The Pedaler

No he's not. He's "ill" according to the latest press release...probably sick of the way he's been treated. And who'd blame him? Reidar Replacement comes in his place.

Where is your evidence to support the accusation that these are "Polish loonies"? What a stupid and racist thing to say. Zmarzlik is first and foremost Polish, contracted to Stal Gorzow, and rides under a Polish license. Who the hell are we British to call Poles "loonies" because they look after their own? What right to the British have to expect the Poles to cow-down to us just because it suits us? You talk about the Poles like they are some kind of sub-human species who should be subservient to the British all times. Get real and kick out your delusions of grandeur. In todays world of international speedway, Poland are the dominant force and much as it pains me to say it, but thanks to the BSPA, Britain is very much a third or fourth rate nation now.

He's a world class rider OK, and as long as he keeps his helmet on he's fine. But with all those tattoos and facial / body mutilations, and more of those planned in the future, you really think that he's a great advertisement for the sport? You'd send him to open a school fete would you?

I'm not a fan of the idiots who are in the BSPA who run (ruin) this sport but I do recognise the problem with this fanciful notion of having an independent body running the sport. Can someone who likes the idea of an independent body please answer the following questions please: Which are the people who would you think would like to serve in this independent body? (it's all well and good dreaming about Bernie Ecclestone or Barry Hearne, but if they don't want to play, you ain't got a game) What's in it for them - i.e. these people who are independent from speedway and will be running the sport? (Money? Kudos? Self-satisfaction? Altruistic feel-good-factor?) Who will appoint these independent people on an ongoing basis? - will they be elected or seconded, and by who? Who will pay the independent people? (or do you think they will just be doing this out of the kindness of their own hearts?) What sanction will there be on a promoter who doesn't like what an independent person/body tells him and says "sod you, it's my money, I'm doing it my way"? Finally, to those who like the idea of an independent body running the sport, would you allow an independent person to take your wages off you and run your household budget for you, making all the financial decisions, and you having to do as you are told? Because that's what you are, in effect, suggesting is the what should be happening to the BSPA.

Maybe not the end of Bartosz Zmarzlik then? Word from Poland is that Adam Skornicki is out for at least 3 months, and that he has accepted a managerial role at Leszno whilst incapacitated as a rider....so should the Brummies ask Zmarzlik to stay on? And would Zmarzlik be tempted to stay?

Your last chance to do so too if his contract runs out at the end of the month. He'll have three away fixtures too this month, and will be bound to be impressed with British speedway and all it has to offer, if he's thinking about riding here full time, with Eastbourne and Belle Vue being two of those three..

What it basically boils down to is this. The BSPA think that the world, the sun and the stars all the heavens revolve around them. They have no respect for what they call "Mickey Mouse Competitions" in other countries, so if a Swede is contracted to race for a Swedish club in the Swedish league on a day when his English club have their fixture, then that is seen as "dissing" the Elite League. After all, the BRITISH Elite League is all important in the world of speedway. Nothing else matters. So for employing a rider that "disses" the Elite League by riding in his own country in his own league for a team he was contracted to before signing for the Brummies, Birmingham will be fined, and won't be allowed anyone other than a rider from the bottom of the barrel to make up team numbers. Who knows, Nermark may also get a 28 day ban for withholding his services from the most important league in the world, if the BSPA really have a hissy fit about all this. Yes, fine the clubs that are on shoestring budgets and struggling to make ends meet...that'll be sure to ensure their survival. Well done BSPA. Nuking themselves in the foot time after time after time again. Maybe the rest of the promoters will be happy to see Birmingham in the NL next year, or out of business completely.

As I said, Ronnie Russell and his mates cost the Brummies 3 league points. If it had been Poole needing the 3 points (or 4 in the case of last season), they'd have found a way to get that 10th race run.

Got to confess to watching on Bet365 rather than going out to some live matches. I know lots of others doing the same. So there's no commentary. So what? Better no commentary than the clown on Eurosport or Itchy and Scratchy on SkySports. You don't get commentary in the stadiums either (and when you do, it's off idiots like Peter York at Coventry, which is most undesirable)

KingMickSpeedHortonRacingGallagherFanTroll joins the Coventry fan base as well...marriage made in heaven.

Exactly, SkySports with their Swindon influence (Ronnie Russell) had their influence on this meeting all over. They could see the same weather forecasts and weather radar as everyone else. They need to have their commercial breaks, before and during the meeting, so that the meeting couldn't proceed at the usual pace, and between Russell and Rosco, who last time managed to force through Swindon's last rain effected meeting against Belle Vue through to Swindon's advantage, this time managed to delay things enough for Swindon to get a second bite at the cherry. 15 minutes wasted at the start so that people know what insurance to buy and what shaving products to use, and 15 minutes wasted mid meeting so that Rosco can have a blubber over the odd spot or drizzle, and bingo, the meeting was delayed enough for a rematch to be needed. Strange how at Belle Vue last year, Russell was running around at Kirky Lane SO keen to get to heat 10 to get Poole their required result, this time was nowhere to be seen, not imparting any urgency, and just happy to save Swindon's bacon. The speedway establishment in this country STINKS.

Depends on if you are in the West looking east, or in the East, looking west I guess. I'm sure they will have their views on things and let's not forget the fine example set by the BSPA on which riders they allow to take part in Polish run competitions.

