moxey63

Based on the number of riders in teams that ride for another team. Individual meetings used to be an extra race night for riders, now they just take on an extra team or two, maybe three, where ever they can. Team sport has been replaced by a sport for the individuals.

Individual meetings are not worth staging because the fans aren't attracted to them. So, instead fans are given two sides of individuals and it professes to be a team sport.

Bruce Semmens was an interesting character. Didn't a prison sentence end his career? I've heard even teammates were wary of riding with him.

I know

Here we go again. It happened when SKY were about to ditch us, people saying BT (who were coming on board) would offer better coverage. Now, with the prospect of going to Eurosport, BT is rubbish. Shoddy camera work is nothing compared to a sport so impacted by the weather in the PO semis, the TV network stepped up a gear to provide coverage of the restaging. Those expecting better from Eurosport, remember, we're talking about a network who has never been good at meeting programme schedules. I've found they'll list something as being on at a certain time, and you're left waiting and waiting. We never had it so good as when SKY treated us like a proper sport. But a build-up of postponements and costs the company incurred, the tipping point being the ELRC when the Coventry promoter was having a "Mardy" on the morning the cameras were being set up. That probably leaves us where we are right now.

I know the weather has changed, but this seems a bit of a damp squib.

I keep all reference books from speedway's past. All the programmes from matches attended too. All the mags. All for reference purposes and because I prefer the sport from a certain period. I have decluttered down the years, books I read once and haven't touched since. If people don't hold on to the past, they'd have no family photos. By the way, I compiled books for the 1958 and '59 seasons.

I'd love Screensport to bid for it.

Does he say "it is what it is" or mention his favourite tattoo?

I used to think that live speedway was great. But now I look back at some of the wasteful chatter between all the races, occasions it took four hours for 20-odd heats. If I were to watch speedway now, I'd like just the heats, without the studio experts. Screenpsort from the 80s was my thing.

Sad that it might be the end of the Kirky Lane stadium, the saviour of speedway in Manchester after Hyde Road's demise. But whatever you do, who is ever in charge, do not allow Stockcars in at the NSS.

I would watch speedway racing from a grass verge as long as it had proper rules. Apart from the track, proper rules and foundations of the sport are the main importance. You wouldn't even play a board game if the rules of the game were as flimsy as this sport.

I loved the sport up until about 2006. Things became kind of fake. It was no longer a case of turning up at a track to follow a team of riders you had a kinship with. It was like turning up to help support some guys to ride bikes and pay their mortgage. They needed three clubs in this country and perhaps one abroad to keep busy. The riders ran the show. Promoters were too weak to resist. Now we have an unrecognizable sport than even 15 years ago. That is where the problem lies. You used to finish the season with near enough the same seven you began with, give or take. If promoters don't see this, there is no future.

Belle Vue's Hyde Road was bulldozed for car auctions. Sometimes, outside forces can influence things. Perhaps Stoke's closure isn't entirely the sport's fault. But it shows again, you can follow a team loyally for decades and this happens. Speedway is so cruel and its existence hangs by a thread. Sort it out, promoters.

Looks as if we'll be having the most important Promoters' congress since the last one.

Think he started with British League Hackney in 1987.

Good book It's a great book, 'Tears & Glory.'

Knows more than Google.

Ok, BWitcher.

OK.

I have just worked out last season's table on the 2 points for a win, 1 for a draw. The one change is in mid-table, where Poole beat Belle Vue into third place on the complicated current system (merely on race-points). In contrast, on the easier to understand 2 points for a win method, 1 for a draw, last year Belle Vue would have gained the third spot by a match point over Poole. The table stays the same otherwise, nothing else changes. King's Lynn would have still had a six-point lead at the top of the table. Although positions don't change, the gap in points do. And I thought we wanted closer league tables. For example, Last year Swindon missed out on the play-off places by 9 points on the complicated current system. If the two points for a win method was used, that gap would be just three points. 2018 table King's Lynn 33 (2 pts for a win) compared to 53 (complicated way) Somerset 27 to 47 Poole 25 to 44 Belle Vue 26 to 44 Swindon 22 to 35 Wolverhampton 21 to 34 Leicester 14 to 23 I think the BSPA is fooling some to believe they're getting value for money.

I know you like disagreeing with people, BWitcher, but how does it offer better value and more meaningful races? The league table stays the same, so fans are being sold an empty bottle of fresh air.

Has the complex scoring system for league points actually altered anything in the final table? Would positions change in the table if it were two points for a win, one for a draw? If not, why be complicated?

I agree. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. I mean, football fans could say speedway supporters are daft for not liking a better sport.

As somebody who watched the sport during its healthy times, and keeping track with what it has become, I'd be grateful for any coverage right now. Fans often lambasted SKY for its coverage, or because they didn't screen a certain match, or its commentators... When SKY decided to ditch us, the same supporters called them "rubbish" anyway, and BT was the best. But because BT air occasional live matches, they're the villains. Speedway 2019 should be thankful for the amount of live action that hits the screens. It is still laughable that hardcore supporters feel it deserves better.