lucifer sam

Parsloes, blimey I think that's a triple period. Whilst not really wanting to be drawn into the argument, as a spectator at the 2005 & 2009 pairs: 1. The 2005 CL Pairs was a poor meeting - one of the very worst I've ever been to. It took 4 hours and 15 minutes to run just 19 races. As for my programme, there is a mountain of tippex on the six-heat second half page, due to the teams in each race being completely altered. I realise that the blame for this rested with the CL co-ordinator rather than yourself, but it was a huge, huge mess. There was also the lack of an individual scorechart for the second half, which led to me drawing crude boxes in the space for the run-off for first place. And I then had no-where to write the result for the run-off for first place. 2. The 2009 NL Pairs was a fairly good meeting, with all 21 races completed in just under two-and-a-half hours. There was a couple of mistakes in the programme regarding the gates in Heats 9 & 10, but this was clearly announced before the meeting and I changed them about two seconds flat. No tippex on this programme at all. Now, the above is not having a pop at Wimbledon Speedway, IOW Speedway, yourself, Bryn or the programme printers. It is simply stating things, as I came across them at both meetings. Now any chance we can get back to being civil... All the best Rob

Steven, that's honest of you - I did notice how the ref called it wrong but with the three of you passing and repassing on each bend, it was difficult to keep track. The most important thing is that you're all OK - they did announce on Saturday evening before the end of the NL meeting that all three riders plus Adam Portwood's mum were all going to be OK. All the best Rob

Entertaining meeting - despite the slow start to proceedings. Real shame the three lads involved in the incident in Heat 1 were hurt - there were really going for it and ducking and diving past each other on each bend. Glad they are OK. Not quite sure why Adam Portwood's mum was sat upon a 500cc speedway bike without any protection. Glad to hear she was discharged from hospital later in the day. All the best Rob

Could someone please clarfiy how Saturday works in regards to admission. I would like to see both the Under-15 round and the NL match - what is the combined admission price for the two meetings? Also will the stadium remain open during the gap between the two meetings - i.e. will I be able to get a burger, etc. Thanks. All the best Rob

There's where you went wrong then. From buying Jeff's excellent book, you could have made the quick hop to the bar, where I could have bought you that outstanding pint. All the best Rob

No, my sense of direction was working well and I was in the right place. But one problem - no Parsoles. Incidentally Parsloes, did you get the chance to buy Jeff Scott's excellent "Quantum of Shale" on Tuesday? All the best Rob

Actually I was at the bar when I texted Bob C to see where you'd got to. All the best Rob

Well that lasted all of one day. Still, carry on Parsoles, I like a good laugh, and you trying to compare last night's two-second repair job to the proggie to the mini-Chernobyl tippex-feast of 2005 (including the complete lack of an individual scorechart for the second half in that infamous proggie) is making me chuckle. Parsloes - incidentally, why did you cry off going to the bar after the meeting? I was up there with my money out ready to buy you a pint... All the best Rob

BobC, the irony is that it took me all of two seconds to make the changes to the gates for Heats 9 & 10. I'm now going to sit back and watch Parsloes make a big fool of himself... All the best Rob

Cheers Bryn. By my calculations, that's 21 races - I can see the ref needing to get through the races at a fair old pace tonight. Of course in a certain past year, although I won't mention the year or the track, it took 4 hours and 15 minutes to stage ner-ner-ner-ner-19 races. I like the 4-3-2-0 scoring system, I often wonder if it should be applied in league meetings - it would certainly liven up Heat 15 if the teams were level and a 5-4 either way could take it. Lead to all sorts of interesting tactics. All the best Rob

Parsloes, there's only ONE former Oxford Academy rider BUT our guys have graduated to the Premier League or, in the case of young Ben Barker, the Elite League. Which was kind of the point of the CL - not for ageing riders to stick around in the third tier taking points money off the kids... All the best Rob

Cheers Bryn. Is it simply the winner of group A v winner of group B to decide the title, or are there semi-finals as well? All the best Rob

Not a problem Parsoles. Remember I wasn't the one who went waffling on about it for 2 pages in last year's Oxford v Wombledon programme All the best Rob

Parsloes - you can mention 2005 as much as you like. You may have won the Pairs, but we won the Conference League itself. All the best Rob

Incidentally we're doing the Ben Fund collection tomorrow so I'll be donning the fetching canary yellow gear. And whilst coins are very gratefully accepted, notes are much lighter and easier for me to carry. All the best Rob

As long as each team is programmed with an equal number of races from the inside and outside gates. All the best Rob

Well, Fisher was expected to win the meeting. After all, he is a future GP rider. All the best Rob

That's a distinct possibility. All the best Rob

KK - actually Crumpie wasn't my favourite rider back in 1998, but he's clearly matured a lot since then. He seems to be one of the more of the popular winners at the GP BBQs at Kildington, so judging by that cross-section of Oxford fans, his presence will be very much welcome. Anyone who doesn't appreciate having Crumpie, easily the best rider in the world, ride for their team must be mad. All the best Rob

Fantastic! All the best Rob

I'll take that as a compliment. All the best Rob

Would it not be easier to move the other thread to this NL section, since that's where people look for it first. Well I did anyway. And also it will prevent Parsloes from "having a period". All the best Rob

Great news - thanks MR for sticking with this meeting despite all the hassles. Great to see Johno is now riding for the Cheetahs. All the best Rob

KJ, I can't remember back a whole year. I though maybe the Edinburgh promotion were going to charge you £18 to write the preview and that's why you hadn't done it. All the best Rob

KJ, where's your preview this week? All the best Rob