mikebv

a truly great speedway meeting... if only you could box that and make something like it 'the norm', you'd pack the stadiums out over here, how 'strange' that they can present a temp track so good yet many of the established tracks over here deliver nowhere near the same lines for the riders.... best wishes to TG, 'worth the admission alone' is a cliche that truly applies to him on god knows how many occasions... and as for Tai? he showed tonight true grit and bravery, well done and all the best for torun.. IF british speedway had a clue then they would already be getting hold of a professional media company to market this kid, (tats and all), to the 'yoof' of this country... wouldnt it be great to see, come march, a british world champ going to the tapes with true street cred which in turn has attracted scores of the 11 - 20 brigade to the sport... oh well, I can dream, wonder what Roy Cropper is doing early next year... ,

get out the 'cardie' for monday night!!!

problem is of course that many of the EL teams need mr fords riders.... say what you want about undue influence on the league and its outcome etc, but one area ford cannot be criticised is how he puts his hand in his pocket and brings over riders who then go on to heat leader standard and end up getting loaned out... when others are so 'beholding' to you, it does give you a fair old 'lever' when it comes to delicate negotiations about the way the sport will be run....

I think you will be surprised.... I have been down on the south coast this weekend and found a copy of the play off final 'script' lying around... BIG FINALE planned seemingly... Wont spoil it and tell you who wins.

rock, paper, scissors?... best out of three.... no tactical doubles though if behind...

edyoukayshun, edyoukayshun, edyoukayshun....! wunder if dem wer in wiv da 'specials' clas bak in da day... innit,,,,

your point re the missing number one? do what 'phil the ace' suggested, ie give the next two in the team his rides... your point re missing two or three riders ? do what a team has already done this year and dont run the meeting! 'in the interests of speedway' obviously...

Good call.. As it stands now the reason why we have guests for a 'No1' is that it is considered that the team without one is at such a massive disadvantage that the meeting wouldnt be competitive, however the rules of speedway themselves contradict this notion as if the 'No1' gets injured in heat one then only reserves can take his place.... Link your idea with setting a team strength average that doesnt mean the 'No1' is disproportionately over 20% of the teams total, then it would work.. For the bottom end of the team, DU's could be used as now, and running six man teams would mean more 4 - 6 point men would be on the market to replace those calibre of riders (who make up the majority of the teams) when they are injured/missing.. IF there was a will to remove this facility, which does, no matter what anyone says, destroy league speedway's credibility, then it could be done.....

Stand back and await the 'there is no alternative' brigades wrath... Imagine if swindon and poole make the play off final and poole win.. Troy Batchelor gets his losers medal, looks suitably solemn for a moment before joining the back of the poole team to collect a winners one for his 'services' to their successful season and joins in the poole team celebrations.... Be ridiculous wouldnt it? Yet who could disagree that he would deserve a medal as without his contribution they wouldnt have been there? Ah but this is speedway....

Many speedway riders used to have a 'day job' and then 'earned a months money in one night of speedway' as was often quoted by the riders themselves.. IF speedway could go 'back to the future' and get somewhere in between where we were then and where we are now then it would surely move forwards... Cutting costs is without doubt the biggest challenge, reduce those and rider salaries can then also be reduced, with the 'golden ticket' then of being able to lower admission fees which 'should' increase attendances overall... Maybe a 'new level' of speedway could just start that ball rolling?

fantastic bit of coverage there showing the lengths tai and hans went to to get to the meeting, a video diary showing changing airports via bike couriers, getting a bit of shut eye where they could on the flights, tremendous example of what international speedway riders do to earn their crust.... maybe freddie has got one showing his cruise ship to the stadium??

I think many equate 'great speedway' to just 'loads of passing'.. A fair few races last night, whilst not having too many passes, still had the first two close up to each other till the last bend.. Must admit I enjoy watching races where the rider in front has to change his lines from bend to bend, lap on lap, to second guess (and mess up) the attack from the one behind... Plenty of races like that last night...

Fair play... I've said before that the bspa should wake up and see what they have with Tai... Young, talented, articulate, and although sadly tragic, a background family story that makes his success even more astonishing.. In a sport so 'extreme' like speedway, 'kids' should falling over themselves to attend, and Tai with the earrings and 'tats' is someone they can identify with and would be the perfect fit if speedway ever thought of re branding itself from 'the family sport' garbage it sells itself as.. He really would be a marketing man's dream if you wanted someone to be the face of an exciting, vibrant, unique 'brand'.. Will never happen of course, now where's my tip up chair and tartan blanket for my knees..

