manchesterpaul

Heyyy that was the abridged version hee hee.. Ok i admit i excelled myself there lol. Absolutely nothing wrong with that. I couldn't imagine the sport of speedway without the Speedway Star no more than i could imagine a world without meeeeeee lol. 100% agree every single line of that post and second it heartily.

Brits loss.....ok i suppose to an extent SEC loss too. I'll still be avidly watching the meetings.

As far as i'm concerned absolutely no problem all is STILL good. I've always had a lot of time for 'racers and royals'. He's a consistently SANE and valuable contributor to these forums, particularly our beloved international section. *(OMG how rare is that on here sane and valuable lol) I swear i didn't set out to criticize anything, i was stunned at the reaction from R&R it totally sideswiped me lol. No probs with his animated reply i chuckled heartily. I don't know why the MiniMax racecards are such a thorn in people's sides, i quickly churn them out on a SGP weekend and that's it they never cross my mind, (my) life goes on. If he's peeved i was unaware he had, in separate threads, covered aspects of the upcoming Polish season that's because i only visited the BSF less than a handful off times in the off-season. And as i said i searched for a summary of the upcoming season, anyways, hopefully tiff is over lol.

Lol lol lol. Noooo PLEASE don't ban him hee hee hee, He's usually informative, and normally has excellent constructive views. Unfortunately, it appears from the outburst above he's one of the ones on here inflicted with a MiniMax racecard obsession or complex. Ok no problem racers and royals i'm very happy with my reply above and clearly you are very happy with yours. It certainly gave me a chuckle. It gives away a lot of underlying currents that are harboured by cliques on here, i guess some take longer to crack to the surface lol lol. I guess we are just different in that if someone had made a reply pointing out errors, facts, corrections, valid rebuttments etc, i would just hold my hands up and say thanks for making me aware of certain matters, and/or i would change my opinion on a topic. I'd certainly make sure i addressed the matters. But clearly it has a quite volatile and violent effect on yourself. Gee racers and royals what a start to the day lol, i never set out to criticize or say anything negative, it was merely a request for information! In fact the last response to you yesterday was a thank you for information or a link. Dear oh dear one does get to belly laugh at times on here. All cool as far as i'm concerned, no sweat, no harm, what is it...oh yeah life goes on.

