WalterPlinge

Must admit the first week's instalment was quite funny. It explained who this strange character was, the bizarre claims he made, and basically debunked everything he'd been telling people. By the end we'd got the message that he was barking mad, though it was quite humorous reading the extravagant nonsense he'd come out with. But dragging it out for a second week, after we'd already realised he has mental health issues, really just seemed like "Let's all laugh at the special kid at school". Not funny anymore. The joke's been done. The only thing I still don't understand is that while the Star carried quotes from everyone that the barmpot had claimed to have contacted, there were still no quotes from Neil MacFarlane, the one who'd had most contact with the nutty one. Why no interview with MacFarlane? Is he refusing to speak to the Star? Is he embarrassed at being duped? Or is there some other reason?

Pearson "We're not in line with the finish line, but I think he might have pipped Woffinden there" He won by about 4 bike lengths...... Specsavers?

I'd say it's more the top two leagues where "anything goes if your face fits". The NL promoters do actually seem to regulate themselves far better than the top league bosses. Pretty sure we haven't seen the 8 day rule (or any guest rules) flouted all season in the NL... Not sure the rules have always been strictly applied in PL & CL.

What a shame the email address that he gives is a fake. We could have had some fun with that.

It's the funniest thing I've read in Speedway Star for years (outside of Poole's recent results). But why would this Walter Mitty person make up such extravagant lies that can easily be disproven in 2 minutes of googling? I've had far more credible Nigerian princes. And I don't understand the Neil MacFarlane link. Is it someone with a fake Neil MacFarlane? Or has Neil MacFarlane actually been duped? If he is going senile and has fallen for this, I hope he hasn't invested any money. I was however impressed by the picture of Fat Tony's wife, although I don't normally go for brunettes. I prefer blondes like Mrs Plinge. And in mentioning the wife, I'll leave you with her thoughts on World Elite Speedway....

Terrible refereeing decision there. Pawlicki turned into Zagar. Zagar never moved off the line and knew nothing until he felt Pawlicki ride into him

Seems to largely fit with what I heard that Cook tried to ride into the pits but an "official" blocked his way causing him to fall off his bike. Would have thought the obvious course of action would have been to allow him into the pits unobstructed, and leave it to the referee make a decision on disqualification if necessary, rather than trying to block the way and cause an accident and a health and safety issue.

Guess there's 2 sides to every story, and in contrast to the version you're heard about Cook assaulting a track official, I've heard that it was Cook who was assaulted BY the official, who I'm told (despite being described as the Clerk of the Course in Peter Oakes' report) DOESN'T actually hold a Clerk of the Course licence, and is only an ordinary track official. Seems a frustrated Cook did ride into the pits (instead of cutting his engine at the pits gate) but the track official should have just reported this to the real Clerk of the Course, instead of physically assaulting Cook and knocking him off his bike. Of course Cook shouldn't retaliate, but it's an adrenaline sport...

Only a 50% chance of light rain. Don't think that will be a problem unless they get very unlucky.

Well football isn't boring when the commentator actually describes the action rather than making random monkey noises. Perhaps if Pearson and sidekick actually described what's happening instead of making random noises, Speedway might seem more exciting?

This really is my only complaint. As i understand it, BT use the same outside broadcast people as Sky did, the only difference being that they have cut back on number of cameras. Occasionally the lack of an odd camera shows, but on the whole I don't see much difference. The big improvement from BT is Natalie. We now have a knowledgeable presenter asking sensible questions instead of a disinterested bimbo asking "are you going to make any changes for your next ride". The improvement most needed is from Sir Shoutalot and his nodding dog. Surely they are there to commentate and not just shout "WOOOOOAAAAHHHHHHH" whenever there's any kind of incident. e.g. In football, if someone comes in with a rash two-footed tackle the commentator may say "That was a rash two-footed tackle from Player X".... he wouldn't shout "WOOOOOOAAAAAHHHHHHHH" So would it be too much too ask Sir Shoutalot to describe a rash run up the inside knocking off rider X as "a rash move up the inside" rather than a "WOOOOOAAAAHHH"?

It does raise the age old question of which would fans rather see, a home win or a full strength visiting side? I'm told that since being given the fixtures in March, BV have been asking for a date change, but Graham Drury has consistently refused as he would rather take advantage of weaker opposition to get the points. Do Brummies fans agree with the judge that the points are the priority, or would they rather see full strength opponents but with the fear that they would likely lose to a full team?

Ben Barker guesting for Howarth. It'll be R/R for Thorssell

LOL

A fine, points deduction and not allowed to call off a meeting for 2 years without the permission of an SCB track inspector. Has to be the same for King's Lynn.

How did King throw that away?

It is another qualifying rider. Shouty and Kelv don't know the rules

Come on Riss!

At least Kim Nilsson managed to cancel out the TR overall.

Morris should have been excluded there for not making a bona fide attempt.

Having read quite a few threads, I think I can explain his Modus Operandi for you. It seems to be look for anyone posting something in any way positive, and post the opposite to try to cause argument. e.g. Someone suggests land for a track near housing - Post negatively saying it's no good near housing because local people will complain Someone suggests land for a track not near housing - Post negatively saying it's no good away from housing because local people can't come. Think it's called "trolling" I say good luck to Cradley with their track near housing, and good luck to Bristol with their track not near housing. May both work out successfully.

Why is it a joke? So long as all the matches are completed by the end of the season, and a team are crowned Trophy winners, then everything has been done as planned. How is that a joke? However if you're suggesting that the National Trophy competition could be planned in a different, and better way, then I may be inclined to agree with you. For example maybe the matches should all be staged early season, with a deadline of perhaps June for completion, And then second week in July is designated at National Trophy Final week (This Final date being known at the start of the season). If you were suggestng something like that then I would say that is a better way to do things. But just branding something a joke for no reason, when it is just doing what it says on the tin, is silly

This seems a sensible view. The result seems to be:- 0.36% of the BSF membership want to see attendance figures published. 0.17% of the BSF membership don't want to see attendance figures published. 99.48% of the BSF membership couldn't give a monkeys whether attendance figues are published. Now, the people running the clubs know what their attendance figures are, and anyone who needs to know can be given access to those figures. So a better question might be:- "What exactly do the 54 people who want attendance figures to be published think would be the benefit of such a practice?" I can't think of one single benefit the sport would gain from making such information available to the general public. I think that the only reason these people want attendance figures made public is for their own personal nosiness and not for any benefit to the sport.

It's been 7 years, the winners may have died by now. Durrrr, that's the point. The numbers were posted 7 years ago, and we still don't know who won!

I'm sure the details of the current trustees and comittee members (and all the changes over the past 10 years) can be found on the superb [sic] Speedway museum website, along with the secret admission prices.... ...or maybe not. p.s. Who won the raffle?