Harpy eagle Posted October 7, 2013 Report Share Posted October 7, 2013 Anybody hear Hawksbee and Jacobs comments on Speedway today on Talksport? They were saying how Speedway is all from the start with no overtaking. They said how whoever gets out from the start first finishes first, the second person remains second and so on. I was so cross about this I have emailed TalkSport and I await their response. Maybe a few more complaints will make them rethink their flippant comments. However this is what i emailed them: My husband was listening to your show around lunchtime 1pm ish today (the Hawksbee and Jacobs show) when one of these presenters decided to put the boot in on Speedway. He remarked how it was all from the start and how the first person who gets out wins, the second remains second and so on. This is absolutely not true and I can only imagine he has never been to a Speedway match and therefore should not comment on something he clearly knows nothing about. Not only is it unprofessional to slate something he does not follow but to do it on a Sport Show shows no respect to smaller sports in general. I can only assume he likes watching 22 grown men run up and down a field chasing after a piece of leather!! A speedway match lasts for around 2hrs (3hrs for GP's) has 15 races (23 for GP's). They ride at speeds of up to 70mph with no brakes!! Our NEW BRITISH WORLD CHAMPION, Tai Woffinden, rode the last 2 GP's with a broken collarbone without complaint. Riders risk life and serious injury every race with loads of overtaking unlike some other motor sports with a huge following. Your flippant remarks damage our sport and I for one don't want to listen to such a biased channel. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob tatum Posted October 7, 2013 Report Share Posted October 7, 2013 Well done for giving the talksport burkes a damn good thrashing. Whilst over on 5 live which I listen to every day not a mention of tai or speedway. Maybe them in charge should be bombarding the radio / tv but alas its left to us. I did text 5 live but nothing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conkers in Gravy Posted October 7, 2013 Report Share Posted October 7, 2013 (edited) In fairness, the BBC have given Tai more national coverage than any speedway rider for years - it doesn't hurt to get in touch and let them know there's an audience for speedway coverage. As far as Hawksbee is concerned, his style has always been immature, going right back to when he was writing for kids' football mags. E-mail or tweet Talksport to express disappointment, but keep it clean and polite. Edited October 7, 2013 by Conkers in Gravy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 7, 2013 Report Share Posted October 7, 2013 Anybody hear Hawksbee and Jacobs comments on Speedway today on Talksport? They were saying how Speedway is all from the start with no overtaking. They said how whoever gets out from the start first finishes first, the second person remains second and so on. I was so cross about this I have emailed TalkSport and I await their response. Maybe a few more complaints will make them rethink their flippant comments. However this is what i emailed them: My husband was listening to your show around lunchtime 1pm ish today (the Hawksbee and Jacobs show) when one of these presenters decided to put the boot in on Speedway. He remarked how it was all from the start and how the first person who gets out wins, the second remains second and so on. This is absolutely not true and I can only imagine he has never been to a Speedway match and therefore should not comment on something he clearly knows nothing about. Not only is it unprofessional to slate something he does not follow but to do it on a Sport Show shows no respect to smaller sports in general. I can only assume he likes watching 22 grown men run up and down a field chasing after a piece of leather!! A speedway match lasts for around 2hrs (3hrs for GP's) has 15 races (23 for GP's). They ride at speeds of up to 70mph with no brakes!! Our NEW BRITISH WORLD CHAMPION, Tai Woffinden, rode the last 2 GP's with a broken collarbone without complaint. Riders risk life and serious injury every race with loads of overtaking unlike some other motor sports with a huge following. Your flippant remarks damage our sport and I for one don't want to listen to such a biased channel. Did you see the Korean GP on BBC on Sunday. That was a mega spectacle - a great race and tremendous speeds. So far as the TV broadcast and comments are concerned, you have probably played into the commentators hands - you have sparked a controversy by replying to them. Just what they want if they decide to follow through - strengthening their side of the argument. I have watched speedway since 1946 and must say that in that time I have seen quite a few - plenty in fact - of matches as they have described. At the same time, I have also seen meetings packed with drama from start to finish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ABS Posted October 7, 2013 Report Share Posted October 7, 2013 Don't listen to Talk sh*te, but from what you're saying it's living up to the name us Chelsea fans have given it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 7, 2013 Report Share Posted October 7, 2013 Don't listen to Talk sh*te, but from what you're saying it's living up to the name us Chelsea fans have given it. And we tremble at the power of Chelsea fans...! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frigbo Posted October 8, 2013 Report Share Posted October 8, 2013 They were right. The majority of speedway races are settled after the first turn. