Grachan

Championship averages, Championship points limit. Riders who only have a Premier average given a converted average. Not what I'd like to see, particularly, but that is Championship level. My preference would be a 1.25 (0.8) conversion rate, which takes the top PL rider up to about 12. And make a 12.00 average cap.

If Tai win's 3 titles he will certainly be a contender for best British rider, but I think Peter Craven would still have a pretty good case. I never saw Craven ride, but he didn't just win 2 World titles, but he won them in the era of Fundin and Briggs - and may well have gone on to win more for all we know, had he not lost his life. I'd say it's between those two though, with Collins and Lee close behind. Lee at his best, however, is probably the best rider I ever saw. But he lacked the consistency and longevity.

If they can't afford them then don't sign them. Join the leagues together, spread the riders out evenly, and see what level we come to. Then leave it at that. If Somerset want Jason Doyle next year then why shouldn't they? It doesn't affect other teams other than having a World Class rider visit during the season, surely? How does it go against, say, Redcar, if Somerset have Jason Doyle if the teams are still built to the same points limit? So, are you saying that even the current Championship level is too high for one big league? If it is, the sport is pretty much done.

If they can get enough teams into the top flight, I'm sure they could run the league at a much lower level - perhaps even the level of the current championship - without actually forcing any riders out an effectively downgrading. With doubling up/down at the level it is currently, surely they can get enough teams at the level and still keep the likes of Jason Doyle riding in the league with a sensible conversion rate. Someone needs to work out how the teams and riders we currently have can be put together and how that would all work out. It just needs someone with a bit of time on their hands to make the effort to do it. The sport doesn't need to downgrade any more, and could probably run a big league without having to do so.

Yes. I actually spotted the bass player once, stood at the back of the home straight stand during a Swindon v Coventry match.

I don't know how they chose the guests, but it was stated earlier in the day that they were having problems finding anyone who was available.

That description of the crash certainly fits more with what was in the Swindon report - which also said that it was Musielak and Lambert involved. It's funny how some King's Lynn fans now have such a blind hatred of Troy Bachelor that they will blame him for anything. I know a bit of panto booing can be fun, but I bet this wasn't that but was genuinely serious. I've seen it at Swindon with Rory Schlein, where the crowd would boo him. It seemed good fun until you look at the genuine hated and anger on some of the fans' faces. And they probably didn't even know why they were booing him.

A decent effort from Swindon considering the weak bottom end of the side, but gave away too many 5-1s, which we couldn't afford to do. Having not being there I can't give an opinion on heat 15, but the opinions from the Swindon camp (and the ref, obviously, who didn't exclude anyone) are very different to the King's Lynn "hooligans" (to quote Rosco), where first bend bunching is clearly the order of the day. Good to see just how much Batch has got into the King's Lynn psyche, anyway. He does that.

Maybe they haven't confirmed any replacements yet.

Johnny Marr is a Belle Vue fan. Morrisey even wrote a song about him and called it "Speedway".

Ellis, Wajtknecht and Smith all missing for Swindon.

Not if you are using Championship averages and a 0.8 conversion. It weakens ALL the top flight clubs by over 6 points each. (This is all for if the leagues merge by the way. Otherwise there's no need to apply CL averages to the current PL sides))

If you had give my post more though, you would see that each team would NOT be strengthened. All the teams in the top flight would be weakened. But it gives them leeway to have strong sides and stops it going down completely to CL level - plus you get the "illusion" of the high points limit to keep people happy. With a conversion rate of 0.8, all the teams in the top league would average over 50 at present if that is applied to their current 1-7. Why is the conversion rate not realistic? It is based on a random sample of riders using their actual rolling averages. Cook: PL 7.64 - CL 10.23 = 74.68% Worrall: 5.81 - 7.62 = 76.24% Morris: 6.91 - 8.83 = 78.25% Ellis: 6.49 - 7.92 = 81.94% Wajknecht: 4.33 - 5.24 = 82.64% Harris: 7.05 - 8.11 = 86.93% Schlein: 8.00 - 8.79 = 91.01% Average percentage = 81.67%. Perfect for a 0.8 conversion factor. Doyle at 9.69 converts to 12.1 so 12.00 is pretty fair. Oh, and he's already desireable to fans. Because he's the World Champion. So why shouldn't Somerset have him if they feel it is within their budget?

