uk_martin

Consider if they chose Coventry or Rye House and lost... Eastbourne with trick track advantage will beat Birmingham over 2 legs so grab the money on the way to the final whilst you can. Total business sense. Remember, Tony Mole is a businessman first and foremost, NOT a romantic.

If the definition of an unraceable track is measured by the number of fallers, then Birmingham's track has been unraceable all year. Last night's faller count was 11. The season's average is about 9. Hardly an earth shattering difference, so hardly a fair way to come to that conclusion. Granted that it was disappointing that a higher than average tumble count came in the match between the league's top two teams, but then again these are youngsters for whom this may be their first experience of real pressure...so maybe there were other factors at play? I have to admit to being disappointed with the crowd levels. OK it had been wet in the previous days, but this isn't the EL any more, NL riders are known for "getting on with it" so the experienced fans should have expected to see some racing. That said, I'll go back to what I said before the season started, that success or failure for the Brummies won't be measured by whether or not they win the league, but on how much bigger the crowd is at the end of the season than it was at the start of the season. Sad to report, that despite topping the league, and having the best rider and the best British newcomer in the league, and despite winning the NL 4's, there's not been any obvious growth in numbers. Mind you, nor have there been any high profile fan recruitment campaigns either. It seems to me that there's enough income from the existing and increasingly aged fan base to pay the bills and to "make it worthwhile" to just plod on as is. There seems to be a contentment with the status-quo and no apparent ambition to elevate the club...or not at this point anyway. So, has the season been a success? Well, it ran it's course, which is what it didn't do last year, that has to be a good thing. But by just treading water rather than building for long term survival and viability, that has to be seen as a bad thing. Seems to me that Tony Mole's tactics are to allow income to exceed the lower levels of expenditure at this level of speedway and to deliver a club that has a decent set of accounts so that he can sell it on (as he undoubtedly will) to someone else prepared to take the risks of advancing the club. An understandable strategy for someone of his age, as just like the fans, he's no spring chicken any more. Hardly reassuring to the fans who want to see something more befitting "one of the biggest clubs in speedway" (quote: Graham Drury)

What the fish'n'chips are you babbling on about? I've had a motorised satellite setup running for nearly 20 years and have watched the hobby develop over that time and have adapted to the new technologies as they have happened. I know damned well about the Lyng sat Web site and I know what's on Astra 28 - my receiver is tuned into them all. If you bother to read my previous post you'll see that I named the stations that are contracted to carry Polish Speedway. Next time you post I suggest that you start from a more sober and less beligerant stand point because there was nothing in my previous post that deserved anything like that rabid character assassination attempt of yours. If you want to be seen as king of this thread, well someone go get you a crown. You've deserved it. I'm outta here.

That wasn't Poultec, was it? Yes but BSI are an international business not a local Social Service.

There was a time when Sky UK was on the Astra satellite at 19 degrees. In those days you could add a second LNB to your dish and pick up Hotbird. Since going digital Sky has operated from a satellite at 28 degrees. It would be impossible to mount a second LNB now to pick up Hotbird on one of Sky's new and smaller dishes. There are plenty of non-British stations on Astra 28 so there are no grounds for assuming that the OP has a motorised system. Given the means with which to tune into Canal+ Sport TVP and NSport on Hotbird then there is the matter of decrypting their signal. I suggest reading up on the subject of "cardsharing". Do a Google search on cardsharing and cccam to find plenty of information on the matter. Bottom line, if starting from scratch expect to pay £500 (loose round figure) on hardware and about £70pa on subscriptions to open everything you want up for you.

On the tribal side of things, it should be noted that all else being equal no two tribes are more at war than the fans of Falubaz and those of Stal Gorzów. However the support from the Gorzów fans shown to Darcy has been fantastic. I was in the stadium when the news broke about Lee Richardson which led to all the fans chanting his name and I was there on Saturday when they chanted Darcys name. Polish fans do club together over the "bigger things". On the matter of diversity into other areas, Stal Gorzów also run basketball and handball teams and they run the city's Sport Academy which teaches young kids football and other sports from a young age. But you have to remember that speedway clubs have really good working relationships with their local authorities. The city's invest in speedway and the speedway clubs invest in the community. Can anyone honestly see that kind of arrangement happening in Britain?

Too bad that Bluejam off here couldn't have asked one certain question of the sport's imperious leader...

You need a motorised dish as the channels that show speedway are on different satellites to Sky UK

The most important bit has been missed...he's a damned decent darts player too! Arthur featured as a guest for the Birmingham Speedway Supporters Club team that beat Leicester (Ray Wilson and all) some years back.

The KOC fixture was anything but one way traffic and since then Eastbourne have gained an outstanding 3-point reserve (worth 10 points) and the Brummies still can't find a regular 7th rider. It's going to be "interesting". Are you seriously allowing that comment to upset you? And so what if it is different. Isn't the home team entitled to prepare a track the way it wants? The shape of our track is different too. As in real speedway track shaped. Fancy letting off any steam about that?

Which is exactly why I don't trust Google Translation service when it comes to matters where translations need to be spot-on.

Here's the latest article - http://www.sportowefakty.pl/zuzel/542141/fatalna-kontuzja-darcyego-warda - best viewed in the Chrome web browser which translates automatically. Satisfy yourselves with the Google translation if you like, but ideally if one of our Polish speaking friends can elaborate, that would be much appreciated.

The same Google that translates the headline in the article in Sportowefakty as "fatal Injury" - no thanks...I'd rather hear a human translation than a mechanical one.

