g13webb

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, Had Morris not come off, probably, just probably, the meeting may have continued and the track could have improved. But the meeting was delayed after the accident and the deterriating of the weather, this created the gamble to get to Ht10, so I can understand the decision to cancel the meeting. Just hope those who were injured are not too bad and back riding quickly..

In fact the track looked pretty good. But I'm of the impression the track condition is only part of the decision when meetings are cancelled. The bigger issue is about the weather and the desire of the supporters to come in adverse climates.... Obviously this is a gamble that Buster feels he cant sustain , so he would rather wait until the nights are dry and warm hoping the Fans will turn up in their 100's, Just shows how desperate our sport has become.... Personally I hope there is a good turn-up next Wednesday, and it goes some way to re-coup some of the loses incurred so far,,

After so many postponement lets hope at last we get the opportunity to go and watch Speedway. The track looked in terrific condition last week for the Flat Track Racing, so 'hopefully we shouldn't have any problems come Wednesday when Belle Vue are in town. The fact they have ridden this year, could be an advantage, but we have to hope the STARS are straining at the bit to get going after so many call-offs, and that a close, exciting and victorious meeting pursues... In my team prediction, I rated BV as one of the better teams, and together with their ability to ride our track will make this a close affair. My head says 46-44, and my heart says 50-40. But to be honest any score will do as long as we watch a good meeting on a good track, and not a raindrop in sight.......

I get the impression your whole opinion is based around kings Lynn, whereas all my arguments are directed at the sport in general. Had the sport been run properly and not as some back street company , all these problems about the, lack of fans, and tracks closing, could have been addressed. when it happened. With only 14 meetings a year, it is a major problem, one that should and could have been sorted, but again decision were based on personal preferences rather than the good of the sport. Kings Lynn are in an enviable situation owning their own stadium. Nobody is suggesting it be used for speedway only, any proprietor would want anything and everything going on to make the ownership a success. Speedway is only one of many attractions that use the Stadium. Speedway needs to be self sufficient. If we hadn't got a Stadium then we would have to rent one, either way, the sport needs to pay its way..,,,,,

Talking about Stock Cars racing is irrelevant to the viability of Speedway. It may put extra coppers in the tin for any Stadium revamps, but if you are trying to tell me that Buster runs speedway out of the goodness of his heart then you're dreaming. Speedway has to run on its own identity and to that point it has to be viable. We talk about the lack of fans but are ignoring the reason why. Thinking along the lines that StockCars help Speedway to survive just disguises the fact of what has damaged the thinking, that speedway is OK. For the sport to survive on its own merits we have to forget about the Stock cars...... and address the real issues........

I don't think we need to go as far as 'Handicap' races, but we could sure make it more enjoyable. The first step has to be the costing. This has to be uniform across the board with specific help for families. The situation of the tail wagging the dog has all but destroyed our sport. We cannot have this situation of technicians governing the costs of what the fans have to pay, and that has all but killed the sport off. The sport has become too expensive at ground-root level, and subsequently that is passed on to the fans. The Bikes are far too technical now and far outweigh the costs of sustainability. The sport doesn't need this degree of expense and persueing cheaper options has to be the first priority. If we carry on this same avenue, come 2025, there will only be watched by a 100 fans paying £30 each for the privilege. And that's a crazy thought....... This is not a £18/ head sport. They expect fans to come in to watch 15 processional races, that last all-night. Even at £10/head it would be a hard sell. Until that is addressed it will never change...

How can you say that. Bernie has single handedly made F1 into the biggest sporting entity in the world. Sure he has made himself a fortune, but he has created a monster enterprise in F1. followed by the whole civilised world. Had he been in charge of Speedway, we would have a sport fit for the purpose, and followed by everyone.

Exactly, The BSPA have difficulty running a committee meeting, let alone a Speedway organisation. Their Business Plan is devised, totally for their own survival. Its as though nothing else matters.. It was really refreshing seeing the Polish version of what our sport could be like...... It showed we are a million miles away...... NB: When I made comparisons earlier, of our clubs and tracks to those of Poland , I should have mentioned I didn't include NSS in that. Belle Vue have done a wonderful job, trying to bring speedway back to the present day, and now have a tremendous race track. All it needs now is regular meetings on the tele to advertise its existence. I am in no doubt there are thousands of people in Manchester who don't know of NSS . or the quality of racing it produces......

