sometimes ensure they look after No1.. Bottom line is, provide a race track that gives four lads in every race confidence they can use all the circuit, and ride closely together, and this thread wouldn't be discussing whether riders tried or not... And a decent race track is the MINIMUM you should expect as a fan, as everything else comes from that...

On a not too great track, he took zero risks..... Finished on eight off four... Just like last night, if you gated first then great, if you didn't, then just make sure you didn't crash... Last night, riders kept themselves several bike lengths apart due to their vision being impacted if too close to the rider in front, and also the higher than usual risk of the rider in front falling and then getting collected by the rider behind if he was too close... And any riders using the outside ran the risk of locking up and high siding.. I saw the replay of one race and Brady struggled to turn the bike, straightened up, and locked up badly on bend four... He then got filled in by whoever was third.... Easily could have high sided and bust a collarbone.. I think that ride made his mind up for the rest of the night...

Just seen the scores from last night, (as I was a "Dad Taxi" I only watched from Heat Four to Seven and then went to bed after watching four heats of riders riding around equidistant apart for four laps), and noticed Dan only got 4.... The same as Brady.... Yet, seemingly, he "tried" according to some on here, so escaped criticism from the Witches fans, (baffled why they would be bothered about the Aces riders but there you go)... A good job he did try though as if he didnt, his score would have been even less.... Only saw him in one race and he gated and won, but noticed he ran two lasts, which on that track would be no surprise if you didn't gate.. Amazing how this sport fails to "showcase" itself when on TV, most sports ensure the "playing field" provides the maximum opportunity for those competing to show off their elite skills to a watching nation.. UK Speedway, instead, actually allows riders like Emil and Dan to NOT demonstrate their elite skill set to those watching at home... Maybe if no GP/Elite riders next year then the money saved could go into track covers? As, getting the track raceable to provide entertainment, (especially on those "dodgy days") must be the No1 priority surely for promoters if this sport is ever to become more popular... I have watched 19 heats in the last few days and the vast majority have had riders almost a full straight apart, from front to back, with all riders a similar distance apart.. Not a great advert for "top level" UK Speedway is it? But it starts and ends with what "playing surface" is provided..

Long gone are those days... Whisper it, but watching Brady and Dan howling around the boards can actually now be "average" to watch given they do it so often.. I stopped going to Kirky Lane when watching Jason Crump howling into the bends quicker than anyone else by miles, also became "average" to watch, as he did it so often... When I watch (UK) speedway it has very little riding (pardon the pun), on it given the Mickey Mouse rules and lack of credibility, therefore it is only the racing that gets me to attend... And I attend the play offs as usually it feels like an "event" you are attending with decent crowds... Monday night was a dreadful spectacle in front of a half empty grandstand, and tonight's offering on track even worse... Anyone watching at home who are non speedway fans, but casually watching due to its Semi Final status would have done well to get to Heat 10 tonight, let alone Heat 15.. Sad to see the sport in its current state, but not sure those running it have the capability to turn it around, given they are responsible for the current state in the first place..

Its a weird old world isn't it? Ipswich fans are more pissed off with Brady's performance than the Aces fans .. Surely the fact that your opponents best rider was crap should be a good thing as it meant a very easy victory in a semi final of the sports premier domestic competition.... I hope Haaland plays absolutely crap on Sunday and United therefore win... If he does play crap, I definitely won't be moaning about his performance on any of the forums afterwards...

Both will have brought lots of entertainment this season.. At a level few others could match... A bad night can happen to anyone and given the huge financial penalties in Poland for getting injured elsewhere, and the huge publicity and financial rewards in winning their top league, I can understand why Emil did what he needed to do taking zero risks.. As for Brady? This could be a once in a lifetime opportunity, and, with all the best will in the world, another UK title isn't going to define his career one iota is it? But a World Championship will cement his legacy in the sport...

Yet, he is always telling everyone he meets how incredibly fond he is of you....

Both have much bigger challenges ahead so you cannot blame them.. Emil getting injured riding in the UK would see him hammered both publicly by the Torun fans, and financially by the owners...

No... I think you will find he blew everyone away that day... Never made a start and passed everyone, in every race, by the end of lap two... He then let them all pass him, and did them again to win on the line in every heat..... He then converted a few stale loaves of bread, and some old fishes, into a mega banquet for the 5000 there...!

He will get one of Brady's....

BZ on a track like this in a team meeting would be riding very much with self preservation in mind, just like Brady... On a track like this in a GP then BZ would be full on... Just like Kurtz would be... The difference being of course, in Poland, BZ wouldn't have a track like this to race on... Emil is another example of someone with much bigger fish to fry given he must not get injured and possibly miss the Polish play offs, hence he will be just pleased to complete his four rides..

No! No! No! They don't work.....!!! Must be that UK rain is different than in other places....

If I was Brady, I would be asking for it to happen...

The Aces have a bottom three at home, and a bottom four away... You cannot get away with such a long tail against the best team in the league... The bottom four will score 8 Max between them.. The Aces have averaged around just 37 this year at all away tracks... And that is with plenty of TS rides helping the score...