No point worrying about this fixture, it was written off from the moment the fixture was compiled. Seems most Brummies fans aren't too bothered about it either judging by how few are bothering to post on here. Take the 3 points Eastbourne. The title won't be won this afternoon. What matters is the meeting at Perry Barr in September. That's the one that will decide on who wins the league.

My apologies. I didn't notice that sportowefakty have their racing weeks out of order. I started counting after the Torun fixture that he didn't feature in. So, making a revised summary then, I've got Tarnow home and away - both lost. Leszno away was a loss and Gorzow away was a loss, Wroclaw at home was the infamous victory and Rzeszow away was a draw. 3 league points from 6 meetings. Hardly what the fans or the money men would want to see as a return from their big money and private helicopter-ride investment. Yes, he's scoring half the team's points, but what effect is he having on the rest of the team? We've seen what the fans think of him, what makes the riders immune to such sentiments? And look at the effect of the signing has had on the riders, The management support one rider who was found guilty of, erm, "unfortunate off-field behaviour", they then sign another rider who's come off a ban for "unfortunate off-field behavior" giving the clear indication that what happens outside of the stadium doesn't really matter...and guess what? ANOTHER rider gets caught dabbling in "unfortunate off-field behaviour". Wow. Zielona Gora must be Party Central in Poland right now. Wouldn't surprise me if those who take their speedway seriously, like AJ aren't rightly, erm, "dispirited" and no wonder it's showing up in their riding. Yeah, tough that they have injuries, but Ward and R/R in place of Hampel and PP is roughly equal, especially if Ward gets 2 RR rides when ZG fall 6 behind. Can't help thinking that before Ward, the whole was greater than the sum of the parts, and now it's the other way round.

Am I right in thinking that since signing Darcy Ward, Mickey Mouse have lost 4 out of 4 fixtures? Including 2 at home? (unheard of in past years) If signing one rider destroys a team how does that endear that rider to the fans let alone the management?

Well maybe the timing is wrong, and my apologies if this is the case...but when's the right time? When it's forgotten about? After the DVD's have been sold? After everyone's gone hunting on YouTube for a video clip of what happened? If any good can come of this it will be the withdrawal of those Crashes and Cock Ups DVD's from sale. How else will awareness of these immoral DVD's be raised? If I never see one on sale again it will be too soon.

Ever asked yourself why those DVD's exist? And why people buy them? And why there's a new collection of the best of crashes every year? I've never bought one myself, and have kept my questioning of the morality of such DVD's to myself but when you look at it in a few months time after this incident has calmed down, you'll still see people, maybe not you, and certainly not me, buying these DVD's. And who are the people buying these DVD's then? Obviously those who right now won't admit to it, and who will present themselves as "holier than thou" just to avoid being called a dick or a prick. But those people are here, and on the terraces, else that kind of DVD wouldn't be an economic proposition to sell.

Looking at the fixtures that are left and what the likely league points tally of Cradley and Eastbourne will be, my prediction is that a win for the Brummies will pretty much seal the league title for them. A win for Cradley won't be too disastrous for the Brummies though. It may just mean the difference between winning the league in the end by a Cul-de-sac rather than by a street. It will aid the cause of keeping the Sparrows consigned to 3rd place though with the league's top two both being Perry Barr based. Now that will be a novelty won't it? The top two teams from a fair track not a trick track? What can't you believe? Look around, How many Brummies fans are there left that post on Forums? Half a dozen? A dozen? There aren't as many Cradley fans taking to the forums these days either. Times have changed, Do you want to think again about the appropriateness of that statement? I think it may be your turn to make an apology.

As I said earlier let's hope for a speedy recovery for Lewis. But when in a few months Lewis is on the road to recovery and the current anguish is over, just how many speedway fans will be buying ReRuns "Crashes & Cock Ups" DVD's in the hope of seeing this crash again? Apparently this line of DVD's is one of the company's biggest sellers. So look around. Once everyone's finished out-compassionating each other who's going to return to being the crash connoisseurs that they were before?

Not Gorzow, but the Mickey Mousers will be asking for trouble if they think that taking on the armed Police contingent will be a good thing to try. I was part of the Gorzow fans contingent in the reverse fixture earlier in the season. We got escorted from the designated car park by our "new best friends" armed not only with their regulation 9mm pistols, but also with pump action rubber bullet guns and one guy who had what I can only imagine to be a flame thrower. It may not be a flame thrower of course, and if it isn't I don't know what it is but one thing's for sure, you don't feel incentivised to take your chances with it. 2 sectors will have 375 fans in each, so 750 in total. Should be manageable.

They are both in the SEC Remember the SEC? That competition that Britain doesn't believe in?

Best wishes to Lewis Kerr for a speedy recovery, and all power to the medical staff at Addenbrooks Hospital in making that recovery happen.

I did, and the only references was your post which sounded less than fully confident. And this one which casts doubt upon it... Hence my confusion.

The thing about making it a "big thing" is how much exposure do you give to attention seekers and morons? Falubaz Zielona Gora have been fined around £4000 for the incident, and one of the saddest consequences is that they are dipping out of organising away travel (with the associated security costs) for the derby match at Gorzow. Stal Gorzow have extended the offer to a properly organised contingent of Mickey Mouse fans, but as yet nobody has come forward to do the organising and make the arrangement. So not only do Zielona Gora get hit in the pocket with the fine, but with the likely absence of up to 1500 away fans, so to do Stal Gorzow.