I think you would make a brilliant Speedway promoter as you only see it from their prospective. You are always backing them in there ways and find it difficult to understand those whose question them. If the product was that good the fans would come, If the prices represent VFM the fans would come, if we offered a good environment with plenty of enjoyment , probably the fans would come back. Waiting for the TV, the Councils, the sponsors to come on board will never happen until the product is greatly improved.

Having just watched the recording of Lublin v Lodz match, you realise just how antiquated our sport has become. Having travelled to most tracks in the UK, I am convince none of them would compare to that we saw last night. Its little wonder we have no supporters anymore, they are treated like maroons from afar with no consideration at all. At Lublin, all the fans were treated to a wonderful experience of exciting racing in a clean modern environment. Each had a seat, and a excellent vantage point, to watch the riders race on a beautifully prepared track, that looked the part.. The meeting ran like clock work. Thousands of supporters wearing team colours all added to the occasion. I accept the weather was a big factor, but even on a hot summers day we could never replicate that. In the UK, the Promotors (en-block) feel all they need to do, is to rely on the riders attraction to get the fans through the turnstiles. In Poland they get so much more,,,,,

That is going to be a problem for all clubs when looking for replacements. Having 6 out of the 8 teams competing on the same night will always represent a problem, when looking to get adequate cover. The chances of replacements are limited, and of those who are available there will always be question marks over their selection...

Cheers Mate, I was planning to leave around 3pm. so will not now be wasting the journey. I was thinking, especially with BV's team changes, we stood a good chance to have got a point .... or two.... But we will have to continue our wait for that first meeting..... That 5 meetings I had planned to go to that have been called off, and its only the first week in April. Fingers crossed for Wednesday now....

Such is the strength of this Poole side, it has ridiculed the league as a competition. In there blinded wisdom of allowing out of date averages, the BSPA has all but destroyed the equality a league needs to be respectable. My plan for the coming season is to accept Poole's dominance and forget about them. In my mind the competition is about the remaining 7 teams. These are all of a similar standard where the results will be based on the racing seen on the track and not some out of date ruling that only provides loopholes for those looking to pull a fast one..

Probably as good as time as ever, for any team to be pitched against Poole. Once they are dialled in, it would be a formality. Still think this will be a walk in the park, with the result secured by heat 13. Poole are that strong. 40-50 at least..,,

Anywhere else I would be worried this meeting may be cancelled, But this new track appears to cope with the bad weather better than most. This sure is a hard first meeting for the Stars, and one that most would relish to see. Difficult to see anything but a home win. Would obviously like to see a good meeting and if we can put a good performance, we might be rewarded with our first point of the season. Am eagerly looking forward to seeing it. Then hoping to get a ticket for the City match the following night....... Fingers crossed...

Reading this week's S/S, It seem Troy Batchelor has a big dislike for the Stars and their Boss. He wants to remember, If he hadn't tried to pull the wool over our eyes, and done as he was contracted to do there would be no issues and he would have been able to ride all last year....... Obviously Buster has to be apportioned part of the blame of what unfolded, but Troy was no an innocent party. He seems to have forgotten that....... He's as much to blame as anybody. The biggest losers, as usual were the fans .....

Seems to me you are agreeing with me one minute , and disagreeing the next. It appears you want your cake and eat it. All I have said is I disagree with early call off.. I personally think every wet meeting should be cancelled, they're such a waste of time. But in this country you can never guarantee the weather, even in the summer.

That's were we will have to differ. Calling a meeting off days in advance has no accreditation, one that says you don't want the meeting to run. If we are going to cancel every meeting when there is a chance of rain than we would be in trouble come the end of the season. I have no problems with meetings being cancelled, but lets do it properly and be responsible. Calling meetings off, because of the weather , days in advance is neither.., When the weather is the reason for the cancellation lets do it on the day in question when the cause is obvious, not on the pretence of what might be the case. Lets be professional in making them decisions and broadcasting them using all the available media. Its not hard to do things right.........

