stevehone

as if i would

normally the same night isn't it? oh thats it is it ... bring your missus for a change and get totally rat-arsed!!! sure she'll really appreciate that one!! me too

i'll see you there then Norbold ... bit gutted i missed last year but hopefully this year will make up for it. might even attend the AGM this year to add my vote on president of 2007

oh well, have to keep guessing then won't you ....

you don't say .....

true ... Nielsen was the better 'all round' rider, but Gundersen was the one to have for world final night. Nielsen looked more comfortable and had a style you couldn't miss whereas Gundersen would adapt his for each situation as it presented itself. Two great riders though, and i feel privelidged to have seen both through their careers.

oh yeah, Peterborough ... and only 30 mins up the road

no not rose tinted Kevin, hence the smilie ... although the track is certainly better than most in the country

Kings Lynn docks are a lovely sight in the summer Kevin

might as well hold it at Kings Lynn ... proper track, much improved stadium, announcer that the Rye House fans can't stand, and plenty of parking (that is supposed to be improved before the season starts) **EDIT** and i'm 25 minutes up the road

to answer your reply Kevin ... woooooohoooooooo

who cares, it's not at Poole

nice pictures ... even found myself naming loads of them!

was he the rider that had sort of rainbow leathers ... stripes with loads of colours in?

that would be me then .... what a good book it is, and as has been mentioned, you get a ride through the whole spectrum of emotions ... from humour to deep sadness. the book sums up just how dedicated and obsessive Wiggy was towards the sport he loved (grasstrack/longtrack), and how much he put into speedway. i have no doubt, had Wiggy been alive now, he would have been able to offer so much to both tv and magazines and pushed and promoted the sport in such a way that we have yet to see. the bloke was a star. oh, and one of my pictures is in the book!

no

Monaco would be an interesting one .... places to stay .... hmmmm .... my uncle is currently moving from Cannes to Monaco .... could come in handy

i was there!! and had an argument with some Cradley fans in Disneyland ... went to Costa Mesa too ... think it was the night before or 2 nights before the final. just after coming back we had a new gas heater fitted and the program for the final was on the sideboard ... the British Gas fitter saw the prog and said he did a bit of grasstrack ... it was Steve Schofield

sorry about that ... i'll change my views about drugs within the sport just so it satisfies anyone that wants to make it an open discussion about the problem as a whole. i take back all i've said about the problems ... it was society that brought the culture to the sport in the 80's not any particular group

Lee made his own decisions but when temptation is in your face ......

the implication is that they 'allegedly' made it more widespread within the sport at a time when speedway was being dragged down anyway

.... and Mike Lee (and others) might have gone on to bigger and better if they weren't over here. it's not that i didn't like watching the Americans ... there were some good riders in there, it's more a dig at the culture they brought with them that brought the sport down when we really could have done without it. i always hated my team riding against the likes of Penhall, Schwartz, Sigalos, the Morans, Autrey etc because i knew they would be good for plenty of points, but the thread is about the ones that weren't quite so successful in the UK and my entry was Brad Oxley. i was at Wembley in '81 when Penhall won and it was such a great atmosphere that night, and i was also at the L.A Colisseum in '82 to see the home bias come through when it came to making decisions ... even had a run-in with some Cradley supporters in Disneyland over them supporting the Yanks and not someone like Kenny Carter.

Grachan ... to avoid the risk of upsetting BertHoven, we are only allowed to mention the likes of Bobby (chunky junkie) Schwartz, Dennis (nice boy) Sigalos, and Bruce (i'll drop Cradley in the crap) Penhall ... the real American failures that have ridden here the fact that this is a thread about 'Unsuccessful Americans' doesn't come into it.

you also have to look at it another way ... with the Americans coming over, they also brought a different way of life, and although they would have brought some excitement and glamour to an ailing sport they also brought a lot of negative 'influences' that still exist today unfortunately. this thread itself is about remembering the American riders that had a go (and fair play to them), but didn't make it as big as some ... it's not all about slating them ... Gemini will tell you, i am quite happy to slate quite a few of them, but i won't on this thread.

when you have winners you inevitably have losers too ... why can't some of those that tried but failed in the UK be remembered? i don't think anyone here is particularly slagging them off, just pointing out whether they had it in them or not. speedyguy ... everyone that has ever sat and ridden a speedway bike deserves some respect whatever level they were at, and when you see what has happened to Ashley Jones, someone i watched most weeks round Kings Lynn, it brings it home to you that the sport is more dangerous than a lot of people realise ... it's not all fun and games (although for me it was a fantastic 7 years of having fun), and there are massive dangers.