E I Addio

I don't know the ins and outs of every possible alternative date but the TV broadcasts are down to Sky not the individual promotions. All things being equal switching to Monday would be a good way out but Sky seem to pick and choose as they wish. For example the last broadcast of Lakeside v Wolves was sceduled for a Friday in the fixture list but then pulled out by Sky. Lakeside have been on twice anyway which I suppose throws a bit of a spanner in the works. I am not suggesting for a moment that patched up sides are acceptable, but you have to look beyond that and consider the underlying problem that the sport is playing second fiddle to the GP season and Continental fixtures. There is money in the GP's for the TV companies but there are too many for the British season, and IMO too many GP's anyway.Six would be ideal.

Ah something posted on here that we don't know where it came from. Anyway assuming its accurate it doesn't say Cook thought it would be an easy three points so that bit is a figment of your imagination. It is not a dig at the supporters as a whole. He refers to the FEW online posters ( I presume you know what "few" means) who criticise the sport at every single opportunity . Now I cant think of many apart from bigcatdiary who criticise the sport at every single opportunity. Even mikebv has a good word to msay sometimes so clearly the number that Cook was referring to are very few, and frankly I don't have much time for people who NEVER have anything positive to say. FWIW Cook was asked about something like this at the fans forum in February. His answer was that his duty is to the fans who pay their £18 to come through the turnstiles. I think pretty much every business owner would say the same and I doubt whether any promoter would say different. With regard to the possible postponement this was dealt with in Cook's programme notes . He pointed out that there are still 8 home matches to be fitted in, at the fixture list has already been messed up by two Swindon rain offs and one meeting that had to be re-0scheduled because of a Sky broadcast. There are no more reserved dates in the fixture list. as said but before its all very well to criticise but nobody is prepared to come up with a workable solution. That is the reality of modern speedway in the British climate while playing second fiddle to the Continental season. Not saying I like it but that's the way it is. Obviously not great for Lakeside when the visiting team that pulls in one of the biggest crowds of the season turns up with a patched up side that brings in possibly half the expected Box Office. Do you not think Cook would not have gone for another date with a paying gate if he could ?

When did he say that? Have you got a link or is it something you have just made up ? The Lakeside website says they are taking nothing for granted and just have focus on there own performances. That clearly is not a dig at supporters and neither does it indicate they thought it would be an easy 3 points.

That much is not in dispute. Poole usually bring in a big gate of home fans as well as visitors, and it will undoubtedly result in a loss of income for Lakeside. It's not good for the sport as a whole either. But it needs grown up discussion accepting the reality of the fact that the number of GP's and the Continental season is wrecking the already fragile EL. It is getting worse because Polish TV now wants to broadcast speedway mid week and Denmark is going beyond the traditional Thursday only race night. It would be more helpful if people tried to look at realistic solutions instead of simply screaming farce as if that would change anything. A bit more maturity from Muddlo when he makes his pontifications in SS wouldn't go amiss but I doubt whether that man will ever change , given his stupid public comments of recent years. Discretion is the better part of valour.

Oh dear another moaner from the sidelines who ignores the reality of the situation. You say "a couple of people have the opinion to run at all costs" . Can you tell us who those two people are and let us have some facts to back up what you say ? No, thought not. Just a dig for a bit of attention. It would help if you read the report in the Bournemouth Echo before sounding off then you would have a few answers. It is not just the "opinion "of a couple of people. Let's look at the facts:- Bjarne Pedersen and Hans Andersen are reported to be riding in Denmark. Poole knew Pedersen was not available for this fixture when they signed him. In fact his preference to ride in Denmark on this date was one of the reasons Lakeside didn't sign him in the first place . Why Poole said they were available for the fixture when they must have known Andersen wouldn't be there I do not know. Maybe at that stage they thought they could go with R/r when they still had Dave Watt but either way it's no good Poole complaining about their absence when they should have seen that coming. Buckowski has a rearranged fixture in Poland and he said stuff Poole I am riding in that one. Not Lakeside's fault he is not coming. In any event, based on past form Poole are better off with Ricky Wells than Buckowski. Matt Ford is on record as saying in the Bournemouth Echo that every effort has been made to try to move the fixture and he publicly thanked Lakeside for their assistance. Lakeside tried to get other clubs to take the fixture in place of Poole but none of them would, mainly because most have fixtures of their own. Of course we still hand that big mouthed half wit Muddlo bleating on in Speedwáy Star about it being Lakeside's fault and the meeting shouldn't be run, apparently completely unaware that his boss had already said its not Lakeside's fault. One would think Speedwáy already has enough problems without that fool Muddlo trying to stir up more. The sooner he is out of the sport the better for all concerned,

What Mr Ford wants is a wish list at the moment, nothing more. He has canvassed the opinion of his customers and there it rests for,the moment. The key ingredients are firstly what format will the paying public support and how many meetings will top riders commit to. It's clear that the public these days don't really want to support challenge matches, test matches or KO cup type things. The legue only gets by because of Sky money. It's a tragedy that Birmingham, Peterborough and Eastbourne couldn't sustain EL racing. If those clubs had remained in the EL it wouldn't be a bad league assuming the riders would support it, but those clubs absence indicates the scale of the problem facing the EL Let's see what the AGM brings.