The Pearson and Tatum thing has been done a thousand times over, alas, their belated appearance at the front end of Eurosport's coverage makes them a valid aspect of this topic. I'll, unusually for me lol, try and make my contribution on them short as i'm able too Ok i am no fan at all of Nigel Pearson and Kelvin Tatum's hysterics, they simply are not to my taste. However, i do appreciate that they get up of their posteriors every day to go out to work and have progressed in their chosen profession to a great degree. I hold no 'personal' dislike of them or out to criticize them at every opportunity as many people on here are, i don't like to see people being bullied or hounded in any walk of life. Anyways, good for them that the nature of their job benefits them with travelling around the world and partaking of nice hotels and night life etc. So they will hardly lose any sleep to unconstructive criticizm or insults on a forum during their eight months of globetrotting. Regarding Nigel Pearson, my biggest criticism is that on occasions he engages in behaviour that is in reality damaging to the sport! Ok, not anything to be hung, drawn and quartered for but when he is waxing lyrical about a race that is NOT, i repeat NOT, remotely an exciting one then the 'non-speedway casual viewer/potential new visitor to a track' thinks that if this is 'a fantastic speedway race' and the height of what the sport has to offer well i'll look elsewhere to spend my money to get thrills. Both of them are often waiting on edge to apply one of their stock phrases which then results in them doing so in total contrast to the eveidence before our eyes on the screen. The comments above were well matched to some of the the action we had at the SGP, but oucheeee if they apply even one of those phrases during a race that simply just isn't 'all that'. It DOES have a damaging effect on the sport for the reason i mentioned above. Uh Oh an instant alarm bells triggers when someone says they have met or spent a little time with somone (relatively) 'famous'. It usually heavily colours and clouds judgement and sways opinions in people without any valid justification. You see it all the time when a member of the public happens to bump into or....oh my God the sheer honour of it....gets spoken to by a celebrity. Now that famous person in reality might be quite a nasty person behind closed doors or as is proven more and more on a daily basis these days a criminal pervert. However, just because they have got to speak to someone of the telly they'll always trump up with "Oh actually i've met them and their not really like that, they're a really nice person", they'll do this despite a mountain of proof elsewhere of their indescretions and behaviour. Lol, oooops! guess who's waffling away and should also hastily point out that i'm not suggesting or expecting either Nige or Kelvin to anyday soon be uncloaked as Beelzebub, yep meeeee. Ok the point i'm finally getting to is that there are many competent and superior sports commentators out there who ALSO put in the work and skills that you witnessed yesterday, so that shouldn't count as a factor for keeping them if they end up creating a large number of people who are put off watching the programme. I too thought that they had initially toned down, even on their Sky coverage too, but i now fear the worst. The other day on Sky we had the excruciating ever increasing vicious circle of when one of them raises and heightens their voice the other follows suit. Within seconds it's all rising high-pitched screaming with the speed of a tornado lol. How it really jars is, as often happens, once they've triggered this frenzy they are totally oblivious and blind to a change of events on the track. They are often guilty of.....ok i stop right now....that's enough i'm not going to list a whole load of examples lol. I do feel if they are encouraged to go down the screamy shouting path instead of being reigned in they will turn out to be detrimental to Eurosport's coverage by puttng people off watching. Whilst the vast majority of speedway fans like me will accept anyone commentating as we are so thankful to get to watch our exciting sport, floating sports viewers flicking through the channels may speedily pass by. I was very impressed by their early season performances, which now looks like it could be a false dawn/hope. Aside from the missing out on one of the semi-final draws and the final draw, which hopefully won't happen again, Eurosport did the sport and themselves proud. It was great to read in the Speedway Star that some of their executives were in attendance and were rightly thrilled. Please everyone who enjoyed the coverage let them know. I'm certainly grateful and enjoyed it all immensely. Only possible massive downer, although i've not checked back since to see if it has changed, after the meeting and also at some point the next day i went to the homepage of Eurosport UK, ouch.....i don't think i've ever seen a page with so many links to stories and reports of events, scroll after scroll but.....where was the MENTION of the GP? I went back a few days later and all that i could find was a couple of bare paragraphs in the meeting's report page. I know they now have a speedway tab but after the superb entertainment that the sport provided for Eurosport i would have expected it to have been profiled right at the top of the page. Also, i'd have expected to see considerable mentions or articles on what a great night it was. Come on Eurosport don't be like Sky and let's fully appreciate the Jewel In The Crown the SGP is. Sky had the same old, same old ball sports on all their channels whilst Eurosport was hot and rocking!

Ok not sure if you woke up all grouchy or not lol, but before you insist on suggestions in a way that comes across you are implying this poster is at fault?, i suggest you make sure that your suggestions don't lead to a dead end. Before starting the thread i looked to ensure one wasn't already live, I had already cycled back the International forum section pages as far back as the forum would allow with no joy i think it took me to the start of the season. One would have expected such a thread to be near the top as currently live or to be a sticky. I then used the forums search facility with the phrase "Polish 2013 Season". None of the topic titles, most by your good self, led me to believe they consisted of a summary 2013 season thread similar to Ghostwalkers. Those that did refer to the Polish 2013 season were of different specific subjects and started a long time ago including October 2012 and June 2012!. A bit like if Ghostwalkers page one was to be divided into individual threads instead of paragraphs and posts. Hmmm! the 2013 racecards have been forced into an individual thread maybe 'racers and royals'' different aspects of the 2013 Polish season should be too then! lol. Wow i remember a certain clique on here when i (for valid reasons) started a World Cup Racecard thread a couple of days early went ballistic lol lol. Gee Whizz June 2012 and October 2012 for a season starting April 2013! Search results, none of which lead me to believe any of the threads merit opening as likely to be a compact season source of basic and vital information for the 2013 season just starting were: New Polish extraleague tv contract signed (racers and royals jan 2013) Polish Liga 1 * Liga 2 fixtures for 2013 (uk martin dec 2012) Polish tv coverage in 2013 (uk martin dec 2012) Polish extraleague 2013 confirmed signings (racers and royals oct 2012) Polish league plan for 2013 (racers and royals june 2012) (Hmm surely some racecard type thread collation needed up there? lol) How am i in the wrong then? Apart from i obviously couldn't have seen your subsequent edit at the time i posted, do you really think that when you say: "Plus there is a thread started by myself in October 12 covering the Polish 2013 season which ran to 6 pages title is "Polish Extraleague 2013confirmed signings "maybe you can find it !!!!" So a suggestion from me, tone down the number of exclamation marks as i DID find it and then quite correctly dismissed it being worth looking into as not being a single page summary of the 2013 season or an ongoing thread for the 2013 season. It merely implies it is a thread on a single specific aspect of a season some 6 months away. A thread titled "Polish extraleague 2013 confirmed signings" coming up in a search would NOT make one delve into it expecting it to be a thread covering VARIOUS IMPORTANT ASPECTS AND INFORMATION ON THE 2013 SEASON AS A WHOLE, SIMILAR TO GHOSTWALKER'S 'SWEDISH 2013 SEASON' OR MY SEARCH/REQUEST FOR A THREAD CONCERNING THE 'POLISH 2013 SEASON' Do you still perceive me to be in the wrong? Is one really expected to go back month over month and collate multiple threads when the various subjects could be put on to a more recently dated page (current season/same year! etc.). Don't get me wrong i prefer threads to be topic/event/week specific, it's very overusing forum bandwidth for everyone to keep ploughing back through dozens upon dozens of pages every time one wants to find a reference to a particular matter or piece of information. Do you still perceive me to be in the wrong? Lol Oh My GOD what?????? (yep 6 question marks to match your 6 exclamation marks). Ummmmm! dontcha think you should cast your eyes to the top of the page and then you may get a surprise that i am posting in the International pages. I'll reiterate again as i've mentioned elsewhere in the INTERNATIONAL section and on the rare Polish thread i get to post in (including a post that you replied to yesterday!), that whilst an avid follower of all things concerning International speedway, sadly, Polish speedway i don't get to follow at all - despite likely being the best of the lot. So yep i will CONTINUE to follow and concentrate on the international pages, albeit not so much on the Polish scene, which led me to starting this thread. OK, Do you still perceive me to be in the wrong?. I mean you know i can't get on with my life if i think racers and royals thinks i have done something wrong hee hee. Anyways, genuine thanks for all input and information you have supplied on the 2013 Polish season, much appreciated.

