RobMcCaffery

It's just a case of basic homework Philip. I assume that the guy is too busy during the coverage to listen to the commentary feed but he should be reviewing each broadcast in full after the event so he learns essentials such as pronunciation and sees how his performance meshes, or in this case grates with Nigel & Kelvin. Okay, so he's probably been co-opted to work on an unfamiliar sport but I've been there myself and although it's a heck of a long time since I held a commentary mic in 'anger' when I had a sport other than speedway to cover, such as stock car racing or Dutch ice hockey the first job was to learn how to pronounce the names in the hope that would fool the viewers into believing I was sure of what I was talking about. Nothing shouts 'amateur' more than not even being able to say the names. Eurosport are great at taking feeds and adding commentary but their presentation skills are poor, and realistically very rarely called-on. A typical Eurosport programme starts with the station ident, goes straight to the live feed and commentator with rarely anyone 'back in the studio'. In fact I can't recall ever seeing a studio feed, but I certainly am not a regular viewer these days apart from Speedway.

So new that it's been highly successfully in use for over three decades... You have to bear in mind what I suspect is the true reason why this event, the European Championship and Polish Test Matches have been added to the crowded calendar. They all appear to be being staged by a Polish rival company to BSI called One Sport Marketing. While Poland benefits most from the SGP & SWC series I am sure there are forces within Polish speedway that would like to have control of the most lucrative prize so there is this attempt to 'muscle in' on the main series with these inferior offerings. I'd say the pairs was on simply because it was dormant and 'up for grabs'. As for Britain's involvement in this and the European Championship can you really see the BSPA and SCB encouraging yet more international speedway to further cripple the sport over here? At present we have 12 Saturdays taken over by the GP, 2 for the SWC. Add-in this plus the 4 EC meetings and you have 19 Saturdays which pretty well takes up most of the season. Add in the disruption caused in the days prior to the event for practice sessions and it really doesn't leave much time for top-flight racing in Britain. While it's obviously frustrating for riders to miss out on big pay days you can surely see in this case why the BSPA are refusing to back it? British Speedway has been brought to its knees not only by its own weaknesses but also the economic power of Poland, in Speedway terms at least. Do you really expect it to roll over and die?

It does show the difference when BSI aren't involved. Looking forward to the European Championship?

Scott Nicholls has already stated that it is difficult to commentate because of the gate position changes. You could sense him holding back from saying "...and off a monitor when you're nowhere near the the track. -I've done it - it's not as easy as you might think.

Suspect it's a combination of flexible gate positions and doing it off-screen well away from the stadium.

Sorry, I'm forgetting that ES2 isn't necessarily as prominent outside Britain. In the UK I get both British Eurosport 1 & 2 in SD & HD on cable. Not sure about Sky. British Eurosport 2's been the main channel for coverage of the Grand Prixs so far over here.

Perhaps the most telling comment in this thread. Not a surprise and can we really challenge him?

Coverage begins!

Yes. They make mistakes like this. Looks like the tennis has finished. You could email them.

And what would tennis fans say if they suddenly found themselves watching speedway instead of the end of a knife-edge tennis match? Mistake was not to schedule the speedway on Eurosport 2.

In that case it would have started at 6... Looks like they've just decided it's too long to keep the crowd waiting. British Eurosport is now showing general filler material, waiting to join the main service. This shows how Eurosport is a very, very different animal to Sky with its various services all needing to wait for each other sometimes. For example parts of Europe get live Premiership football on Eurosport. It's quite a complex set-up.

Looks like Eurosport have enough clout to delay the Torun meeting until they're ready to show it. This could be a taster for the European Championship. Bear in mind these events are run very differently to the GPs and by a rival to BSI so it seems Eurosport can dictate things to their own convenience.

It's because the main Eurosport service is showing an over-running tennis match. The British version is just padding-out until both can go to the speedway.

No, just a case of them considering an over-running tennis match to be more important. Would you like the end of a late-running speedway meeting to be taken off to go to another live event?

Still Superbikes on the British service.

Eurosport have always had a reputation for flexible scheduling, mainly due to much of their sports coverage being live. Looks like we're getting the first sample of it with our sport. I think you'll find the trailers and ads are automated hence the trail going out 7 mins after the programme should have started. There are several versions of Eurosport, hence the British prefix to ours. We've got Superbikes while mainland Europe has tennis on the main service. Obviously they've got to synchronise both for both to go to Torun.

