geepeeargh

S6 2DE

Amen to that. Let's all get behind him and help make it happen.....

He's had his occasional moments at Owlerton...

Eric was always in favour of making Owlerton slick to make the home team happier on slick away tracks. Recently the argument has been that the high powered engines with the new silencers behave poorly when they run into deep shale. I think we would soon learn how to set the bikes up to suit deep shale and then Owlerton would become a nightmare for occasional visiting riders. At the last S*T*A*R*S meeting Peter Mole said good shale was hard to find, and not cheap, but certainly not unaffordable...

The North/South divide has been achieved by stealth. Look at the comparative geography of the two leagues and anyone who fails to see that geographic location played more than a small part in determining the makeup of the two leagues is deluding himself. Wow. So if the Championship winners beat the Premiership wooden spoonists, all the Southern clubs will be relegated and the Northern clubs will be the new Premiership!

I seem to recall Somerset benefiting from some useful guest appearances. How many of the guests we have had to call upon have out performed the riders they were replacing? Simon Stead's experience is hard to replace, and he's good for a points anywhere he goes. Jason Garrity was flying before his arm injury and European Champion Dmitri Berge was always good value so I think we would have finished the season better with our own assets rather than the guests we had available to us. Thanks to Stuart and Cameron for their efforts at Ashfield, but I believe Dmitri, Jason and Simon could have done even better.

Peter Clark is the culprit. We got out of the car at 7:10 and by 7:12 it had stopped raining. At the track at 7:20 it looked as though a quick scrape and the meeting could have been on. The clouds were lifting and there was no more rain all evening. People who saw the track walk said that Ed K. was pointing animatedly at every wet patch and he obviously didn't want to make a spectacle of himself again. 19:12

Paco won't be dropped before 4 home and 4 away, ie the rest of the league matches.

Andy Moore was seen on the centre green last night... ;-)

S*T*A*R*S social evening tonight at the new Barrack Tavern, Penistone Road, Sheffield. Ty Proctor, Josh Bates and new signing Arthur Sissis are intending to joins us so please come along for our last pre-season chat. Everyone is welcome. Geoff

Question. If Liam had suffered a broken femur in his heat 14 crash as first reported, what were the paramedics doing for 35 minutes while he was lying on the track before being moved to the medical centre? What were they hoping to achieve on the 3rd bend which they couldn't in the properly equipped medical facility? Surely his well being would be best catered for in the medical facility, so even if he was suffering back pain why not put him on a back board and get him to safety as quickly as possible? If a rider suffers an injury which necessitates a trip to A&E then order the ambulance pdq and get him to the medical facility as soon as possible ready and waiting. Thursday night saw hundreds of the thousand or more fans stood waiting in the slight chance they may see and end to the meeting which was balanced on a knife edge only to be robbed of a proper conclusion to the meeting and also the entire junior meeting which should have followed. "The riders safety" mantra was eventually run out after nearly an hours silence from the meetings presenter and the remaining faithful meekly left before the paramedics had even completed their paperwork and poor Liam was still sucking gas and air. It really isn't good enough for either the riders or the paying public. I'm sure the paramedics have got the riders well being as their top priority, but I'm doubly sure that they have never been reminded that the supporters are paying for their attendance. If they want to play doctors in their own time that's fine, but when I'm paying them I want quick and effective action.

Nico has ridden once at Owlerton in the 2013 opening challenge against Birmingham. He had 5 rides, one engine failure and five points, but Jake Knight was the only rider he finished ahead of... Match report at http://sheffield-tigers.co.uk/bruch28032013.html

Back in 2006 we staged a World U21 Qualifyer at Owlerton. It's interesting to contrast how they finished on the day, and where they are now... Karol Zabik won the final after a fall/exclusion in the heats. He won various junior honours in Poland and rode for Peterborough and Poole before walking out on them early in 2009. Chris Holder finished second. The World champion needs no further... Troy Batchelor scored 10 and qualified for the next round. Lewis Bridger thought it more important to ride for Elite club Eastbourne than to attend the practice at a mere Premier League track which he'd never ridden before. Confidence is a good thing, but when you're experience is predominantly of Eastbourne then you can't really complain when you only muster 3 points at Sheffield. Steve Boxall may be a force to be reckoned with around Rye House, but 5 is what he mustered at Owlerton. Can't see him figuring on the world scene. World champion elect Ed Kennett scraped 10 points together to qualify for the next round. I was surprised. He scored 7 in the British semi-final this year, failing to qualify for the final, and just 5 for Rye House in Sheffield's biggest home win of the season so far. When you learn your trade on a tricky little track... On the other hand, back in 2006 a certain Martin Vaculik was at Owlerton. To be honest he looked even less capable than Filip Sitera and scored just 2 points. I guess the difference was that he persevered on the big continental tracks and today is a presence on the Grand Prix scene. The Americans realized their only chance to make it on the world scene was to turn their backs on their tiny home tracks. The Danes and Swedes used us for experience to become great speedway nations. The New Zealanders and Aussies have milked us for everything they have achieved, and continue to this day. Until we invest in our young talent, and ensure ALL our important meetings are held on big tracks where machine set-up has to be learned we will continue to struggle on the world stage. Restrict the number of non-BRITISH riders per team. (Sod the EU, Poland do). Let's have more test match series against anyone who wants to take us on, but NEVER at any small track where you have to lock back into the corners. We must learn how to beat everyone on the full throttle big tracks like Berwick, Workington, Peterborough and Sheffield. Any big meetings held at the likes of Wolverhampton, Edinburgh, Rye House, Plymouth, Ipswich, Eastbourne are just nails in our coffin. PLEASE let the new Belle Vue be a proper (Polish style) track! If up and coming english lads can't cope with the big tracks then it should be a case of thanks..., next please.

S*T*A*R*S are holding their first close season social evening on Thursday 10th October at the New Barrack Tavern, 601 Penistone Road, Sheffield S6 2GA. Everyone is welcome...

Steve & Scott get a massive thumbs up from me. They agreed to differ on some pronunciation rather than making up their own and didn't hype every race up way beyond belief. It was heat 17 before I realized that I'd still got the sound on. The words "I'll hand you over to our commentary team" normally have me reaching for the mute button !!!