uk_martin

I'm ammused by all the "I love Monster Energy Drinks" tweets too. Is Darcy trying to suckle up to Monster to save his sponsorship after his massive product endorsement coq-up over being left "dehydrated" in Latvia?

Team race suits won't happen at Birmingham again.

Probably right. Recipients of charity says it all about the state of speedway in this country.

Probably right. Recipients of charity says it all about the state of speedway in this country.

7 days down...38 to go lol

http://companycheck.co.uk/company/04588536 I tried to find out a bit more about this company to see how there is a fit with speedway. If there were terraces full of engineers and mechanics, I could see the point. Well, there may be some "retired" engineers and mechanics in the crowds, maybe... Strange though that a company will have invested some money to raise their profile, and public awareness, but then when an interest is sparked, they are nowhere to be found. I "Googled" their full business name and their web site (if they have one) was very hard to find. Still, thank you to Mr & Mrs Drinkwater for putting your money where your mouths are. I shall look forward to the end of they year, when looking back on the car cleaning bucket being raffled off will no doubt be ranked amongst the highlights of the season. http://www.speedwaygb.co/news.php?extend.28283

To be quite honest, what I think should happen is that we need to go one stage further with the big European project. I'd like to see something along the lines of 4 each of British Swedish and Polish teams plus the best German Danish and Czech teams forming a European Super League. Let them sign riders on a one rider one team basis, with these riders riding for that team and no other. Beneath this Super League level, we in Britain can take the remaining EL teams and add them to the PL / NL to create a new British League (Div's 1 & 2?) The Super League can then avoid the SGP / SWC calendar, whilst the "BL" can run independently of outside influences, and probably a lot cheaper too. That way if you want real top flight speedway, there will be 4 teams who you can go to watch in this country. If you want grass roots, jumpers for goalposts speedway, the rest of the BL will be happy to oblige for you. At a guess, I'd think that media companies on the continent would be delighted with the opportunity to provide the coverage on a pan-European level. It may have to be Polish-led but if that's where the money is, and where the sponsors are, then so be it.

All these tournaments start of as a seed in someone's imagination, and then encounter all the objections of the bah humbug brigade. It takes bravery and resolve to drive the tournament forwards, to let it develop and evolve, and along the way to pick up followers and fans. Football's Champions League is the result of a 50+year process. What do you expect from speedway in only 2% of that time? Yes there are only a hand full of leagues of note in European speedway...but then there are as many "top 4" leagues in football as there are "top 4" leagues in speedway - count them - 4! So if the big objection to the WSL is that the teams are "made up", then we'd better scrap all team speedway in Great Britain immediately. There were plenty of EL fixture last year with more guests and R/R than there were own-team riders. The situation in the PL and NL is no better sometimes. If you are happy enough with a sport that has sewn into its DNA: guest riders, R/R, doubling-up, trippling-up and NL fast track reserves, then what the hell is there to moan about with the WSL? And this in a year when there are no rider conflicts between what should be the competing teams?

Interesting comparison made...I always said that Darcy Ward was the second coming of Michael Lee...all the talent but all the inability to walk the straight and narrow. Cassius Clay / Muhammed Ali had to stay out of the sport for a while...he was bigger box office when he made his comeback than he ever was before. A lengthy ban won't necessarily be a bad thing for the media in the long run.

Echos of what people connected with football were saying in the 1950's when European teams were organising pan-European competitions that became what are today the European Champions League and the Europa Cup. As ever, British arrogance and self importance took a while to sweep away before first Scottish and then English teams started to take part and eventually do well in these competitions. Oh well...talk about being doomed to repeat the mistakes of history.

So appalling is a big improvement on extremely appalling....still makes it appalliing though.

It's February now and there's nothing in the Poole fixture list to say that they are hosting this event. So one has to wonder. Matt Ford stated their desire to host the event, so were they incapable or organising the event or were they prevented from organising it? Most likely that a venue in Poland will now be chosen if the WSL goes ahead at all. If this is the demise of the competition, then Poole / BSPA / SCB / Britain** can proudly add it to its list of international accomplishments, can't they? Anyone who thinks that GB should have a second SGP should look at the administrative mess that the sport is in, in this country. Who seriously thinks that this shambles will ever deserve a second flagship event? ** delete as appropriate.

