chunky

It is a lot more stressful watching than competing. When you are competing, you do have control over what you do; when you are watching, you have NO control whatsoever! THAT is the problem... Steve

That is why none of us have. We have only compared him to British riders - who have never achieved what Tai have. To compare him to the REAL legends, only time will tell,,, Steve

Okay, referring to posts on other threads on the BSF, claiming that Tai isn't as good as riders in the "good ol' days", and that there are "no stars" out there, how about this? Woffinden, Zmarzlik, Laguta, Doyle, Janowski etc ARE real superstars of speedway, and deserve to considered as such! Steve

You can get good overnight, but you can't get experience overnight. Zmarzlik has the ability, and he will undoubtedly learn from this. Look how long it took Nielsen to get over the hump... That's why I find it comical when keyboard warriors claim this and that, yet they have no concept of what happens mentally in professional sport. Steve

That is what has been most impressive... Steve

Anyone else think that Tai just threw in the 2-minute exclusion and fall for dramatic effect??? Well done, lad! Steve

I said that, but realistically, unless two riders go through the season only dropping points to each other, it is now impossible to point to one single incident... Steve

Plus, while people are looking at isolated incidents and refereeing decisions, having a whole season drastically reduces the luck aspect. Sure, they can have an effect, but when you have 70 races to complete, nah... Steve

Thing is, this drama has gone on for for three GP's now! That never happened before... Steve

Anyone still feel that the GP's don't have the drama of World Final night? Steve

Feel bad for Emil too... Steve

We will know after heat 13 who is in control... Steve

That was a fun race! Steve

Absolutely. Lucky he didn't high-side it... Steve

Can't really see any other outcome... Steve

You know, I'm not entirely convinced by Tatum's claim that Milik was switching his line... Steve

I really can't add anything to that... Yes, I am one of the old farts who grew up with Fundin, Briggs, Mauger, Olsen, Collins, Penhall, Nielsen, Gundersen, Rickardsson, etc... Brilliant, brilliant riders, the lot of 'em. However, when I look at Woffinden's style, and some of the moves he makes, he really does make it look easy. I was a great admirer of Gollob, and he could do things on a bike that I've never seen anyone else do, but he never made it look as effortless as an on-song Tai. I know that everyone has their own reasons - or alleged reasons (WTC wins/maxima can't be used to "prove" one rider is better than another) - but looking at it realistically, it is difficult to find a "better" British rider than Woffy... Steve

Qualifying by finishing in the top 8 of the previous year's GP series is no less a method of qualification than finishing in the top 3 of the GP Challenge... Steve

...and every final was held on his home track... Steve

Again, you can only make comparisons between riders who rode against each other, and not somebody from different eras who were both No.4 in their respective teams. One comment has always stuck with me... Back in the 70's, I had someone complaining that Larry Ross was the "worst No. 1 in the league". Really? Is that HIS fault that nobody else in the team was riding better? Had he been fourth in the Wimbledon averages, they would have been celebrating the fact that he was the "best No. 4 in the league"! You get my point? It is all relative... Steve

Because they don't want to... Steve

Of course, we know that the BL has been watered down, but when you try to judge someone's ability, can we actually PROVE the standard was higher back then? We all like to think so, but that is based on what? Just because the "Big Five" stood out against the rest doesn't mean that the rest were poor. Just because riders like Betts and Ashby struggled to get past the British final on a consistent basis doesn't actually mean it was "stronger". You can only compare riders against the others they actually rode against. Could it be that the standard modern speedway is actually BETTER than it has ever been? It certainly seems a more level playing field, but that doesn't mean that riders aren't as good these days. I know many will hate me for this, but could Woffinden, Zmarzlik, Janowski, Lindgren, Doyle etc be true equivalents of Briggs, Moore, Craven, Fundin, Knutson etc? Could they actually be better? Nobody can answer that with any certainty, however much you think you can. All we know is that there were more riders back then, but you simply cannot say who were better. Steve

Been done - on several occasions... Steve

Look at Nielsen. A giant in the BL but he couldn't compete with his World Final opponents for several years... And what did a superb string of BL averages do at world level for Eric Boocock? Steve

There is certainly some merit to winning the pairs - although nobody seems to give Szczakiel any credit for him winning the pairs - with a maximum. Regarding Collins in the WTC, it was an achievement, but the ONLY true superstar he beat was Michanek. You could perhaps add Sjosten in 74, but realistically, he shouldn't have been too troubled against the others. Steve