waiheke1

What a joke sport that football is, seeding the history to the finals for commercial reasons. ditto rugby. and tennis with its wild cards at major tournaments.

Hancock 50 less gollob 50 more lindback 50 less vaculik 50 more Pedersen 50 more

Vaculik 131326 gollob 500k Pedersen 900k hampel 900k

Yet in absolute and real terms, the riders earn more today from the gps than they did from the old world champs. i think that suggests that it is fim that are the stooges . of course riders costs have gone up as well due to the increased professionalia required - more bikes, support team etc. Bsi pay a fee to fim, with agreement that fim set and pay prize money - so either fim are not putting a fair amount into the pot, or they under negotiated at contract time - either way it seems unfair to blame Bsi.

in Barry briggs bio he talks about the days when "the big five" had to go off handicapped starts. he said peter craven hated it, the dangers of having to risk your neck fighting through the field every race. briggs himself hated the additional wear and tear on machinery and i believe they demanded extra points money tks compensate.

i didn't realise he was one of the two pointers , yes he was comfortably better than the others.

The point though isn't that anyone could label him undeserving - clearly he isn't. Its just that there will always be that little question mark hanging over his victory. Mauger as a deserving World Champ in 1972 and 1977, but 72 there will always be those who think Briggo would ahve won it had it not been for Bermie Persson, the 77 final his victory was overshadowed by PC's courageous performance and certiany there are many who think PC oyuld have on if bnot injured. Penhall and Nielsen werre the best in the orld in 82 and 86 resprtively, but there victories will always be slightly tainted with controversy after their clashes with Carter and Knudsen resprtively. Even Holder's victory last year was some what overshadowed by his controversial non exclusion inf the semi. If Tai wins this year the record books will show it for ever, and clearly he will be a fully deserving champion -BUT those who remeber the series will always wonder "what if EMil hadn't crashed..." Anyway, fingers crossed that Emil makes a miraculous recovery and is out there on the weekend in a fit state to race. Two super racers, either of whom would make a fantastic world champion.

yes, but he didn't start as a mandatory English 2 pointer. Plenty have started out there careers as 2 or 3 point riders, the point was that they didn't do so due to a rule mandating they be given a chance, they were given a chance because they showed they were good enough

the fact is that its not just speedway where cluns are struggling for survival. Pretty much all the premier league football teams make a loss. In NZ, the stronghold of wolrd rugby, one of our major Rugby unions (Otago) had to be bailed out to save it from extinction . In the World's best Rugby League comp, the NRL , many teams are battling to stay afloat. It's the nature of sport that teams will spend money they don't have to get ahead of their rivals. Cricket has possibly shown the way to go, reinventing itself in the form of 20/20 to drive revenues up by making a version hich is tv firendly, adn friendly to casual vieers, much as purists may vie this as "horing itself." I'm a test fan myself, but 20/20 has in some ways ensured the survival of test cricket by driving up revenue streams. The thing is, clever marketing doesnt need to cost a fortune - social media is basically free. Why don't clubs spend a bit of money sprucing up their facilities, have a decent bar playing moden music, invest in a decent sound system and have a different up and coming local bands play a set (couple fo songs before the meeting, couple of songs in the tractor grading and interval, a couple at the end), put together some clips (crashes, close races, set to some decent music) and put them on youtube/facebook. If you're going to have start girls, pay a bit of money to have ones ho can actually dance and look like they are enjoying themselves. Make sure meetings are regular, even if only once a fortnight. Invest in quality track covers , so it doesnt matter if its pelting with rain the day before or the morning of the meeting, unless its pelting when the meeting is running it can be run. Meetings to be all over in an hour and a half, so people can then head off to do whatever else they want to do ith their evening (and parents can bring their kids knowing the meeting wont still be going at ten o clock). Just thoughts anyway, but i think if the sport is to thrive, the emphasis needs to be on improving the quality of the whole speedway experience, not trying to find ways to save a few quid (though obviously i'm sure there are arears where savings can be made without reducing quality).

