Jonimac

Having attended last night I'd say that the result had less to do with Bob's grading as knowing your way around Arlington. From the gate, as described in Updates didn't reflect what I saw. I'd put "From the 2nd bend" for a few of the races. Wolves certainly made a few starts, only for the Eagles to blast around the outside. But the number of restarts for starting infringements probably tells you how the riders feel it is so essential to get out of the gate there. I am also amazed at how different standing at the 4th bend is compared to the 2nd bend, in terms of rider's entry and line (and I say this as a veteran of many years at Craighead Park, Blantyre!) As for Tai, he did struggle for the first 2 races (unlucky to be excluded in his first ride) but frankly when he was out front in his last 2 rides, he looked the best rider there, in terms of line and style. Cam and Bjarne made no impression on him. The only disappointing aspect for me was the attendance and the lack of respect shown by the announcer concerning Tai's recent form. When you put the World number 1 all over your advertising for the match, you don't start off an interview over the tannoy highlighting his current struggles

That was a privilege to watch. What a great sport we follow. Great coverage from Eurosport too, with Scott Nicholls and the presenter doing a very good job anchoring it. So refreshing to get away from the inter team rivalry and just sit and enjoy riders giving everything on a wonderful racing strip in very tricky conditions. Hancock overtaking Ward. KK nipping inside on the final bend. You couldn't make it up

EL - Eastbourne Positive: returning to my sport this year, and standing among enthusiastic supporters to watch it. Negatives : how little had change in venue since i last attended 13years ago and the lack of constructive and considered feedback I read on hear to help the sport,

It struck me that he was simply giving himself the best chance of employment next season. And who can blame him? I think speedwayscorecards need to create a program so you can tick off all the phrases that Kelvin and him use. It could add another element to televised meetings.

And as far as I know the rules haven't been broken. Poole worked within the rules and will (probably) win the play off tonight. But I still prefer the performance of Birmingham this year, overall. Particularly given their odds at the start of the season. But my belief is that the BV result did not get Poole into the playoffs. Yes, it was towards the end of the season but there we many more meetings than this. It was signing Greg Hancock that got them to where they are tonight.

Actually I believe there would not be a riot because it would never be accepted by the clubs or the public in the first place. I didn't use rugby as an example. I used football. I believe that football doesn't require this end of season event to draw people, from around the world, to watch it.

My posting refers to the team winning the top league. I said that I can understand this for promotion.

Having not witnessed the alleged shenanigans at BV, it's difficult to comment, although there's been plenty of it on here - mostly very angry I might add. But in more than 40 years of watching competitive team sport - mainly football and speedway - winning a league doesn't hinge on winning/throwing/fixing/planning/manipulating one sole match. It's won over the course of a season. Where speedway warps this slightly is that the top 4 teams battle it out at the end. I can understand this for promotion to upper leagues, but cannot for the life of me figure why this is acceptable for the winners of the top tier? Birmingham are, without a shadow of a doubt, the team of the season. Even Matt Ford would vote for them. To have the foresight to sign Greg Hancock in order to try to sneak into the playoffs, knowing that with him on board they had a team far stronger than the one that produced (just) enough points to get into the playoffs is fantastic forward thinking. But it's still a gamble. And it paid off. For me, Poole were the team of last year and lost the play off to Swindon. So I'd blame the system, rather than someone who last year suffered by the same system, for the unsatisfactory winners of the Elite League. If Arsenal beat Man Utd last May at Wembley in the Premier League play off, there would be a riot because they did not deserve it over the course of the season. Yet we put up with this in speedway. You will also note the use of the word "Premier" in that last sentence. Who thinks these titles up?

What a considered and well thought out piece. For me, here is the key line I don't want to turn up to watch R/R or some guest (good or bad) shunted in. As far as I can see, Matt Ford has broken no rules. Like good comedy, it was about timing. I believe Hancock was losing his spot in Poland, struggling in the GP series and needed more competitive racing. Poole needed to replace the great Chris Holder for the remainder of the season. They have also had Ward out for part of this season too. A remarkable achievement, made possible by Matt Ford taking A RISK. Not buying his way to success but giving Poole a chance of success.

Apologies if this has been asked before but are league matches in Sweden and Poland televised? If so, does it generate the income required to attract the the likes of Hampel, Pedersen and Sayfutdinov? Or are there other sources which allow them to pay the big money these riders require?