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyJ Posted October 8, 2013 Report Share Posted October 8, 2013 (edited) Sadly a perception of our sport that is shared by many outside the speedway world. None of us can deny that, at it's worst, speedway is exactly as they described. However if races were always decided this way I doubt that many of us would have stuck around to become fans. Thankfully we do have those moments of pure brilliance (e.g. Ward v Kasprzak or Miedzinski v Hancock) that keep us watching. Perhaps the likes of Hawksbee and Jacobs would benefit from watching some of the coverage from this weekend. Maybe they'll never be fans of our sport but it would be nice for them to eat their words and accept that there is far more to speedway than their throwaway comments. Anyway, shouldn't the station be called 'TalkFootball'? Every time I've listened to the station the talk has been almost exclusively football. Their website has links to a small number of sports but the home page is entirely football right now. Edited October 8, 2013 by Tkdandy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Leslie Posted October 8, 2013 Report Share Posted October 8, 2013 They were right. The majority of speedway races are settled after the first turn. Some are, some aren't. But even if it's decided at the first corner, you only have to wait 60 seconds and the race is over. Then four new riders start level again. Compare with Formula 1, where the race is often over before it starts. The best driver is given several hundred yards start over the worst driver. The best usually stay at the front, and the rest follow round for two and a half hours...thrilling! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The White Knight Posted October 8, 2013 Report Share Posted October 8, 2013 The problem with Talk Sport is that the Presenters are there purely to 'wind up' the Listeners. They make outrageous statements which get up people's nose and that is what makes them ring in. Obviously, by having a go at Speedway they were hoping to get Speedway Supporters to ring them up and try to put the record straight. That is their BUSINESS, their raison d'etre if you like. I don't believe for one minute that the Presenters BELIEVE in what they say, that it is their TRUE opinion. If they said what they REALLY thought - there would be no Show. Winding folk up is their BUISNESS!!! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moxey63 Posted October 8, 2013 Report Share Posted October 8, 2013 I wouldn't own up to listening to those two. Anyone that laughs at their own jokes (as they do) is simply not worth the time. As for speedway races settled on the first turn... it's a lazy way of saying why you are not interested in something. They oft talk about cricket (or did, when Talksport was a station worthy of my earlugs (when they covered other subjects but sport, sport and sport)). Cricket is... well, it's credentials are lower than speedway in my opinion, but they like it... and so they talk about it. Thing is, speedway races are mainly settled on the first bend (more first lap) and we shouldn't really be offended by them saying that. Doesn't mean you can't have a decent race, which is close but the positions don't change. Come on, speedway fans, get a thicker skin. We know why we follow speedway... don't listen to those that don't, which is the reason they don't... People don't eat cabbage, because they don't have a taste for it. We are different. I watch speedway stil today, but I don't like it as much as I did. Tastes change. I once didn't like football... now I do. What difference would it make if Talksport covered speedway? We had Graham Stuart, ex-footballer, always on Soccer AM when he played. Where did that get us? Now he doesn't play, they aren't interested! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyJ Posted October 8, 2013 Report Share Posted October 8, 2013 Hmm.. just stumbled across the below article from 2007. Seems that their opinion wasn't just a throwaway comment courtesy of a lack of knowledge about our sport. I suspect the below deal didn't work out brilliantly for the station then.. http://forums.digitalspy.co.uk/showthread.php?p=13849850 talkSPORT have signed a deal to broadcast live and exclusive national radio coverage of Elite League Speedway for two years from 2008-2010. The Elite League Speedway season is scheduled between March and October giving talkSPORT the ideal opportunity to broadcast live coverage and commentary from fixtures during the summer months following the conclusion of the football season. talkSPORT’s live commentary from the Elite League will be alongside the station’s coverage of Euro 2008, Twenty20 Cup and The Open Championship in the summer of 2008. The growing popularity of Speedway, especially due to the exposure it receives from live coverage on Sky Sports, is seen as a key reason for talkSPORT’s acquisition of broadcast rights and will be the first time live Speedway coverage will be broadcast on national radio. The broadcast rights, which have reportedly cost talkSPORT up to £250,000, will include live commentary from up to 20 fixtures per season and news access to rest of the fixtures where the station can broadcast updates and reports at meetings on the new show called Speedway Nights on Friday evenings between 7:00pm-10:00pm. talkSPORT’s coverage is to be sponsored by Vroom Vroom Beep Beep, an online miniature motorcycle company that sells directly to the consumer. It is understood that this deal with fetch the station up to £100,000 and will include sponsored trails, jingles and interviews during coverage as well as sponsored features during Hawksbee & Jacobs and The Sunday Session with Rhodri Williams & Jason Cundy. Elite League Media Guru, Gregory Van House said: “It is with great pleasured that I welcome talkSPORT as one of our media partners and hope they can provide the great coverage that we all know and love from other sports. One of their main presenters and commentators is Nigel Pearson, who is already involved on Speedway coverage on Sky Sports, and is a massive fan of the sport and will be able to promote their coverage with success.” 