Pinny

Thats exactly my point- why arent you talking about Holder? He was involved in this was he not? Hes more of a role model than Ward if anything, he has won the world title. Hes current world champion so if kids are looking at role models then he surely is the most popular?

Exactly.

I still maintain that getting drunk and play fighting in a bar is hardly worthy of being slated for. The pissing in a doorway bit is wrong but do we know if that was Ward? Or was it Holder or Batchelor?? The main point is people like the media are picking up on everything Ward is doing - why isnt their a separate thread for Batchelor and Holder as they were involved? I dont agree with all of what they have done but in my generation since going to the pubs and clubs at the age of 16 until my current age of 24, ive seen people getting slung out of bars, messing about fighting with their mates, boys pissing in doorways and alleyways, people spewing their guts up in the middle of the road etc every single weekend in various citys... In a nutshell this latest story is not worthy of the attention its receiving. If it was Holder and Batchelor on their own we would probably know nothing about it, its the fact Ward was there too that the media are blowing everything out of proportion. But drinking is a huge part of todays generations lives, the aussies are notorious drinkers and always have been. Ward still turns up on track, passes regular alcohol tests and trys 100% on track whilst entertaining and scoring shed loads of points earning lots of money, why the hell should I or any of us care about him having a drink or ten after a meeting in a foreign country?! I appreciate the fact that some people purely dont like booze and that , each to their own, but the older members of this forum should listen to the younger ones like me, dave minall etc as were regularly out and see exactly what goes on on a night out . You have dentist chairs everywhere now in clubs where you have some ###### in a nurses outfit pouring spirits down your throat whilst your being spun round, you have ten shots of sambuca for a fiver, you have 1 pound drinks in most clubs... The alchohol culture is a huge factor in todays youth. I will admit that Darcy is silly enough to regularly be seen in the thick of the action but believe you me, ive seen many more riders behave a lot worse behind closed doors and this rider was recently praised for how much time he gives to his fans and sponsors. Do not think worse stuff goes on - it does and always will, just some are a bit more sensible than Ward and keep it away from the public domain. But getting tanked up regularly is no more or less professional if the fans know about it or not

Nobody takes me seriously? You should go and have a quiet word with yourself before you make such remarks - even Wolves fans ridicule you at any opportunity!!! Someone said you wouldnt see an Olympian doing such things and i pointed out that one recently blasted his mrs to death. How is that pathetic? I agree Ward does himself no favors at all but for 16-25 year olds espiecially, this behavior is far from un common. Getting thrown out of a pub is a day to day going on in any city or town in the uk. So is urinating in the street, as vile as it is you see it all the time. The press are basically picking up on anything Ward does and its getting beyond a joke. Like i said, all you lot want to go in walkabout on gp weekend and see how the so called professionals behave because i can assure you 100 percent if you think this latest ward story is bad then youll be stunned.

How is it? Someone said you wouldnt see an olympic star doing it and i stated what an olympic star has recently done!!

No you just expect to see olympic stars killing their girlfriends

Do none of you attend Walkabout on a day before the GP or the day of the gp in cardiff? If not i suggest you do this year to see what some riders you class as role models and professionals get up to. Interesting but not surprising to see Wards involvement in a polish piss up gets more attention than ben barker crashing into a car and leaving the scene !!!

If this was hancock, hampel and crump nothing would be said . If it was that serious, ward would of been locked up. Police in poland are a lot stricter than here and would lock him up if he was that bad. He hasnt been arrested so as usual the media blow it out of proportion. I am a regular on the british club scene i go out every weekend and see people pissing all overthe place, ive even seen a girl hiding behind a taxi pissing in bristol whilst four coppers stand there laughing, ive seen mass brawls involving half of newport, ive seen bouncers getting smashed with bats in newquay, i see all sorts every weekend and what ward has been accused of doing amounts to sod all, unless you people go out and see what the vast majority of people behave like in nightclubs these days then i cant take your posts seriously. And thats not being sarcastic either, im being serious Town and city centres in the uk these days are absolute carnage