Gustix, I think the "we" in my generation suggests you are giving the view of more than just yourself. Incidentally one of my friends is a Captain with the "World's favourite airline" and has a tattoo. That low intelligence opinion, past or present, is wrong. End of. But I'm happy to accept it is just YOUR opinion, not your generation's

Gustix Could I offer a thought Here's a couple of your quotes "we used to regard people with tatoos as being of low intelligence" "As I said presentable and acceptable to the public at large. " As opposed to someone else, who said "I have always looked at people with tattoos on display as either threatening or people to keep an eye on. Perhaps unfair, but in my experience, people with them, can be 'trouble'. " For me, the difference is that your quotes seem to be talking as a spokesman for other people, whereas the second contributor purely gives their opinion. I find your contribution about the sport interesting but I don't think you can truly speak for anyone but yourself [iMVHO]

Nice spot on the BBC this morning. Sally asked some simple questions to people an idea of his background and his achievement. But the best bit was when they passed over to the sofa , as in the picture above, and Susanna made a cheeky comment about his earrings. Then Sally got him to show everyone his tattoo under the chin. And do you know what? He seemed like a likeable guy. Like any other normal 23 year old. Yes tattoos, but for anyone who is put off by that, have a look at any other person of his age. He seemed well in touch with people of his generation. He will be a great ambassador for the sport. But I hope he is treat delicately - not forced to be the last hope of British speedway. He simply made me proud to be a Britsh speedway fan when I saw him on TV this morning.

Having Sky coverage made me want to come back . I realised I needed to smell the fumes again! How can you return to a sport when you are not actually aware it is still going?

Actually Hawksbee and Jacobs are not a couple of Neanderthal football fans. They do the lunchtime slot and do lots of interviews with people from all walks of life. I don't find them particularly interesting but I've formed that opinion based on my experience as a Talksport listener. Not sure if Paul and Andy can say they've invested the same amount of time watching speedway. I didn't hear yesterday's show but sounds like it was it was al throwaway line by Paul Hawksbee, who is occasionally quite funny. And, as suggested, reflects many people's opinions of the sport - god knows how many of my mates say the same! I wouldn't be surprised if Tai ends up on their show at some point, just to re-educate them on the sport. I've always found it strange that it's marketed as TALKsport. Surely with every 2nd word being "y'now", they are doing the listening audience out of half their described services?

Brum beaten fair and square. So many of their normally solid lineup did not perform, which is a shame for the 2nd leg. Two consecutive black and white helmets early in the meeting summed up their resistance. Shame Harris seemed to fade just as Doyle got going, and Smolinski gave the poorest No1 performance I've seen this season. But hats off to Ward, Hancock and Grajczonek who were outstanding. what summed it up for me - Janowski had a relatively poor night, but had he been with Brum, he would have been top scorer with Doyle (who gained 6 points from Heat 8) One hook on the cup I reckon

Extremely negative, although you seem unaware that it comes across as such. That's a shame. This is a time to celebrate

Great coverage in the Guardian, with an embedded video of his win

I've already emailed the Independent & BBC to thank them for their coverage of Tai's win. Anything that gets our sport a higher profile has got to be good surely? I think what "gobsmacked" me was someone mentioning on here that one promoter questioned the value to British speedway of Tai winning !

So delighted for him. I was like a small child jumping up and down when he finished heat 5 - and I remember my hero Peter Collins winning at Katowice! It was only when I watched it again this morning that I realised the eventual winner of the GP was also in heat 5 . I'm glad I didn't know how good he was until later in the evening, although him passing Hampel gave me a clue. I truly hope that he gets the media coverage his heroics have deserved

Philip, I'm back watching speedway after a long time away. With regard to the tracks, would you say it's unusual to have so many top riders having bad injuries in one season? Especially on poorly prepared surfaces or temporary tracks eg Woffy has broke his collarbone twice at temporary circuits. I'm also thinking of Lingren at Cardiff, injured from nowhere.

If Sky do decide to pull the plug, it would be a great shame. As someone who has returned to to speedway after many years away, it seems to me that only Sky have attempted to drag the sport into the 21st century. Their coverage has been excellent for two reasons. (1) They attempt to portray the sport in the best light possible- camera angles which suggest bigger crowds and a greater atmosphere than is actually present (from reports, Poole this week would be a case in point).(2) I've gained a much greater appreciation of riders/engines/track craft from Chris Louis in the pits this season than all my years at Coatbridge/Glasgow and now Eastbourne. And Nigel Pearson, righty or wrongly, tries so hard to breathe life into a race where 9 times out of 10 things are settled in the first 2 corners. I realise this can distract people but what comes across to me is his real love of the sport. I went back to Arlington for the first time in 13 years, drawn in by watching Darcy Ward, Chris Holder and (pantomime villain) Niki Pederson on TV. I was amazed that the crowd for an Elite League meeting was smaller than a national league meeting at Blantyre 30 years ago. And the world champion was on show! Having said that, the crowd themselves were as polite and enthusiastic as ever. Again, people who love the sport. But the facilities were no better than Blantyre. I mean no disrespect to the Dugards and Trevor Geer (who apparently works for free!) as they can only work with the money they bring through the gate. It made me wonder whether the track would benefit from being in the Premier League (do you realise how ridiculous that name sounds when it's not actually the top league?) where they could have 12 league matches plus the KO Cup? Do we realise that if Ryanair went out of business, we would have little or no world class riders competing in the UK? My question would be Why can Polish speedway promoters attract thousands through their gate? Purely guessing, I'd go for cheap gate prices and better stadiums surrounding smooth tracks with a bit of dirt on the outside?