mikebv

Don't think they would be the official homologated 'dirt-o-meters' though? Would imagine an ex World Champion will have the copyright for them and they will the only ones allowed to be used...

U ok hun? xx

The 'dirt-o-meter' still cracks me up... Like the two minutes worth of the past fortnight update around the league..

There's a reason restaurants put you in the window when your the first in each evening... Or put their early evening bookings there... It's so the casual observer as they pass will think... "If they have got that many in, it must be good in there"... On the other hand. Speedway allows any casual observer to think.. "If they have only get that many in, it mustn't be any good".. As you say, far too late for the penny to drop now..

Can we keep this thread on topic please.... I am waiting to hear whether my Sergio Tacchini sleeveless training top is 'in' this year... Don't think Zagar Racing will like his thread hijacking with Speedway related commentary..

Sound advice... I have a green pair of Gazelles but literally nothing to wear with them.... Hoping someone on this fantastic thread will be able to give me some steer...

Got my new Samba's on Saturday... They are so cool my 16 year old lad wants to wear them this Saturday night when he's out with his mates... Dark Blue Suede.. Goes with both a darker and lighter shade of jeans.. A great thread this, just what the forum needed... Well done Zagar Racing...

Can see the logic and it does take away the tactical advantage to be gained by having a missing rider who gets replaced by someone who maybe is better at certain tracks.. For me, in this scenario, if no Doyle then RR should be used meaning Batchelor, Eliis, and Musielak (or any rider Rosco wants), should be able to cover all Doyle rides up to each having seven rides max. eg Rosco may want Batchelor to take his own four rides and three of Doyle with Ellis taking his own four and one of Doyles.. They can then have a Number 8 on standby, a 3 point man as you describe, to come in should anyone else get injured during the meeting, or even take some reserve rides if Rosco wants him to.. As the 'genuine No1' is seemingly becoming a thing of the past in the UK then there should be a lessening need for guests as the 'big hitter', who used to score a big portion of a teams points, no longer impacts meetings in the same way.. Using RR would not only provide credibility but it would also give the riders within the team more opportunities to earn more money, rather than have a guest come in and hoover up some cash, and it would maintain both team spirit and team identity..

A 'Super Sunday' hopefully ahead.. Some potential great matches..

You are probably right... I can actually see Poland and Sweden adopting the system any day now now they have seen how succesful it can be...

The fact 'no one cared' is (sadly), probably the biggest clue as to the worth of the competitions... Unless it means something to win, then really, why bother?

Whilst 'guests are a necessary evil' (in Britain), then the sport (as a team concept) simply won't move forward, because it can't can it? Imagine Wroclaw using Dudek to replace the injured Woffy? ZG fans would lynch him should he score the points for Wroclaw that prevents ZG from qualifying for the play offs.. And Wroclaw fans would lynch him if he scored next to nothing and they didn't. .. In Poland it actually means something. To fans, media and (probably most importantly) the blue chip sponsors. And if they ran a guest system it wouldn't have anywhere near the same stature, nor mean so much.. I do though think that guests are here to stay as it's the 'easiest' way of running the sport and provides riders with extra earning potential... One rider once told me that 'guesting' was the cherry on the top of the icing on top of the cake... I think now for many riders it now just forms part of the cake, hence will carry on being part of the plan..

Some fair points Steve, but still beg to differ.. The leagues might have had results shown in most newspapers but, unlike today, they didn't come under any scrutiny as to how those points shown were delivered.. Also. The offering you saw on TV back then was credible and what you saw every Saturday (and the odd Wednesday night) wetted the appetite for attending domestic speedway.. PC, for example, brought thousands to Hyde Rd, and elsewhere, because of what he did on Saturday afternoons in living rooms the length and breadth of the country wearing England colours, not BV colours... Maybe it was a bit of chicken and the egg as to what came first, and who benefited from whom.. Bottom line though is what passes for domestic speedway today on TV, ie the way it is ran, won't engage too many to invest their emotional loyalty into it.. And for a team sport, that's not a great place to be in..

To pay for two hours worth of advertising for your business in a prime time evening slot would cost thousands and thousands... Speedway gets it for even better than free because they actually get money.. Yet many seem to never use this HUGE opportunity to advertise themselves...

In those days the big difference was domestic speedway wasn't the narrative... It had barely any coverage, unlike today.... Crowds went to watch their local teams on the back of the sport being beamed into living rooms every other week or so, at Individual, WTC and Test match levels.. And as only three channels existed the riders on show, PC, Mauger, Olsen etc etc became household names and the sport domestically was 'big' by riding on the back of this coverage.... You also often only found out that guests were there after you had paid to get in, unlike in today's instant news era.. Put simply. What you could get away with then, you cannot now... So using an operating model that's fifty years old (and failing), isn't I would suggest, a great plan to keep following..

Pictures fine, but no sound on my firestick... Very dissapointing... Off to NSPORT in a mo... #firstworldproblems Edit: Volume now on, call to Samaritans postponed... Still can't understand a bloody word mind. ..

But with them the wider media simply won't take it seriously and give it coverage.. And Sponsors from major brands won't put their name to something that is in all honesty a 'bit Mickey Mouse'.. Last year's play off where riders from neither finalist were allowed to compete, and then it was sanctioned they could be swapped, would have brought any major sponsors name into that ludicrous scenario and reflected on their 'brand'.. And that wouldn't have been something they would have been too impressed with I would have thought.. And in Speedway (in Britain) there are sadly too many situations which unfortunately would reflect less than positively on any major sponsors..

Shouldn't be paying out that much.... .A HUGE outlay for a sport with such a small following..

Cracking rider Madsen... You don't be top five in Poland for several years without being world class and a bit ruthless.. Not many riders could ride so narrow at that speed down a straight and not drift to the fence on a slick track.. Proper talent... And whilst I have a soft spot for Dudek, Madsen isn't Polish... Tai 3 Poland 1...

"He was as slow as Christmas"...

Poland and Sweden replace injured riders with unattached riders... They find it it adds a modicum of credibility to ensure fans, sponsors and media remain interested.. They can do this because they work on supply exceeding demand, (particularly Poland), meaning riders do have to wait to be given a chance.. Where as over here it does appear the whole set up is driven by the desire to provide riders with as many nights Speedway as is possible, regardless of who they end up representing on any given evening..

How about the following as a starter.. 1 Don't arrange meetings when riders are then needed to be in two places at once.. 2. Don't run a rider replacement facility that means your fifth best rider replaces your No1. Just let all rides take seven rides max and the rider below whoever the rider missing is takes three of his rides, whilst the one above him takes one. A Number seven missing means a No8 gets drafted in and the Number six can take three of sevens' rides).. 3. Have less riders per team meaning unattached subs on the bench to bring in.. 4. Have less teams at the top two leagues levels, meaning again unattached subs available.. Injuries will always be a part of it, but so much could be done to reduce significantly the amount of guests... And remember, Sweden and Poland have injuries too as its often the same rider being shared around all three leagues.. But they don't replace him using guests..

Maybe swap five or six riders around from yourselves, Ipswich and Kings Lynn??

Like the Speedway Stories shoot interviews...

Hope you get paid overtime Dave..