sparkafag

Yes, assume rather than claim to actually know because to claim to know something when you don’t know is stupid. The rest of your post is yet again utter whatabouttery.

If you know, then you should show a lot more respect to the profession then than saying “Tai rides a bike for a max of 5 mins a night” and flat out disrespecting the achievement of any speedway rider (not just Woffinden) even though you continually sit on a high horse preaching about how others should treat speedway. Because even though you raced a bike…well sat on one, it seems that I as a distant observer can take into the account the likely drains and strains of racing at the top level several nights a week in a way you haven’t…. the travel, fitness, recovery programmes due to aches and pains of previous injuries, falls etc and so on. I would assume someone like Woffinden will be on strict sleep and diet programmes laid out months in advance to ensure peak physical conditioning is maintained throughout the season, this is before even factoring in practice sessions, sponsorship appearances, PR appearances etc and so on. Even in that I throw in the word “travel” and it seems so throw away, it is simply a 6 letter word but in reality it is hour after hour sitting in planes, vans, airports, at stadia, meetings rooms etc days and weeks of a riders life throughout a season, I don’t expect people to feel pity for them, and in all honesty neither do the riders often ask for it, it is simply a circumstance of their profession which most accept as the schedule is hectic, but I can totally see why it would drain throughout the year. RE the point about a van/bikes whatever being at Manchester, yes you are correct he could have done that….but yet again, it is complete and utter whatabouttery - Woffinden explained why he wasn’t at the meeting you are simply inventing reasons he wasn’t there and then dragging others into the gutter with you to talk about them… You have spoken about Woffinden so obsessively for nearly 4 years now, to the point you don’t know where the actual Woffinden stops and your version of Woffinden starts…..take a step back FFS

Robs got zero idea re the demands of a top level speedway rider, never has, never will…..he thinks it is all about strapping a bike to the back of a Capri and driving an hour for 2 minutes work… No context or understanding of what it takes to reach the pinnacle of the sport, the sacrifices needed etc and so on, he said so himself. That said it, is irrelevant, Woffinden not being at the British Final was nothing to do with bikes being in the UK or not, he literally explained why he didn't ride in it.

Hampel should replace Lindgren, if he (Hampel) doesn’t get the points required to qualify he should be out – he has had his good will gestures.

:lol: This is the best one yet….now belittling a profession you actively picked and mock others for not choosing

"This has been a very difficult call for me. However, I have to look after myself. I cannot afford a repeat of what happened to me in 2014 when I became burnt out mentally and physically. "I've worked so hard to get to this position and now I have to capitalise. It's not in any way showing disrespect to my national championship, I will always be proud to say I have won the British title in three successive years. "Perhaps my absence from the British Final opens up the field, not just for the title, but for someone new to get a place at Cardiff." Woffindens own words, nothing to do with money, where bikes are or aren’t and nor does he actually say he is done with the British Final. There is no need to “believe it is about money” or even the need to drag yourselves down to roberts level arguing about the logistics of getting bikes to and from the event - in Woffindens own words it was nothing to do with that, it is a non existent argument, be as well talking about the Easter Bunny.

Your counters have been p*ss poor for a while , but you are clutching at any straw you can now. He could go on and win both the World and British title another 5 or 6 times…

There is a really odd attempt being made here to position Woffiden (and Pedersen) as some sort of evil baddies because they earn what is seen as excessive salaries….pretty bizarre.

If people just say you’re right (but really don't mean it) will you stop talking about it? What is the end game here...

No I originally posted about Cook and then Harris and King which you quoted, there is no chicken egg scenario re that. Now move along

Pick from the Brittish riders we have (as most are suggesting) rather than referencing "international quality" as if "international quality" riders are about to be plucked from thin air

Yeah it still says the same thing it did when you posted it Brittish riders (Tai apart) aren't "international quality" what ever the hell that even means, and what of it? what if they aren't "international quality"? We write to the FIM and tell them that? Or...we all sort of get the point and get on with it other than saying "not international quality" every time riders are mentioned and accept we have to get on best we can with our "not intretnational quality riders" You're an empty vessel

They aren't "international quality" what a typically idiotic point

Harris should be in before King There is no logic for King over Harris other than King winning the British Final, if that's the basis it's entirely knee jerk

Cook is a funny one... I don't think he is worth the investment, he isn't going to become a world beater and has been pretty average in the continental meetings he has raced in he has never really put serious points on the board which Nicholls and Harris can both say

What are you even talking about…. I might be wrong re my grasp of your first point as it doesn’t make that much sense, but I will try…. You are attempting to say that me admitting others know more about wages than me makes my post pathetic? That’s a completely mental point (not an insult by the way simply an observation of your point)…..loads of people know more about riders wages than me, utterly loads, the riders involved in the actual deal, the promoter, managers... in actuality the total opposite of what you are implying would be pathetic. If I was insinuating I knew the most about wages that would be pathetic and hold no credibility…or even if I was to say “well I don’t know what NKI is paid but I tell you what I reckon it is a packet of Haribo and a couple of boxes of green tea a week” simply to add “knowledge”…no, knowledge is actually knowing a thing not just saying a thing for the sake of it. I stated that you commenting on a riders wages and demands and specifically Woffinden makes you look like a fool, it does, it adds zero credibility to any argument you are making when you ask what sort of money riders were on/are on or wish for. Were you there when NKI or Doyle agreed their contracts? No, were you there when Woffinden was in talks with any British club, Sky, BT etc? No So why are you even attempting to make reference to it….it is, as I said, foolish to do so, you are implying you not only know about specifics of specific contract details but a person’s motives and subconscious its completely ridiculous.