I'm a paying customer. I don't need to provide a solution. That's not my responsibility because I am no longer a "real fan". I'm the guy sat at home watching the telly who needs to feel inspired to go. Weakening the league even further will not do that. All I know is that, at the moment, a sport that used to inspire me to go every week now barely gets me out of the house. Here's my idea. Yet another dumb "save speedway" idea. Have the league at Championship level if that is what people want - ie have Championship averages. But, also, have a high points limit so that teams who want to be strng can be so. I know it's a weird idea, but not having all teams equal might actually attract fans in to watch good sides. So, make appoints limit of, say, 45 or 46 - just to give a bit of leeway in team building for the stronger sides and make them attractive. Then use the Championship averages if you so wish. So, what do we do with riders who only have a top flight average? How about giving them an average based on reality that won't force them out of the UK? Take a random sample of 7 riders who ride in both leagues - Craig Cook, Richie Worrall, Nick Morris, Adam Ellis, Zach Wajtknecht, Chris Harris, Rory Schlein. THe averages converted at 0.82. So, if you compare their averages in both league, the conversion is about 0.8. So, for riders only riding in the top league, give them a 0.8 conversion. This gives Jason Doyle an average of 12.1 - so, just to be sensible, make 12.00 the limit. Still pretty high, yeah, but still worth having if Swindon's title win of last year is anything to go on. So: Championship averages Points limit of 45 Conversion rate of 0.8. Maximum average of 12.00. Won't solve the World, but might stop it ending completely.

Why "get real"? I think that what I said was correct. As the standard drops, so do the crowds. And, yes, I am dreaming. Dreaming of a time when Speedway in this country was of a high enough standard to attract casual supporters. You know them? The ones who get criticised on here for not being "real fans", but pay to watch when there are decent riders on show. Sure, there are people who are happy to see speedway at a lower standard, but, the fact is, that the lower the standard then lower the crowds. That's just the way it is. And, surely, if Somerset, for example, want to have a big star rider then why should they not be able to have one?

So, dumbing down again. Always this is the answer, and always crowds drop as a result.

I think that's a valid point, and, as you say, it is encouraged by the rules even if it is, technically, cheating. The average manipulation we get now is because the points limit is always too low so it is the best way to get a stronger team later in the year.

The rules did not allow him to do it, otherwise it wouldn't be cheating. You could say it encouraged cheating, but there was a rule saying riders had to make a bonafide attempt to race - although being excluded for that would, ironically, have counted as a race and lowered his average. I remember Rickard Hellsen making the most obvious bad final turn too, enabling to be passed after the rider in front had an engine failure. He'd already signed for Long Eaton for the following year and came perilously close to averaging over 6.00 in that moment.

Because he was cheating. That's his fault, not the league's.

Is Ronnie designing the track? Surely there should be some rider involvement in how it should be. I believe Chris Morton designed the Belle Vue shape, is that correct? Martin Ashby and Mike Broadbanks are at Swindon every week. Surely they could be involved? Or Barry Briggs.

Definitely. That initially opened the floodgates, although more in terms of overseas riders rather than the actual standard. Didn't Swindon once sign Gordon Kennett as their number 8 after he dropped down?

I remember Dave Jessup and Gordon Kennett also dropping down, amongst others. It started to get a bit silly when Bo Petersen and Brian Karger both signed for Arena-Essex.

There was nothing wrong with that rule. It meant we had a proper first and second division. Sure, people like Simmons may have dropped points to drop down, but at least it kept the leagues at a standard they are supposed to be.

King's Lynn lost. If Lambert had scored as expected they would have won. Seems pretty important to me.

Ebdon was consistent that day and excluded anyone who touched the tapes from either side. I had this meeting on tape for years. There's also an interview with Carl Glover, who says he told them before the meeting started that this would happen, so they couldn't argue about it. As for last night, my issue with it is that Woffinden was at the tapes and ready to race, but, because the Poles were dicking about, he moved back and cooled his clutch and waited for them. Then, as soon as the two Poles were ready, Woffy moved back to the tapes, ready to go. It was an outreageously bad decision, although, the way Woffinden rode last night, he may well have run a last in that race and wouldn't have reached the semi anyway, so not as disastrous as it could have been. I do think it was a biased decision from a Polish ref, though. That, plus Doyle's warning, should exclude him from any future GPs.