British Eurosport 1 just rain a trailer for the meeting, advertising a 6 pm start. Unfortunately they played this out at 6.07 p.m..... Ads now. (Edit - back to Superbikes)

The lottery comparison is truly absurd. I'm not dictating to you how you should enjoy a meeting, I'm stating why I didn't. Winning a million would be wonderful. Paying out for a poor night's entertainment isn't exactly a sane comparison. You have the right to enjoy what you saw. I didn't. Can you understand that?

I expected an adequate track that would give me £45-worth of entertainment. It is most certainly not a delusion to expect value for money. You go for 'the occasion'. I pay to watch good speedway. Each to their own and you are perfectly free to spend yours how you wish. I did not consider I got value for money last night and am very unlikely to return. If you're happy with what you had, fine. I've seen plenty of tracks over my 43 years of involvement with speedway. Last night's was below acceptable standards for a temporary track. It's happened too often for what is an expensive night out. BSI expect me to pay good money. I expect good service in return. No matter who the finger points at it's BSI's business. I am sure they are equally upset, but how often are we to be expected to put up with situations like last night?

Well, I finally made my first visit to the GP and it will probably be my only visit. I paid £45 on the day. For that I got an impressive atmosphere and presentatrion, a high standard of riding but a desperately disappointing level of racing on an incompetent track, viewed from a seat with good sightlines but about as far out of the stadium as you can get. I did not get value for money. Instead I am expected to make allowances. Charge me £20 and I might, but not £45. I'm lucky though - I only live an hour's train ride away so at least I didn't have the travel and accommodation costs of many. I've learned my lesson. It was an experience, especially the squalid arrangements for ticket sales on the day. I know most book in advance but I only got the chance to go on the morning of the event. Apart from the negative aspects of a poor meeting BSI's incompetent track robbed them of a prize asset on the night - a Brtish rider capable of winning the event. Yes I know they worked miracles to get it as close to right overnight. They shouldn't have had to. It did remind me of Wembley though - the Ian Thomas indoor events at the Arena....

Some people allow gripes to become obsessions then spend their time trying to justify their dislike by forcing it on others. Naturally the sheep-like mentality of some sees them join in. Everyone has a right to their dislikes but to just keep on ramming their view down everybody else's throats is rather unhealthy. We've just had some wonderful Grands Prix and yet this same depressing sad bunch can only whinge about commentary.

I'm pretty sure that between Middlesbrough Teessiders in 1968/9 and Teesside Tigers they rode for a couple of years as Teesside Teessiders, certainly in my first two seasons at Rayleigh in 1971 & 2. I can't comment on 1970. I seem to remember the change to Tigers came in '73. Rob McCaffery.

What shone through in the interview was how much Richard cares still for Exeter Speedway and its supporters and how highly they regard him. I hope the published version does justice. As is often the case wheen looking back to good times, they just didn't last long enough, often for riders as much as the fans. Regards, Rob McCaffery.

This really is so very tiresome. So the qualification to be a promoter is to be psychic and be a winner. I can assure you that some of the most loathsome promoters I have experienced had no back history in the sport and no proven record of success. In my opinion being successful doesn't entitle someone to be obnoxious. Steve's actually a very genuine and friendly guy - amazingly when he's treated appallingly that diplomacy is worn down, as quite frankly is mine. Anyway, I've stated my points as clearly as I can. I was there, you weren't. You clearly thricve on a row - I despise them, as I do relentless attacks on honest, decent people from those hiding behind fake names. Anyway, I'm delighted to talk about Hackney Hawks but on this other, unrelated subject I've said my piece, no doubt to the relief of others trying to read this thread. If you wish to carry on your attacks against Steve please open a new thread and if you really stand by your words why not put your name to them? By the way, I've tolerated this for a long time but it's would HAVE and could HAVE, not of. See, my patience really is exhausted. Rob McCaffery

Steve was ousted after the first meeting which went ahead against his wishes. You can't blame someone for subsequent events when they're not involved. As for relying on a partner, well many many people have run speedways with a partner. Indeed many promoters have run for many seasons over the yearts without any financial involvement of their own, including at the present time. As for diplomacy, well anyone who ever had dealings with several promoters in the past would consider Steve to be a model of reason by comparison. Belle Vue in the eighties was a particular horror story, for example. Like I've said before, it's very easy to take standpoints based on observations - especially if the story's being told, as usual by the winners. I've met some thoroughly disgusting people in speedway over my four decades. Believe me Steve Ribbons isn't one of them. Now back to Hackney.... Rob McCaffery.