The problem is postponed to when ? There have already been two rained off Swindon fixtures to re-arrange due to rain offs and probably no other dates when all riders are available. The reality is that its bad enough with GP's , SWC, u/21's and GP qualifiers to fit round riders availibity, but now we have Polish TV meetings going on mid week and it all plays havoc with the domestic league when rain offs happen. Its all very well for people to pontificate about postponements, and I am sure Jon Cook would go for that option rather than a big wage bill and a small crowd but there is no easy answer other than in the BSF fantasy world. The month since the last meeting is itself due to a rain off. Having said that. I shall go myself, subject to weather, because with these gaps I am increasingly finding other things to do on a Friday and if I don't drag myself over there I might easily drop the habit completely.. When regulars like myself are getting out of the habit the alarm bells should be ringing at BSPA Towers.

Another one of your dreams. In Phil Space's article in the Bournemouth Gazette he thanks Lakeside for their assistance and says they did to get another club to take the fixture but nobody would. When interviewed on Dartford Bridge Radio Ford said " There is no doubt that Jon Cook is the best, and fairest promoter in the country and would accommodate us if he possibly could" Of course they are not weakened. At least Bradley didn't commit to EL racing then say "Sorry guys I've got a better job in Denmark." You can't weaken a side by replacing a rider who was never going to be there anyway. Half a lap behind ? Oh ye of little faith ! You overlook Muddlo's renowned ability to take a novice and turn him into a world beater (unless you are suggesting Starman was talking rubbish when he made that claim) . A couple of races for Muddlo to work his magic and I am sure Carl Wilkinson and Richard Hall will be whacking the points in like nobody's business.

Ford should be heavily fined for fielding an under strength team. His license should be suspended for the rest of the season and David Hemsley appointed as caretaker promoter.

You don't have the ability to think for yourself then ? How many poor meetings have you actually seen for yourself at Lakeside this year?

Hope it doesn't hit the gate too hard. Poole are usually one of the clubs that pull in a pretty decent crowd.

Ed's highest score since joining Lakeside and I think the first time he has had the confidence to go out in heat 15 as a Hammer/, so lets hope he has turned the corner and is on the way back to the level he was at 5 or 6 years ago. I am pretty also that this is the first time Rich Lawson has failed to score in a Hammers race jacket. Most unusual for him.

Yep, there was a slight possibility of an away point so they are going in without their top two, just to be on the safe side.

Briggo at West Ham was stunning. Our memories are not totally reliable, I admit, but from memory I can't remember anyone in the whole of motorcycle sport, except Mike Hailwood, who was so much better than the opposition as Briggo was at Custom House. According to my memory Anders Michanek was pretty stunning when he visited Hackney.

I basically agree with that but it's the T/R as usual,that threw a spanner in the works. At the time we had the 3,2 etc arrangement we also had provision for two T/R,s all or most of the way through. That meant that team with a strong top two but a weak tail could gain an extra six points by way of T/R's which made it seem like the home team won on the track and lost on the rule book. I know all the arguments on the maths but the fact remains that a T/R is still perceived by many as an unfair advantage, it's more trouble than it's worth.Get rid of the T/R and go back to the old style 3,2,1,0 scoring system and you have, in my view at least a system as good as you can realistically get. I wouldn't object to one T/S ride per meeting but realistically they are never coming back (especially not under the present EL format) so shouldn't really feature in the discussion

Wasn't the old style world final run over two legs once as I recall. Not a success and never repeated. As you say , the inherent weakness in the idea, apart from missing riders is that the probability of the winner being known early. This sort of event depends on the tension of getting it right on the night. The first leg wouldn't mean much because there won't be a result , and after the second leg there would be up perhaps 10 riders who no longer gave a chance of winning. You only have to look at the number of riders who pull out of the ELRC these days.

Adam Shields career was ended basically by injury, but it's more complicated with Davey. Davey has his critics but I can't really fault him in his years for Lakeside, and with hindsight his first two years there may prove to be the Indian Summer of his career , and indeed arguably his best ever two years. His third year with the Hammers was dragged down by injury, personal problems, and having to ride out of position as first heatleader when at best he was only really a second heatleader as Steve says. He was also a very good captain, applying himself to the job as much at Lakeside as he did at Poole. If the BSPA are serious about using the PL as a development league for young up and coming riders then Davey has a hell of a lot to offer and still has a few years left in him to be a valuable captain to any PL club. I, for one, hope we have not seen the last of him in British Speedwáy.