Talk about things being blown out of proportion yet again!! It seems he was play fighting with holder and batchelor, big bloody deal. He had a few drinks and got thrown out of a pub, who the hell cares? Was he arrested, no, so he hasnt broken the law! Some of you really do need to get a life. You walk through any town in great britain on a weekend and youll see people pissing in doorways, play fighting, getting thrown out of clubs and pubs and stripping off. Sadly for you oldies things have changed now and thats the youngsters way of life. The days of going to a club in a suit and dancing round with some heffer to a marvin gaye song are long gone! Let the kid enjoy himself for god sake, as long as he isnt breaking the law does it really matter??

Having a few drinks and get slung out of a bar who the hell cares it happens to us all!!

In their prime Watson and Smart , charlie gjedde during his newport days and anders henriksson during his newport days. At queensway meadows of course

Sedgmen will start well and tail off within a month... Ask any newport, birmingham or redcar fan what they found his form to be like!!! Plus he apparantly demands alot hence him not being snapped up this year.

He impressed big time for Berwick last season and there is no doubt the promotion dropped a huge clanger by not having him back and choosing Edberg instead, that is something that cannot be denied

Edberg riding well? Dear me. Hes been rubbish

I for one am willing to eat humble pie- sheff looking good and will finish higher than leicester im sure as they wont get beaten at home i dont think Pity the home advantage tag wasnt mentioned with sheffield when they were losing at home last year? Albin looks a good signing not sure on koppe though

Are they?

Time for Redcar to show Kus the door... Getting worse not better! Youd imagine hes on a good deal too, wonder if their able to tempt one of the young Danes over ? Id imagine Swedes are out of the equation

No way... Gjedde is class On a serious note... Proctor is either taking the urine out of Plymouth or the gulf between the EL/PL really isn't as extreme as what people think. Proctors an all out racer though and cant imagine him giving it any less than 100%, so a weird one.

Why didnt he report the incident to the police then? He has committed an offence which in this country is called a hit and run - just as if not more serious than what Ward has done. So what if the police weren't there at the time, he knew they would be coming for him but he preferred to stay away and not report it or hand himself in.

He was charged with two offences. He fled the scene where he knew police would be on there way, that is running from the police no matter how you try and paint it.

Mellgren is superb... is he still under Rickardssons wing? Wont be long before he is EL bound for sure, and he will do well there with his gating although these days he can pass as well. Will be Ryes number one this year without fail and in the top 5 PL aves.

Well obviously I would but I like many sports and plenty of sportsmen have done far more serious things... as I stated before Mike Tyson ranks as one of my favorite boxers yet he got jailed for rape and has been done for many other things including drugs and driving offences, still doesnt stop me from watching his past fights. There could be quite an innocent explanation to this incident just like there could be more to it, he may of been pissed and thats why he drove from the scene (not stating this is what happened - just a possibility) , I just dont like the fact people think Wards offence was more serious. Its only a few riders who do get caught in situations like this, christ I remember in about 2001/2002 two riders (not naming names but people who attended Newport in these years will know who!) were in the bar for a good 2 hours on the razzle after a meeting and then both climbed into their vans and raced eachother out of the stadium... like it or not speedway riders are quite loose in the head as we all know and you can bet so much law breaking goes on that we never know of or becomes public knowledge. Ward and Barker are idiots for what they have done but people turn up to see them in action on the track.

Why? Both have been incredibly silly, both broken the law and both brought a bad name upon the sport however I fail to see how Barkers crime is no less serious than Wards? Crashing a car, knowing youve done wrong and leaving the scene without leaving any details whatsoever is a very serious offence hence his ban from driving and a fine. Both have been careless, silly and inappropriate but saying Barkers crime isnt as bad as Wards is wrong.

He crashed his vehicle into another and failed to leave details or report the incident... You can bet the police were called so in theory, yes he did run from the police. But just like the Ward incident, he is young and makes mistakes and quite frankly, as long as they entertain on track I couldnt careless what they do off it.