Humphrey Appleby Posted October 11, 2008 Report Share Posted October 11, 2008 I'm angry at the whole situation. It makes speedway look, as was aptly put in an earlier post, like a mickey mouse sport. I think it once again demonstrates BSI is not all it's cracked up to be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iris123 Posted October 11, 2008 Report Share Posted October 11, 2008 Claiming you've sold 10,000 tickets does not make it so. Claiming that the barge shipping the shale got wet is also pretty lame. Have they not heard of covering it? So many differing stories so far.But that one is as you say pretty lame.But which one will they be telling in the morning? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nickwolves Posted October 11, 2008 Report Share Posted October 11, 2008 I cant believe whats happened. I had my day planned out. get rid of family(not literally, just for a few hours), paint living room, have a few beers, watch first half of England n settle down for a night of speedway. how selfish can people get? just cos they wanted to tune into the X factor to oggle Cheryl cole, or Simon cowell. They decide to cancell "MY NIGHT" Its a disgrace. Get "The Doc" to sort out the tracks next year, n get Olsen to be a starting marshall. That might be easily enough to do. Mind you if NP was in a heat he would prob dig a hole for NP to start from, save NP doin it. Hope I havent moaned too much. Well if next sat is rained off, maybe they should hold it at Brighton. indoor. Just hide all the mops. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Mitch Posted October 11, 2008 Report Share Posted October 11, 2008 I'm still trying to get my head round how an indoor speedway meeting gets called off.....I'm not sure how they did it but boy did they do it. IF and its a BIG IF, BSI wanted to have the meeting transferred to BG I.m sure if requested as an employee of BSI Ole Olsen could easilly produce a track that had no chance of being safe to ride/race a speedway bike on. So in this scenario why should he resign ? He,l maybe get a special BSI award of the year A lot of ifs & buts there, its probably just a big ***** up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gemini Posted October 11, 2008 Report Share Posted October 11, 2008 (edited) No probs ... I am just fed up with nearly every post on this site being full of moaning ... are there any happy speedway fans on here apart from Pirates & Monarchs ?? Me....me. I'm a happy speedway fan and it takes some doing after the season Coventry have had. Mind you it could be worse. I could be a Wolves fan. You have my deepest sympathy Wolverine. I'm still trying to get my head round how an indoor speedway meeting gets called off.....I'm not sure how they did it but boy did they do it. That could be a very good question in some future sports quiz programme. They'll never guess the answer. Or "What happened next?" on Question of Sport. Edited October 11, 2008 by Gemini Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluejam Posted October 11, 2008 Report Share Posted October 11, 2008 if they wanted a big sell out for the grand final, wht not arrange it at Cardiff next week, it will be guarenteed to not be affected by any weather, as it has a roof (not trying to rub salt in the wounds), and has the biggest audience from them all..!! Also riders that are riding in th CS don't have that far to travel? Sorry but does that not make sence (or is that why they haven't thought about it) Wouldn't have been able to use Cardiff next week as there's a Heineken Cup rugby match there next weekend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sward Posted October 11, 2008 Report Share Posted October 11, 2008 (edited) Flight £136, Hotel £50, Car Hire £52, Ticket £25, Changing to an earlier return flight £55 admin charge – arriving at the stadium and discovering a complete disaster, priceless! Three of us flew out yesterday (Friday) from Heathrow and were scheduled to return mid afternoon on Sunday. Arrived at the stadium on Saturday morning to purchase tickets at around 10.30am. Everything seemed very quiet compared to 2007 when even early in the day there was a real buzz about the stadium. Still, the weather was absolutely glorious, the temperature gauge on the hire car read 19 degrees and it was most certainly t-shirt weather. Brilliant! At the ticket booth we found one window was open, there was no queue so we walked up and purchased our tickets – no problem at all. We were informed by the lady behind the ticketing window that meeting programmes were currently not available. Apparently this was because there had been a major printing error and subsequently the programmes were ALL being printed again. This seemed very strange, but hey mistakes happen and we thought we’d purchase a programme later in the day. Still things around the arena were eerily quiet, we walked the whole stadium and saw no more than fifty