the profanity filter would block the correct words

Seriously, rather than falling for the bait just put her multiple identities on ignore

yeah i didn't think de ath was a two pointer. but the team was nielsen wigg cox grahame sorensen de ath and surnam Im 99% sure. and i thought they had to have two? also that season they brought in the minimum three ride rule which essentially meant u couldn't use tac subs to replace reserves (well u could, but then u had to bring them in for an extra ride later) clearly they need to do something and i agree with scbs proposal. Imho if they get rid of ward etc. it will be a huge blow to speedway in Britain. What probably needs to be done is more investment not less - if the sport is to.progress it needs to increase crowds to do that it needs a more attractive product. in fact, the only way prices are going to be able to be reduced to.more attractive levels is to get a marked increase in attendance. given that s significant proportion of costs are relatively fixed (track prep, stadium lease and other overheads, number of points to be paid per meeting etc) any cost savings by getting rid of top riders will be more than offset by decreased gates. and even if you can shave a quid or two off the price - doing do is unlikely to generate more revenue via extra sales than is lost by the price drop (if two quid is a 12%price decrease, are you going to get an extra 150 fans at a track with s crowd of 1500 - i doubt it).

My he was precocious wasn't he - was he at infant school or still a tinkle in his dad's eye when tactical riders were first intorduced? Can't say I hate them or dislike them even - they are just one of those quirks that every sport has. I prefer the old tac sub, I realise it gave more an advnatge to the trailing team, but it used to mean getting to see the oppositions top rider more often (when at home) and your own stars more often away . Bring back that I say, but make it 8 point arrears not the six it was.

Does Emil race on a Russian passprt, and if so, why do the Laguta brothers have issues but not Emil? Surely with sufficient organisation ((given that the GP draw is knon at start of season, they'd have many months to be sorted) VISA's should be obtainable for sports persons with presumably no major criminal convictions?

surely Mr bale is on double that at least? Surely can't work more than 50 hours a week? Andy Phillips at wolves went on to make a British final and possibly even an England cap. being biased but i thought declan eccles was the pick of the bunch, think he averaged about 4.5 that season, but also suffered major injuries - he was pretty wild- and don't think he rode speedway again. Barry ayres was the other aces rider, whittakrr and graves at Bedford, surname and de'ath? at oxford, fry and leaver at ch, cobby and Phillips at wolves, that's about all i can do off the top of my head. Your point is proved though, those good enough got their chances anyway outside of this system (likes of cross cox havrlock smith dugard thorp etc. either jumping straight into bl or doing nl first.

really? when do u think tactical rides were introduced? and when did sky start covering speedway ? I think you may find a bit of a gap between the two

absolutely. when i started going i think these races at Hyde rd were referred to as "bubble and bounce". entertaining though no doubt nerve wracking for friends and family of the riders as they often looked at least a tad out of control. Wobblers in this context is definitely an affectionate term.

Afternoon meeting again do u know?

i know you have strong views on this, but in essence they are qualifying on the basis of their performances over a whole season (its just that the qualifying criteria are somewhat vague). but its a system which undoubtedly ensures a higher standard of field than knock out qualification - in both the last two seasons we have had a wild card battling for the title and the wild card picks consistently out perform those who qualify via the qualifying meetings.

To clarify, i assumed the only movement to current top 8 is holder being replaced by ward. barring injuries, the only way i can service this changing is a surge in form by gollob and zagar or hancock having a major drop in form. Can't see kk being motivated enough now his place next year is secure. Of course, if gollob did make top 8, then i think the wild card picks would be more straight forward, with whoever dropped out of the 8 getting the final pick. though there may be a reluctance to give a fourth spot to a pole and therefore there still be a spot up for grabs. And of course if kk did make top 8, then bomber would be in the series next year anyway.