Lol lol re the singing motive. I wouldn't seek it out at all if it didn't include speedway in it, but i may try and catch it or set it to record it from my computer screen. I just clicked on an old link on my computer and cool it still connects to a live NDR stream. There may be others but that one is working for me. It will all depend on if the streaming service is live 24 hours. Most tv channel online streamers tend only to go off air when live sports rights issues are involved, so it should be good to go. http://www.ndr.de/fernsehen/livestream223.html William Hill and other online bookmakers provide 24 hour 'Virtual Speedway' with a race every ten minutes or so - nooooo i don't bet on them lol. The rider names are often quite funny, some of them a play on real riders. The race 'commentators' are slightly animated at times, way less than Pearson and Tatum you'll be glad to hear, and the size of the crowds are very good too! I think promoters shoud ask them how they manage to achieve such good attendance figures. Uh Oh maybe it's because you can bet on the races eeeek!

I've already found a source when i went looking after posting this thread. In the initial post i was just mentioning as to what triggered me to look for a Polish 2013 Season thread " Only reason this came to mind is that i'm hoping to have a rare chance to watch some Extraliga and was looking for their race format." I was surprised to see that one did not exist. The thread was a question/appeal for a knowledgable forumite to do a Ghostwalker for the Polish leagues, and not an appeal for the race format alone Oh well maybe next year, fingers crossed.

Any chance one of our Polish fans could take the time and effort to set up a page similar to Ghostwalker's superb page one in his 'Swedish 2013 Season' thread? I see that the Polish league has it's WEEKLY thread the same as does the Swedish league, but it would have been great to have even just one initial page similar to Ghostwalker's Swedish version. Only reason this came to mind is that i'm hoping to have a rare chance to watch some Extraliga and was looking for their race format.

Maybe Dennis could have done with that bike on Wednesday riding for Poole! Guess it was lesser competition in this meeting though. Incidentally does anyone else fear that Stockholm's Hammarby have a weak looking side this season? It's usually good for a sport to have it's capital team well supported/successful.

It might have been a good idea to clarify the title of this thread only i instantly presumed it was referring to THE Golden Helmet, as in the major reknowned annual one held in Pardubice, which is also the oldest race in the world having been staged since 1929. Is this meeting a new one i don't particularly remember it before, although unfortunately i don't get to follow Polish speedway as much as i would dearly love to.

I can't forget what i didn't know in the first place so that is an excellent head's up, cheers. I never get to see Polish racing on the Sunday......and no i'm not working as a priest, in fact i'm usually still recovering from my sinful and devilish excesses of the night before lol. Ok the main reason is it clashes with several other major sports that i enjoy and as we get access to midweek racing from the UK, Sweden and Denmark as well as the SGP etc i sacrifice the superb fare of the Polish league. EDIT I don't see any link on the Polish site above nor on Wiziwig, can i trust that it will be viewable on the day? It's been a long, long time since i've used streams.