Me and my lad on Monday were actually joking at just how many "wear the club shop".. Plenty were doing so ... Granted most were fifty something's so were wearing a coat over the top to keep the cold out... Which maybe hid just how many were wearing some Aces memorabilia.. The issue the sport has was clearly highlighted on Monday when, on an evening where there was no threat to it not taking place, given the forecast from 24 hours before, not enough Aces and Ipswich fans could be arsed turning up for a POSF... The whole reason we go through a season of qualifiers is to get this part of the season meaning the competition itself must have so little kudos and credibility, even to some of the sports most regular followers, that so many simply couldn't see the worth in attending... The Ipswich fans stated a Monday night as being the problem, however, I am sure if it was the final then they would have attended.. (Maybe Phil was right in putting commercial reasons in front of everything else when he put Sheffield with Belle Vue!?).. There are only SIX meetings that actually mean anything all year, therefore when one of those six delivers such disinterest, those who run Speedway should really be very worried.. No point having the play offs if they don't generate more money than the tracks lose by fans not bothering to attend qualifiers..

The padded seats are home, in the main, to the ST holders, who have to purchase tickets for the PO's... Many would have purchased their usual seats...

I hear Manuel Neuer, and Marco Reus just missed getting on the podium in Germany...

I hear Manuel Neuer, and Marco Reus just missed getting on the podium in Germany...

As I mentioned before... Around 150 Aces fans attended the first leg of the POSF a couple of years ago on the Thursday at Foxhall... It seems there is a lack of belief in how important the competition actually is nowadays, such is the amount of apathy shown by so many not attending from both teams last night.. Given how the sport is ran, I cannot blame them, however, it must be worrying for promoters when even semi finals cannot get enough people interested from both sides.. Weather permitting, I am sure Ipswich will get a decent crowd, but I don't think 150 Aces fans will be there this time...

They lost the second leg though.. Badly...

Aces to slightly drop their Foxhall average of 36, due to no TS's allowed.. Kurtz, Bewley, Lidsey getting 26 off their 14 rides.. The other four scoring 8 between them... 56-34 the result...

I 100% agree, however . It also highlights just how trivial both sets of fans see the competition's actual standing and value is in winning... You go all season putting up with play off qualifiers and then decide "being there" at the business end of fhe season simply isn't worth the hassle... If you cannot encourage the home and away teams' fans to attend play off semi's, in any decent numbers, regardless of night, then the sport really is in trouble, given this competition is its "flagship", and the one that goes out live on TV to advertise the sport... A two thirds empty stadium, with not one group of away fans there to zoom in on when their team have a good heat, doesn't make the competition look like something with too much pulling power, or kudos... Part of Poland's pulling power is the good many travelling fans who get plenty of camera time, making each meeting look like an "event" and adding hugely to that vital tribal atmosphere... My biggest disappointment last night was Emil, as I was looking forward to watching him race well, given he is truly box office when on it... When he rides in Poland I doubt opposition fans have the same thoughts...

I would estimate about 2000 Max... The mainstand was about half full (900 or so), with possibly over 1000 on the back straight (there was still loads of room there)... There was the usual lack of local promoting of the play offs, however, I believe Granada Reports mentioned it at around half six, (just over an hour before start!)... Amazed people didn't put their teas down and get themselves down there!!! I have only been once this season so I got there around 6.45 to try and get a space on Kirky Lane, (as I remember these spaces usually get filled quickly), and half the road was available, which tended to suggest there and then that the crowd wasn't going to be "bumper".. I have said many times, Speedway needs to find a way to get Away Fans in attendance in decent numbers... There may have been Witches fans there last night but they were few and far between... Ironically, given the home crowd levels, the Aces do take a decent following away and I remember around 150 or more at Ipswich a couple of seasons ago for the first leg of the POSF.. And obviously 400 or so at Sheffield and around 300 at Leicester when they won their recent titles.. 150 Witches fans, either sat together or stood together, would have given the meeting the feeling of being an "event", (that a POSF should be seen as), rather than the mundane, run of the mill, evening it ended up being.. No idea why clubs don't subsidise Away Fans admission (huge reductions), given so very few go now.. It would raise the atmosphere levels massively...

I would estimate about 2000 Max... The mainstand was about half full (900 or so), with possibly over 1000 on the back straight (there was still loads of room there)... There was the usual lack of local promoting of the play offs, however, I believe Granada Reports mentioned it at around half six, (just over an hour before start!)... Amazed people didn't put their teas down and get themselves down there!!! I have only been once this season so I got there around 6.45 to try and get a space on Kirky Lane, (as I remember these spaces usually get filled quickly), and half the road was available, which tended to suggest there and then that the crowd wasn't going to be "bumper".. I have said many times, Speedway needs to find a way to get Away Fans in attendance in decent numbers... There may have been Witches fans there last night but they were few and far between... Ironically, given the home crowd levels, the Aces do take a decent following away and I remember around 150 or more at Ipswich a couple of seasons ago for the first leg of the POSF.. And obviously 400 or so at Sheffield and around 300 at Leicester when they won their recent titles.. 150 Witches fans, either sat together or stood together, would have given the meeting the feeling of being an "event", (that a POSF should be seen as), rather than the mundane, run of the mill, evening it ended up being.. No idea why clubs don't subsidise Away Fans admission (huge reductions), given so very few go now.. It would raise the atmosphere levels massively...