chunky

It's okay, just PM me your address and I will send you a box of tissues... Steve

Nah, Phil wasn't a speedway fan, and he wouldn't go down to Poole when he had Stoke on his doorstep either; Shov wasn't that attractive to him!!! Phil's main sporting interest is Port Vale F.C. Incidentally, we had a similar thread a few years back. Steve

Sad thing is that three of tracks don't even exist, let alone stage speedway... Steve

If he's that good at running, why don't you see if he's interested in trying to run British speedway??? Steve

Again, not sure he was a "fan", but I remember him being down at Plough Lane on more than one occasion. Steve

Oh yeah, the old Yahoo! group... I joined the BSF around the same time, and have been a regular - if not prolific - poster here. Most of the time I am on the "Years Gone By" section, but now I can get the live streams in the US again, I have been more active in the GP section. Steve

Before your time? I'm not THAT bloody old! If you look at the fact that I always sign my posts as "Steve", frequently mention that I am not in the UK anymore, and the fact that I sometimes talk about darts, I thought that MIGHT have been a clue! That was the first UK Open in 2003; the only one I qualified for. My dad passed away a couple of months after that, and I dropped out of the PDC. Do you remember me playing David in the World Championship? I am friends with him on FB, and we chat occasionally. Steve

At the risk of sounding conceited, I was considered a "celeb"! Like my good friend Scott Mitchell, I played darts professionally. While I - unlike Scott - never managed to win a World title, I was third in the PDC World Championship, and am a former World No. 1. To be honest, it really doesn't seem like there have been too many really famous celebrity speedway fans over the years. Not sure, but I believe that DJ David Hamilton was actually a speedway supporter in addition to his presenting job. Steve

First thing to remember is that there are a bunch of us on here who know exactly how you are feeling right now... It just makes it worse for those of us from London and the southeast. Not only did I lose my own Wimbledon, but I was a regular at most of the other venues in the area. I can't say I was a huge fan of Arena (as it was then!), but it was close enough for me to make frequent trips. In the early years, it was great to go there and see my old mate Dave Lanning who was announcing. One of my best memories was a triangular tournament between the Hammers, Dons, and Rockets. A miserable day, it started to pour down, but watching the old boys Johnsy and Middlo showing the rest how to ride a small track in the wet was well worth the cost of admission! Martin Goodwin, Bob Humphreys, Ian Humphreys, Simon Wolstenholme etc... Great times and great memories. Steve

ANYWAY, camping chairs and Woffinden-haters aside... With Dudek likely sidelined for the rest of the season (and I'm surprised there isn't more talk about that), this could have an impact on the qualification for next year. Dudek is likely to miss out on a Top 8 spot, but he will obviously be a prime candidate for a wildcard. This also means that Sayfutdinov is probably going to guarantee his place for 2019. Of course, this gives Pedersen perhaps more incentive to really push for eighth now? Not that I think he needs to... It will be very interesting to see what happens next week, and who will be fighting for what in Torun. Steve

Actually, there are two distinct things that make this boring : 1) People coming on here and saying, "But they were at the tapes..." 2) People coming on here and extending the thread with meaningless comments like, "How many more pages..." And, "boring isnt it"... Steve

Exactly... Steve

Again, being "at the tapes" isn't the point; they need to be "ready to race". If you look closely at Greg on the inside, he wasn't actually ready either! Steve

It has been addressed several times actually. It is not just a case of "where" a rider is supposed to be; the rider must be "at the tapes and ready to race". That means not gardening, not adjusting your goggles, not cooling your clutch etc. If you are doing any of those, you are not "ready to race". Again, the problem here is not that Tai was excluded, as we know he was not ready to race. What everybody is unhappy about is that none of the other riders were "at the tapes and ready to race" either! If you have a rule like that, it SHOULD be applied to all those who break the rule, not just one rider who was seemingly handpicked by the referee as an example. If one rider moves at the tapes, and he is followed by another, BOTH receive a warning. In this case, ALL FOUR should have been out... Steve

Had others been excluded, and he hadn't, I would say you are 100% correct. However, with the referee seemingly making allowances (it isn't exactly normal to move the white line from its normal position into the middle of the racing line) for EVERYONE, I don't think any rider could have been classed as "lucky". Had Tai been excluded, but others not, that wouldn't have been fair, would it? As I said in an earlier post, it is when the rules are applied in an inconsistent manner that it becomes a problem. In reference to other posts here, if Tai was to lose the title because of that, it certainly wouldn't be the first time that a poor refereeing decision affected the outcome of a World Championship! In 1993, Ermolenko was allowed into the rerun despite not being under power at the time of the stoppage. In 2000, Rickardsson was excluded after Loram (unintentionally, I will add) sent him into the fence. Or how about the 1979 (I think) World Pairs Final when Jancarz clearly finished second, but the ref awarded a 5-1 to Denmark. Steve

He didn't "get away with one"; several riders did the same, and NONE were punished. The reason was that the white line was not THE white line, but was one that was added during the meeting, and one that interfered with the known racing line. That is why NOBODY was penalised. Here, he was penalised despite others not being ready to race during at the end of the two minutes. That is what is wrong here, and why people are unhappy. Inconsistent and seemingly biased refereeing. Steve

And who didn't exclude any of SEVERAL riders to do that, because there were several white lines... That was CONSISTENT and GOOD refereeing... The problem here is that SEVERAL OTHER riders - including those in the same race - were not punished for an identical offence. Steve

So Tai DIDN'T lift? Hi DIDN'T run wide ON HIS OWN? He didn't hit the fence ON HIS OWN? So Cook WASN'T in front, and IN THE MIDDLE OF THE TRACK? I take it you have speech-to-text, because with eyesight like yours, you obviously can't see your keyboard... Steve

Oh, come on... Please don't spoil brummie's prejudiced views... Steve

He was "ready to race"!!! Steve

For those who think Hancock is a spent force? Steve

Could have been SO much worse... Steve

I didn't know he had tried to blame the ref for that? A totally irrelevant comment... Steve

Perhaps in Poland, there might be... Steve

It doesn't matter whether they are at the tapes or not; they have to be "ready to race". Steve