manchesterpaul

It was relatively simple to find Costa Mesa. I just typed it into Google Earth. Costa Mesa Close-Up I've zoomed in to the track, as in the initial wider picture, one could be misled by two more likely candidates for the track. However, it's the shape of the grandstands that would seem to indicate this is the track. I'm going on the various photos and video clips i've seen over the years. Obviously using one's mouse wheel you can zoom in on either image to study the images more closely. Costa Mesa Near Vicinity

There is no pont at all in making comparisons with football in certain countries. Obviously nothing can come close to matching crowds in Italy, Germany and England etc. Regarding Lonigo there is a glaring question to answer. Namely, why have the attendances plummeted from year to year at that track?. If i remember rightly, some of the previous GP's have had some excellent racing there. I wonder if it is once again a case of stupidly expensive ticket pricing in the local economy?. I've no figures to check on that.

We tend to judge sporting attendances by comparing them to the high levels of football in this country. However, it's important to bear in mind that in other european countries even football gets what we are accustomed to be poor figures. One might think the attendances at the Slovenian GP and the Latvian GP as signifying 'low interest' in the event. However, they compare very favourably with their national football teams when they are playing games in a competitive tournament (European Championship Qualifying). The Slovenian GP attracted 8,000 and the national football team averaged 5,100. Their biggest blockbuster games versus Holland got 9,500. The next big match against Romania drew 7,000. The rest of the games averaged out at a mere 3,840. The Latvian GP got 7,000 - a lot of people probably didn't think Latvia had that many inhabitants . Their football team in a group with some very attractive matches averaged out 7,812.

I would presume KSM equals Calculated Match Average. That is, the race average multiplied by four. That is the actual true average as calculated the world over, past, present and future. The Śr/m that you refer to is the literal points gained divided by the number of meetings. Therefore, a rider who frequently has 6 rides a meeting will have a higher figure than one who only gets to have 4 races. As i say, the proper average is the one in bold titled KSM.

Here is a link to some of the most comprehensive stats i've come across for the Polish league. Polish Stats On the home page there is similar coverage of Swedish and Danish stats. Presumably, British will follow?. They're are also team stats broken into an array of categories.

Reading reports from German media suggests 25,000. They also mention how quiet the spectators were. Do they not realise they were most likely asleep?. That rumbling they heard was not the engines, it was mass snoring.

From a promotional point of view, are they not paid to look enthusiastic etc. ? Although, as far as i am concerned, who cares about their attitude when they look like they do.

Did the 'Start Girls' enjoy the meeting ?. I guess a picture tells a thousand words. This is hilarious and quite telling. Was 'White' texting the speedway updates forum?. Says it all

The webcam is covered in rain at the moment ( a couple of hours before the start ) !

My (sad) point is that in order to attract the general public the SGP promoters need to be ensuring that local and national media are involved heavily. I strongly stress that the embarrassing lack of coverage is applicable in practically every country involved in staging the rounds. Having a mention in the papers a couple of days before the meeting will not fill a sports stadium. Anyway, keeping on topic and talking about the German GP. It's good to hear that 20,000 tickets have now been sold. That number, compared to other rounds, is obviously very good. I would love to think that it means there is a great boost for German speedway coming up. Unfortunately, due to lack of fitting indigenous coverage ahead of the event, the majority of those spectators are going to be from abroad. Which takes me back to my original comments regarding a strange circus and it's customers rolling in and out of town, bemusing and possibly, amusing the locals.

When i refer to the lack of local promotion, i am more than anything referring to the media. Newspapers, television, radio and magazines etc. I have just done - as i do with all GP's - trawled through Google (.de) etc. for local (and national) news and sport sources for mention of speedway in Gelsenkirchen. Be it Wales, Germany or wherever, paltry mention is all one gets. The German GP is a non-event, even within it's local area. Hopefully, that is just according to the media interest???. Although, a pitiful base of 15,000 tickets pre-sold is pretty ominous.

Presumably then the reason for the low percentage of local residents in attendance must be the level of ticket prices against the local wage levels?

