mikebv

Same system applies for me Steve, let riders two and three take all his rides... However, to be honest the ultimate issue with your scenario is that Cook is too good for Div 2 so really shouldn't be riding there.. The disparity between the best and worse riders in all teams, (to try and slavishly keep seven man sides), is one of the main reasons guests end up being used. Missing an out and out No1 like Cook at Div 2 level takes out probably 25% - 33% of their points hence when he isn't there he needs replacing with a similar standard rider.. For me, less riders per team but a reduced ability gap between the best and worst is the key to make 'no guests' work...

No need to replace Craig Cook with a guest in this example.. Just let every other member of the BV team take a maximum of two of his rides... All riders to be able to take a maximum of seven... Fricke taking two, and Bjerre taking two wouldnt lessen the team strength too much, if at all Same for riders further down the line. The riders above and below can take two each, (if the manager sees it fit tactically to do so). The only stipulation would be if a number seven is missing he must have two (or more if again manager sees fit) of his races replaced by a No 8, who must be a two point man from the NL not contracted to any team in that division... Reduce the number of riders in teams from its current seven and you would also have replacements available for short term loan deals to replace riders.. This year after the winter team building changes has already seen a surplus of riders coming in as replacements. It's crackers though that the 'unattached' riders cannot step in for riders missing on a one match basis if so needed, rather than 'guests' used from the same League's teams..

Guest riders are a 'necessary evil' only because we are brain washed into thinking so... It is the easy, lazy option, rather than working the team strength system into being fit for purpose. No Guests in Sweden and Poland? Not all Superstars either. So why? Because they race on the same night the vast proportion of the time so riders cannot be in two places at once.. Too easy over here as riders always available to step in... Denmark run five man teams using mainly Danish riders as enough of the required level riders are not available without paying foreigners to go over... Danish crowds are most similar I would say to Britain of the 'big four' League countries. So maybe this should be a template to be adapted.. One thing is for sure. Scott Nicholls helping Wolves into the play offs last year when they beat Poole and then his own team getting gubbed by Wolves six weeks later in the Final or Troy Batchelor starring for Poole a few years ago, before watching his Swindon team get hammered in the final by the Pirates, can never, ever, be seen as credible in anyway shape or form.... And if a professional team sports competition isn't credible then simply, why pay money to go and watch it?

British Speedway....😀😀😀

Manchester City regularly 'sell out' the Etihad.. The TV pictures every week however tell a somewhat different story... Giving tickets away, or selling them as BOGOF's or at £5, gives City credibility when it comes to attendance figures quoted.. (Although it does generate a certain amount of pee taking from other teams' fans)... Arsenal last night had 'over 59000 tickets sold'! With, in reality, about 40000 in actual attendance.. Speedway should do the same... The British Final at BV should be a sell out! First meeting on BT so showcase the sport... Knock ten pound tickets out and if advance sales are not good, sell them for a fiver or even give them out for nothing in city centre Manchester. Why not do a roadshow on the Saturday and Sunday before from the City Centre?... Advertising a 7000 crowd (whether paid full whack to get in or not) makes the Sport sound at least credible and less small time, and on TV makes it look like it's successful... A half empty Grandstand with 300 people rattling around the back straight stand wouldn't impress any armchair non Speedway followers. Especially when they are watching 'The British Final'! With The National Title up for grabs! A British Final where they announce the changes to the 'crowd line up' before they announce changes to the 'rider line up' wouldn't look or sound too good on the box either.. "Mr Edwards of Ardwick sends his apologies. He cannot be here tonight as his wife has gone to Bingo and he has to look after their cat, 'Ivan'".....😂 Fill the place, by hook or by crook...

Wouldn't be hard to do... Just let the away team sell tickets to their fans from their own ticket office... Even Premier League football caps an away ticket at £30 for every match so why doesn't​ Speedway do it for say a tenner?... eg. BV v Swindon this week would see Swindon fans getting in for a tenner, which might just encourage some to attend? Throw in a free programme too and they would save around a tenner on the usual costs. Four people in a car would therefore save forty quid between them which would go a long way to pay for expensive fuel, and BV would pick up forty quid that more than likely they wouldn't have... The more away fans, the better the atmosphere, the better the atmosphere, the more likely are people to attend again.. Twenty Swindon fans paying a tenner each is better than none at all paying full price...