Great news is that Premier Sports in the UK have now launched their new online player similar to other tv broadcasters AND it is free to those who subscribe to the tv channel on Sky. Fantastic news as so many sports clash and modern man has easily developed the ability to multiview more than one event. Also, of course it means you can access it away from your TV. The player is available to view on all popular web browsers and all major devices including Iphone, Ipad and Android. It's available in various different bit-rates - the top bit-rate being 5mbps. They state that they are looking to expand to non-UK viewers as soon as possible.

Great news is that they have now launched their new online player similar to other tv broadcasters AND it is free to those who subscribe to the tv channel on Sky. Fantastic news as so many sports clash and modern man has easily developed the ability to multiview more than one event. Also, of course it means you can access it away from your TV. The player is available to view on all popular web browsers and all major devices including Iphone, Ipad and Android. It's available in various different bit-rates - the top bit-rate being 5mbps.

The major sport in England, as in most countries, is football and in it's elite competition the Premier League the average attendance last season was 34,601. Now, if you compare Finnish speedways attendance percentage of that country's top sport Ice Hockey (226 v 4,981) it would equate to UK speedway having average crowds of 1,590. So whilst 226 may sound ( or is) pitiful, so does 1,590. I'd also hazard a guess that Finnish speedway 'crowds' of 226 (4.5% of their top sport Ice Hockey) are a little higher percentage than UK ones using this yardstick, as i don't think UK speedway averages 1,590??? I'm only guessing UK speedway doesn't average that high because it was recently revealed that Manchester's Belle Vue average 1,000-1,100 a meeting. OK admittedly nobody is claiming Belle Vue have the highest attendances but i still wouldn't necessarily think UK speedway could make the 4.5% average of Premier League crowds? Either way clearly Finnish speedway couple of hundred fans isn't as atrocious as it first appears and they rival UK crowds in percentage of sports fans. Going on the percentage of population who attend speedway, Finland's crowds of 226 equate to the UK needing to attract 2,622 per meeting in order to reach level terms. Yayyyyyyyy! i was struggling to get to sleep but the above has done the trick way more efficient than counting sheep etc... not only has it got me sleepy i on the verge of bordering comatose lol.

You're welcome. Don't forget those timings are BST (British Summer Time) which is -1 CEST and +1 UTC/GMT . Also Premier Sports don't send over their own broadcast teams so if the Swedes change their choice of match then UK coverage follows suit.

This may simply be - albeit a strange time to do so - just a redesign of the site. The only reason i suggest that is that their excellent Facebook page is still being updated hours ago. Their Facebook page is a great source of information on the sport (not just the European Championship) including some very good videos etc. https://www.facebook.com/SpeedwayEuro?group_id=0

I can possibly better that!, year after year, week after week, 'TV&Satellite Week' RARELY fails to have an action speedway photograph at the top of the listings thread of the Sky Sports channel listings that speedway is on. Just checked this weeks edition and sure enough once again on BOTH Tuesday and Wednesday an action speedway photo at the top of the Sky channel listings showing speedway. There so got to be an avid speedway fan involved in the production of the magazine lol. All very cool when one considers that it provides more channels than any other TV mag on the market. Nice to hear of the great coverage in the mag you mention too.

Hopefully after tonight's European Grand Prix those who immensely enjoyed the entertaining fare on offer will contact Eurosport and let them know. Sky were stuck with the same old, same old ball sports. Informing them of our appreciation could lead to further expanded coverage of the sport and certainly at the very least ensure continued transmissions of the SGP. Awwww! - ok i a burly bloke so can't hug him - but don't know why Keith Huewen getting such negative reviews, especially when in the presence of Sam Ermolenko! I thought Keith provided an excellent 'outside of speedway' viewpoint. I think he also was responsible for alerting other bike sport fans to speedway. I think speedway fans very often overlook the fact that TV presenters are often placed to pose questions that non-enthusiasts would ask. No more rabid example exists than the abuse the Sky lady pit reporters receive, however, be assured they deliver a valuable service for sport fans who 'happen' to tune into a speedway broadcast. The biggest bonus with Eurosport compared to Sky are the multiple re-runs of the meeting shown over a two week period. So going to view tonight's meeting again ?? what is the particular emphasis on 'THAT'? Regarding studio guests per se or Keith Huewen?

