Grand Central

Oh, yes credit where credit is due. He can also go down like a wounded swan when he misses the jump on a crowded first bend. And play dead on the ground with perfection.. All to fool a soft-touch referee who is still wet behind the ears. As well as being undeniably brave. The man is a genius of his Art.

Please, don't let anyone say that this lad doesn't deserve EVERY plaudit he's getting.

Forgive me, but wasn't this all about the additional people who are going to come "if the weather is good" As I am about to plan my holidays, I would be really interested to hear of the Speedway venue that is is going to get this freakish 25 week heatwave.

OMG. Tai has got a new tattoo, now. Kelvin says 'He has PAIN written all over his face!' Whatever, that was a brilliant win.

Yes, they go well with his 'early' doors.

Perhaps we'll leave the maths to someone else.

This is one of the most stupid things that happens week after week, all over the country. It is like the 'Emporers new clothes'. Does no one stand up at a Promoters meetings and shout 'Alex, Jon, Chris ... for gods sake, you're Stark Naked!'

The World Feed is on-going without break. Why the hell don't they just stick with the commentary from Tatum and Pearson and jump in and out directly for ad breaks. Then send the sub-normal chap home early.

Nicki's ability to manipulate a situation means that he can make his own luck, sometimes.

So the Tag line needs to change. Out goes "Speedway is a £10 Sport" In comes "Speedway is a £10 Sport, but because all costs are impossible to change, we'll charge you £17" A little less catchy, I'd say.

Certainly no flak from me. "Speedway is a £10 Sport" It's not a particular flattering tag line for us all, but it is just spot on.

I imagine that in the UK we would have a few qualification meetings. Two semi finals at Premier League tracks, a Briish Final at a track in the Midlands (say Monmore Green), a few more international rounds at say Poole and (even) Berwick. World finals would be held on some sort of rota at tracks such as Prague, Vojens, Lonigo and Malilla; but with it weighted more towards Poland at, say, Gorzow, Torun and even (at a push) Bydgoszcz. And in Britain some enterprising chap would probably be trying to get Odsal Stadium up and running with the possibility of holding a World Final there. Life, for so many, would be so very, very different without BSI. Yes I know I have left out Cardiff, Parken, Stockholm and all the rest. But that would have spoiled the fun of being facetious.

I think you are both right and so, so wrong all at the same time. I thought that 1995-1996 was a brilliant time for watching Speedway, for all the reasons you say. And more. But truthfully it did not work at all. Trying to amalgamate so many different 'wants' of promotions, riders etc etc under the one umbrella was completely impossible. And I bet it will prove to be again. Even with some Sky dosh (hopefully) to paper over the cracks. I am genuinely sorry to say.

I don't think anyone has said that they didn't. But hay-ho, I'll stop concerning myself with all those lost potential sales, too. I feel better already. .

I'm just surprised by some people's attitude to what does or doesn't constitute 'quality'. Raise production qualities high enough that you can self justify an extortionate cover price of £10. Even though this is thought too high, even by people who are in the publishing game themselves. And even though it just results in whole hosts of people not buying it. What is the point in producing a top quality product that is not bought and not seen? It must look terribly impressive as the remaindered stock is dropped into the pulping silo. Vanity, eh?

Yes, I find Sky's priorities quite mind boggling. They can happily spend sums of £40,000 or more to produce the Live match; most of which is no doubt essential to get the pictures on our screens, but which is difficult for us to directly appreciate. And then they foul up on the tuppeny-ha'penny expense of the numpties they put on screen. That is, the bit we do actually see. It could not cost much more to get a decent pit interviewer, could it? And surely Rossitter is only paid his petrol and in (copious) chip butties, by the look of him.

Goodness. I was using the universally acclaimed 128page annual issue of Speedway Star as an example of 'quality'. How unusual for the Managing Editor to characterise any similar publication in such excorating terms. .

BBC1 9pm. Tonight. The Apprentice. You're Fired!

'double the number at £5' ... where did that come from? I can see that you are not in business yourself! Why the BSI obsession with top quality paper and perfect binding? The easiest way to keep costs down and the cover price down but increase sales and profit would be to forego this unnecessary luxury. You manage to get 128 pages held together by staples and still charge just £2.80, don't you? It would have the added advantage that you could open the damn thing properly as well!

I'm certainly not arguing with the thought that Sky may not bother next season. But The GP contract was all about Saturday nights. Sky have plenty of Live Sport already bought and paid for to cover their needs at the weekend. With a year left to run on the Elite League contract that is being used to fill their need for Live Sport through the summer on Monday and Tuesdays. Whilst the EL fits their needs they will make use of it. Whether or not they want it next year we have yet to find out.

The accuracy of that last point means that any notion of such an operation is utterly impossible to imagine. Once the Sky Gravy Train grinds to halt there will be no money available to finance any production company who could offer their footage to rival broadcasters. No one has had the foresight to keep a contigency fund available to try and ensure a TV future after Sky, have they? And who would be prepared to underwrite the operation with their own money? As rights holders I suppose the whole matter will be in the hands of GoSpeed, won't it? And apart from the original contract with Sky they have achieved so little. They haven't even been able to package the Polish Extraleague so that it is saleable; which is a pitiful performance, considering the quality of the raw material.

I take it that you say this in jest. Can you just imagine the Dog's breakfast that would be produced by El Tel and BSPA Productions Ltd!

In my immediate vicinity at the Stadium ... There were three people filling in homemade print outs, two Speedway Stars and two Programmes. The bizarre pricing at £10 seems to have gone beyond the tipping point where the high price is limiting the possible sales to such degree that BSI are now losing out on potential revenue. Not a sign of a well run business.

I do find discussions on this matter fascinating. The justifications for people to carry out this sort of activity become as convoluted as they are disingenuous. The 'copyright-monitors' on the other hand seem so easily goaded into pointing out the perpetrators lack of morality with their amusing comparisons of thieving. In reality the Internet age has created huge areas of moral ambiguity for many people who always thought themselves to be 'law abiding citizens'. It will, for many years, be discussed in many courts in cases involving subjects far more important and challenging than Speedway TV rights..

Have they got the shale safely arranged in the pyramid shape?