people, by now it’s about 11am. Still early I know, but the place was just dead. We peered through the gates into the stadium and everything looked fine, the roof was open and even though the shale looked a touch darker than usual there was no reason to be concerned. We headed back to the hotel for some lunch and then planned to return to the stadium about three. Still the weather was beautiful. About 1.30ish we received a text from a friend saying that the meeting had been postponed. We thought this was a joke and laughed it off between us, the weather was glorious why would the meeting be off? Just out of curiosity we checked the speedwayworld.tv website on our mobile phones. Jaws collectively dropped when we read the official statement. We jumped in the car, drove to the stadium and parked up. The first thing that became apparent was the poor level of communication coming from the organisers. In the space of an hour, the trikes that were obviously scheduled to take the riders on parade showed up. Then, the Audi cars that were clearly intended for the presentation laps showed up. The Girl Band who were meant to be performing even arrived!! Spectators were arriving still expecting to see a meeting. There was no signs telling fans the meeting was off, there were no handouts. We walked to the ticket booth to get a refund on our tickets and the whole place was locked up, the shutters were pulled down. The fans were treated with utter contempt and the organisers acted weakly by fleeing the stadium and leaving sheer chaos in their wake. I understand if the track was dangerous then the riders can’t race, I perfectly appreciate that but the organisers have a duty to ensure a surface is prepared that is acceptable. We paid £55 to change our flight to get home early, so in that sense we were fortunate to get away. I feel sorry for those who have stayed tonight, they must feel completely and utterly deflated. All in all it cost us around £320 each so a grand total of £960. That’s a fair chunk of money for a completely wasted journey. Edited October 11, 2008 by sward Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Steve Dixon Posted October 12, 2008 Report Share Posted October 12, 2008 (edited) Everything seemed very quiet compared to 2007 when even early in the day there was a real buzz I can't believe anyone from Britain actually forked out for this, well documented how poor a GP it was last year, together with the poor entrance security nonsense that went on, then the card stuff to get food and drink, no access to third/fourth bend in order to make the crowd look bigger than it was.Then came the racing Edited October 12, 2008 by Steve Dixon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
covbees7 Posted October 12, 2008 Report Share Posted October 12, 2008 thats it for me....first 38.5 points in the elite league then this farce........goodbye speedway.....rest in peace!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THE Wolverine Posted October 12, 2008 Report Share Posted October 12, 2008 thats it for me....first 38.5 points in the elite league then this farce........goodbye speedway.....rest in peace!!!!! Hmmm ... just wait till March 09 ... the smell of the shale (except at Lakeside) ... the smell of the methanol (much better than glue) ... the sound of the engines (except at Cradley) ... he will be there with his Simon Stead Programe board & happiness is 60-30 sticker ... covbees7 & his season ticket ... cos like the rest of us he is bonkers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colincooke Posted October 12, 2008 Report Share Posted October 12, 2008 Hmmm ... just wait till March 09 ... the smell of the shale (except at Lakeside) ... the smell of the methanol (much better than glue) ... the sound of the engines (except at Cradley) ... he will be there with his Simon Stead Programe board & happiness is 60-30 sticker ... covbees7 & his season ticket ... cos like the rest of us he is bonkers! Wolverine you crack me up . I'll still be cheering on The Panthers on Tuesday but. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wjasica Posted October 12, 2008 Report Share Posted October 12, 2008 I can't believe anyone from Britain actually forked out for this, well documented how poor a GP it was last year, together with the poor entrance security nonsense that went on, then the card stuff to get food and drink, no access to third/fourth bend in order to make the crowd look bigger than it was.Then came the racing We went last year and as you mentioned above it was a poor GP, this was the very reason we decided to give it a miss. plus all the reasons you mentioned. You are spot on. I would have been livid it I had gone yesterday and come across this farce. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MRY Posted October 12, 2008 Report Share Posted October 12, 2008 The roof doesn't open at the veltins arena - the pitch slides out. I can't see that once the track has been laid that they'd move it back outdoors. Very strange. The roof does open, but was closed on Saturday night (I could see it out of my hotel window). The track was layed on the concrete floor of the arena which had been vacated by the pitch, which slides outside under the grandstand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blazeaway Posted October 12, 2008 Report Share Posted October 12, 2008 Is T Gollob going to ride in Gates 1,2 ,3 & 4? Exactly. On the bright side tho he was German & they did bomb our chippy Ignoramus. Well Smolinski must not be allowed to be the wild card next week, and the Poles have had their turn. So bring on Chris Holder for the Finale !!!!!!! No chance, I didn't agree with the choice of Smolinski but he must be allowed to ride on Saturday. I can't believe anyone from Britain actually forked out for this, well documented how poor a GP it was last year, together with the poor entrance security nonsense that went on, then the card stuff to get food and drink, no access to third/fourth bend in order to make the crowd look bigger than it was.Then came the racing Not quite sure whats so funny. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richsimpson Posted October 12, 2008 Report Share Posted October 12, 2008 I can't believe anyone from Britain actually forked out for this, well documented how poor a GP it was last year, together with the poor entrance security nonsense that went on, then the card stuff to get food and drink, no access to third/fourth bend in order to make the crowd look bigger than it was.Then came the racing Thats it Steve, kick em while there down Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigerblues Posted October 12, 2008 Report Share Posted October 12, 2008 Well Smolinski must not be allowed to be the wild card next week, and the Poles have had their turn. So bring on Chris Holder for the Finale !!!!!!! NO! It's not Martin Smolinski's fault Ole Olsen hasn't got a clue. And if we're having a new wildcard, which we're not, then bring on Sajfutdinov. Why? Because it's his home track. Oh, and the small matter of beating Holder to the World U21 title. I like Holder but honestly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zonkers Posted October 12, 2008 Report Share Posted October 12, 2008 Wouldn't have been able to use Cardiff next week as there's a Heineken Cup rugby match there next weekend. You sure? Not according to the website. Or what about the following weekend anyway... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
screm Posted October 12, 2008 Report Share Posted October 12, 2008 NO! It's not Martin Smolinski's fault Ole Olsen hasn't got a clue. And if we're having a new wildcard, which we're not, then bring on Sajfutdinov. Why? Because it's his home track. Oh, and the small matter of beating Holder to the World U21 title. I like Holder but honestly 1st choice should be Smolinski has he hasnt done anything wrong and must be gutted but if there is going to be a change then it should go to the under21 champ whether he is in next year or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MRY Posted October 12, 2008 Report Share Posted October 12, 2008 Strange, isn't it, that all the forumites based in Germany at the moment have been reporting stonking hot weather, yet the BSI/FIM press release says that the combination of wet shale and low temperatures in the stadium meant that the track was not fit for racing. At least knowing that it was called off at lunchtime explains why it was that Rosco was advertising the footy at his pub rather than the speedway! I'm angry at the whole situation. It makes speedway look, as was aptly put in an earlier post, like a mickey mouse sport. The sight of Keith Hewen trying to explain why it had been called off - without laughing and calling it a farce - was awful. Chris Louis looked like he could hardly contain his anger, and appeared to be stopping just short of calling them all clowns. If, and TBH we don't really know what happened, it was a schoolboy error by Olsen then he must go. It's been bad enough seeing bald, slick tracks all season (because he likes them like that) and the ridiculously dangerous track he prepared at Gothenburg. It was very hot for October (21c when we left around 2pm), but it wasn't that hot in the stadium unless you were directly in the sunlight (but the opening isn't really that big). There was a decent breeze blowing under the grandstand where the pitch is taken out, but obviously none of that gets to the track because of the fence around the outside. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markpoulton Posted October 12, 2008 Report Share Posted October 12, 2008 You sure? Not according to the website. Or what about the following weekend anyway... Millennium Stadium next weekend Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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