In what way can you not compare? obviously on blank numbers the population of the US means their stadium attendances, mass media coverage (as in UK severely ignorant of our sport) and TV viewing figures are higher. Totally open question, genuinely interested to know what do you mean by "the screen does not suit speedway at all"!!!?? ok hang on let me add !!!??? and !!!???. The close-ups etc. especially in HD portray the sport as very exciting and the closer you get to view the bucking broncos that the bikes are make one appreciate the rider's skills and lack of fear in controlling such wild beasts (ok admittedly Sky not seen my girlfriend in a strop at me). Yeah i noticed that the other day. It's similar to how the old nearing extinct printed press referred to the previous days football matches etc.

Ooooh! 'Know' behave yourself lol lol, there have been several of us over the years repeatedly asking for such insight from the Speedway Star, especially to fill content in the winter months. Nice to see the Star don't stand on their already superb content but seek to improve. Don't forget the excellent savings on a subscription either. Geez i so got to start asking for commission on the number of times i mention that lol. Lol toooo funny BUT true. I would take the opportunity to point out if you like the 'grid' style of racecard/scorecard, as of today's European Grand Prix, i've introduced a MiniMax version. I'll mention it here as i receive no income from it, no advertising and no personal 'fame' lol. NEW and TRULY innovative available from the second grand Prix of the 2013 season is the MiniMax DUAL GRID racecard. For those who prefer the grid style format alone i've added many unique, superior and useful formatting touches that fans expect and have become accustomed to with MiniMax designs. Once again no need to get eyestrain and possess a computer like memory just to see who is leading during a meeting. You have your race-by-race grid - which is as always with MiniMax clearly delineated round by round to assist in countback - and additionally all on the same line the ability to fill in a riders accumulative score race after race. Needless to say, the usual unique provision of pre-meeting and post-meeting SGP series standings are included. I used it myself tonight and......not to be boastful.......it worked fantastic, it was great in being able to see at a single glance the meeting standings etc. The direct download link is http://speedway.manc...GP_EUROPEAN.pdf Methinks the Speedway Star should ask for free permission to copy it and print it out on a landscape page as opposed to portrait page. As with all three SGP racecards i get nothing from it, except for increased bandwidth charges from my webhost provider lol. It clearly is a unique improvement to the yonks old staid traditional grid charts. Whilst i have my own live interactive software version of the standard MiniMax card (every instant bell and whistle updating instantly all aspects of the meeting and series - years ahead of other software) i do have to admit this DUAL GRID version was excellent to use tonight.

Gee how wrong we all were picturing you demanding stabilizers be fitted to your moped. Lol i jest God that would be so invaluable and have the potential to entice many more youngsters to try the sport. Indeed, so that leads us to question as to whether it has crossed their minds to provide such a standalone track or whether there simply isn't any room to accommodate one. I'd love to know the answer only as Ghostwalker points out there are many such tracks in Sweden and Denmark.

Oucheeee i hope the E/W went very, very deep into the field lol. As with Ghostwalker in the Swedish section it is much appreciated to have a native language speaker updating us with the local tv/media info. Also i never get the time to follow the supreme Polish speedway but same goes to whoever updates the overseas fans on those threads. It's unusual i disagree with you Pandorum but "at least a third"!!! Admittedly i was wrapped up in the racing but no way was the stadium only two thirds full? It will need to be HUGE. Hey! maybe the organizers can invite Jesper Jensen as a spectator that would surely ensure a sell out and ticket touts making a fortune outside the stadium? lol On a serious note please everyone who enjoyed tonight's excellent meeting let Eurosport know what a gem they have discovered. You never know what it might lead to regarding future coverage, or at the very least continuation of the SGP's. Sky's channels were stuck with the same old, same old ball sports.

I'd prefer the benefit of a packed atmospheric Malilla than one being able to Yodel in the reverberating echo of Ullevi lol.

Premier Sports TV in the UK have had the following LIVE TV and STREAMING listed for a little while. Round 1 TUE 07 MAY Västervik vs. Indianerna STENA Arena 6.10pm Round 2 TUE 14 MAY Ikaros Smederna vs. Elit Vetlanda Eskilstuna Motorstadion 6.10pm Round 3 TUE 21 MAY Hammarby vs. Vargarna Gubbängens IP 6.10pm Round 4 TUE 28 MAY Piraterna vs. Elit Vetlanda Motala Arena 6.10pm Round 5 TUE 04 JUN Indianerna vs. Piraterna ICA Maxi Arena 6.10pm Round 6 TUE 11 JUN Elit Vetlanda vs. Dackarna Elitfönster Arena 6.10pm