They give their riders away for nothing??? Yep, I can see why they'd be keen on that. The same club that doesn't have any issues with NKI riding at Kings Lynn or Zagar riding at Belle Vue, impose terms and conditions on Birmingham. Why?

More likely that there is a loan fee behind all this that with Birmingham's credit rating being what it is, the Polish club don't want to allow the debt to them to get out of control and then not get paid. If you were on the other side of the fence, you'd say this was prudent financial management on their part.

You only see the bits you want to see. The guy hasn't scored a point yet and you're making him out to be a messiah. Well I hope you're right. Time will tell, but let's face it, it's only a short time. He'll only have a few weeks for the Brummies, so he's got to adapt quicker than Janowski, or either of the Pawlicki's did, if he's going to persuade anyone that he's capable of cutting the mustard in this country. It's no good saying "give him a few weeks", because in a few weeks, Adam Skornicki will be back. He not only has to hit the ground running, but hit the ground sprinting. If he can't do a decent job, then, well, you saw how the crowd turned on Kasprzak. He's had the big fanfare, now he has to live up to it, and I hope he does.

Some of us old enough to remember Finn Jensen will have heard all the fanfares and promises of great things before...only to have been let down. Let's hope that this guy is the real deal and adapts quickly and bangs in the points, else it won't be long before Adam Skornicki will have recovered, gets his team place back, and that might be the last we see of Zmarzlik.

Danny King's having an affair??? Go on then, spill the beans....

Absolutely - it's no secret that Birmingham has lost a lot of money in the past and this year is in need of every penny it can scramble together. There's no new sponsorship, many of the old sponsors have gone, there's no Sky money, so it's down to the crowds to make it pay, or not. The EL isn't like the PL, away fans don't matter any more. Get over it! There are those who say that anyone who reduces prices in order to buy in "rent a crowd" is either a: "doing something" or b: being an "excellent promoter" - why because the people saying it get in a few quid cheaper. What SCB says though is absolutely right. You can bank on Groupon, Amazon Local, etc etc offers to buy a crowd in for a week...so much so that the smarter people are no longer buying season tickets and becoming "Offer Jockeys". An "Offer Jockey" could have saved £50 on the price of the 2013 season ticket last year, so no surprise then that season ticket sales this year are at an all time low. As has been said before...the promoters will be praised for at least "doing something". And if you are Stevebrum, you will think that they are "excellent" because Stevebrum will be £5 per meeting richer in his pocket. Even if you question the effectiveness of the policy, at least they will be thanked and praised for it, and their egos will look as good as the bank balance looks bad.

As they say...do the math.

DISGUSTING! How dare these foreigners have their own "Mickey Mouse" tournaments? Don't they know that the only thing that matters in the whole wide world is the BRITISH Elite League. WE won the war. WE saved them from the Germans. About time they showed some respect. Should be banned for getting in the way of what WE are doing. Next thing you know the Poles and the Swedes will have some tournaments as well. Damned blighters.

I'm sure that everyone on BSF who advocates £10 speedway will delight at the news of the reduced admission prices and will show the courage of their convictions by making a bee-line for the turnstiles and ensure a bumper crowd. Best get there early to ensure you get the best view points. No doubt someone can get a link for the benefit of the budget conscious to print their own race cards, as the club don't really need your programme money, being as flush with cash as they are. Speedway on the cheap. This is what the Scribes and the Pharisees of BSF want, and that's what you're going to get!

Even more pedantic now...It wasn't the Great Britain or the Union Flag race jacket that was good enough for British Speedway, it was the other way around. British Speedway had riders good enough to wear the Union Flag, back in the days of Collins, Simmons, Carter, Lee, Loram, Wigg etc. Now the crop of riders we have are a disgrace to the flag. The simple answer to their team identity should be "Team BSPA". They are not worthy of carrying or wearing this nations's flag, whether this be England, Great Britain, United Kingdom or whatever. Let the name of the BSPA be dragged through the gutter like they deserve it to be.

Three quarters of the people at Birmingham don't pay £15 anyway. They are on the concessionary admission which is £10. The rest will probably pay £7-£8 for many of this year's meeting thanks to the Groupon (etc) offers that are bound to appear in the weeks to come. How much less revenue should they take? At the end of the day, if the product is not right, then it won't matter how cheap the admission prices are, the fans won't come. What's really sad is that there's been 7-8 wasted years now, when speedway could have been made more teenager friendly, and we could now have had the first batch of new full-fare paying fans regularly coming through the turnstiles. Unfortunately, long-term planning has been ignored, and a policy of living one week to the next was the chosen course of "doing something". Now it's manic panic. Pretty soon we'll have "Save our Brummies", and then who knows what.

It's all well and good to say that someone is "trying to do something", but you'd expect someone at the top to try to do something that has a reasonable chance of success. If AP wanted to fly he'd be "trying to do something" by flapping his arms, but sadly that won't get him anywhere either. I don't think that the Brummies have the time, or resources to waste on schemes that are ill-conceived and doomed to failure.

Kind of backs up the mismanagement point. The BSPA see international competition as a pain in the backside, and their apathy towards success on the international scene is based on the individual promoters not getting any financial benefit from it, and as they see it, "their" assets being put at risk of injury in someone else's competition. That's why there is minimal support for British riders to compete abroad. What did Latvia have at this time last year?