I know loads of non-Speedwáy fans who are becoming interested in the sport and have just joined the forum, and they all said they thought the poster was talking about Cradley in Herefordshire, and they all,pm'd me and asked me thank you for that clafication, otherwise they would have been driving all over a Herefordshire looking for a Speedwáy stadium that wasn't there . Wow ! What a sight that would have been. Good job we some speedway journalists on the forum, what?

The first point I would make is that fairness and consistency are not necessarily the same thing. Because on person gets an unduly lenient punishment for something it doesn't mean everyone else should get away with it. I think we can discount Len Silvers behaviour in the past because times change, and no doubt Johnny Hoskins may (and probably did ) something similar to whip up the crowd but times move on. I can't remember any of the present crop of EL promoters doing anything similar, apart from the Keith Chapman incident I mentioned previously. To the best of my knowledge Chapman suffered no disciplinary penalty for his behaviour. I stand to be corrected if someone else knows differently but if my understanding is correct then I agree that it is unacceptable that someone in a management position should be allowed to behave that way without reprimand, but that doesn't make the Hemsley case wrong, it makes the Chapman case wrong. The sport is riddled with inconsistencies but two wrongs don't make a right. It's ridiculously inconsistent that Craig Cook should be allowed to ride in the PL but Lewis Bridger on a much lower average isn't. That doesn't make the Craig Cook decision wrong it makes the Bridger decision wrong. Now, as far as Hemsley is concerned, in any sport any attempt to intimidate the referee or umpire should be severely dealt with otherwise you are on the road to chaos. If Hemsly was guilty then it's right that he got a fine that will hurt, so he doesn't repeat the behaviour. The fact that someone else got away with it is an indictment of the sport but it doesn't excuse Hemsley. If as you say self interest is at the root of Hemslys fine that is a serious claim and needs a bit of substance to support it. Personally I think Hemsleys fine is a bit steep but if guilty it still needs to be substantial. I am more surprised that people on here are so concerned about Hemsley and hardly give a peep when others seem to get away with similar behaviour. That is where the real wrong really lies.

You will never know the answer to that one, because they, have never done it, never come close to doing it and frankly there is no reason to belive they are ever likely to do it. The same goes I think for all the current EL promoters as far as I can recall, with one exception, who three years ago went to the referees box with his team manager, against the rules, to remonstrate with the referees decision to exclude a particular rider. The action was all the more distasteful because it was done while another rider was lying seriously injured on the track. That exception was .....er....the current BSPA chairman. That's to imply I have an option about Hemsley though. No excuse for that sort of behaviour by promoters in any sport. Incidentally, assuming the fracas was in some way connected with the referee inadvertently turning the lights off, it is just worth mentioning that the same thing happened at Lakeside about 3-4 years ago when the guy who did the music inadvertently turned the lights off. There were no threats or anything else. They just sent out for an electrician (for some technical reason these floodlights can't just be turned on) . Mistakes happen. Threatening people doesn't put them right.

Someone said on post 17 that Glasgow are losing substantial sums of money. The new promotion there have come in and spent a fortune on the club , including buying riders like there is no tomorrow yet they are still losing a lot of money. That tells you all you need to know about the PL model.

Except JD had already been out for a month with visible injury. He had his side ripped open by Bjarnes footrest and a punctured lung. He didn't miss just the one match for tactical reasons. Lakeside had already signed Tomas Jedrzak to replace him.

Joe Screen, Pawlicki , and Dakota North all produced doctors certificates when they missed meetings for Poole but nobody believed them. Tungate may or may not have had a genuine injury, time will tell, but let's not kid ourselves that medical certificates mean a thing in Speedwáy. They can be produced at the drop of a hat as we all know.

Sorry , my mistake. I don't know where I got the maximum idea from. However, I checked the Updates site and according to that he was leading his third race when his bike packed up on the last bend, and in his fourth ride he was last in what seems to have been an ftg race but came close to snatching third. So the 4 points he scored would have been 7 without the e.f. and possibly 8. It's very difficult to say if he was fit or not. 7/8 points is not a bad score for a rider with an alleged shoulder injury. The acid test will be how soon he rides again, but it doesn't look totally convincing at the moment. Pretty bad though that we have Swindon fans actually posting on here that they don't care if Roscoe did pull a dodgy stunt, so even if Tungate was above board there are Robins fans that approve of cheating and can be put in the Matt Ford/Muddlo/Starman category.

T I was critical of Joe Screen missing a Poole meeting "injured " and then scoring an 18 point maximum in Denmark the next night, and I was critical of the Dak North situation but if those facts are true i.e. Rosco tweets Tungate out for two weeks then the following night he gets a maximum for Somerset then TBF there do seem to be parallels between the three cases. Not going overboard about it yet but it does hum a bit and an explanation would be useful, otherwise conclusions will be drawn. Can anyone post a copy of Rosco's tweet ?