teddy2706

Stroke or not, it didn't seem to be a very successful manouvere for rider or club did it?

I cannot add to Halifax Tiger's prose, he somes it up perfectly. I did see you there last night HT, hoped to catch up but couldn't find you later. What really cheesed me off and I am sure this must contribute to Scunthorpe's woes, the much loathed Highways Agency ensured M18 was closed on the return trip with a nice diversion around Doncaster and Armthorpe. The journey up to Scunny was a right grueller, jams at A38 J28 M1 up to the M18, Queues at the A1 on M18, luckily I went on the bike and filtered through, but it must have been a right pain in a car, particularly if you are taking kids. The EWR is a very neat and tidy stadium, nice food, great racing and a friendly atmosphere, it would be an absolute tragedy if it were to be lost. It appeared to be a reasonable crowd, but not packed, more support required!

Come back for whom? The club that had his best interests at heart, or the one that thought they could pull a stroke?

Alright, alright, I won't go to Owlerton tonight and I will go Scunny to watch Peterboro' take 'em to bits instead! Just remember Mr. Godfrey that I am passing up the opportunity to watch Messrs. Carr, Cookie and best of all applaud one of the World Long Track Team winners, so your lads had better not go belly up without a fight! What's this nonsense about £10 admission? I seem to remember I was paying £6 to watch Cradley in 1982? Are you sure it shouldn't still be 4/3d you skinflints?

I think that you will find that Vikings and bears were to be found in Britain at some stages in our history along with sabre toothed tigers too.

It is impossible for me to get to EWR on a friday night for tapes up without leaving work early given the ridiculous road works from J28-J31 M1 (Much of that work was sub standard and is having to be done again!) This is the only reason I have not been to Scunny this year. The wretches at the Highways Agency care nothing for the amount of people and businesses they cause hardship to with ill thought out and over extended work. I recently travelled the 16 miles of roadworks on M1 at 10 am and counted only 45 people working on that site including delivery drivers. I complained to McCloughlin in writing and received a page of platitudes. It is plain to anyone with a brain that the contractor on that job was granted too much possession of that motorway. I love the package at EWR, but 160 miles, admssion cost and virtually an afternoon off work is a bridge too far. If those pesky roadworks were not there I could JUST manage to get there for tapes up without time off work. That does not explain why a town with a population of 72000 will not support its own speedway team nor why Rob chooses to run on a night where traffic is always at its worst. Also, whilst so called fans sit on their btm's and get their speedway fix in their front room, live attendances will obviously suffer.

Some of us have been led to understand that Adam is suffering from an injury rendering him unfit to race. If this is true, it is a great shame. Certainly at Buxton's last home meeting he appeared to be considerably less than comfortable. His loss to Buxton, if indeed he has departed, is a real tragedy, as he is an excellent prospect for the future. I love watching at Buxton, but in recent years have always had a nagging feeling that I am watching a team that is a rider short...

It's a mystery to me why anyone in Britain would want to use any American emblem on their sports team equipment. Surely too, Somerset was pivotal in the "rebellion" in the English Civil War in any case? Also, if I never heard that loathsome "You have two minutes" in an American accent again I would be delighted, what's wrong in having the two minute warning in local accents?

I know nothing of Margaret Vardy apart from she appears to live in my birth town. She was referee at last sundays Buxton v Stoke match. There were several fallers, but in my opinion she called correctly in every case and gave every chance for the riders to sort themselves out. She also chucked a bloke off the track who was gardening on gate 1 who wasn't even a rider!

There appeared to be a starting gate malfunction last night, I wondered if the two tapes infringements genuinely were infringements? Whilst it was a good result for Sheffield supporters who seemed fairly thick on the ground, it must be very disheartening for "genuine" Newcastle team members and supporters alike to see a result like this? That said, it was a better match than the result would suggest.

Halifax Tiger advised me to always use XC Weather before travelling, that site shows no rain, the only thing that could have spoiled what promises to be an exciting match tonight. I'll be there, if only to see Mr. Hall doing his very best to pee on Sheffield fireworks.

It depends how long before the 15 minutes of speedway the water was put down, also, over how long a period the 15 minutes of speedway takes place. Stoke isn't renowned for a fast turnover of heats, the pertinent part of Stoke Potter's post is - "over the correct timescale". I was reluctant to mention other track names, because I like to spectate at Buxton and whilst dust is reasonably controlled there, the prevailing wind does dry the surface out quickly and dust is sometimes an issue at the bar/pits end. I have spectated at Mildenhall on some very hot afternoons, but don't remember riding home filthy. But I do recall watching sunday afternoon events at Reading and Sheffield (Test Matches as I recall)in the eighties and getting absolutely covered in dust. But it wasn't important at the time because I was watching the best riders I am ever likely to see in my lifetime....

This sort of thing has been going on for years and certainly not just at Stoke. Tracks that always run on sunday afternoons seem to be considerably better at controlling dust than those which have occasional meetings on sundays and Bank Holidays. Vog and I saw a meeting on a Bank Holiday once at Lakeside, four riders entered a dust cloud from the previous lap, three emerged and no-one had a clue what had happened. It isn't good for riders, spectators, neighbours, promotions and the environment and it is high time a sensible solution was in place. It has certainly been a problem for the thirty five years I have watched speedway.

