mikebv

Like Team GB.....

cannot believe we havent yet had a chorus of 'Land Of Hope and Glory' given the magnificent achievement??? in your face Finland, where are you Hungary?, time for your sunbeds Germans... sing.. say we are seventh/(eighth if you include a proper russia, ninth if you include a proper sweden) in the world, say we are seventh/eighth/ninth in the world... say we are seventh/eighth etc etc etc ......

and the sad reality is, if the usa had brought over someone like venegas, janniro and included hamill, they would have given our worst two a beating....

did he get told that we didnt need to lose any points???

well technically no, we are not that good.. we got a free two points with the joker so really we are two behind the mighty 'latvinans' (as kelvin likes to call them).. .

priceless...... and fisher talking up 'gino's point' before... well done 'bullet' - 10 out of 10

get in there you beauty!!!!!!!

imagine if billy hamill had rode? we would have been even further behind... pmsl if gino has an ef in this race so hancock can have a tactical...

and all the while, somewhere in cumbria 'someone' sits in a high backed black leather rotating chair, strokes a white cat sat on his lap.. and laughs manically to himself......

well done Ben... took one for the team then...... knew they could play the joker if he pretended to look totally out of his depth at the back... respect to you....

when I saw barker had been picked I presumed they meant Sue.... (as Ronnie passed away a few month ago)... well done gb management.... well played..

look at the yank team spirit...... our riders can't stand each other!!! well done the gb team mgt who are responsible to engender this....

has cookie been on twitter yet??

when can we use our joker???

getting dropped when out of form is fine, but bringing in a replacement who isnt as good and has been there before and failed seems a strange decision... the marketa will be slick, one line and a gaters paradise.. ideal for craig cook... britain is crap at speedway so we should keep the faith with cook, worrall, lawson, birks etc etc and see if in a year or two improvements are made.. let's be honest, no one in the wider sporting public even know what the sport is never mind that the world cup is taking place, so running a last place will not be even noticed... who knows, give these lads more exposure, maybe some test matches? and maybe, just maybe in a few years we will be competing..

so the plan didnt work then?? rugby doesnt get massive publicity in the national media? rugby doesnt get endorsed by national companies' sponsorship? rugby players are not very well known in the wider sorting domain? 'only winning a world cup' is now not a major achievement, as well as reaching finals? and using your rationale in a sport that even less countries take seriously, with 3 leagues and over 200 team places up for grabs then surely british speedway should be 'failing' like rugby and cricket seem to be??!!

2003 if i remember correctly... approx 10 years after the rfu put a vision in place to increase attendances for the domestic game by delivering a great national team... they realised that the national media and national sponsors would come on board if 'the game' at international level was successful.. central contracts, restrictions on foreigners, and greater proffessionalism from the players and clubs were all part of the plan.. you can see today how this plan has benefited the sport domestically and even though england are no longer No1 the legacy of that plan still lingers...

said it before on here... the football leagues are following the same 'hugely successful' blueprint that speedway embarked on during the eighties.. ie bring over hundreds of journeymen foreigners rather than develop your own,.. rugby and cricket used to do this but then changed tack and started to restrict overseas players and put their focus instead on young british players... amazingly since that plan was delivered (from independent governing bodies) the england team in those sports became the best in the world... can't imagine how and why....

in the speedway star edition that asked why speedway in this country was not doing 'too well'.. rob godfrey came across as someone who had his finger right on the pulse,, shame he wont get listened to, shame he wont get to be chairman of the bspa... great night at scunthorpe, and when you attend you feel that your custom is valued and respected... dont feel that at too many tracks..

in the early seventies on world final night my mum would ring up the newsdesk of (I think) the sunday people which was based in manchester.... i would stay up till she did it, about 10.30, and she would then pass me the note with the top four written on it.... when I saw 'first Ivan' on it there was no need to read the rest, it was running round the room, going ballistic time! I do also remember being in Rhyl the sunday after PC won in 1976 and seeing on one of those newspaper boards outside the shop (again for the sunday people) with the words "Collins - World Champ" on it... dont get many national media headlines any more now do we?

look at what cricket has done this evening with its 20/20 games... a joined up country wide as well as local marketing plan, some thought around a complete entertainment package, reduced adult admission, kids in for a quid, noise, colour, a public address system that works (and all scheduled participants turning up )... result? full houses across the country..... some great ideas for no real outlay have already been mentioned, but another zero cost one for me is when a team gets a five one (or even the winner of every race) should do a lap of honour so the fans can show appreciation, too many times you have a great race and all go straight back to the pits.... take every opportunity to keep the fans involved and part of the experience..

..... and then the track runs a stock car meeting and the bangers leave half their engine fluids all over the pits!!! need a big 'freakin' mat for that!!! speedway bikes need new quieter silencers for four bikes for 15 mins to ensure the sport continues in residential areas, yet the week before on the same track 80 v8 cars thundered round for six hours!!! shows just what a load of bollox these rules are...

agreed, variations on a 'same old, same old' theme in most cases so not much to be gained... ice hockey/basketball/rugby would be worth a visit... and maybe also visit a 'mcdonalds' and a 'wimpy'?? see which establishment is busiest and review why, ie whose got the youngest customer demographic, whose got the highest level of brand loyalty, which establishment in the customers' eyes delivers the best value for money and which of the two is seen as clean, modern, vibrant and exciting.... and then maybe also review which one is seen as ageing, hasnt moved with the times and has a brand perceived by many as being a relic from the '70's that simply didn't adapt to the modern day customers needs till it was too late and is now eventually updating its business model to meet the 21st century expectations of its customers... might be hard to find a 'wimpy' to review though to be honest, as 'amazingly' there are not that many left....

In a land of make believe - bucks fizz

agreed, no comparison to be made, similar to how we cannot compare the cardiff gp crowds with the league racing numbers... i wonder how many attend a weekly/monthly 'club' athletics event? - not many if don valley is a barometer.. it does show though that there are enough people willing to pay for the 'right product' if the show is good enough, today in birmingham they saw the world class mo farah, however how many would pay 66 quid next time if they had announced today, after you had arrived at the stadium, that mo couldnt make it so he has been replaced by someone from the local athletics team? you wouldnt get away with that too many times would you?? speedway in this country tries to get away with it almost weekly it seems, hence it is where it is...