I think that the way every track needs an air fence next year, or they dont compete, tells you the risk the sport runs through potential legal challenge.. In the case of a life threatening injury at a track with no air fence, the EHO/HSE would I am sure, upon investigation, question why some tracks have them and some dont... Basically it could be seen that having an air fence increases protection of the competitors and the track is doing all it can to minimise the risk, and those without, are not doing all they can given the equipment exists... I am sure there will also be a 'fitting standard' laid down too as part of the due diligence process regarding health and safety which will need to be shown to be followed, and would be surprised if not already in place for the tracks that have them.. A big risk for many clubs in these days of compensation culture If they dont get things right...

yes they do however it should be done by one team scoring more goals than the other... simply saying 'you scored more at their ground' therefore you win is nonsense, especially when sometimes the team that qualifies is the one that gets an extra 30 mins in extra time when playing away in the second leg, meaning one team gets 90 mins 'away' to score a goal and one gets 120.... it would be like, in the event of a tie, adding 5 heats to the second leg of the speedway knockout cup, and then after the 20 heats saying the away team in the second leg scored more away points even though the tie finished equal overall.. imagine if speedway did that the vitriol the bspa would get???...

two teams tie but one wins.... not contrived?

To be fair, I think speedway has no more 'mickey mouse' rules than any other sport... The tactical double is a contrived way of keeping a meeting close, but is it any less credible than 'away goals count double' in the worlds most popular game in the biggest club competition in the world ie the champions league?? Cricket has 'duckworth lewis' to deliver a contrived result and 'power plays' to contrive more opportunity to score runs and increase entertainment levels.. Rugby provides 'bonus points' for points scored regardless of victory or defeat and cricket (again) also offers bonus points in the county championship for wickets taken/runs scored... Speedway therefore is no more or less guilty of trying to make up something to increase entertainment levels than any of these sports which are regarded as mainstream.. Where speedway balls' itself up is with things like guest rules, (is it for a number one? is it for a reserve? is he on his PL average or his EL average?, is it a wednesday night meeting? if so is it sunny or a little bit cloudy? etc etc) 'nought point this' and 'nought point that' determines that a team who are having a crap season cannot strengthen up as they become 'too strong'!!! and the biggest issue, the self governing which leads itself open to accusations of bias as rules are changed/adapted/rode rough shod over 'in the interests of speedway'.... A very good sport to watch when 14 riders of a similar level take to a well prepared track, four laps, clutch start... Pity those that run it seem sometimes to try so hard to complicate it....

exactly, you certainly would if you wanted to be successful... the only feedback you get from those who no longer attend is the space they left on the terraces... too late to start listening by then....

some of the feedback I receive is unsolicited, instant and can be very brutal, however much of it is proactive to keep ahead of ever changing customer expectations and shopping trends... however the biggest impact I ever made to my business was after, by chance, I read the local towns 'forum' page and my business was getting a slating due to level of anti social behaviour taking place in my car park after my business had shut for the day.. the town was a small one and I employed over 500 people and had 30000 customers hence I was a major part of the towns infrastructure which meant constant critical review of everything me and my team did.. reading the 'forum', (full of aliases) I could have dismissed it as 'not my problem' as sales and customer count were both up at the time, however reading the same issue, time and time and time again made me realise something needed to be done as quite simply I decided 'everyone on here cannot be wrong in their belief'.. one even wrote that my company 'must know what's happening yet are doing nothing', simply I didnt as it all took place late night/early morning, yet no one came to meet me 'face to face' to tell me, however reading so many similar comments re the use of my car park as a 'racetrack' prompted me to sort it through the local police... forums can and do often provide 'the truth' or at least the truth in the eyes of the contributor, you will always have serial moaners and WUM's the skill is what to dismiss and what to use to improve things.. and never forget that the ones making the often critical comments on this forum are either still attending or still have an interest in the sport and if changes were made would go back to supporting it.. far too many have left the forum and by definition, the sport, far behind as simply their opinions and constructive criticisms fell on deaf ears...

I work for a company who spends millions each year in receiving feedback from our customers... When we get it, good or bad, we use it by acting on what we got told.. What we never never do is find excuses to justify the issue if the feedback wasnt what we wanted to hear as at the time it was given, the person concerned felt they had a genuine reason for complaint.. Therefore all me an my team need to do is listen, learn and fix the issue as quickly as possible so as not to 'p' others off the same way....... Due to the wonders of technology, this forum can deliver shedloads of constructive, free, databased feedback with several common issues being regularly challenged by those who contribute, and also many complimentary comments when 'speedway is done well'.... If it was my business I would welcome it, and use it to improve my business model, not try and second guess as to any other agenda or even worse take it personally... Be open minded about what your punters are telling you, accept the feedback at face value, and use the info to move your business forwards... . Or alternatively completely ignore it if you think you are already doing a great job... I know what the successful businessman would do...

Just say No, mate... Just say No!!

hope it was nothing trivial and cook got kicked out for something 'worthwhile'... be a shame if it was just 'handbags'....

you see the thing is with cards is that there is a clear trace of who paid what and when... now with good old cash......

bang on... these young lads should be riding test matches both home and abroad against young poles, swedes, danes, russians (latvians!) etc to show them exactly what the actual level is that they really need to aspire to... too many young english riders drive round in a sponsored van with 'international speedway rider' written on it without ever knowing never mind earning the true meaning of the accolade... obviously though test series' and a joined up development plan costs money therefore nothing will change...

and victorville on a friday....