TotallyHonestJohn

Campton was under the impression that it was a top 3 he needed to qualify so top 4 even better and chatting to his dad in Oz on Sunday all he was concerned about was the extra travelling he was going to have to put in going to the other State Championships and I must have misunderstood (as ever) as I thought Campton would miss his home championship and only had three left to get a visa sorted but still 4 meetings and a home one to boot (mere bagatelle for a man of his talents) thanks for the info Regards THJ

Think I heard somewhere that he is back home in NZ now recuperating, could be wrong Regards THJ

So what song you singing this week then? Regards THJ

Wish you could get a flutter on this final Lakeside league match at the bookies, not on the score or anything like that; and I may be being a tad cynical but what's the odds for the second meeting not going past Heat 10? (Might even be a case of "Lend us your cable cutters Ged") However there will not be a re-staging and the result will stand... Regards THJ

Ask Dan or Steve on the night and they will let you know what the crowd was and I personally have no idea why they aren't published say on the web site after the meeting, but having attended at Scunny Sunday the crowd didn't look that great but it is very deceiving Regards THJ

All he has to do I believe is finish in the first three of one of the other three state championships left to run as it is only his "Home" championship he will miss or finish in the first three of the Australian Speedway Senior Solo Championship Australian Speedway Senior Solo Championship Round 1 Thursday 3rd January Gillman Speedway Round 2 Saturday 5th January Olympic Park Mildura Round 3 Monday 7th January Undera Speedway Round 4 Wednesday 9th January Albury Round 5 Saturday 12th January Kurri – Kurri So there is plenty of opportunity for him to re-qualify for his visa Regards THJ

No you will be okay getting there it is going back where you might be diverted through Kirkby Stephen which put 8 minutes on our journey down to Scunny and only 5 minutes coming back. That's if it is closed as the works on the A66 for resurfacing were due to finish on the 22nd of October but if they do need additional closures they are usually between 22:00 and 06:00 hours overnight. Although last weekend that was 22:00 hours Friday night until 06:00 hours on the Monday. The bigger ball-ache coming back was Junction 40 on the M6 being closed which is the Penrith roundabout at the end of the A66. Check on the internet before you travel and to be fair the detours are not that bad and should only put between 15 to 20 minutes on the overall journey times. However as stated the works on the 66 that needed thee closures were supposed to finish this Monday morning gone. Sorry slight edit, didn't read your post properly my bad, coming up from the M6 to Junction 40 and heading west on the 66 is fine when J40 is open, you will need to check your return journey as J40 has been subject to closures late at night, but heading back isn't much of a detour to be fair, the main closures on the A66 were on the east side of J40 so anyone doing the A1/66 should be okay now (unless J40 is closed) Clear as mud!!! Regards THJ

Spoke to Ty at Scunny Sunday and although his hand is really swollen and turning every shade of Black, Blue, Green and Yellow you can imagine; he said it wasn't hurting him that much; however it may be a Scaphoid fracture and until the swelling goes down they cant really tell. He also said that he was getting it checked out this week. If it isn't fractured and they can get the swelling down who knows he may be back for the weekend however there was an awful lot of swelling, so until they find out what is actually going on it is touch and go and if it is confirmed that he has broke his Scaphoid that will be him definitely out Regards THJ

Honestly Big ask against a very strong and competent looking Scunny side to pull back 18 points on the night and the way things have gone this season I wouldn't rule out "Golden Heats" to decide the winners. Here's my guess at the teams for the second leg at Derwent Park Workington Rene Bach Claus Vissing Nicolai Klindt Rasmus Jensen Ty Proctor r/r Kyle Bickley Mason Campton Scunthorpe Thomas Jorgensen Stefan Nielsen Jake Allen Jason Garrity Steve Worrall Danny Phillips Gino Manzares Good Luck to all; be safe and I am sure there will be more to follow. Regards THJ

Nice try... you have to hire them for the full week then £37 a day after the initial first week's hire... expensive... Regards THJ

Speedy Hire quad pod £185 per week two will cover one bend. Bout as cheap as you can get but ya right they are not a cheap option. Regards THJ

For a home meeting I assume so as they are both Essex boys and I have never heard of a triple header but if it started early enough why not but I would imagine it would be a big ask both on man and machine... Regards THJ

I was meaning the whole ensemble not just the riders... fans (although few in number) et al... and let's be fair it would have been exceedingly short notice... Regards THJ

No I was told the two reserves couldn't get out of work commitments. However it was IMO a bit unrealistic and unfair to ask Lakeside to trail back up tonight at such short notice. Regards THJ

See previous and Lakeside couldn't do tonight due to rider unavailability. Regards THJ

The best laid plans of speedway fans and promoters... The plan was (but is now right up in the air) Thursday Scunny Cup (done deal)(yeah) If Lakeside had won it was... Lakeside away Saturday (po) Lakeside home Sunday (po) Lakeside home Monday double header (shield + league) If Boro had won it was... Boro home Saturday (po) Boro away Sunday (po) Lakeside home Monday double header (shield + league) If Lakeside are now saying they only have one date available then there is a major impasse. This not only doesn't help Worky it shafts everyone. C'mon BSPA make a decision daddy wants to plan his weekend... Regards THJ

