
RobMcCaffery
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Everything posted by RobMcCaffery
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Speedway is all about people. Thankfully Scunthorpe have some of the best. Wish it was nearer
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Probably my happiest seasons for announcing were the Rye House nomadic revival in 1999 then Boston and Mildenhall the year after, plus a few meetings at Iwade, all at Conference League/National League level or below in the last case. All the pressures seemed off and we could just enjoy a good match of speedway. I was all fun again and there was plenty of good racing.
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Going by a comment from Nigel Pearson in commentary it seems BT were using Natalie's interviews than those on the international feed. The girl who's been doing the interviews at the GPs (Kiri?) instead of Steve Brandon was mentioned but BT only showed Natalie's work. BT have been ignoring many of the between race interviews in the GPs from that international feed. With Suzi Perry handling the main presentation on the SGP/SWC that BT themselves host live at the track it frees Natalie to interview. Perry is a bigger 'name' and the figurehead of BT Sport's bike racing coverage so again there's an interest in their part in having their best team for their two meetings where they are live at the track, the SWC qualifier and the Cardiff Grand Prix. In normal weeks I expect there are too many clashes with Moto GP to use Perry regularly so Natalie gets the studio work.
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Speedway World Cup 2017
RobMcCaffery replied to racers and royals's topic in Speedway Grand Prix and Speedway World Cup
Maybe, but then all the experts here were predicting we'd struggle to get second. Can't we just enjoy the achievement and just see what happens in Leszno? I expect if we do well there someone will try to sound clever by saying we'll get thrashed the following year or they don't want rider X to ride for us because they don't like what he puts on Twitter. To be honest, some countries don't deserve success - all it does is either make them complacent and arrogant or say it'll all end in disaster. As for Woffinden, after seeing the childish bile on here I I hope he does defect to the Aussies since he isn't deserved by the Brits, even allowing for his own stupid behaviour. I fear for Craig Cook becoming successful - he already gets more than enough garbage from so-called 'fans'. I really enjoyed the GB performance. More fool me for visiting here to have you all prove to me that I shouldn't have. Lovely people. Do any of you like a sport called speedway? -
Yes, you're right. This character is just the total opposite of what I love about speedway, representing conflict and hatred. It's too much like football. The only times in 46 years of following the sport where I've really despaired of fellow 'supporters' has been in this forum. It's awful that you have fight past them to get to the interesting discussions and the odd fact.
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I think you'll find that such decision making is on the basis of he advice of the medical profession and the sport's insurers than a bunch of small-time businessmen. Still, believe what you wish to believe.
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Judging by that low-life I suspect ignorance and Polish fans go together. Still, he's managed one achievement, to make more people despise his team than Shovlar... Good job the fire didn't hit Zielona Gora, they'd have had trouble finding the 10 zlotys to rebuild it. (Well, I'm sure it's a new joke in Poland )
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Speedway World Cup 2017
RobMcCaffery replied to racers and royals's topic in Speedway Grand Prix and Speedway World Cup
Only the BSF could disown a lad born in Britain to British parents, brought up in Australia but who has spent most of his adulthood racing back in Britain. Yes he's made plenty of ill-advised decisions of late but to say "let's face it he's really an Aussie' doesn't exactly help British Speedway and the (limited) attention it managed to get from having a British World Champion. No, let's just give him to the Aussies......... -
Perhaps our insurers have different views on concussed riders racing than the FIM's insurers?
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They have come out fighting, boycotting One Sport's (failed) attempts to make the situation worse and realising that a period of rebuilding through partial isolationism and accepting the reality that the star riders do not need British Speedway - for now. When the BSPA staged the One Sport boycott they were accused of being fools and when they reorganised the leagues to reflect the current realities of the sport they were accused of stupidly watering down the league. The BSPA wasted a fortune in the Sky money trying to pay the star riders to race here. It didn't work and now what money is still being paid from the last deal is still trickling through unless BT come up with a very generous deal it's not coming back. So, since you and many others cannot or will not see that they have indeed 'come out fighting' exactly what are they supposed to do? Despite the face-saving comments about too many race nights made by many riders, the overall race schedule in Britain is at its lowest for decades which does reveal what I believe to be the truth - we don't pay enough. Now how are we going to pay enough? It's too easy to take the assumption that the BSPA are clueless idiots and rubbish anything they do but instead of vague generalisations how about some specifics apart from the ruinous one race night scheme?. Yes the GB team showed great spirit last night and could go on to get us noticed by the national media again and congratulations to them. In the short-term that does little for domestic league racing except prove that you can always find new heroes to replace those who have deserted us. British Speedway has come out fighting, firstly by reorganising the leagues into some form of sanity as effectively one large second division plus the NL. Tracks like Birmingham, Lakeside and Eastbourne have found that operating at a more affordable level is not the end of the world - their fans have their new heroes and the tracks seem now to be stable. I don't think many can see the fundamental change that came in the winter, beyond rtidiculing the assessed averages necessary to bring the two top leagues together. Changes like that don't settle straight away and there have been flaws such as what to do after the first real averages are achieved but at least the correct course has finally been set. The top stars are available to us through cheap foreign travel and plenty of TV coverage. For now we have to accept that's where they are, and along with chasing the big money in Poland, its where they only seem to show their true skill and full commitment rather than having a paid practice 'skid'. Next priority is to sort out the ridiculous rule book and for goodness' sake simplify the rules regarding averages and team building!
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No, only the extreme cases like Poole. You use judgement, not a silly over-reaction.
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How can you adapt to a situation where others are holding all the aces? Be corralled into racing about 7-10 home meetings a year on a Monday? If that's survival, give me the NL any day....