..... and he should get his hair cut, what kind of role model has hair like that? etc etc etc...😴😆

Needs a crowd to make some atmosphere... A decent amount of away fans too would help.... To be fair though.. Pretty hard to generate atmosphere when, for instance, someone starts a Mexican wave and you are relying on the ref and starting marshall to join in just to keep it going....☺

Buddum tish....😁

Sleeveless denim jacket, worn over a sleeved denim jacket.. The sleeveless jacket will have lots of sew on patches, with 'happiness is 40-38' on at least one of them.. A baseball cap type of headgear is preferred from circa 1985 with an obscure USA surfing company name on the front of it. Camping chair with tartan blanket and matching flask, with a dark blue gola bag worn over the shoulder is optional.

WOW!!! Just WOW!!!! Now that is why we follow this Sport!!!

Craig Cook.... Three years or so ago he spent time with my then 11 year old lad in the pits before a meeting at Brum when the Aces were there.. He made a fan for life that evening... A now 'ultra cool' 14 year old still shouts himself hoarse when Cookie races, and is gutted to see him beat.. A great lad, hope this year sees him make the breakthrough to the very top level... If passion for the Sport and drive to get there is any marker, he should...

I believe a new dart board and three new darts were recently delivered to the Speedway HQ in Rugby so any time soon should see the new rider averages published. .. They would have been published sooner, but unfortunately there has been a slight delay as no blindfold was delivered for the person throwing the darts to wear!!!.. 😆😉

Looks like the tide only came in on one half of the harbour?😂

For me, no rules re when you can use one or maybe two tacticals.. Programmed riders or a reserve replacement can take the 'joker', one only per rider... Team managers will have to pick the right race(s). Could be heat one, could be fifteen could be any... If nothing else, it would stop teams deliberately not winning races to prevent or allow a joker heat..

There are many sports that include "gimmicks" to enliven or enhance the entertainment value. . Power plays, free hits, and bonus points for runs scored/wickets taken in Cricket. Rugby has its bonus points for tries. Three point scores in basketball and even horse racing has subjective weight control to provide a more 'level' playing field.... All are decreed as 'acceptable' mainly because everyone can use them to their advantage... The issue with Speedways 'joker' is it rewards a losing performance (lose a race and score more than the winner?!) and invariably will end up, the vast majority of time, only positively impacting one team with the other not having a chance to use it... Maybe if it has to stay, it should be open to both teams at any time as a true tactical move from the team managers?

Is the tide in or out? 😀

Just the very fact he elicits such an emotional response from you and others says he would be box office for the team and the event... Some will want him to win, some will want him to lose... Either way the Sport gets noticed... Sky and the Premier League love Man United, why?.. Millions of fans want to watch us win, Millions of ABU's want to see us beat,.... A perfect storm for viewing numbers... Better to be hated and adored than be ignored.... ☺

And you just know that some 'non entity' in the sport (who if they walked into a room full of people only their mother would recognise) is sat back, thinking to themselves, "what goes around comes around Tai!"...... The whole thing smacks of a small time attitude for a small time Sport... The most recognised, talented and successful Speedway rider in the Country with a chance to gain the Sport desperately needed National Media coverage?... You would think there would be great synergy there.... Obviously those marketing wizards in the BSPA know better.. (Their track record of success over the past years would confirm it too wouldn't it?)... Get Rory in, if we win they could play a medley of Waltzing Matilda and God Save The Queen. "But they could do that with Tai, he's Australian, he isnt really British, etc etc etc ad nauseam" 😟😞