A riders wages, signing on fee, expectations or appearance fee, doesn’t actually matter to me, you or anyone else for that matter other than rider and promoter. It isn’t for you to decide what a rider wants to achieve from their life, and their career. In an attempt to make yourself sound like an expert re wags and demands you have only served to make yourself look an absolute fool as you’re talking about a subject matter you don’t know about (irrespective of your previous with the sport) you are talking about a strawman when you talk about wages and contracts. You would be better served talking about the Easter Bunny or Santa Claus as you have about as much factual evidence of them as you do the finanicl and life decisions Woffinden has made. The whole "I know about wages" debate that has went on for pages is actually all a bit like watching two bald men arguing over a comb…the reality is very few people other than rider, promoter and riders manager will know actual wages paid, agreements between rider x and promoter y….honestly give it a rest with the wages chat.

Every point you make about Woffinden is total and utter whataboutery… You think he is arrogant…and….you think he has followers who will back him regardless…..what of it….you think he picked Britain to progress his career…irrelevant…he doesn’t race here because of money…meh probably….you might be right in every word you say but it isn’t going to matter…come World Cup time you will have to listen to Nigel screaming WOOOOOFY…WOOOFY….WOOOFYY as Woffinden waves to the hordes of fans flying their Union Jacks as Britain’s Speedway World Champion wins another race and you seethe at the TV congratulating yourself on that time you got one over on people on here…** **PS the people you got one over on will be delighted watching Woffinden win races for Team GB while you are doing that rather than thinking robert72 was right. All together now...on 3....1....2.....3....WOOOFY WOOOOFY WOOOFY

I appreciate it is all for comedy affect etc, but it’s a load of nonsense, as is quite a lot of the mental gymnastics going on to try and basically trample on Woffiden. He would be introduced as the British Speedway World Champion…. that’s what he is. He races in Britain more times in a year than Moto GP riders, F1 riders etc and so on, it would only be hard-core speedway fans who would attempt to overcomplicate that in an attempt to trash both the sport and a representative of the sport.

I don’t think it is fair on either Poole or Scunthorpe (as an example) to be in what is basically the same division despite regional splits. These two tracks and regions are a million miles apart on so many different levels, one has a decent fan base, tradition, built up infrastructure, built up sponsor base to lean on etc and the other doesn’t, and this is before even considering the economy in each area. This same logic could apply to a lot of teams. I think that from simply looking at clubs, catchment areas, facilities, potential growth you can place what leagues clubs should be in, that might change over time with organic growth of clubs in what may be seen as lower end areas (no disrespect meant by that). It should also be a minimum two tier structure IMO, I think we might see that soon with basically a watered down EL/high end PL and a watered down PL/NL. A structure like that appears to satisfy the needs of loads of different clubs for loads of reasons and allows the chance for DU to remain/Brits to progress into FTR spots. The idea of one league was tested during the BLC I think that was a toe dipping exercise and it failed miserably and seems to have put the idea of one big league to bed.

From a politics/rules standpoint… They signed a FTR who probably shouldn’t have been eligible given the criteria and his previous PL average (which was referenced when the rule was originally introduced), they then declared their side with a rider (Cook) who wasn’t actually eligible to race for them, if a “regulated body” had allowed that to go it would have kicked up an utter stink as you would expect them to enforce rules rather than relax them in the interest of British Speedway. They now have a declared FTR reserve in their 1-5 despite the idea of “protected heats” a position now filled by a Czech rider who was initially signed by a side on a 7.00 average. A lot of this is to do with fan understanding of rules, as it is in the EL and it isn’t meant as a dig at Peterborough as such simply showing that it is complete nonsense to say this kind of thing only goes on in the EL.

It’s completely wrong to suggest there hasn’t been any kind of talk of politics in the PL this season, the rules and regulations are just as mental as the EL given that it is pretty much the same rules and regulations written by the same governing body…. Peterborough alone has been a bit of a shambles this season before you even consider issues with tape exclusions and Edinburgh’s constructive team change… Scunthorpe's weekly oddities re assessed riders arriving and departing..in depth moaning about the track prep at Berwick and Glasgow… When it comes to the politics of the sport there is no EL/PL it is simply Speedway politics

What do you do if you get a different answer from every rider?

The concept and idea of the “Elite league” ended years ago, there should though always be a top flight and if Sky are involved it is likely the “Elite” name will remain. This country doesn’t need to throw away riders like Holder, Doyle and NKI if they want to be here, it just needs to find a way to facilitate them, that doesn’t mean “being shafted by them” or “bending over for them” just finding ways to keep the product as strong as possible. To use an old term “steak and chips” can still be kept, but the riders just have to be distributed and weighted correctly, this seasons shows that is getting closer IMO. I actually think the top flight is just a couple of tweaks away from being the more appealing product.

What do you think the difference is?