iris123

Just looking through some old programmes, and one from the poor 1937 season is intriguing Ronnie Greene's first at Plough Lane got off to a disastrous start with the Dons rooted to the bottom of the league. It mentions that he turned to Max Grosskreutz for help !!! Max had retired the previous season and i think was managing Norwich at the time. No mention as far as i can see in any of the books n the Dons. I wonder what sort of assistance Max was giving the team ? Mechanical help is my first thought, as i think he was fairly good at least in some aspects . Anyone know ?

Millwall are The Lions. Don't think Chelsea ever have been, and aren't unique in having a lion as emblem, but not nickname. Aston Villa another But google can answer simple questions like this https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chelsea_F.C.

Not only Wiki. Homes of British Speedway and the wonderful Speedway in London refer to them as 'The Pensioners', as well as 'The Brigands'

Conkers getting his fizzog in the pic during the rider introduction

Seems like Inn Isar will stream tonghts meeting

Again, i think todays promoters would love to make the sort of money earlier promoters did. They have luck if they don't make much of a loss

Hmmm didn't Ronnie Greene threaten reigning world champion Barry Briggs he wouldn't be allowed to defend his crwn unless he relented and rode for Wimbledon ? Just one o many incidents i think which proves there wasn't much honour and integrity when it came to making money

Not sure what my first meeting was, but fairly sure Olle was riding for the Dons, as i still have his rosette . Great servant to British speedway

Always a question of what it is worth for each individual. I hope to actually make it across the border to watch a meeting or two. Just for the cheap petrol. Been queues at the border petrol stations as it is 20 cent cheaper a liter in Denmark

https://www.speedwayligaenplay.dk/?fbclid=IwAR0GizA031TUEJFzDxfndqY-e8i9TFPqqBSk_M1Xw1R-d62lnvXZTnY51qI

Back in the USSR

Looking back at the 1951 season yesterday i was somewhat surprised to see that Dennis Gray was the top scorer for the Dons, in fact top scorer out of all the riders in the two leg including a 18 pt max at Wembley !!! Post war teenage sensation, who came from the same part of London that i lived in for many years, Colliers Wood. Sadly passed away last year https://reader.exacteditions.com/issues/91939/page/20

Liked the comment on FB yesterday that Posa should come out of retirement as with the current field he might have a good chance of winning But the one year the western riders have a chance Franky finds himself well off Still, imo i think the title should be cancelled as the Russians were obviously well ahead of the rest and the competition had started

Strange how the people up in arms about the Russians getting banned , have actually said nothing about the Russians banning the Russians.

Not quite sure what you are trying to tell us. Sure as ever it is really informative though

Tbh i don't really have a problem with it being a world championship, as it is all clear from the outset. Same as asking if some are really worthy of being an Olympic champion when countries boycott a year. I do though personally think the ice speedway shouldn't be recognised as a world championship, as the Russians competed in the first two rounds and then are banned from taking any further part. But of course tickets have been sold and contracts signed based on the meetings being world championship rounds...... For instance, one of my early sporting favourites was Allan Wells, who won the 1980 gold medal in 100m. Now the US boycotted the Games held in USSR along with many othecountries. But for me he is a gold medalist......and anyway a short time after beat all the best US sprinters too

I would also think sponsors might drop out . But as I said a while back I doubt it would be safe for them traveling around Poland/Europe.

I think it comes down to how normal Russian people perceive everything. After all people are demonstrating against the war, but are being arrested. They are not allowed to post or say anything against the government opinion. So it seems some or many know things are wrong and don’t support Putin. It is a matter of how many and how high up in the echelons they are. I have seen a report that one or 2 Oligarchs are against the war. Maybe over time one or two generals will also decide things aren’t right and maybe something will change. Certainly nothing will change if everyone ignores it and just let’s things carry on as normal, including letting Russian athletes compete under a neutral flag

Chapelizod

I would say the photo that one Polish guy put on FB of Emil with the Night Wolves leader the Surgeon probably does need explaining, as it could well be used against him. Not saying it is anything more than an innocent pic. But he must have known who the guy is, as his face was all over the press a few years ago, and probably more so in Russia. And of course the Night Wolves have been involved in fighting in Donbas over the past years......then again, what is he going to say other than he wanted a photo and i stood next to him for a second like i do with everyone....and maybe that is the truth

The J F Kennedy, or nowadays Morton Stadium In 1955 Clonliffe Harriers having had a previous nomadic existence for almost 70 years, relocated to lands in North County Dublin in the village of Santry. The club then set about its ambitious plans to build a stadium, the result was the Clonliffe Harriers Stadium (now the Morton Stadium) which featured Ireland’s first ever cinder track. The summer of ’58 put this stadium at the forefront of world athletics. The ‘Summer International Sports’ on the 9th of July 1958 featured Santry’s first world record when before an attendance of 7000 spectators Albert (Albie) Thomas (AUS) set a three mile world record of 13:11.8 https://www.criticalpast.com/video/65675066596_Herb-Elliot_mile-race_gun-being-fired_run-on-the-track https://www.pitchd.tv/post/ground-morton-stadium-clonliffe-harriers-shelbourne-ladies-fc-drumcondra-fc-ireland

After the good news of the return of Jübek, we have news that Mulmshorn might be without a track next year, although local authorities are helping them try to locate a new plot, as they have to vacate their existing stadium because the owner wants to build a solar energy park https://www.rotenburger-rundschau.de/lokales/rotenburg-wuemme/pachtvertrag-gekuendigt-vorerst-aber-kein-solarpark-in-sicht-von-matthias-freese-128521.html