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Speedway World Cup 2017
RobMcCaffery replied to racers and royals's topic in Speedway Grand Prix and Speedway World Cup
I suspect he simply doesn't wasn't to ride in Britain unless he absolutely has to. I really enjoyed that GB performance. Australia were without Doyle, we were without Woffinden. For once things went right for us. At least I thought I enjoyed it. Apparently Cook only passed people because of their mistakes, we only won because others lost and other team managers were incompetent, the commentator made a mistake, we're doomed in the final ....... What a joyless bunch speedway supporters, or at least those bleating here have become. Not so much a 'glass half empty' mentality but 'someone drunk it all and then smashed the glass, as they always do and will do'. Yes things went our way but to drop just 7 points in 20 heats is worthy of some little pleasure isn't it or is only blind negativity allowed here now? There's one thing being realistic but what I've read here is just beyond belief! -
One of my criticisms of Sky is they confuse gimmickry with innovation. Sometimes, just because you can do something it doesn't mean you have to. Anyone found where Molecam is buried? I fear Martin Smolinski must have hit it.... If they won't only go there when you have to, just as if their lighting wasn't up to scratch.
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I had to work with a Canadian co-commentator once who knew nothing about the sport concerned (only a bit less than me - no it wasn't speedway!). He relied on about half a dozen stock phrases including "He's pourin' it on" and "Nobody's leaving their seats". Our boss at the channel asked why we were using him. Well he's got an American (sic) accent" was the response from our producer. "We've got American commentary coming out on half our programmes!" was the blunt response (cleaned up). I became sole commentator.....
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Speedway World Cup 2017
RobMcCaffery replied to racers and royals's topic in Speedway Grand Prix and Speedway World Cup
Can just see Berwick wanting out of Northumberland if it comes about. Imagine the place as a frontier town, with people desperately smuggling scotch, haggis and square sausages past the border guards Did you count the man and the dog stopping them getting out? -
Never used to be and it was in a damn sight healthier state then. Yes they were important, but not life or death as now. People actually enjoyed the racing and the wins were a bonus. I know many people would go to watch and have no idea of the result, or in extreme cases not even know there was a match on. They'd just turn up to watch a night of entertaining racing, not buy a programme or bother listening to the p.a. I'd say they're the ones that have gone missing, just leaving the results-obsessed seeking reflected glory. Most supporters notice home defeats far more than away wins. I know of at least one track where it was rumoured the promoter banned all talk of away matches by the announcer/presenter, especially defeats, apart from running coaches, on the basis that all most fans cared about was what happened at home and there was no point is disillusioning them.
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Then you have a problem which you fix by improving the racing, or making sure the TV companies avoid the tracks that can't, as with Leicester in recent years. Shame Poole wasn't included in such an exclusion list given the appalling stage they provided for the big BT league racing launch. Thankfully they'd had Belle Vue the previous week.
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Poland's huge crowds are nothing new and it's down to tradition more than a professionalism that British promoters do not possess. Once the stifling control of Communism was lifted and the sport there started trading in 'hard' currency that was convertible to western equivalents it was inevitable with such crowds that the money would become available to capture the world's best riders. Now, Sundays had long been reserved by star riders for racing in lucrative meetings, usually long track or grasstrack, mainly in Germany. Eastbourne attempted to run Division One on a Sunday and came a cropper. Poland then became the target for the 'extra income Sundays' which in theory should not have affected Britain, but for the fact that the monies available from one day's racing in Poland soon started to exceed those from a week's racing in Britain. With up to 14 SGP and SWC Saturdays as well riders didn't need Britain anymore. Even the most adept British promoter couldn't have stood up to this onslaught. It's far to easy to blame the BSPA, too easy. They were up against too much, especially when some Polish tracks were running to massive crowds in stadia provided by the local council! Poland and to a lesser extent Sweden have kept up momentum they've had for years, although Sweden now seems to be faltering. Britain lost its momentum, partly through the BSPA's lack of vision but I would say they didn't stand a chance. And then One Sport started putting the boot in too....... When the BSPA tried to stand up to One Sport they were accused of being short-sighted! I've been deeply frustrated with my few dealings with the BSPA, often indirectly but in this case they have my sympathy. The constant fiddling and changing of the rules, turning the regs into a labyrinth of ambiguity and contradiction is another matter. I used to have a good grasp of them but the rules on team building and changes are just too far gone to bother trying to understand now.
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If the racing's good enough, who's got time to count the crowd?
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Looks like Gaming International have been rumbled in Devon. http://www.devonlive.com/torquay-united-s-plainmoor-ground-won-t-be-sold-until-new-stadium-plan-revealed/story-30414780-detail/story.html
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Do we know if the "For Dummies" series of books do one on speedway promotion? If not there is surely a gap in the market....
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It was all about cost, not just supporters failing to turn up. I strongly suspect tactical subs were replaced by your bugbear, along with match races disappearing when the cost of asking senior riders to take an extra ride got too high. Open meetings and second halves weren't helped by riders not taking them seriously, especially by way of 'split points' in the latter. Riders reportedly hated trophies - unlike cash you couldn't split them four ways. So by using open events as practice sessions they lost those extra pay nights. In about 1990 Barry Klatt suggested a special second half event at Rye House, the 'devil takes the hindmost'. Four riders would race one lap. After that lap the last man would be eliminated, then another start with three riders, and finally a match race. Riders complained it was costing them too much to make three clutch starts... The criticism of the 4TTs was that promoters had to pay for three away meetings on the proceeds of one home match. The idea of course was that this would be offset by having three sets of visiting fans. I remember seeing my first Ken-Ex fours at Rayleigh in '71 and being fascinated that the sport could have so many formats. Rayleigh, Romford, Canterbury and Eastbourne at each others' throats made a heck of an impact on this 13 year old. Today it would be dismissed as 'meaningless'.