Obviously, there will indeed be more on the day. However, it's clearly a poor base to start from. Also, the very first thought that came into my mind was the stunning lack of (effective) local promotion at all GP's over the years. That along with the pricing of the tickets always scythes the indigenous attendance. The Prague GP in particular, is seen as an annual strange 'circus' rolling into town with it's accompanying crowd consisting of 90% non-locals.

Just got in a short while ago (nearly 3am). I promise i am sober, but where has the football pitch gone?.

15,000 I'm a little rusty with my German, but according to this, that is all that has been sold so far. Embarrassingly, it's going to appear a lot less in such a large stadium. Clearly the prospect of seeing 'Right Said Fred' has deterred tens of thousands from going.

Oh well, that just leaves me to work on a webpage version. At least it eases my workload for 2008 and i can go on to the next three tasks on my list, in order of increasing difficulty, they involve the locations Kabul, Baghdad and Belle Vue.

Chuckle, chuckle. I've just come back to re-edit my last post because i saw your name at the very top of the page and the sticky it was attached to. I then read the thread, saw what you had said and felt a bit thick in the head. I am aware that Excel is the main spreadsheet available, it's just that my PC did not have it installed and i presumed it would be an expensive piece of software to download. Plus, as it's only me using my computer for such a thing, i didn't see any point in installing it. Out of interest this freware you refer to does it contain spyware etc?. Serious question, as i can't get to see your version, when you say your sheet updates the overall scores, do you mean just the running totals within the meeting?. Or, do you mean exactly what i suggested (race-by-race series standings)?. That presumably would explain the sarcasm icon???

I'm not sure what the roll eyes smilie means. I'm guessing sarcasm?. The only rare/unique points of my spreadsheet are that it will be FREE and as far as i am aware the race-by-race update of the overall standings hasn't been done elsewhere. All in all it won't change the world, but it will be an excellent freebie. Quick Edit I've just spotted your link to a SPG spreadsheet. However, as it's an Excel one, i can't open it to see whether it's free or what it features. One of the reasons i was leaning towards a webpage is because people have different spreadsheet programmes. If i become clever enough i guess i could offer various versions. Probably easier to make it webpage based.

I remember being disappointed on here on a couple of occasions when i saw mention of interactive SGP spreadsheets only to find out, upon clicking the link, that one had to purchase them. I've been very busy recently so the project i started working on to remedy the above let-down had to be shelved. Hopefully, i will have it created for next seasons series. I have been using a Microsoft Works Spreadsheet, however, i think i will be able to transfer the coding/formulae into a webpage using MySql and PHP. Failing that, i will just pass on the workings of the sheet to anyone who requests it. It includes a feature that shows a live update of the overall standings on a race-by-race basis. This really comes into it's own in the upcoming final GP, where the qualifying places are tightly spread. All one has to do before the meeting is enter the riders names and current GP points into the main grid. This instantly automatically fills in each of the heat line-ups. As one enters the points for a race, everything is updated instantaneously. The layout of the sheet is formatted to make clear the key information at a glance. As i mentioned earlier, a live updated overall GP standings table is produced instantaneously as one enters the heat points. If i transfer it to a webpage, one won't even have to fill in the rider names or their current points total, as that would be done in advance by myself. Also, obviously i would provide the opportunity of a hard printable copy if desired.

If i had been aware of the mass change in the line-up i would of gone. Don't know the names of these riders, but wishing our speedway riders were like that. Best GP Field Ever Some superb photos.

I have just posted that this comment (started as a thread) had been removed. I now see that it was moved into the main thread. That's all well and good. However, how do i remove the thread that i started? Firstly, i could not find a delete facility. Then i noticed the thread had been locked. Please can a Moderator remove the thread titled 'what time can we post on the final'

Just watched this final on the internet live feed provided by fellow forum member Gray. Interesting interview with Hans Andersen at the end. On more than one occasion he was quite skeptical about Grzegorz Walsek having a foot injury.

Quick duck! You've really got to keep your eyes open and watch your head on those trotters.

Many thanks for this superb gift. I used the one for Coventry the other night and it's an excellent layout.

If you want to know of media coverage check the media section of the forum. A good example being the following