RobMcCaffery

Some good racing compensated for the format/ I did struggle to get into it though. I have to offer congratulations to David Rowe for a valiant and highly professional attempt to convince me that it was important whether Fogo Power or Nice Racing won. I'm sure the Polish sponsors and Monster must be delighted - the riders' names certainly played second fiddle to the team logos on the captions. Ultimately it's really just an exercise in Polish corporate marketing. Thankfully we got some racing as a bonus. Okay, I admit it, I'm devastated at eport2000.pl's failure to make the final.....again Incidentally, you may be interested to know the lines of business that some of these firms deal in: Fogo Power - generators, Nice - Home automation (actually an Italian company), eport2000.pl - automotive accessories, Trans MF - trucking, Boll - car chemicals, - or maybe not. Okay that's my insomonia cured - I hope yours is too zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

I take it you are unfamiliar with the modern National League. How about going to some matches (buses permitting) and learn rather than rely on ignorant prejudice? Perhaps you'd prefer a grand EL match with say half the riders away in Poland or riding in the Premier League and using a series of guest riders? The riders taking part in this official league fixture deserve far better than your insulting scorn. What are you trying to achieve except destroy your reputation? I'm sure someone will pass on your regards to the 14 guys racing on Friday night. They had a meeting that would 'befit a so-called National Speedway Stadium' but it was cancelled. John, you clearly despise modern speedway so have you ever thought of taking up another sport? Stock car racing can be good fun, if totally meaningless. This really is getting ridiculous. I wish Belle Vue well with the NSS and look forward to seeing some great matches there in due course. It's about what it becomes, not how it starts.....

IF they continue to show all fifteen heats then fine. They pleasantly surprised me and I hope they continue in the same way. It does make a change.

If you wait long enough there won't be a Coventry Speedway to protest about and then you can take pride in having 'shown them'. Of course you'll have missed every last chance to see a great speedway, even if there are problems with the team. Supporters at tracks like Newport, Oxford and say Wimbledon, Hackney or even Bradford 'really showed' the promotions by staying away didn't they? I lost my track 43 years ago but if by some miracle it returned tomorrow I would love every meeting, win or lose. You really don't know what you have until it's gone. I think your signature needs correcting by the way.

I wasn't aware that Wolves and Somerset have problems with their crowds. Peterborough is a mystery while keeping Scunthorpe alive in a town where the threat of mass unemployment hangs over it with the doubts over the future of the steelworks is a hell of an achievement. Looking at the dismal state of the sport these days I don't think with the current support racing does really matter. I think those that went for the racing have long gone apart from a few diehards, leaving just those who want to see winning left. If the sport is to have a sane and stable future it needs good racing to attract fans back and find new fans, but your statement is rather like saying a patient doesn't need to be healthy - after all they're sick but not dead. I think you'll find if the NSS doesn't provide great racing then it will struggle to pay for itself. If great racing isn't important why was so much effort put into the design of the shape of the track to give such great racing? You also have to factor-in population and catchment area when judging why certain tracks get good attendances, together with the efforts of the promotions. If we don't need or want good racing then why do we bother?

So, we've established that Nokia are responsible for poor crowds at speedway.........

Team eport2000.pl will struggle on without your support ;-)

I seem to remember that part of the announcement of Kelvin joining the Hammers was that the TV work would take priority.

That's a relief! Hopefully they can now keep up that new standard - and maybe an evening transmission. As you'll see from above we managed to get two feeds running last night but they didn't go online until the very last minute. That, together with your news is reassuring. Shame about the match - that Lejonen team should be capable of far better.

This is what One Sport are relying on - staging their meetings where the stars are rarely seen - in countries with little international racing or lesser tracks in Poland, with the exception of Torun. The Best Pairs is clearly there for the benefit of corporate Poland this year. It IS four riders over four laps and best to forget the unacceptable format. I hope you have a good meeting and enjoy the seeing the star riders. We had an example over here at Mildenhall - a very rounded circuit where riders would often cross the line before their wheels were in line. I haven't been for a few years but expect it's still the same. The old Wimbledon circuit had a start line close to bend four but a separate finish line further down, reportedly to get races up to the FIM minimum distance.

It was an attempt at humour. Botox is reasonably well-known as a substance injected into the face to smooth out features, mainly wrinkles. It is not exactly am orally-taken performance-enhancing substance on banned lists. As for your education, I hope it serves you well. Of course nobody who has a decent education never had a hard-knock or experiences life......