But that situation can always happen. We could have sun out all day and come a meeting it rains and has to be cancelled. that's what happens in this country. If we are to cancel meetings on the thought it might rain, then we need to have inside stadiums, and that will never happen. My MAIN point was about cancelling meetings days in advance, when it would be better to wait until the day of the event before adjudging whether to run or not. Sods law says tonight is going to be fine and the meeting could have run, but failing that, It could have been announced this afternoon that the meeting was cancelled due to the weather and everybody would have understood..

When this meeting was called of on Monday, my initial thoughts were, That's abit early. giving me the impression, they want it to be cancelled. If we are going to cancel meetings days before the event, we have to ask the question 'what's the point'. Yesterday was a good drying day, today is planned the same, If we continue to follow this procedure of cancelling meeting on a whim, then we leave ourselves open for another fiasco like last year when some clubs were doing 3 and 4 meetings in a week. just to get the fixture in. We wont have that luxury this year with only selected race nights.. It may well turn out to be the right decision, it may not. Probably, although it is not planned, it may rain tea time and the meeting would have had to be cancelled , but lets wait until the reason is evident rather than what might be. I'm sure getting a weather forecast for the next 3 hours is far more accurate than one asking for the next 3 days away... Cancelling a meeting in the afternoon of the event is acceptable and would alleviate most people travelling. Cancelling a meeting 3 days earlier leaves a bad taste in your mouth, especially when it turns out it could have been run anyway, similar to those last year. It was dry enough last night to run a meeting, tonight looks to be about the same. I started this thread knowing how wet is has been, but looking at a few local forecasts I could see a window of clear weather ahead and thinking there was a chance this meeting would be on, but in truth it was doomed from the start. This meeting was never going to happen........ whatever the weather.... And we wonder why people lose interest in the sport.......

There is little else to get us excited, at least Lee, created a bond few have ever seen. He may be retired but he will never be forgotten..... He done more to get Lynn noticed than everyone before or since...

I had been thinking this meeting will fall foul of the weather, but looking at the forecast last night and again this morning, there could be a chance this meeting could go ahead. Wednesday is expected to be reasonably dry, and any rain coming much later. So hoping the gods shine on East Anglia and we will get our first taste of speedway action this year. If the meeting goes ahead, I imagine it will be a close affair. I am hoping the Stars can take a handful of points to Leicester for the return leg. The lions have assembled, what I consider, their best team ever and will provide stiff competition, so there will be no easy points on offer. This is the time for the Stars to shine and I hope they can hit the floor running. I would be nice to start the season with a win. There is also an important European football match between Man City and Liverpool on the box the same night, My plan is to watch it when I get home, but you can bet someone will spoil the fun by broadcasting the result before I have chance to watch it ......

You and me both. There is no easy answer. Some promoters will call meeting of at the thought of rain, not wanting to lose money from a poor crowd, and who can blame them . Years ago when the bikes were slower and more rideable, it was possible to run wet meetings, but them days have long gone. I don't have the answers, but we do need bigger crowds, we needs good racetracks that ensure exciting racing, then probably we could entice them old fans back and hopefully new ones besides. Meetings called off, don't do anyone any favours

I don't think it was one thing or one reason, but accumulation of many, that all added to the downfall. Knowing Michael how I did, I was amazed at his ability that, when he had all the problems in the world, all the stress you wouldn't imagine, the weight of the whole team expecting him to perform, he could put his leg across that bike and perform like he did. It must have taken immense self belief to perform at the top level and regularly defy the logic of balance. He was that good... I always felt, had he been able to lead a normal life with little or no pressure, and just concentrating on his riding, nobody would have got near him. He could have ruled the sport for years...... But probably he needn't that pressure to perform at that level.... its something we will never know............

After a long off period, we are all waiting for the new season to start. The Easter weekend has always been an ideal opportunity to hold home and away meetings, enabling good crowds the chance to do both meetings, but this appalling weather has sure put the mockers on that. We never seem to get opportunity to do that with the re-arranged dates.... When Easter's are lost, more meetings are cancelled than any other time of the year, Most clubs will be playing catch-up for the whole season.... Countries like Poland and Sweden put their start dates back till the weather improves. Probably we ought to do the same....