I tend to agree here. Especially in sport and culture ( i did see quite a few Russian arts and music events have been cancelled and a few prominent Russians have left or been removed from their jobs), where they are put on a pedestal or even podium.Many competitors and spectators will feel uneasy about competing against them or paying to watch them. Sports bodies have taken the easy option far too often in the past of letting teams compete under a neutral flag. It also to a certain extent make it easier for the athlete etc, as they then don't need to make a statement that they might not even believe that could come back to bite them later

Good article Daring Portland motorcycle racer earned fame in Europe during Depression but remained little-known back home Overseas, he wasn’t Ray Tauscher. The press in Europe shortened the Portland motorcycle racer’s surname to Tauser -- “because of the depression,” he explained to a reporter back home. Tauscher didn’t complain: It was 1931, and he understood the need to save everything possible in such difficult times, even if it was only a line of type. Besides, in those early days he wasn’t a big enough draw to make a stink. “The youngster on the speedways can’t possibly blossom into a star in one season,” he said of his beginnings on the international circuit. “The veterans know too much for him, have too many tricks at their command. The schnozzleduster is only one of 1,001 tricks they can turn to in a pinch.” Sorry, the schnozzle -- what? A schnozzleduster, it was explained, is what you experience when a racer roaring along beside you “deliberately flips his front wheel just enough to knock the front wheel of your own motorcycle from under you, sending you on your schnozzle at 70 miles per hour.” For Tauscher, who died in 1981 at 76, the risk of such a wipeout was worth it. The first few decades of the 20th century were still early days for the internal-combustion engine; everything about it was new and exciting. And so motorcycle racing was a big deal -- especially on the other side of the ocean, where a major race could attract more than 50,000 spectators “Motorcycles became part of the culture in Europe right away,” says Ned Thanhouser, a filmmaker and motorcycle enthusiast who’s made a 17-minute movie about Tauscher. The short film, which screened at the 2021 Oregon Documentary Film Festival, includes some thrilling race footage that Thanhouser unearthed from the British Pathé film archives. Tauscher raced at London’s original Wembley Stadium, the soccer citadel. The stadium had a capacity of more than 80,000, and it was packed when Tauscher won his first trophy there in December 1930. He followed up that victory by taking the biggest title in Australia, on Christmas Day. His dominance was only beginning. “He won four international racing titles in one year -- pretty amazing in that day,” Thanhouser says. “He was the world champion before there was an official world championship.” This meant he was paid well during the Great Depression: the best of the breed earned up to $7,500 annually -- more than $150,000 in today’s dollars. “Expenses cut heavily into this, but still a fellow can save pretty fair money,” Tauscher said at the time. “Yes, I like it. It’s a great game.” Racing, it seems, wasn’t the only game he enjoyed as he traveled the world. In the back of Tauscher’s scrapbook, Thanhouser found a section devoted to girlfriends. “He was a player, obviously,” Thanhouser says. “He kept all those pictures for years. Those were fond memories for him.” Danita Hunter, Tauscher’s step-granddaughter, wouldn’t be surprised if he’d been a ladies man back in those early days. “He had this great smile, big, wide,” she recalls. “And he had a great sense of humor.” Maybe Ray Tauscher was a player, but he never bragged about his romances -- or even about his race victories, for that matter. “He was a modest man,” Hunter says. So modest that news of his achievements never made it into wide circulation in his hometown. Over the last few years, Thanhouser has been trying to correct that, including by nominating Tauscher for induction in the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame. “He deserves the recognition,” Thanhouser says. Ray Tauscher grew up on East Burnside Street and graduated from Washington High School. From a young age he found physical danger thrilling. He started with parachute jumping before he discovered motorcycles. The Portlander suddenly quit the international racing circuit in 1935, at 30, and returned to his hometown. He landed a job at the post office. He kept his hand in the motorbike game, organizing races at Jantzen Beach and mentoring young racers. Oregonian sports columnist L.H. Gregory caught up with him in 1947, informing readers that “a real champ, a daring demon of the handlebars,” existed quietly in their midst. “Modest Ray hasn’t raced for eight seasons, and perhaps we should tell you why,” Gregory wrote. “He got married. His wife made it clear that she preferred a live husband to a dead ex-motorcycle champion, and quite right, too, and that ended that.” Not entirely -- at least not when a sportswriter showed up and egged him on. “The old fever hit Ray the other day and he got on a cycle at Jantzen Beach, well, just to see if he could still make the darn snorting thing go,” Gregory wrote. “Before he realized it, he had swung five laps around that track, and they say he had the gas wide open.” The columnist added, with a wink: “That’s off the record, and please consider it unsaid, especially as Ray promises not to do it again.” The wife might have found out anyway. The marriage didn’t survive. For a while, golf became Ray Tauscher’s foremost love; he played in local tournaments, winning his share. But then he met Hunter’s grandmother, Esther, at an Elks Lodge dance. They became inseparable, and soon married. Tauscher was no longer a ladies man, or a motorcycle man. He was Esther’s man. “He was so kind, so gracious,” Hunter recalls. “They seemed to have so much fun together.” And Esther became her new husband’s biggest fan. The rest of the family learned about the exploits of Ray Tauser, international racing star, from her, not from Modest Ray Tauscher. “My Nana definitely talked about it a lot more than he did,” Hunter remembers. “I think he enjoyed that.” -- Douglas Perry https://www.oregonlive.com/history/2021/12/daring-portland-motorcycle-racer-earned-fame-in-europe-during-depression-but-remained-little-known-back-home.html