Ray Stadia

Hey, TWK!, don some kevlars/leathers and join them, hurtling round the track! I am in trouble now, I have moved off subject!

I can understand your frustration and no supporter of Speedway wants to lose any tracks. Let's hope the IoW promotion are being honest that the only thing stopping them run Speedway in 2014, is the cost of an air fence and not using it as a 'smoke screen' to not run anyway. Just being devils advocate. I do hope it turns out good for the club.

I am sure it has been discussed, but who is insisting on the compulsory use of AF's? Is it the promoters, riders, insurance companies or some health and safety executive? Obviously rider safety is of paramount importance. Just wondering?

Seems like you are getting on a bit! I say, it seems you are getting on a bit!

Did Glasgow raise their game, because they had the incentive to catch up and win? or was their standard of racing still inferior to Sheffield? The point being, was the overall standard of the meeting raised due to the tactical ride and gave Glasgow, as a team, a fresh impetus?

I think one of the problems is the promoters are not thinking Speedway 7 days or even 5 days a week. For many, I would imagine it is a side issue, they run businesses which take up a lot of their time. Also, most don't own the track, just rent it on the day of the meeting and basically turn up on the day, along with the riders. Ok, they need to prepare the track, but it's not like, say, a Football Club, which is manned, probably most of the week, with training/coaching etc. An ideal situation could be for a separate body, within Speedway, to be responsible for training and bringing on the youngsters and making full use of those tracks that can offer training facilities. As for funding, perhaps a levy to all those involved in Speedway, promoters, riders, tuners, bike manufacturers/builders and maybe fans.

To be honest, I reckon there will be many F1 fans who won't like the rule and may, dare I say it, use the 'R' word!

I am not sure whether promoters these days expect to make money, but I am sure they would like to at least cover costs, which is fair enough! The trouble is, the whole speedway promotion is based on the riders needs, which to me is wrong. If you treated speedway as a 'co-operative', you would consider everybody, promoters, riders and supporters. It has been mentioned many times before, but as long as speedway pays the wages demanded, tracks/promotions will be precarious season to season.

OMG! F1 are now at it! Just heard that next year in F1, the last GP of the season will be worth double points! Speedway is ahead of it's time!

While Speedway teams race against each other in a league or leagues, there is a reliance on each other. When a team commits itself to enter a team at the start of the season, surely they have entered into a contract with all other teams in the league and therefore, for the season, at least, an Association exits.

But you haven't been debating Oldace. You have just been telling people they are wrong and haven't thought out their point. Perhaps you need a lesson in mass-debating? Perhaps not, I am sure you are pretty good at that!

Are you still a black belt 4th dan TWK? Or are you now a 5th dan?

Yawn! Give it a rest Oldace, you have had your fun.....you are becoming an even greater bore!

I think you are right about a newbie. Assuming they had never seen Speedway before, they would be getting to grips with the whole meeting and not concerned with the 'nitty gritty'. I thought we had moved on from the OP though? And thought we were talking about the established fans and how they would, ideally, like to see Speedway run. Probably time to wrap up this topic now, as it seems, for some people, they just want to keep 'beating up' the original OP member. Clearly those members are not capable of debate.

Do you shout at people face to face?......no, thought not! I have already answered your caustic post, repeated below, for your benefit Oldace: Thanks Sidney. Oldace is right I haven't got much knowledge of sports like Rugby and Football, but I do think I am right in saying that when a Football team or Rugby team take to the field, the players are not a 'hotch potch' of players from other Football or Rugby Teams. I also think I am safe in saying that, in certain circumstances, a goal won't count as 2, a try won't count as 2 or a conversion won't count as 2.

Re-open the mines!

Not what colours TWK, what flavours! Not sure there was a black jack/milk bottle flavour, for the double points cover!

I wonder how the fans in the above sports feel about the rule changes? Do they also think...aggghhh! 'more tinkering'. At the end of the day, if you are happy with the way Speedway is run and the current way teams are constructed and points are earned, fine, I respect that. If Speedway was flourishing, new tracks were coming on stream and there was an abundance of British Speedway Rider talent, I would say 'if it ain't broke don't fix it'. Do you think that is where we are?

Thanks Sidney. Oldace is right I haven't got much knowledge of sports like Rugby and Football, but I do think I am right in saying that when a Football team or Rugby team take to the field, the players are not a 'hotch potch' of players from other Football or Rugby Teams. I also think I am safe in saying that, in certain circumstances, a goal won't count as 2, a try won't count as 2 or a conversion won't count as 2.

I found out today (I don't follow Football at all) that Ipswich grade each match and charge accordingly, apparently. Last night against Wigan was a tenner! Perhaps when televised, there should be a policy that all EL clubs greatly reduce admission to showcase Speedway and try and avoid as mentioned above?

I accept that and I said the word 'really' to indicate no major changes. Or radical changes that alters the possible result of the event. F1 has many radical changes, which are usually technical changes and has allowed the teams to be a bit closer in competitive terms, more so down the lower ranks. The point is and I would say the point of the OP is to create discussion on the sport as a whole, both good and bad. If you are happy with what is being 'served up' then fine. Many don't seem to be. There are many 'old chestnuts'. I think the overall frustration for many fans is it looks like Speedway will enter the 2014 season, actually, with very little change! But carrying some of the 'baggage' which is, perhaps, holding Speedway back.

I agree. If you are trying to entice new fans to the sport, the last thing you want to do is focus on what you consider to be your chosen negatives and impart them on the newbie. However, in my opinion and as what happens with many opening threads, the original subject changes and other thoughts and ideas surface. This often happens on Facebook. Isn't this a healthy thing to happen?

I understand different sports have rules which are hard to understand, I have never understood Cricket and probably never will. I don't really understand Rugby either. However, the rules of most sports have been 'hard coded' for many years and to me, haven't really changed. Speedway seems to be constantly tinkering with the rules to try and make the sport more exciting and less one sided at certain meetings. But it obviously isn't working as, sadly, fans are not flocking to the tracks to witness these new rules in action and in fact are creating the opposite. Many hard core fans just want a simple 3,2,1 system of scoring and with a team of riders who, barring injury, turn up at each meeting. Ideally local lads, who the fans and more importantly, the youngsters can relate to. Is that really such a terrible wish? It was what Speedway began with!

Assuming and I repeat assuming, the friend is a fictitious friend, can you blame him/her? If Cats Eyes had posted the subject as though he/she was making the point, the very forum members that have tried to belittle this topic would have hung drawn and quartered him/her! Anyone who starts a topic on the BSF is very brave! I have had my fair share of 'put downs'. Leg pulling/banter is fine, but to blatantly call someone a liar, is at the very least churlish and at worst slanderous!

Well done TWK!