Ron Butler Posted September 20, 2009 Report Share Posted September 20, 2009 Can't speak for Sky , but i'm certainly bored with it . I lost interest in the GP circus some time ago Paul but I chickened out of posting my feelings on here. Many, I felt, would consider it a form of sacrilege to do so! You, my friend, are of sterner stuff; must be the highland blood coursing through your veins. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fireblade Posted September 20, 2009 Report Share Posted September 20, 2009 Never been to a GP never will. Don't even watch it on TV now. It's dross. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stokie052 Posted September 20, 2009 Report Share Posted September 20, 2009 I lost interest in the GP circus some time ago Paul but I chickened out of posting my feelings on here. Many, I felt, would consider it a form of sacrilege to do so! You, my friend, are of sterner stuff; must be the highland blood coursing through your veins. no that'll be beer! lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomcat Posted September 20, 2009 Report Share Posted September 20, 2009 (edited) As I have said on other threads, where this has cropped up. Its sterile, from the gate dross and is killing what is supposed to be our sports highlight, the World Championship. Ref advertising on the safety fence, Poole manage to remove dirty advertising banners, put up clean ones AND hose down and clean the dirty banners in between the racing. Take a look at the Poole v Peterborough meeting from last week. You can clearly see the trackstaff doing just that on the first bend. So that I am afraid has shot Mr Olsen and the FIM up the backside on that score. So could they please now give us a valid reason why we have ultra slick tracks for the World Championship of Speedway? We all know that a high percentage of British tracks could also do with some dirt on them, but as far as the Premier event in our sport goes, why oh why do we have to watch this rubbish? Edited September 20, 2009 by tomcat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spook Posted September 21, 2009 Report Share Posted September 21, 2009 the only logical explanation is that they are trying to make sure that meetings go ahead no matter what............. there is some validity in that approach but its been taken too far speedway is no longer speedway without the chance of passing........ the sport should not revolve around gating.... in fact everyone involved in the sport should be doing their level best to make sure it isnt................... I asked a valid question a few weeks ago..... 'when was the last time a race was brought back due to movement at the starts?' ............... I am really struggling to remember it has been that long ....................... this means that there must have been a directive sent or expressed covering this at some point and now we are starting to see the results with certain riders creeping at the starts in each of their races .......and they are gaining huge advantages it is this sterile approach to the competition that is starting to throttle it now ............... no one likes a rain off but they are a fact of the sport and if attention is focussed on any area to try to help this then it surely has to be the equipment and innovation............... how quickly can a track be bladed? how quickly should it be bladed? how much are the track drying machines? how effective are they? how easily transported around europe are they? etc etc the last thing that should be happening is that the very sport itself is changed to accomodate a fear of the possibility of rain Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pugwash Posted September 21, 2009 Report Share Posted September 21, 2009 Ref advertising on the safety fence, Poole manage to remove dirty advertising banners, put up clean ones AND hose down and clean the dirty banners in between the racing. Take a look at the Poole v Peterborough meeting from last week. You can clearly see the trackstaff doing just that on the first bend. and a full set of advertising banners around all the track. It's called good management and marketing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blazeaway Posted September 22, 2009 Report Share Posted September 22, 2009 They don't want dirt on the tracks as it covers the sponsors to easily when it sticks to riders/fence etc That is not actually true as confirmed by a sponsor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattK Posted September 22, 2009 Report Share Posted September 22, 2009 I think Spook's suggestion that they want to ensure the meeting goes ahead is a far more likely explanation for slick tracks. I know for a fact that one major broadcaster in the UK is turned off of speedway because of the risk of rain-offs and having to fill two plus hours of prime time television with repeats. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Jasper Posted September 25, 2009 Report Share Posted September 25, 2009 (edited) The problem with the gp's is that riders are willing to settle for 2nd places, safe in the knowledge that they only need 9 or 10 points to get a decent gate in the semis. They need to send it back to the knockout series of a few years ago but then need to have draws for the gates so riders are not sitting in 2nd to ensure they get a blue gate which may happen to be working very well. BTW I have searched the yahoo tv guide and cant find the speedway listed for tomorrow, when and on what channel is it being shown? Edited September 25, 2009 by Sir Jasper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barrow boy Posted September 25, 2009 Report Share Posted September 25, 2009 (edited) I agree with the previous posters who have critised the racing surfaces and the same old dross fair that is being offered. I would like to see some different riders from time to time also. Would it be possible in future to have all those riders that do not qualify for the semi finals race off against 8 others in a qualifying event before each next GP with the top 7 joining the previous GP's semi finalists. Those that did not pre qualify and also did not get through the qualifier to be included in the next lot of 8 to try the next time and so on. Edited September 25, 2009 by barrow boy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wotnoaj Posted September 25, 2009 Report Share Posted September 25, 2009 I had a moan at Sky about the red buttoning of the GP, this is what they said to me. Thankyou for your e-mail about the Speedway coverage on Sky. As with all "live" sporting events, Sky can no longer guarantee that any specific sport will be broadcast on the same channel all of the time. The reason for broadcasting the rest of the Speedway coverage on Sky Sports 2 Interactive Service was for the continuity of the broadcast of this event. I was sorry to read that you found this unsatisfactory, however, the programme was repeated in full giving our viewers a chance to see this event. In other words, tough s***! I have since asked if a live Premiership football match will be stopped halfway and red buttoned and also asked if dwindling viewing figures had anything to do with it. Strangely enough I've had no reply to that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobMcCaffery Posted September 25, 2009 Report Share Posted September 25, 2009 I had a moan at Sky about the red buttoning of the GP, this is what they said to me. Thankyou for your e-mail about the