Grachan

No. They're not really speedway fans. They used to be though.

Anyone remember the Gary Havelock record? 'I'm on cloud nine.... I'm on cloud nine...'

You can just imagine Matt Ford biting his tongue and smiling to himself as they all voted.

For me Jonsson was better than anyone on his day but Ermolemko was more consistent. Per was prone to the odd poor meeting, but watching him stalking riders and passing on the run in to the chequered flag was one of the finest sights I've seen in speedway. I'd pick Per over Sam, but maybe I just saw more of him.

I read John Cook's comments in a post on this forum. I haven't seen Speedway Star. The comments attributed to him were so outrageous I even had doubts they were genuine. Very foolish.

You need to read what Jon Cook said to take it in context. He called SCB thick for being able to devise a way of working out weighted averages.

What are you watching on? If you are watching on Youtube you're not going to see it. I've no idea when Kenny Carter says there is contact, other than the "leg" thing, which is clearly wrong. As I've said, the contact with the handlebars is when Bruce's back wheel flips out. Whatever other factrs are taken into account, the thing that causes Carter to actually fall is Penhall's back wheel swiping his handlebars. You will need good quality footage to see it, though. And the one on Youtube with American commentry cuts views at exactly the moment to make you miss it. Keep watching, Rob. On the contrary. I did read the book and there is an indication in there that it was, to some degree, pre-meditated.

Well obviously not. Because Carter said he took his leg straight from under him, which he didn't. Keep watching Rob. It's the handlebar, not the front wheel.

Quite possibly, although I feel Penhall's flick out of the wheel was an unnatural movement so I still go with Penhall being the one to be excluded. This thing is, you earlier said there was no contact, which was what I was mainly disagreeing with.

Yes there is. Keep watching. You'll see it one day. It is, of course, possible that Carter ran out of track and had to move inwards, but it is when Penhall's back wheel flicks out that they touch. Admittedly it is just my opinion that it was Penhall's fault. But it is a fact that there was contact between Brucie's back wheel and Carter's handlebar and that's when Carter fell. Exactly. Great bit of controversy anyway.

Wrong. It took me about 30 years to see it, but once you've seen it you see it every time after that. What have you seen it on? I had it on betamax for many years. Couldn't see any contact. Watched it on Youtube. Couldn't see any contact. Then, one day, Steve Shovlar put DVD quality footage on here. Straight away you could see the contact. It was a real "Eureka" moment. Had I been in the bath I would have got out an run down the street. Penhall's wheel flicked out, bumped the left tip of Carter's handlebars. Carter jolted and fell off. Not seeing contact doesn't mean there wasn't contact. Once you see it you will know. There was contact. Nothing anyone says will convince me otherwise, because I saw it, and several others did too when that footage was posted.

When the wheel flicked out it caught Carter's left handlebar and Carter came off.If you watch good quality footage you can see it. It doesn't show there's no contact. You just can't see the contact from that angle.

I'm sure that whoever put the site together is grateful that the mistake was pointed out to them, but I' not sure why it would drive you nuts that it was made. It's easy to make a mistake, you know!! I never knew that information was there before. Very intersting. What surprised me was Ken McKinlay's Worl Final record.Very impressive. I knew he was a former top rider, but to me he was always the "Compo" type bloke in the bobble hat that rode Second Division for Scunthorpe.

Actually it is controversial, because he did hit Carter's bike and you can see it in the original World of Sport footage. The rest of it, though, is perfectly reasonable.

Best thing for Swindon as far as Zengota is concerned is a year out on loan as a heatleader then coming back in 2017 with a more realistic average.

I got his autograph that night. Unfortunately my autograph books are now a long time lost. Saw him ride a few times, including the next challenge against Dave Jessup, which may even have been his final UK meeting. Great rider. World champ? Who knows? But up there with the best.

I think Troy would have done well at Swindon next year as he would have had Jason Doyle to take the pressure off him. He became a much better rider when Darcy was in the side. I think that how he does at Lynn depends on the same factors. If he his coming in as a top rider in the side he may struggle to maintain that, but if the Stars sign a proper number one then Troy will do the business.

So, basically, you're excited because we have to sign someone who's not as good.

The difference with Reading, of course, is that Smallmead stadium closed down before another was started. At least, as we stand, the current stadium is keeping going. As long as that is still the situation then I think we should remain positive and we have that as a bargaining tool. I don't think it's fair to criticise the Swindon promotion as they are doing what anyone would do in the situation. Many people complain that they are not making statements, so they make a statement and people then complain it doesn't tell enough. But all they can do is relay what they have. Terry and Rosco are obviously committed to continue speedway at Swindon. We have that in our favour too. The Reading promotion (perhaps wisely for them) got out while still ahead, and knowing that the lease had been whittled down and would end. I'll remain with my glass half full until there is reason not to, but nothing can be certain until building actually starts.

The first match I ever went to at Swindon was Swindon v Wolves in 1974. Ole Olsen scored 7 from 5. I'd never heard of the guy at the time, but noticed that both sets of fans were shouting abuse at him and saying he was rubbish. I couldn't understand it.

Either that or get him on "I'm a Celebrity get me out of here"! And I'm only half joking.

The story is that he received the most votes one year, so they gave him second! There's also Bob Nudd - the fishing guy. He apparently got most votes one year but was completely ignored. So, taking that into account, I guess Briggo was lucky to get second.

It's not the Sports Personality of the Year. It's the BBC Sports Personality of the Year. Tai isn't a BBC personality. Far too much importance is put onto this contest in my opinion, especially since it became a phone vote - mainly because it once was relevant because BBC was the only channel I guess, so it once meant something. For Tai to get any recognition he needs to become a big household name, and despite what people like to think, that is something he isn't.

Lanning's commentry of the 1973 was incedibly biased. I don't think you can take much from it. His opinion on the Plech incident is nonsense.

Muller wasn't the shock winner people now like to think he was, I went on a coach trip to that final, and beforehand practically the whole coach thought he would win. My friend got him in the sweepstake and everyone else wanted to swap! 1983 was very much a limbo year. Penhall had retired and Nielsen and Gundersen were still on the way up. Muller was one of the favourites. I remember going to the 1976 final in Poland and he was pretty spectacular in that too. Was on course for 11 before his last race crash. Maybe won't be remembered as an all time great but just as worthy as riders like Loram and Havelock, if not more so.