Will he have any bikes ready for the start of this season? (BEN Fund meeting - anyone?) He had difficulties in being ready in time last year and he's had 3 fewer months to get his stuff sorted out so far this winter, so what state will he be in, come mid-March?

Ha ha, reminds me of CJ from "The Fall And Rise of Reginald Perrin". His famous quote - "One two three four, make them wait outside the door...five six seven eight, it always pays to make them wait" Poor, poor, Darcy...having to stew over his foolishness for a few days longer...

Possible guilt complex...Holder and Ward are like me and my shadow...have a guess who's most likely to have shown Ward the ropes when drinking around on the continent of Europe? "But for the grace of god..." and all that...possibly?

Will Joe be there with a truck full of Rehydrating Monster Energy Drinks?....the kind that left Darcy dehydrated in the first place in that resounding product endorsement of his? Yep, this is what he'll want...and lots of it. Rehab!!! How apt.

That was probably because they set out as soon as they were told of the fixture and simply didn't have the time to complete the journey. No wonder no-one wants to go to away matches any more. Innit?

It's less than 2 months already. Birmingham & Cradley's seasons start on 18th March. Thankfully, their first 2 fixtures are know about, mainly because the BSPA were NOT involved in arranging them. As for how much notice do people need... Everyone's different. I guess pensioners (the bulk of some team's fan bases) have unlimited flexibility, but if you remember back to when you were at work and when leave is allocated on a first come first served basis, you'd have wanted as much notice as possible so that you can book off those dates you want off, before someone else books them ahead of you. Likewise, if you are booking minibuses or coaches, the further in advance you put your bookings in, the better the deal (and the lower the cost to the fans) you can arrange.

The comment about alcohol not being performance enhancing is a load of tosh. No, it doesn't give muscles greater strength, no it doesn't convert more oxygen to energy, and no it won't enhnace reaction times. BUT what it does is to remove inhibitions and removes the fright that may stop a rider from making a move that a sober rider wouldn't dream of. That in itself boosts a performance. Right now, we don't know if this was a one-off, or the tip of the iceberg. Right now, we don't know if some of Darcy Ward's breathtaking rides over the years have been as a result of his own courage, or because of Dutch Courage. That's NOT fair on fans. If anyone thinks it's OK for any rider to get "tanked up" just for their entertainment, then why not get ALL the riders drunk before they race. What could possibly go wrong?

Will this be the year that KKS adopts more than 5 different forum personas? This could be his year too...I can feel it

I read somewhere that teams like Stoke get by with only about 200 supporters. To them an additional 20 traveling fans in a mini-bus and a car, would mean a 10% increase in income. Stoke's home support could be dwarfed by Birmingham and Cradley fans, and it's well known that for the past 3 years, Buxton dine-out on the income from the visit by Cradley...but how many of these fans can yet book their time off work, and how many supporters clubs can yet book minibuses or coaches??? Of course if you make it impossible for the fans to plan ahead by witholding the dates of the meetings then don't be surprised if the visiting fans don't turn up (as I won't be) Everyone talks about the sport being in a dire financial crisis, and yet the BSPA is doing it's best here to deny the 3rd division teams just the income that they so desperately need. CRAZY!

Not much good on London Midland trains though is it?

Someone on FakeBook says it will be mid February before the fixtures are out...No doubt they will be well worth the wait. Good job the Brummies supporters don't need to organise a bus to get to the Cradley fixtures isn't it?

Not "everyone", as some of us are new to this league...however, being a BSPA baby, what else can one expect? 3rd Division organisational standards for the 3rd Division. Ho hum. As gustix says, there are other things in life as well... trips to Latvia, Poland and Germany lined up to watch meetings there, but as the BSPA don't give twopence about fans planning trips to support their teams in this country, Birmingham's "away" hosts won't get my business either.

Just looking at Lord of the Shale's avatar there....reminds me of my hope that the new regime gets rid of that "Philips Ring" from around the big red B. The set-up is very much "back to the future" so I hope that the race jacket will similarly be the original Red B on Yellow. NO SILLY RED RING around the B please.