marko

Guests \ Double uppers, almost as bad as each other

The prem is a joke, only six teams but the gap between the best and the worst is as bad as the old NL when it had 17 plus teams

And every time I pass through Custom House on the train I can’t help but think, what a waste. The public transport links that stadium would have now if it existed would be better than any other.

I have found the BSN a refreshing change of air compared to what I had been used to when I used to folk out loads of cable TV, it’s been throughly good value for money this season.

Best thing for the track to get an absolute soaking, by the evening it should be absolutely perfect with only the smallest amount of additional watering to keep the moisture content up.

Why doesn’t Middlo do these away meetings? If he is under the weather you can understand it but I get the impression he won’t travel much further north than the Watford gap, he isn’t the first and won’t be the last promoter/team manager guilty of that, but Neil is Mr Poole speedway, I do find it quite a surprise. And the fact both meetings were via a stream meant Neil could have watched it and made changes via text or a phone call, far from ideal but he knows his riders better than anyone, or maybe he did working in tandem with Havvy.

See Berwick vs Poole thread this evening!

I just caught up with the meeting, I enjoyed it, Bomber was amazing and Leon Flint done a lot more than I expected. Young Knudsen has a great riding style and I am sure he will be a star in the future. shame to see Nathan Ablett struggling, I think he will come good but there will always be pressure from fans to make changes. Hope Poole will give him more time, they are a very good side and can absorb carrying the odd rider.

Craig Soul (probably spelt that wrong) was always good at both Rye House and Arena Essex, I also like the guy that still does the mic at Ipswich (name is on the tip of my tongue) and from what little I have seen on TV and the internet, the presenter at Wolves is very passionate and animated too. I never needed special attractions, just keep the crowd informed and the meeting moved along at a reasonable pace. All these R/R/s don’t help, so often riders have two on the trot and it breaks up the any momentum, when the action is good, you just want to keep that buzz going.

We will never agree it seems. yes it was the right call in hindsight, but a weather forecast is just a prediction , not a certain fact you could bet your house on.

My point exactly, it was over 24 hours before the meeting. A lot can happen in 24 hours, including the forecast being changed. They could have at least waited until the morning and reviewed it then and made the same call if need be and still prevent unnecessary journeys from both parties, medical cover etc

100s of miles but I paid for the BSN so I have an interest in meetings being run subject to track conditions and rider safety, I will never complain where a meeting is called off and the track is clearly is not in a fit state to ride on let alone race.

Easy to say after the event, when I made my post your track was likely bone dry. FWIW I hope you can fit your fixtures in and make the play offs, as I like the Plymouth team and especially the track. Just a shame about Dan Gilkes.

50% chance of light rain 24 hours ahead of the meeting and they call it off? Sorry but that’s pathetic, might as well end the season now if this is the yard stick.

No one can argue with that, it’s a proper rain off, unlike the fake offs that some promoters mentioning no names (cough Godfrey) always con the paying public with.

I am please however to see Jason Edwards going so well, had Arena Essex not gone, I am sure he would be riding for us still.

Andy Smith always used to struggle on small tracks, his son looks even worse at this stage. This Newcastle team is even worse than some of the Milton Keynes sides I recall seeing in the late 80s

Unless the forecast is so bad as it accompanies a weather warning or very close to, then it should not be called off in advance. Its hard on everyone when you have a dry day then it decides to rain at start time but that is life.

Yep and what’s worse is in its latter days Lakeside would often only have two or three fixtures in the school summer holidays, I am sure other tracks saw a similar story.

Individuals stopped being attended when the promoters decided to dilute the product by only using 12 riders and often that was 7 home riders and a few second strings/reserves from other clubs. The super national marathon at Arena Essex was once a highlight of the season, seven hammers plus nine others often made up of NL heat leaders from teams like Rye House, Hackney, Ipswich, Wimbledon, Eastbourne etc, only half the field would qualify for the 8 man final and only the top four would get to start off the front in said final. it was very competitive, it meant something and so the fans brought into it and this was second division. Oh and those 16 riders, you could bet everyone of them had jobs outside of speedway and they worked those around their racing commitments.

Birmingham has often been referred to the Mecca of the Midlands, a large percentage but not a majority of it is Asian, I have never seen anyone at a speedway track who isn’t white. Unless you count Antonio Lindback. So nearly half the population of Birmingham you can rule out for a start, it’s a big City with lots to do probably? So competing with other events and business is going to be extremely hard, and that’s assuming it’s even on the radar in the first place which it probably isn’t.

Loads of reasons why a club could be disliked. 1. The track - a lot of people hated on Lakeside because they did not like the size and shape of the track 2. The stadium - if it was hard to get to, parking a pain, or the viewing not very good. 3. The owner/promoter - if there was a feeling that said owner/promoter had abused the rules or taken advantage in an unsportsmanlike like manner. 4. The riders - if a team started to get a reputation for being a little over the top with their racing tactics. 5. The price of success - everyone loves an underdog, seldom do neutrals wants to see the same team always win everything. 6. Social media - Every club will have a minority supporters who’s only aim in life is to wind others up, but that can reflect badly on the club they choose to claim to represent. Any three or more of those six and the chances are your club is not going to be very well liked.

And then they wonder when it’s raining but they really do want to get the meeting on, why no one turns up. And it has to said, for all the shouting that Mr Dickson does about this being the best track, it doesn’t say much if your not confident it can take a little bit of watering.

Can’t recall it’s name but that dog at the show ground was quite well known and often referenced on this forum. I used to see dogs at Arena Essex, there was one on the home straight who used to get very excited wagging its tail seemingly when the Hammers done well.

You can’t take a greyhound into a greyhound stadium, I know it’s not funny but I can’t help but laugh at the irony of that.