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Leslie Posted October 8, 2013 Report Share Posted October 8, 2013 To be honest I have no idea who this Hawksbee and Jacobs are, but the positive to take out of it is that what sounds like two neanderthal football fans have been made aware of speedway because of Tai's achievement....aware enough to be thinking about it and mentioning it on their football programme. There's no such thing as bad publicity Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orion Posted October 8, 2013 Report Share Posted October 8, 2013 (edited) Some are, some aren't. But even if it's decided at the first corner, you only have to wait 60 seconds and the race is over. Then four new riders start level again. Compare with Formula 1, where the race is often over before it starts. The best driver is given several hundred yards start over the worst driver. The best usually stay at the front, and the rest follow round for two and a half hours...thrilling! I always the same about f1 ..I can never understand why it's so popular ...the best driver drives a faster car than anyone else and also gets a head start and then drives round for 60 laps . Edited October 8, 2013 by orion 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonimac Posted October 8, 2013 Report Share Posted October 8, 2013 Actually Hawksbee and Jacobs are not a couple of Neanderthal football fans. They do the lunchtime slot and do lots of interviews with people from all walks of life. I don't find them particularly interesting but I've formed that opinion based on my experience as a Talksport listener. Not sure if Paul and Andy can say they've invested the same amount of time watching speedway. I didn't hear yesterday's show but sounds like it was it was al throwaway line by Paul Hawksbee, who is occasionally quite funny. And, as suggested, reflects many people's opinions of the sport - god knows how many of my mates say the same! I wouldn't be surprised if Tai ends up on their show at some point, just to re-educate them on the sport. I've always found it strange that it's marketed as TALKsport. Surely with every 2nd word being "y'now", they are doing the listening audience out of half their described services? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nw42 Posted October 8, 2013 Report Share Posted October 8, 2013 I always the same about f1 ..I can never understand why it's so popular ...the best driver drives a faster car than anyone else and also gets a head start and then drives round for 60 laps . Same here for F1, mind-numbing for me, yet my brother loves it, he also watches speedway but I think if he had to forfeit one it would be the speedway. I'm no biker, far from it, but I used to enjoy watching Superbikes when Carl Fogarty was the star of the sport, never missed it for a couple of years, have never bothered since he retired, which sort of backs up the theory that British speedway COULD benefit from Tai's success if the right people were in charge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emerald tyke Posted October 8, 2013 Report Share Posted October 8, 2013 Seems that most folks perception of a speedway race is just look at the 1st placed rider:( but there are another 3 riders there and often those positions are changing throughout the race...or at least for longer than just to the first turn. However most coverage always seems to concentrate on the rider infront and not the action thats behind. As was quoted in earlier post theres no such thing as bad publicity, and after all my years of following speedway I'm quite used these types of comments "1st from tapes wins" and I always put em right "watch the other 3 riders"!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skydog Posted October 8, 2013 Report Share Posted October 8, 2013 These 2 interviewed Ryan Sullivan a few years ago, and said; "Our producer has told us to ask if you've ever been in the lead, then been overtaken and not won the race?" If they are prepared to ask a guest an insulting question like that, it pretty much shows their contempt. Is Nigel Pearson still connected to this station? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluPanther Posted October 9, 2013 Report Share Posted October 9, 2013 These 2 interviewed Ryan Sullivan a few years ago, and said; "Our producer has told us to ask if you've ever been in the lead, then been overtaken and not won the race?" If they are prepared to ask a guest an insulting question like that, it pretty much shows their contempt. Is Nigel Pearson still connected to this station? Yes.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldace Posted October 10, 2013 Report Share Posted October 10, 2013 Speedway is both extremes. A poor meeting can be mind numbingly boring and there are plenty of league matches that fall into that category On the other hand a good meeting can be the most exciting sport on the planet, who could not get excited over races like this 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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