Wild Man Vic

R.I.P. Uncle Len A really great character who could occasionally ruffle a few feathers with his opinions; but he always spoke from the heart about the sport that he cared so passionately about. A great promoter and the last of that generation of promoters from the 70's when I first fell in love with the sport. I was fortunate to chat with him on quite a few occasions down the years and he always had an interesting tale to tell or an opinon to give - and, even if you didn't always agree with his opinion, it was interesting to hear nontheless and always gave you something to think about. Great memories and I think I will make a point to sit down and read his book again this week. Condolences to his family and friends at this very sad time.

Two that stand out for me from years ago are Steve Waplington (Rochdale & Belle Vue Colts if I remember correctly) and, that Aussie mate of Phil Crump's, Gary Flood (Crewe). Both looked set for great careers but then just walked away from the sport at an early age. I also think Jim Airey left the sport too early too.

Yet again Eurosport proves that it is not about the budget at your disposal, but it is how you use it! The brilliant BSN blows it clean out of the water on just a fraction of the budget!! IF ..... Discovery had any intelligence they would say to BSN: "Can you provide us with the speedway coverage next season please?" - the end result would be a saving to their budget and a far better production!

Ipswich cost themselves points with various falls etc. but the standout element of the night was the truly dreadful refereeing! I think she needs to watch it back when she gets home and then realise it is time to hand in her licence because that refereeing performance was an absolute disgrace!! Come on Christina - if that's the best you can do in such a crucial meeting then do the right thing and pack it in! We should all be talking about the meeting not the refereeing!

Yet again, both Cami Brown and Peter Schroeck demonstrate that neither of them know the rules!

No, that is not quite correct. ONLY the race leader needs to have completed two laps for the referee to be able to award a race.

So very sad to hear this news. A really nice bloke - he was always happy to chat and talk about speedway. I never heard anyone have a bad word to say about him. A great referee who seemed to have the respect of riders, team managers and promoters too - which is a very rare thing in our sport. And, from what I have read, he was involved in so many behind the scenes aspects of speedway in the UK and at FIM level, which will be a big miss with his knowledge and experience too. But, especially to all of his family and friends he will be greatly missed and I send my condolences to them at this very sad time. RIP Tony

RIP Tiger John "Tiger" Louis was one of my first ever speedway heroes when watching in Division 2 as a youngster - when he came to visit everyone went to see him race! And, then when I attended the 1972 World Final at Wembley where he so nearly made the rostrum - he finished joint fourth as I recall - what a night that was! Then, three years later, I was back at Wembley in 1975 to see him claim a well deserved third place in that year's World Final. Another great night. I even had his picture, wearing those "Tiger" leathers, sellotaped to the front of my file at School - what a legend. And, many years later when I got to meet him he was great to talk to and always polite. Just a great bloke all round. They say don't meet your heroes - but I was absolutely delighted to meet that particular hero. Condolences to all of his family and friends at this sad time - and I hope that they can take some comfort in the fact that he was so well respected in the world of speedway.

Yeah, thought Cookie at least would have been a certainty to be in it.

I think BSN is the best thing to happen to British Speedway in recent seasons - in fact, as I have also said about 'Speedway Star' in the past, it is probably better than British Speedway deserves - especially the way the sport is now!! And, of course, as Ben alluded to earlier, they have invested heavily in equipment over the past two years - and we can see the benefits clearly as the quality of the whole BSN show is much improved from their first few meetings when they first started out. It is now better than Eurosport in my opinion - I know that is probably not a high bar to set, but when you think about the number of people behind the scenes at BSN compared to Eurosport they trump Eurosport comfortably. As someone else pointed out, at around £4 per meeting it sure beats spending hours and hours on the road travelling to meetings. I know some people have commented on the price rises but that is a fair point that Ben has made about VAT now coming into play. I guess if anything the first season BSN was probably too cheap, which maybe gave people a false perspective, but I can understand why they made it quite cheap; as obviously as 'a new venture' they needed to attract customers and so build up a fan base as it were. If everything in life was as good a value as BSN the world would be a far better place! I will definitely be buying a BSN season pass again - happy days!

I can only echo the above and hope that Max makes a full recovery from his injuries. I have followed speedway for over fifty years ap and down the country and across Europe; but I don't think I have ever felt as incensed and disillusioned with sport in this country as I do right now. There are so many things wrong with how it is run that you could fill a book if you listed them all. And, the events leading up to the conclusion of the NDL season, the decisions made and the way that events ultimately played out just summed it all up perfectly. I am not a fan of any particular club, just a speedway fan, but I think if I was a fan of Mildenhall or Oxford right now I would not be "celebrating" my victory as it would feel very hollow having been achieved the way it has been. To be fair, it is not their fault, that is the hand they have been dealt - but I am pretty sure if it was my club I would feel very flat despite picking up the trophy. Maybe they should both refuse to accept the trophy under the circumstances and see where the BSPL Management Committee go from there! In all liklihood they would impose a fine on both clubs for refusing to accept their respective trophies. That would just about sum up the state of the sport at present in this country. I can only agree with previous posts that a change is needed at the top because things can't continue as they are - the sport and its supporters deserve so much better than this! Right now I am seriously considering whether I even bother with the sport anymore, I am that disillusioned. And, sadly, I fear I am not alone!

I said it last year and I will say it again this year - the BSN early bird season pass is the best value for money of anything I have bought this year. Bought it for both leagues this year - fantastic value! And, looking at it another way - the total cost of the early bird pass for both leagues was roughly half what it cost to go to Cardiff for the GP this year - including fuel, hotels and admission, programme etc. - that puts the whole thing into perspective as to what really is value for money - around 50 nights entertainment for half the cost of one night's entertainment. Really enjoyed BSN's coverage this year and the informal nature of it is great - a few bits of banter, a few laughs, and it's made by speedway people for speedway people so it almost feels like you're watching it with your mates! Roll on 2024.

No problem in Workington! I have always got it delivered by Royal Mail. On four of the last five weeks it has arrived between 9:15am and 9:20am Thursday morning. As for the one week it didn't ...... it arrived 10 minutes later; at 9:30am on Thursday morning! It does beg the question though ................. if Royal Mail can get it all the way up here on time, then why not to everywhere else?

I don't understand that comment. Don't forget jacko is only doing a team managers job on the night for free. Laura is the one that owns the club and it is her money not anybody else's. At the end of the day the club has three promoters that have picked the team that fits the budget. If she hadn't bought the club we'd probably have no speedway at all this year. Lots of riders get suggested but you can only sign riders that are available - you can't just go out and raid riders from other teams - if only it was that simple!

I'm sure I read somewhere that they get a reduction for the next three years AFTER they ride in the National League, so if that is the case it doesn't matter whether he rode in the NL in 2012 or not.