I feel I'm wavering. My lifelong dedication to team eport2000.pl team is waning and I'm beginning to sway towards Trans MF Pro Race Team. I shall have to get to work on a new programme board. Let's hope we get some decent racing.....It's speedway after all but sometimes there are times when the sport is hard to love. Thanks for the information R&R.

I don't think you're supposed to take it orally. That really does have 'mid-life crisis' written all over it.

I think when it comes to PL/NL teams having pride in their ex-riders going on to greater things that the likes of Newcastle (N.Pedersen), Isle of Wight (C.Holder), oh and Rye House (Tai something) might have higher bragging rights.

Yes that would have been very satisfying. At the County Ground I once asked a Rocket how the track was looking. He looked at me and said "I won't even look at the track before I go out". Another time I was down there interviewing Bruce Crib when he was Falcons' number one. I asked him about the fence. He said "It's simple, don't hit it". He then went on to tell me which rivet he used to look for to know when to turn. Some of my happiest memories in speedway were the tours - then I made the mistake of getting involved seriously....

Again? If this was something of real relevance rather than a petty sports forum dominated by the mentally-challenged I'd be worried. I appreciate that the actual acronym is the essence of the argument..... ....Honestly...... Perhaps we should give them their real description, cheap, exploited riders? Keep trying, someone will be impressed, I'm not. Your barrel must be getting pretty thin after all the petty scraping ;-) So for once you don't get your way. Makes a change, doesn't it? Perhaps you've been pushing your luck a little too far? I do enjoy our little discussions you know, it's so good not having to think, as opposed to dealing with normal people. .

When you see these long intervals you can see part of Eurosport's problem, trying to fill the gap while carrying the international feed version of locked-off long shot.

So ironic that all of the other matches are close. That's the way it goes.....

GOT IT! http://www.stream2watch.co/live-now/live-tv/se/c-more-sport-live-stream What he said The vip box link that Brandonbee mentioned is also working so a useful backup.

I've tried everywhere I know to find a working link but without success. The link mentioned by Brandonbee isn't working and almost all sites I'm familiar with just link to that same feed. Perhaps it may change once the coverage actually starts. It looks like we're at the mercy of Eurosport 7.30 am and 1 pm tomorrow. That's your lot - no prime time scheduling

It used to be a feature of the final meetings of the year at a few British tracks to have a 'wrong way round' race to round the season off with a bit of fun. Then it was banned, presumably by the SCB on safety/insurance grounds.

I suspect it's a case of not being happy with last season (too many rain-offs and delays) and just 'seeing out the contract', rather like when Channel 4 buried the last GP highlights shows in the middle of the night. Take the 1 p.m. slot. They're showing one hour from Sweden followed by an hour of the first 'Best Pairs' event from Poland from weeks back rather than use the two hours for 'as live' coverage of the Swedish match. Now Eurosport could surprise us by including all fifteen heats but on past history I think we'd be very lucky. It's such a shame because I really enjoy the Elitserien and Tuesday nights quickly became a highlight, especially with David Rowe's expert commentary.

I think it's a legacy of years of Tony Millard mispronouncing it.

The hazard with tours of course that a bad performance the night before might adversely affect the attendance at the next track on the tour and by the end you could be getting low on all kinds of resources, human and mechanical. The 1980 Rye House northern tour to Middlesbrough and Glasgow will of course always be a fond memory for many - 40-38 on Teesside to win the title.......then a 57-21 defeat at Blantyre. I think there might have been a good reason........

Many years ago a rather awful daytime TV show was hosted by Robert Kilroy-Silk called "Share or Shaft". Clips often emerge in TV satire shows. Why is it that everytime I think of that programme I think of a BSPA meeting? One prominent announcer used to refer to his promoter as 'Sideways Sid' not because he'd been a broadsider but he never looked you in the eye and could not be straight. Eventually when you twist and twist the rules you get a fiasco like this. Sadly it was always coming and I think we know it's going to be a heat-leader replacing Ellis, not an FTR don't we? "All in the best interests of (my) speedway". (EDIT - It was called 'Shafted' and ran for 4 episodes. Wikipedia has the story. Any resemblance to any sporting bodies is coincidental. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shafted )