Mr.Garrity to Gary Stead upon returning to the pits after an incredible ride: "That were a bit lairy". Seemed to amuse Mr. Stead no end.

I bought two big end bearings for JRM's for £90 the pair a few months ago.

It promises to be a good meeting, so long as all the riders go home safe and with some brass in their pockets and that carvery is as good as usual I'll be happy. There are no bad meetings at Owlerton and I'm not even a Sheffield supporter. Yet.

Why no pictures in todays SS of the Gerhard? Such a shame I was looking forward to reading and seeing more technical information (trade secrets notwithstanding). Not all speedway fans are only interested in riders and teams, some of us like the technical stuff too. In 1977 I needed a new piston for my Husqvarna 400 MX bike, the only one available at the time appeared to be a Mahle (OE) and it cost £90, a staggering amount at the time. Dave Nourish sold me everything for an 850 8 valve twin apart from the crankcases (crank, rods, pistons, barrel, head, cams) in 1990 for less than a thousand quid, an astonishing bargain in comparison to £200 pistons and nothing was too much trouble in aftercare from Dave, very friendly and gentle guidance and advice and extremely robust products.

Like Boozer, I too hope that Stoke speedway have a team to be proud of and sooner, rather than later. Just because we don't want to watch there anymore, doesn't mean that we aren't Stoke speedway enthusiasts anymore.

TMW, I didn't mean to infer that your were shouting, I merely intended to make a connection between family members of Stoke riders and opinions of the club, I apologise for not making myself clear. Griffo, I respect both you and your opinions, but if people were moaning about the same thing ad nauseum on Potterzone, maybe the promotion might have attempted to address the things of concern to their customer base? Some of us will remember a night out where a well known personality connected to Stoke Speedway decided the way to build bridges was to shout "What is your problem?" at one of us at least. As an interested onlooker. it seemed the question was rhetorical and no answer was invited or welcome. Now, some of us Exiles, (or as I now prefer to be called, "Narkers") would dearly love for the whole club to shut down and never exist again. That isn't my hope for the future of Stoke speedway and I am fairly certain it isn't Cooksters either, but I can't see he or I walking through that gate ever again unless some remarkable changes occur.

TMW, I sympathise with your well made point about speedway in Leicester, on only the second meeting at Beaumont I met a pleasant father and son duo who had never been to any speedway match anywhere between Blackbird rd. closing and Beaumont opening. Their reason? "Why would we want to watch any team other than Leicester?". Now, they were/are dyed in the wool Leicester fans, rather like Vog, The Cookster, Lee and Boozer are dyed in the wool Stoke speedway supporters, I on the other hand have followed two teams whose tracks sadly closed (not nice) and migrated to Stoke for a while. As a Staffordshire lad I really want Stoke speedway to flourish, bloom and be the top of the pile, but cannot bear to go and watch there anymore for many reasons, all of which could be laid at the door of the promotion. I remember another person with a family interest in the Stoke team shouting at us all on the Stoke Forum a few years ago for being negative, but then leaving forum in disgust. He is now the first to admit that he was wrong. Stoke speedway have a massive opportunity for Corporate sponsorship from a huge multi-national local company, yet continue to soldier on in a stadium needing an overdue facelift, a huge injection of money and more importantly an injection of energy and enthusiasm because that would appear to be badly lacking. It is no secret to Mr. Vasey at least who I am and a few years ago I offered, free of charge, to survey and action a plan to ensure no further losses of power occured at Loomer, with a view to possibly returning to mains electricity at an affordable rate if deemed appropriate. I also offered to produce, at cost, emergency trackside lighting to ensure rider safety in the event of a power failure. The offer was not taken up, indeed no reply was received at all.

If you are prepared to accept the product, fine, go ahead and attend. If you aren't, then do as many of us do and stay away. Someone very well known at Stoke speedway has now named exiled Stoke Speedway supporters as Narkers. As I am not from Stoke, I cannot say what this means locally, but where I come from a Nark means a sneak or a spy. An unlikely description for people who speak their minds. To the best of my knowledge, no attempt has been made from either promotion or "Narkers" to build bridges and attempt to reconcile the differences between them. Until that happens, I think threads in this vein will continue.

It was a hugely entertaining meeting, both sides aquitted themselves very well. As an occasional visitor, not a Sheffield supporter, a draw seemed a very fair result. It is saddening to see Ashley Birks struggling at present, hopefully he will resolve whatever problem is affecting him very soon.

Of course, a high profile speedway rider is much more easy to trace and keep tabs on than someone working at a carwash, a restaurant, a sweatshop or taking old ladies to the ATM to withdraw her life savings for having her driveway weeded. However, as SCB informs us, all of the warnings were there, but appear to have gone unheeded. But, what do Sheffield have to do to keep a full strength team going, one cannot help but feel sorry for them?

This dust and water issue isn't unique to double header meetings and it's a great shame that the Silver's appear to be warring in Speedway Star about it. We have all been to meetings that are plagued with dust, Vog and I attended a double header at Lakeside on (Good Friday 2011 I think) and the second meeting was so bad that we saw four riders enter a cloud of dust from the previous lap and three emerge with no idea where the fourth had gone! What matters is that the people with influence learn from it and address it, Mr. Scott is plainly keen to make it good in future, so let's judge him on future efforts.