So after the GP Challenge, and with the top 8 looking reasonably settled (barring injuries or a late surge by Gollob), I reckon the wildcards are looking like this: Holder 2. A Pole. I think Gollob has to be the first option here, he's still one of the top dozen riders in the world, capable of winning any GP on his day, World Cahmp only three seasons ago, and having been a top 8 finisher for the last countless seasons. Yes, he's looked dis-interested at times, but I think once you've been World Champ, it must be hard to motivate yourself to really scrap it out for 8th place. If not Gollob, then one of the young Poles will get the spot, my choice would be Dudek (best of the yonug Poles in both Poland and Sweden this seasons) or Janowski (strong SC perfomances and previously under 21 world champion). 3. A swede (probably Freddie, but possibly AJ, THJ or Lindback). You can make arguments for each of these, to me Freddie is the choice having been the top Swede in the GPs for the last two seasons, and top Sweded in the Swedish aveerages. AJ would be my second pick, Swedish Cahmpion again, top Swede in Poland, and of course runner-up a couple of seasons back, even though that is now looking very much like a "one off." After the seaon he's had this year, Lindback would really only get back in for commercial reasosn one would think. THJ is a possibility, but I'm not convinced he will actually progress much beyond the level AJ and Freddie are out now. 4. The final place is the question mark. On merit, you;'d surely have to give it to G Laguta, ho for the past to seasons has been the best rider outside of the GPs. However, his withdrwal from the SWC, failure to compete in the qualifiers, and hiostory of having been ignored for WC picks, suggests that he may well miss out again. The same would probably also then apply to Artem, who seems a much better rider than he was in his GP series a couple of seasons back. If not a Russian, then one of the young Poles would be my pick. But it's hard to see BSI giving two WC slots to the same country, especially when that would take them to four places. MJJ would be my next pick, freed from the shackles of his stalker I hoped he'd qualify from the Challenge, as it is he may well miss out due to the fact that there are three Danes in the series allready. A second Swede could be an option, as both Freddie and AJ would rank in the top 20 riders in the world, but as above I can't see one bnation getting to picks. Troy Batchelor would be my next pick, another ho would probably rank in the top 20 in the world, good seasons in domestic leagues, not far outside the qualifying spots in the Challenge and a decent SWC. But again, I can't see one country getting two wild card picks. Vaculik could be an option, based more on potential and his 2012 GP efforts than this year, where asrguably the pressure of being a full time GP rider, and the increased quality fo field this year, have seen him finish ahead of Lindback and an injury affected AJ. So, he's a possibility, but no real compelling argument s in his favour. The Latvian's were the surprise packets of the SWC, but no individual has really stood out enough for a pick. So, that really leaves one likely candidate, a rider who narrowly missed out in GP qualifying, has famously won a GP previously, performed creditably enough in the SWC, and who comes from a proud speedway nation which has the biggest attendance of any of the GPs, and which has only one rider already in the series....

Gutting, for both Emil and the Championship as a whole. Rather than going down to the final meeting, if Emil is ruled out then Tai really just needs to stay injury free and should have the title in the bag heading into the last meeting. If this is the case, then Tai will certainly fully deserve to be world champ, having started the series as a 200-1 rank outsider, and then overcoming a broken collarbone. But,rightly or wrongly, there will always be the "what if EMil hadn't been injured" associated with the victory. It is a real shame though that this season's GP has been so affected by injuries - possibly the worst ever in the history of the GP terms of leading candidates having their campaigns affected? Both Ward and Holder had their title hopes dashed by injury. Tai and Nicki were both hampered by serious injuries that could have ended their title chances, instead managing to keep riding through the pain barrier to keep their hopes alive. And now Emil looks like having his season finished by injury. In fact, the only one of the title contenders not hit bu injury has been Hampel, who of course had his title hopes last year dashed by a serious injury.

who got injured? link?

Tai nicki zagar vaculik

Because as you yourself point out, thisd is not the same as previous years. In previous years the run offs were for the last qualifying spot. This year the tie was for the first reserve spot, which while it may end up being the last qualifying spot (due to NKI), is still not the same thing. Either way, I do agree that it bizarre that they wouldn't have a run off for the first reserve spot! I think what the zagar episode (as well as the absence of a run off for the reserve spot, which is likely to end final qualifying spot) is that the GP riders should be excluded form the GP qualifiers. As someone else has suggested above, I think they should go back to the regional qualifying methods. So, as the quarter finals I’d have an overseas final (brits, us, aus and nz), Nordic final (sdes, dane,s finns, Norwegians), and two “continental” semis. Follow this with an inter-continental final and a continental final, then a GP qualifying final, the winner only straight into the gps, places 2-9 into a GP Challnege, here they would meet places 9-14 from the gps, the under 21 champion (seeded), and national champion of the nation hosting the GP challenge. Top three in the GP challenge meeting to the next series, leaving three permanent wild card places available. Hosts of the respective stages to be guaranteed one rider, so the inner of the National Championship (or top placed not in the gp series) to be seeded to that stage, avoiding the possibility of riders being eliminated and then re-eentering the qualifiers.