Speedway in the World Games? What an oportunity for some mainstream media coverage over here, there's nothing like a National Teams success at World level to boost a Sports profile.... Now, who is the ONLY person involved in Speedway the wider general public recognise due to his appearances on National TV and Radio?.. Who is the No1 rider in the British team, the one rider who can compete against and regularly beat the World's elite? Which British rider competing today has won not One but Two World Titles as proof of his ability at the highest level of the Sport?... Well... We don't want him representing the nation do we?... 😩😲😈

Seem to remember Belle Vue winning at Lakeside not too long ago with just three of their own riders.. I say 'Belle Vue', but it obviously wasn't really... Still, nothing wrong with that, because it's in the rules isn't it? So perfectly acceptable.... I think the issue was caused by the meeting being arranged on the same night as the 'Azerbaijani Masters' which took priority......😁

Which is basically saying "I give up on League racing ever being fit for purpose in Britain so I will just watch the Speedway itself'!... And you are most probably 100% right... Speedway can be truly great when you get four riders per heat of similar ability, yet this proves almost impossible to deliver consistently in League racing, therefore maybe the sport should just face up to reality and go 'individual' only? Tracks could run say 16 meetings a year with the sixteen riders earning a an average of £750 a night each as a basic (more for 'top riders', less for 'lower grades') then put up say an extra £10k prize pot for the top four finalists...? £22k a night in total, charge £17 admission and after VAT you need circa 1500 adults to break even without sponsorship.. No guests, no RR, no Mickey Mouse rules, a fixture list to encourage regular visits, and plenty of track time and income for British riders which can only help the National team (and deliver the increased media coverage a successful sporting National team brings). Any rider riding five nights a week could earn well over £3k a week and thats without ever reaching a final... Bang in the odd heavily promoted and marketed 'annual special' at each track where only the 'top riders' are invited, and the prize fund increases accordingly, and maybe both promoters and riders will start to make money...? Bottom line with 'team speedway' is, (like anything that relies on a repeated loyal customer base and their income to succeed), "if you can't do it properly, then don't do it at all"!... As quite simply in the long run, you will be 100% bound to fail..

Which makes it even more frustrating HT.. The racing at Scunthorpe is superb and those 'aficionados' watching will undoubtedly put this first, and turn up every week. . Sadly, the rest of the bollox that British Speedway self inflicts on its competitions will undoubtedly take away from what Scunny has to offer... Credibility and integrity of the competition should be the minimum expectation of a Speedway fan. .... A superb race track with great racing on it then should be the icing on the cake...

Three 'self inflicted' main issues which decimate crowds.. 'Select Teams' can never engender the emotional loyalty needed to follow 'your local team' which is so important in team sports, therefore fans will often give these far too numerous 'contrived' meetings with zero credibilty a wide swerve.. Teams losing at home quickly sees crowds drop. All supposedly start relatively equal but very quickly one maybe two get cut completely adrift and damage not only their own business but the business of the other teams in the league when they ride away... However, instead of being able to strengthen up properly to match the top teams of that season that have emerged, they have to use a half arsed system to try and improve themselves, and invariably replace riders to do nothing but effectively stand still, staying both cut adrift and a continuing 'brand' liability.. And finally running a disjointed fixture list for the benefit of the riders rather than running meetings at opportune times to maximise the crowd levels is a killer if you want to run British Speedway successfully.. Entertainment level and VFM is very subjective so may or may not impact crowd levels dependent on what your view is, however.... These three self inflicted issues definitely do 100% effect attendances negatively, but surely it's not beyond the capability of those in charge to undo the nonsense that has led to these issues going a long way in ruining the sport..? Fix them I would suggest and it can only make a positive difference to attendances..

Basically sign up the low average.... The name of the rider fitting that average will be irrelevant as all won't be available for every meeting.. Let them all ride once then use a choice of good guests for every 'double up/down' fixture clash (and there will be loads).. Surely that won't be allowed to happen though, I am sure those in charge will have another fool proof system devised to ensure the sport doesn't look ridiculous... Just like they always do.. (Bless them)😁 Got to have planned in a conversion rate surely? Wasn't it x1.4 in the past..?