Speedway coverage on Sky. As with all "live" sporting events, Sky can no longer guarantee that any specific sport will be broadcast on the same channel all of the time. The reason for broadcasting the rest of the Speedway coverage on Sky Sports 2 Interactive Service was for the continuity of the broadcast of this event. I was sorry to read that you found this unsatisfactory, however, the programme was repeated in full giving our viewers a chance to see this event. In other words, tough s***! I have since asked if a live Premiership football match will be stopped halfway and red buttoned and also asked if dwindling viewing figures had anything to do with it. Strangely enough I've had no reply to that. With respect, they're hardly going to say "Well, we're contracted to show this rubbish so we have to find a space somewhere," are they? I do suspect that the failure of the British riders has seen them lose interest especially since they use that angle to sell the programme to the casual viewer (ref. Chris Harris' win at Cardiff). Add-in the poor quality of racing from too many GPs this year and I suspect we've been lucky to get even the 'red button' treatment. Put simply, I suspect Sky feel the GPs aren't worth their while showing. Rob McCaffery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeff... Posted September 25, 2009 Report Share Posted September 25, 2009 With respect, they're hardly going to say "Well, we're contracted to show this rubbish so we have to find a space somewhere," are they? I do suspect that the failure of the British riders has seen them lose interest especially since they use that angle to sell the programme to the casual viewer (ref. Chris Harris' win at Cardiff). Add-in the poor quality of racing from too many GPs this year and I suspect we've been lucky to get even the 'red button' treatment. Put simply, I suspect Sky feel the GPs aren't worth their while showing. Rob McCaffery. Sky are business people, not sports fanatics. They would happily show snails racing up the garden path if it attracted 10s or even hundreds of thousands to watch it. High viewing figures mean premium advertising space. While the viewing figures for the GPs remain high, and they are, along with the perfect formula for TV with lots of natural ad breaks then the GPs will remain on Sky. The red button debate is of course complete nonsense, it is simply a matter of pressing a button, it makes no difference at all. If people are taping the event then clearly they are not bothered about watching live so simply tape a later showing of the event Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobMcCaffery Posted September 25, 2009 Report Share Posted September 25, 2009 (edited) Sky are business people, not sports fanatics. They would happily show snails racing up the garden path if it attracted 10s or even hundreds of thousands to watch it. High viewing figures mean premium advertising space. While the viewing figures for the GPs remain high, and they are, along with the perfect formula for TV with lots of natural ad breaks then the GPs will remain on Sky. The red button debate is of course complete nonsense, it is simply a matter of pressing a button, it makes no difference at all. If people are taping the event then clearly they are not bothered about watching live so simply tape a later showing of the event Yes Sky are a very ruthless business, which is why they clearly relegated the speedway GP to fifth place in their priorities on those two recent occasions. This suggests that the viewing figures aren't holding up or do you accept the argument that suddenly after over a decade of coverage there hasn't been room to show it recently because suddenly Sky have so much more sport than usual? There are clear warning signs and only a fool would ignore them. Rob McCaffery. Edited September 25, 2009 by rmc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianmartin Posted September 25, 2009 Report Share Posted September 25, 2009 Sky are business people, not sports fanatics. They would happily show snails racing up the garden path if it attracted 10s or even hundreds of thousands to watch it. High viewing figures mean premium advertising space. While the viewing figures for the GPs remain high, and they are, along with the perfect formula for TV with lots of natural ad breaks then the GPs will remain on Sky. The red button debate is of course complete nonsense, it is simply a matter of pressing a button it makes no difference at all. If people are taping the event then clearly they are not bothered about watching live so simply tape a later showing of the event NOT if you have VIRGIN it isn't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
srbramble Posted September 25, 2009 Report Share Posted September 25, 2009 NOT if you have VIRGIN it isn't. How can you people moan about Sky, when you made your choice to go to a secondary provider because it was cheaper? Ffs, and you expect Sky to be sympathetic towards you? What a **** Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sotonian Posted September 25, 2009 Report Share Posted September 25, 2009 (edited) How can you people moan about Sky, when you made your choice to go to a secondary provider because it was cheaper? Ffs, and you expect Sky to be sympathetic towards you? What a **** It's not always about the money. Some of us can't receive Sky due to line of sight problems. Virgin are a godsend then until the red button issue crops up. Edited September 25, 2009 by Sotonian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
srbramble Posted September 25, 2009 Report Share Posted September 25, 2009 It's not always about the money. Some of us can't receive Sky due to line of sight problems. Virgin are a godsend then until the red button issue crops up. I appreciate that, but there are some that have used the cost as a reason to switch, and they still moan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badge Posted September 25, 2009 Report Share Posted September 25, 2009 If people are taping the event then clearly they are not bothered about watching live so simply tape a later showing of the event For some people it's not convenient to watch at 6 o/c in the evening, so we sky+ it to watch it when it is convenient, and being one of those that had to sky+ the first meeting with the red button, sadly it wasn't until late on the Sunday evening that I found I only had 16 heats and by then it was too late to record the later showings. The last GP I was working at Blenheim Horse Trials so once again had to rely on Sky+, luckily my son realised it was only programmed for 1 hour, so recorded the Sunday morning showing. The Italian GP is on Sky Sports Xtra at 7 o/c and seems to be on for 3 hours, and once again I will be Sky+ as it's ITFC v Newcastle at 5.30 on BBC as well, so will see if it goes interactive again tomorrow. At least when you sky+ you can fast forward all the boring inane talking that goes on, snd even some of the racing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gemini Posted September 25, 2009 Report Share Posted September 25, 2009 (edited) BTW I have searched the yahoo tv guide and cant find the speedway listed for tomorrow, when and on what channel is it being shown? Sky Sports Xtra so nicely poised to be booted off to the red button again. Edit...... *7pm to 10pm. * Edited September 25, 2009 by Gemini Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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