E I Addio

I think the last line is a little harsh. Let's not forget that Darcy was the only rider to ride in the Rico Memorial meetings in both Poland and the UK , all at his own time and expense. Every body else did one or the other (not that I am criticising them) but to me that is not the actions of someone who only cares about himself, and whatever else Darcy does we have to give credit where it's due, and clearly Emma appreciated it so that should be good enough for the rest us. With regard to the incident you are referring to I think at any other meeting Darcy would have been excluded but given the type of meeting it was i.e. the Rico Memorial at Lakeside it was really about good speedway more than anything else. Darcy had been the star performer in a star studded field so personally I think the ref did the right thing on that particular occasion in bending the rules a little to have Darcy back in the Final. Personal opinion of course but in memory of Lee it was IMO the right thing to do to have 4 class acts in the final and not 3.

So why didn't Middlo say "It wasn't anything that happened on the track or as part of the Team GB set-up or anything directly to do with me, so I can't comment". Clearly he thought it was his place to comment.

There are some very sensible and well-balanced comments from Muddlo in this weeks SS. Pity he didn't come out with them earlier instead of the original garbage. if he had, this thread would not have happened.

Is that a serious comment on Darcy are you just trying to tell us what a "lad " you are ?

Exactly. And once he is asked about taking drugs he has two choices:- He can either own up to it or face a drugs test. Obviously he will take the sensible course. Silly boy. Let's hope he learns by it, but those trying to excuse it are doing him no favours.

Last years 8.68 average says he has two spiritual homes now and two sets of fans that love him. Its an absolute privilege to have such a great sportsman(in every sense of the word) in the team. With regard to Fred's testimonial and with due respect to the riders concerned I think the name of the game will be to put on a show and raise a decent wedge for Fred without doing anything silly before the season starts in earnest so I wouldn't read too much into the result. Best wishes to all riders for a good meeting.

The Ruling Could go either way but if it was 50/50 it would be evens and one option wouldn't be streets ahead How's the amateur racing going ? Are we going to see you on the lakeside training track ? If so I'll come down and support you.

A stevebrum classic ! ! . If a football commentator said that Private Eye would have it on the "Commentatorballs" page :party:

Not quite. I like the idea of falling onto some knockers....but not the Poole type :P

Goodness knows what happened there. It was supposed to be a reply to Pugwash but all I can see on may screen is a blank space. Maybe Ford's Black Magic is affecting the postings on the internet

Comments do indeed drift off topic but as you have indulged in your opinions on the off-topic matter of Wards guilt or otherwise, I am just pointing out that you have not favoured us with your considered opinion of the subject the thread is actually about. Perhaps you don't one, but it is strange that we seem to have diametrically opposed public comments from the promoter and team manager and as a Poole supporter your input would have been interesting, especially in the conspicuous absence of the forum member that proclaims himself to be "Porn Baron and No1 Poole Fan" ( and who seems strangely quiet at the moment) I can't remember the last time Poole fans were so backward in coming forward.

Once again, this particular thread is not about Wards guilt or anyone else's. There are other threads dealing with that. It is about the Poole managements response to a local newspapers request for comment. The general opinion seems to be that Ford handled it the way it should be handled and Middlo made a complete dogs breakfast of the whole thing and made an embarrassing situation worse. Do you wish to express an opinion on the subject matter of the thread ? Your comments so far have only been pertinent to the two other threads on the subject.

The thread is not about whether Middlo is a good bloke or whether Matt Ford is selfish. It is about Matt Ford's handling of a particular situation. Ford and Middlo were approached by a news paper to comment on the criminal conviction of one of their riders. Ford did the right thing when faced with embarrassing publicity. You deal with the story, make the right noises, wrestle it to the ground and kill it. Whatever people think of Ford he handled it correctly on this occasion. Middlo did the opposite-he tried to explain, justify or defend Wards actions and in doing so has now made the story a bigger issue than the crime itself. Nothing to do with whether he is a nice bloke. If Middlo had said nothing and let his boss do the talking this would be yesterdays news by now. Middlo's remarks have ensured it will run on for a while yet.

If Darcy is old enough to be responsible for his own actions then why didn't Muddlo say just that instead of trying to explain it all away? The words "No comment" are known and understood by all PR men. A proper press release on the Poole website would have nipped all this in the bud and then he wouldn't and couldn't have been mis-quoted. Give up trying to defend him. Its not your job and the more you dig the deeper the hole.

A good point but all the more reason why Poole should have released an official press release through their website which everyone could check, and referred the Echo to it, instead of letting Muddlemouth go blabbing off. People would understand if Muddlo simply answered no comment and let his boss do the talking. Another statement would be damage limitation but still be bolting the stable door too late. Another famous Australian rider and World Champion, Bluey Wilkinson died in a road accident as a result of the negligence of another driver. One wonders what reaction we had from Middleditch if Ward, heaven forbid, had been on the receiving end of a crash caused by someone else under the influence of drink/drugs. I doubt that he would be saying its ok because everybody does it. Very ill considered comments by Middleditch and if Ford has any backbone he should publicly disassociate himself from Middleditch's comments.

Admittedly Kim did have some howlers last season but the fact remains that he put more on his starting average last season than any other Lakeside rider which is no mean feat for a rider in his first full EL season making the transition from reserve to the no2 position, especially as he was often having to go out in heat13 after we lost Lee.

