SPD444

Under number #263 I stated that a heat 16 had been organised for everyone to walk the very last lap round the track to raise money for Darcy. Unfortunately the track manager, who works for the GRA who own the stadium, refused to allow us to do it under health and safety rules at the last minute for reasons we have been unable to fully understand, how walking round an empty track is dangerous is beyond me. So I apologise for misinforming you, and share the disappointment shared by all the fans, Aces and Poole.

As well as the heat 16 tonight with collection going to Darcy, we had an "evening with Jason Crump" last night and the donations from entry and buying Darcy arm bands/t-shirts etc, which came to over £1300 has also gone to Darcy's foundation. Not all fans are nasty.

I think with any team in any sport you could find "if only" situations which had they turned out differently would have meant promotion/relegation or winning/losing. Thats why we love sport. As far as Belle Vue is concerned it has felt terrific to have something to look forward too at the end of the season rather than being at the bottom. This Aces team is a good team and they are all tryers, well almost ( sometimes ). Really enjoyed this season other than the injuries to riders and looking forward to the new stadium. God bless, Darcy.

There has been some conversations about early booking and ticket availability in earlier posts. For me, being able to book now has meant I can find a hotel room at a reasonable cost near to the stadium and not have to pay inflated rates in the city centre. I was also interested in hospitality and, I agree with others, it did take a bit of perseverance to get a response having sent emails to most of those on the belle vue web site and rang and rang the number shown, it was eventually answered by George Carswell who was manning the phones, I asked him to call back about the cost of hospitality and it arrived in the person of Chris Morton who was great in sorting it out for me. The tickets are in block D, and cost £65 which includes entry into the Peter Craven Suite, three course meal and meet and greet with the riders,VIP's etc. Alcohol is extra by the way. I live in North London so the cost of this, and the tickets generally, for an event like this is cheap.

Not uncommon these days. I have already booked, and paid for, a ballet at the Royal Albert Hall in July 2016. Booked and paid for three NFL games at Wembley in October 2015 in October 2014.

As well as Zagar and Cook I believe Mr Lemon is also absent on international duties?

Oh, yea of little faith, lets go for an Aces win 49-41.

I tried to send an application through the bbc web site but it needs so much personal details about the prospective candidate that I could not complete the application. You will need his full address, personal details about him and his family which I am not privvy to. Great idea and nobody deserves it more than him and his family so a direct approach to the BBC maybe the only way.

I think the double header last week finished about 10.30pm but there was an awful lot of time lost by the starting tapes keep sticking on one side. And they were late starting the 2nd match.

Even his fellow competitors, while not condoning his behaviour, don't want to see him banished forever and many think that compulsory alcohol tests for all riders before every SGP would be a better consequence of what happened in Daugavpils. I would go one step further, I think alcohol/drug testing should be done both on the practise day and the day of the meeting for all riders. In other sports random testing is done during the season at any time, this would be a great deterrent as well. If people like Ward want to ruin their careers then that is up to them but safety must be the priority regardless of what some promoters might say.

There is an interesting comparison here with a certain footballer who went round biting opponents. On the first occasion his club made the similar sort of "excuses" we heard regarding Darcy. However, on the second occasion, they got rid. This guy was a big,big star apparently but not bigger than the reputation of the club, Liverpool, or the league. Pity Mr Ford did not emulate said football team and let everyone know that the club and the sport is bigger than any one rider, not matter how good he thinks he is.

You are right about guests, yerropes. I am watching Swindon v Hammers on Bet365 and the Hammers have four guests. Watt fell on the first bend of the first race and he is out for the night. After heat 7 the "Hammers" have scored 16 points but only 3 by their riders. Speedway is a complete joke anyway and then we have riders who seem to think they can have a few beers as well.

Mr. Middleditch says :- "Hes a grown man and should know what he cant do. He knows the rules and now hes being punished for it. I dont know how far over (the alcohol limit) he was but he was. Thats the bottom line." You and Mr. Ford also know the rules and have known this for nearly two weeks now. As you say, it doesn't matter how far over the limit he was, the fact is he was, end of. He is a disgrace to Poole and Speedway and the management (You) should have sacked him and then you would have had two weeks to find a replacement for him. Sorry, Mr Middleditch, you have gone down in my eyes.

Here is the latest if anyone is still interested in the match and not arguing. Sky Sports Speedway ‏@SkySpeedway 2m 17.00 all looks good odd spit of rain. Track in great condition

Just tweeted by Sky Sports Sky Sports Speedway ‏@SkySpeedway 7m No rain of any note on track so far, keeps missing us, long may it do so.

Anyone know why Smart isn't riding at Belle Vue on Monday? He was in the line up for B'ham last night but is not for BV on Monday.

I would find this much more convincing if he had said that the investigation would be completed by a certain date. And that date was not movable

In my case it was Sky that rekindled my interest in Speedway. As a youngster I went every Saturday night to watch the likes of Craven, Mauger, Briggs etc. at Belle Vue for many years. But growing up my interest waned and I lost touch with it. It was through TV that my interest returned and now enjoy most of it. Looking to the future Sky will be interested as long as advertisers want to show their products during the relay. But the fact is that with each match being 15 races and each race lasting approx 1 minute - thats only 15 minutes of actual racing which takes roughly two hours to complete - in my opinion you need more racing and less faffing around waiting for the riders. So improve the product to keep the viewers interest and wanting to watch which keeps the advertisers on board

Isn't this a thread about Sky Sports New Deal??? - Whats all this soccer rubbish!!

I recall a year or so ago when the Sky deal to show the NFL was up for renewal, and the NFL forum was in complete meltdown, it was only announced days before the first game that a new deal had been done. Don't panic there is still a couple of months to go.

This draft is almost a copy of the NFL draft when the worst team can draft the best player and so on. There is also an opportunity for teams who have drafted players to trade/swap with players drafted by other teams ( Eli Manning and Philip Rivers come to mind ). Could the Aces and Swindon to that?

Apparently, according to speedwaygb, Mr Middletwit has been assured by Bridger that his ( Bridgers) bikes in Prague are fast. No worries then.

I think we saw tonight the confirmation that over the last few GP's the rising of the new generation. Gone are the days of Hancock, Gollob, Pederson etc. dominating the Grand Prix and the arrival of the next generation. The hunger of the new generation is plain to see. Emil, Woofy, Chris, Matej really attacking the track and each other is the future not only of the GP but our own U.K Speedway. Great meeting tonight, well done Eurosport ( except for the clown who follows the adverts).