Laugh Out Loud.....it's British Speedway

[Backless]

The rules of speedway are not complicated - especially those that apply to the actual running of the meeting.

 

Even if the rules WERE complicated, it doesn't do, say F1 any harm.

 

It does however fall apart if a promotion put someone for whom reading, writing & thinking don't come naturally.

 

Laugh Out Loud … It's Gary Havelock would be a more accurate title.

 

Anyone watching for the first time wouldn't have mistaken the bumbling, mumbling interview with that colossus of speedway knowledge for an earlier-than-usual Newsnight broadcast.

 

Maybe it's genetic - Christ knows, his Old Man has the same inability - like his speech impediment, and should be pitied more that mocked.

[Bruiser McHuge]

i agree there are far too many team changes year by year...far too much emphasis on averages...fans do like to feel they are watching a team and it is ridiculous that teams are decimated each season because of averages.....when i was involved in speedway i knew a couple of riders were riding themselves out of a club the following season because they were improving too much....not number 1 standard but too high to stay at the club...that was weeks and weeks before the season end...that just seems wrong..

There probably does need to be some regulation of team strenghts but the current method isn't working and means fans cannot continue to identify with riders as much...plus the top guys on the whole ride round Europe so much they are less likely to stick with one team for years like in the past.....team speedway seems a pale shadow of its past.

 

i just cannot see how a squad system could possibly work though..it is inot practical for Elite League speedway in my opinion

[Fromafar]

I don't see anything wrong with starting with a points limit at the start of the season(say45as an example).If teams find that that team improves and is over the limit what is wrong with being able to keep it the next season.If a rider wishes to leave and has improved his average he can only be replace within his original average.that way teams might be able to build better teams and retain riders that the fans have an association with.IMO it would lead to stronger League set-up over the years .If some Teams become very strong and the Promotion can afford them good luck to them-they will be attract visitors to rival tracks.I 1965 when the leagues mergedCoventry WestHam Wimbledon came to Edinburgh and gave us a hammering it did not affect the crowd they looked forward to these challenges. That is only my opinion ,and am now away to look out my bullet proof vest.

[speedway_dan]

The rules of speedway are not complicated - especially those that apply to the actual running of the meeting.

 

Even if the rules WERE complicated, it doesn't do, say F1 any harm.

 

It does however fall apart if a promotion put someone for whom reading, writing & thinking don't come naturally.

 

Laugh Out Loud … It's Gary Havelock would be a more accurate title.

 

Anyone watching for the first time wouldn't have mistaken the bumbling, mumbling interview with that colossus of speedway knowledge for an earlier-than-usual Newsnight broadcast.

 

Maybe it's genetic - Christ knows, his Old Man has the same inability - like his speech impediment, and should be pitied more that mocked.

 

You can't compare the likes of F1 with speedway. One is a multi-million pound business involving some of the highest profile businesses and sports men on the planet. Yes it's a complex sport but it can afford to be.

 

Speedway is simple - four blokes on bikes racing four laps - why the hell does it need complicating. Do you really believe the rules are not complicated for any neutral viewer or new fan?

 

I think simplifying the rules and making the meetings run quicker will really help. Fans are drifting away and you have no chance of promoting the sport to potential customers wth the current regulations and state of the sport.

 

Gary Havelock is a legend in my eyes and still learning the mangement role so I can let him off the hook.

Edited June 5, 2013 by speedway_dan

[Backless]

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You can't compare the likes of F1 with speedway. One is a multi-million pound business involving some of the highest profile businesses and sports men on the planet. Yes it's a complex sport but it can afford to be. <br />

<br />

Speedway is simple - four blokes on bikes racing four laps - why the hell does it need complicating. Do you really believe the rules are not complicated for any neutral viewer or new fan?<br />

<br />

I think simplifying the rules and making the meetings run quicker will really help. Fans are drifting away and you have no chance of promoting the sport to potential customers wth the current regulations and state of the sport. <br />

<br />

Gary Havelock is a legend in my eyes and still learning the mangement role so I can let him off the hook.<br />

<br />

<br />

</p>

 

So, based on your logic, the complexity of the rulebook should form some correlation with the amount of cash sloshing around the sport? A novel approach.

 

So what rules delay the running of a meeting - as opposed to the complete lack of even a basic grasp of what's going on such as the example shown on Monday.

Simple answer: read the damn rulebook - or maybe have someone read on your behalf if you're incapable of taking it in.

 

As far as I'm aware "new fans" don't have to sit an exam & therefore most probably don't give a damn about the vast majority of rules... "Will there be four maniacs in the next race? Yes? Fine - bring it on"

 

It's only the bobble hat wearers that screw themselves nup in knots - an unfortunate group of people that speedway seems to have attracted over the years.

How many football fans give a flying Wallenda about say, the criteria needed for a non-EU player to play in this country? Probably a few, who are waiting for bobble hats to become fashionable again & think the games not the same without Bovil & the aroma of the bogs wafting opver the terracing.

But it'll generate a hundred pages on here.

 

It comes as no surprise that Gary Havelock is a legend in your eyes.

[E I Addio]

<p><br />

<br />

</p>

 

So, based on your logic, the complexity of the rulebook should form some correlation with the amount of cash sloshing around the sport? A novel approach.

 

So what rules delay the running of a meeting - as opposed to the complete lack of even a basic grasp of what's going on such as the example shown on Monday.

Simple answer: read the damn rulebook - or maybe have someone read on your behalf if you're incapable of taking it in.