Just to be totally ridiculous for a second and it is obvious that all the following; could be; should be; and possibly might have been, however. We were at Heat 9 which could have been a 3 -3 then give the Panthers two 0 - 5 results for Heats 10 and 11 then heats 12 to 15 give them as 2 - 4's to the Panthers and it still comes out as a 91 - 87 win to Lakeside or there is the more realistic possibility that after that Heat 9; 3 - 3 Boro could have went through the card with 6 straight 1 - 5's and won 89 - 91 Honestly!!!; (No) The odds of winning the Euro Millions jackpot is 1 in 139,838,160, but always remember that's what we're here for isn't it? "The chance of winning" so the chance of winning the National Lottery jackpot is 1 in 45,057,474, according to the Lotto website, while there is a 1 in 7,509,579 chance of getting five numbers plus the bonus ball. Peterborough had less chance than any of these odds of winning this match, in fact if they had made it to 35 it would have been a miracle. Common sense must(should) prevail after all Workington have to "Promote" a "Play Off" match "Some" time against "Some" body or other "Soon" i.e. before the 1st of November 2018. Unless the season end is extended (which I am not sure has ever happened, although I stand to be corrected on that one) or as someone has pointed out there has been the precedent of "Calling a result before heat 10" as in the Glasgow Redcar meeting (although Redcar I believe did not have a "mathematical chance" of getting a result being that far behind) and there was the precedent of not running a meeting at all in the Play Off leagues as the format was in 2012 when the Edinburgh Workington meeting could not be fit in for the weather; and the cut off; so Scunthorpe went through (By default) and won the play off final against Somerset . So what happened in 2012 when Worky suffered this injustice, Well their promotion was up in arms as it was deemed by them as unfair, their fans were up in arms and moaned like mad on here, there; and everywhere else; to anyone who would listen to them on how unfair it was. What happened? Jack!!!, absolutely nothing;!!! the Play off rolled on; no one remembers the problem; it is now history; and everyone moved on, however their complaint was just as valid, if not more so than a one sided match that was petering out into the inevitable win for Lakeside . Who in their right mind could honestly suggest that Boro would have got anything from that meeting. Ged should suck it up; take the moral high ground and admit defeat; the Boro fans will rightly moan on how badly they have been treat; and how unfair it was; and post on here "ad nauseam" how they were robbed; and how the competition has been devalued but Worky and Lakeside will arrange and get on with a play off final at the end of a pretty P!$$ Poor season to be fair with all the issues encountered. As for the outcome well it will decide who of the two clubs probably folding at the end of the year goes home on a high note. Yippee eh! It is often said on here however "Only in Speedway eh" Surely it doesn't have to descend into farce every year does it? Oh and the best laugh is Worky fancied their chances more against the Boro select than Lakeside, but hey ho we don't always get what we want do we eh? Regards THJ

Don't disagree in the slightest, however and on a similar vain, it was mooted a few years back to retain the average system but also introduce a "Banding (variation on a grading theme) System" for the riders which would result in the clubs having to blend a team more carefully. It was to give riders at the bottom end of the averages (allegedly) more of a chance to be picked up and to potentially save clubs on cost. So rather than the Danish Model that Grades riders for a season' the Average would dictate the Band' and the Club would be allowed to blend a team from the Bands with certain restrictions but also had to build a team to a fixed number of points as is now based on Averages. It was deemed to complicated by certain promoters (the ones who would struggle to manipulate the system probably I would suggest and therefore it was not progressed) Cash is King especially when there isn't much of it and it was another attempt in trying to level the playing field, to allow those clubs less financially well off the chance to build a competitive team. It was ultimately binned and the 8 point rule i.e. one per club in the Premiership came in. (nothing for the Championship) It was/is all about paying out less money and to even up the teams more (again allegedly) than anything else, which lets face it could be done by setting the team build figure to 32.5 rather than 42.5 which is something I don't personally agree with as we should be building to 42.5 or 45 to my mind?. However when this "Banding" was proposed and the fast track system on reserves went; one club mooted as these young reserve riders had been racing in protected races and had false averages everyone should be allowed to build to 55 points, they also said the same when the realignment of the riders averages came in a couple of years back as well. I suppose everyone has ideas with some possibly more rational than others, however what appears to happen on a regular basis with the BSPA is any idea that is produced gets kicked around at a couple of meetings and when it doesn't suit one promotion or a small clique of promoters the resultant proposal goes in the bin "good or bad" however they never give anything radical (or what is perceived as radical) a chance so as someone recently said "a head in the sand approach will not make the BSPA ostrich fly" (which is topical for a Glasgow thread but will probably fly over the heads of many) Regards THJ