No why do you say these things if you don't know ? According to Lewis he rode an upright for a bit of fun because his own bikes are in pieces being prepared for the season. Nothing to do with thinking he would beat everybody. Don't know where you got that from.

Draw your own conclusions. Not that I would wish to influence others but it says all I need to know.

Ah, well, that explains a lot. I wish someone had said that on page 1 of the thread and it would have saved a lot of questions. Least said the better. No wonder the SCB don't want to touch it with a barge pole. That is not quite the point I was making. I have also been involved in running MX meetings. Everything you mention with the exception of scrutineering comes under the general heading of administration and in essence is no different to anything else run by clubs and enthusiastic amateurs, whether it be motocross, trials, gymkhana's or anything else that takes place in the open during the summer. Anyone prepared to do a bit of hard work can do it. It is the actual meeting officials whose jobs are more onerous at a speedway meeting IMO i.e referee. clerk of the course, pit marshal machine examiners etc and I don't see how you can get untrained, unqualified people to do those jobs at the drop of a hat. Anyway its a bit of a moot point now as it has just been mentioned that the Courtney Brothers are organising it and that says all I need to know. Personally I don't want to waste my time discussing or even thinking about anything they are involved in. Somehow I don't quite see them as speedway's fairy godmothers.

In other words we don't actually know what is going to be different about it or where the ref and other (unpaid) officials such as Clerk of the Course are coming from. The point is that I occasionally go over to Rye House, maybe once or twice a year. IF this thing was running and IF I could be persuaded it was something special I might just be persuaded to go to Rye and see it but I am not persuaded to go just because they apparently run good MX meetings. MCF have a lot more PR to do and a lot more questions to answer I before would be persuaded to support it, even if they jumped through all the hoops necessary to get it on in the first place. Running a speedway meeting is infinitely more complex than running an MX meeting and it would take a lot more information than is presently available before I could be persuaded that it was worth paying to watch. I wouldn't rule it out but I am far from convinced at the moment.

As a matter of interest what different ideas? I have trawled the thread trying to see what they are going to do different but unless I have missed something nobody seems able to say what is going to be different. It seems to me the bottom line is that speedway is four bikes going round and round. Over the years people have tried marching bands fireworks and all manner of things but the only thing that seems to bring the crowds in is good racing. So, as a serious question what is going to be different to a PL individual meeting ? Many meeting officials such as Clerk of the Course and machine examiners are SCB qualified but unpaid. Are the MFC going tom get these officials (whose loyalty is to a promotion ) to come in unpaid or are they going to get unqualified officials of their own to do the job ? What about referees ? Are they getting SCB men in or having unqualified refs of their own ? What about track curators and track equipment, where are they coming from ? I am not trying to be controversial but as far as I can see nobody has discussed any of this and there seems to be an assumption that it will be alright on the night, but I stand to be corrected if anyone has the answers.

Because if you bother to read the posts instead of just trolling mine you will see that the BSPA as well as the SCB are targets of criticism. That's what happens when the argument gets heated and the old red mist comes up obscuring peoples points of view. Perhaps instead of nit-picking my posts you or someone else can try to make the thread interesting by explaining coherently and in simple terms, without calling others muppets why they think this series is a viable and workable idea and then someone against can do a similar thing (although that has in part been said already). A few simple bullet points is all it takes maybe summarising what has been said already then we will all know, because I am blowed if I can untangle what has been said so far from a neutral point of view. The you will be able to go off go off and troll somewhere else.

Fair enough. I don't have an opinion on these new ideas as I don't know enough about them and haven't thought it through. I would have liked some informed comment on here to fill in a few details but so much of the thread is taken up by those OTT posters, the usual suspects that decide that if it is from the BSPA it must be bad. Unless there is a bit of balance those sitting on the fence like myself are never going to be any the wiser. A bit of informative and reasoned argument instead of slagging off the BSPA simply because they are the BSPA, boring everyone silly in the process, would not go amiss.

As has already been mentioned the Lakeside training track did not appear by magic. It was built in part with a loan from the BSPA and is more than just a training track. There will be an academy for young riders properly sponsored under the supervision of a former Elite League rider assisted by two other Elite League riders. Oh, and it will be only the second academy of its type in the world. One might reasonably argue that the BSPA are not exactly setting the world alight in what they are doing but to say you cannot see any evidence AT ALL, ANYWHERE of it when the academy has been well publicised suggests that you are not looking for the positives and only interested in the negatives, like most of the chronic complainers on here. The BSPA have enough faults as it is without people making up unbalanced comments.

I spent the early years of my life living in a house within 100 yards of the stadium. I agree with what you say about the Lokoren disaster and rider control but I think the real problem was that the stands were life -expired and a fire hazard by the early 1970's and would have cost too much money to replace even though the stadium was getting revenue from dog racing and stock cars as well as speedway. There had already been a fire in that resulted in the demolition of the stands on the back straight and that was the beginning of the end for a stadium that was built to 1920's standards. It was a great stadium and track though. Brandon reminds me of it a bit. It is a great pity though that none of the streets were named after the West Ham riders of later years. It would have been great to see Harrfeldt Close, McKinlay Avenue or Loftqvist Lane !