 

As far as I'm aware "new fans" don't have to sit an exam & therefore most probably don't give a damn about the vast majority of rules... "Will there be four maniacs in the next race? Yes? Fine - bring it on"

 

It's only the bobble hat wearers that screw themselves nup in knots - an unfortunate group of people that speedway seems to have attracted over the years.

How many football fans give a flying Wallenda about say, the criteria needed for a non-EU player to play in this country? Probably a few, who are waiting for bobble hats to become fashionable again & think the games not the same without Bovil & the aroma of the bogs wafting opver the terracing.

But it'll generate a hundred pages on here.

 

It comes as no surprise that Gary Havelock is a legend in your eyes.

It took two pages for someone to post a bit of common sense on this thread but we got there in the end !

[Guest]

The awful thing last night was the attendance. Lovely night, home team going well on a good track situated in the most densely populated area in the nation, and just a few hundred people watching. In the Sky Sports Elite League.

 

Have to agree about the attendance. I was genuinely shocked at how few there were at the track, regardless of it being on the box..

 

the crowds have gone down at lakeside this season. i think the club is suffering on three fronts. firstly i think there is still a hangover from the tragic death of lee richardson, secondly we are living in hard times and some fans just can't afford speedway anymore and lastly the new track opening at central park will have taken some fans away that live south of the river. i'm a regular at arena that rarely misses a meeting, yet i went to kent kings last night. good facilities and better value for money made it an easy decision for me, and quite a few more lakeside regulars that i saw there.

 

By what estimate have crowds at Lakeside declined? What is the estimate for Monday's match v Coventry - that night there was an estimated 450 crowd at Sittingbourne to watch Kent Kings v King's Lynn Young Stars.

What has been an average attendance at Lakeside over the past 12 months. Could Monday's crowd have been affected by people having 'used up spare cash to attend the GP in Cardiff the previous Saturday' and the fact that some people living south of the River went to watch Kent Kings?

The latest Lakeside Press Release for this Friday's match against Poole says "With the weather forecast set to be hot and the opportunity of seeing the current World Champion, Chris Holder, in action a big crowd is anticipated so it is suggested that fans turn up to this event as early as possible."

Edited June 6, 2013 by Guest

[moxey63]

Current attenders scoff when ex speedway fans tell of why they no longer attend, the current fans then whinge about spending almost 20 nicker on a dismal night's entertainment in which there are more bodies on the centregreen than on the terraces.

 

Who has more sense: the likes of moxey63 who has stopped going or people who stubbornly continiue to back a dead horse at £20 a time?

[ch958]

What guest? As for squad, who do you suggest Coventry sign as back up for KK, Scott, Zengotta, Allen and Robbo? They'd need 7 squad members, as would every other EL team, where do you propose 140ish riders come from?

 

I understand your point - theres no arguing with it

BUT its still not right!!

unless someone properly bites the bullet and chucks the embarrasing aspects of speedway it will not flourish

whats worse - watching teams anhialated or watching ringers

probably the former in truth

[Bryn]

In reply to several posters, I wonder if people fully realise that confirmation of the fact that it would be the Lakeside v Coventry fixture being televised on Sky on Monday just gone was, as I understand the situation that arose, only finalised five days before i.e. on Thursday of last week. Both sides are Friday night tracks, the previous scheduled match between them had been rained off and thus there was a printed programme available and, most importantly, both teams were willing to ride in this hastily rearranged fixture.Please do bear in mind that originally it was scheduled to be Peterborough v Wolverhampton that would be shown on SkySports on Monday of this week.

Edited June 6, 2013 by Bryn

[Guest]

It could only happen in speedway. A National League side is currently looking for a 3 point guest to replace one of its reserves who looks set to be on the injury list for a couple of weeks.

I always thought that basically the NL was a training league and I thought that said club might have found another local junior to replace their injured rider?

Laugh! It makes you want to cry!

[Bryn]

It could only happen in speedway. A National League side is currently looking for a 3 point guest to replace one of its reserves who looks set to be on the injury list for a couple of weeks.

I always thought that basically the NL was a training league and I thought that said club might have found another local junior to replace their injured rider?

Laugh! It makes you want to cry!

 

With respect "Gustix" you are obviously baseing the above posting on what you have read on Facebook. I cannot see that the club in question have stated anywhere that they are looking for a "guest" as, of course, a guest is not permitted for an absent NL reserve providing the other six team members are set to ride. The absent rider must be replaced by a rider with a 3.00 NL average currently NOT in any other clubs' declared 1 to 7 although, of course, the injured rider's club COULD, if they so required, sign a new rider whose NL average would not take them over the NL points limit and redeclare their 1 to 7 omitting the injured rider. I would be very surprised indeed though if they opted to go down that route.

[Guest]

With respect "Gustix" you are obviously baseing the above posting on what you have read on Facebook. I cannot see that the club in question have stated anywhere that they are looking for a "guest" as, of course, a guest is not permitted for an absent NL reserve providing the other six team members are set to ride. The absent rider must be replaced by a rider with a 3.00 NL average currently NOT in any other clubs' declared 1 to 7 although, of course, the injured rider's club COULD, if they so required, sign a new rider whose NL average would not take them over the NL points limit and redeclare their 1 to 7 omitting the injured rider. I would be very surprised indeed though if they opted to go down that route.

 

I have no time to waste with Facebook. I am going by what I read in the National League section on this forum.

 

I now see on there that according to a post "the only option is a non-attached 3 point average rider' - or words to that effect.

Edited June 7, 2013 by Guest

[MattK]

At least next season we won't have to worry about Sky making clubs race on a Monday.