OMG IronScorp you are swimming in dangerous waters there Honestly I was selling the programmes for the second Glasgow meeting as well sharing the same stall as WorkyWorky and I wouldn't recommend going toe to toe with that feisty young lady, you would definitely be backing a "losser" on that score Regards THJ

HA HA She's not wrong mind you have to give her that Regards THJ

You are not wrong and the danger man for me will be a certain R. Lawson for if he is on his game he knows the quick route around DP. The other factor is that this will be the second meeting of a Double Header following the second leg of the Shield final and I cant decide if that is a good thing or not. Doh!!! Regards THJ

Honestly I don't gamble but if I did one sure thing would be that Danny Phillips wont be back at Scunny next year. I would not only put my shirt on that but the whole house LOL Regards THJ

Think you are correct and one or two clubs will go by the wayside, however I do believe one or more clubs may come up from the National League and there will still be 18/20 clubs between the Championship and Premiership. Not from any previous knowledge just a gut feeling. Regards THJ

Oh dear IronScorpion I thought the first rule of the "Wind Up" was not to bite back Think WorkyWorky got a "Laal nibble" there mind (as they would say in Cumbria) However if you are thinking of coming over for the 2nd leg The Waverley Hotel on Gordon St, Workington CA14 2EN Phone: 01900 603246 is a 5 minute walk away to Derwent Park and just about right in the middle of Workington. However the new Premier Inn on Egremont Road, Cockermouth CA13 0QX Phone: 0871 622 2327 is very (very) nice and less than a year old in a lovely spot and only about a 10/15 minute drive away to the stadium. (and being a fat lad I can recommend the food, and the drink selection as well, its like a laal part of Europe a sort of Costa del Cumbria if the sun is out) (Yeah!!!) Regards THJ

Valid points and no matter what is proposed if there isn't the will to make it work by all the promotions (BSPA) then nothing changes which is and always has been the problem. Promotions go all out to "Screw each other over" and everyone is wary of each other micro analysing every angle of every point, rule or guideline and seeing what they can gain from , or get out of, each proposal and if it isn't a perfect fit to/for what they want then it is binned or manipulated so much that the idea dies the death, no matter how good or well intentioned. How many good ideas have there been to try and move the sport forward but you find them scattered along the way because Team A didn't like it because it stopped them doing what they wanted to do (rightly or wrongly) or Team B didn't like it even though it was a good idea but it came from that lot at Team C and we don't like them. Honestly the attitude of promotions is strangling the sport when it is run on the lines of a "kids in a creche mentality" at times and you expect to hear "I'm not doing that cos my dad is bigger than your dad" its pathetic. The management committee are toothless and its a "free for all", then the incessant fiddling around the edges each year at the annual conference with the comment that "it was the best ever annual conference EVER and we are moving the sport forward by tinkering with the Rules, Averages, Competitions and anything else that is totally uncontroversial and doesn't upset anyone". Buster was going to knock doors out of windows when he first started and I for one felt confident that there would be genuine improvements and change but he has just run into a solid brick wall and all his good intentions and ideas are just scattered along the road as per usual. So same old crap just a different wrapper but a few people need to take a long hard look at themselves and ask a few honest questions about their role in this sorry saga. It needs someone to get a grip and reign in promotions, set out a plan for the next 5 to 7 years (10 to 12 would be better) Set out a charter for the sport and get the promotions to sign up to it. Rule No.1 we will not screw over other promotions, the riders or the fans maybe. Everyone wants the sport to succeed but the torpor it now finds itself in is near terminally catatonic. No one ever disagrees in the suggestion often made on here that there should be an independent body running the competitions, and please note I have said "the competitions" rather than "the sport" but they cant even agree on that. An independent body was tried in the past and got shafted that much it just disappeared. Surely Promoter's should be free to promote the sport in whatever way they see fit, they should be allowed to build and run their teams in whatever way the see as the most productive and profitable within the rules, trying to reach the pinnacle of the sport by being the best team in the UK. What is wrong with that goal. Just why cant the competitive structure and the basic rules not be; or need to be seen to be; managed independently, managed for the many not the few, and if this puts a few noses out of joint so be it. To many cliques exist at present with the constant pervasiveness of distrust and this cycle needs to be broken, the american phrase of "wake up and smell the coffee" has never been more appropriate and certainly isn't a metaphor with its "become aware of the realities of a situation, however unpleasant " meaning. I am starting to believe some on here who state that the well intentioned fan is being taken for a ride, yep they could be right, my suggestion would be "do something radical" start with the structure, tie in promotions with a charter, let someone who is independent manage the competitions and the rules, unshackle clubs and allow them to run on nights they feel is beneficial, don't worry what Poland are doing (stuff them) start to work together for the benefit of the sport as promotions, after all you have tried to to plough a lone furrow and look after your own self interest and all we hear is it is costing you money, (fortunes in some cases) well here's a daft idea try and work together for a change and see if you can make the sport profitable for each other, you may never get back to the heady days of the 50's, 60's or 70's but you can live in hope. Regards THJ