oldtimer Posted March 14, 2014 Report Share Posted March 14, 2014 I was interested to read in this weeks Star under "Museum Piece" the article about leaping Larry Huffman and the photo of him leaping in the air at Californian tracks. He apparently introduced the riders wearing a tuxedo, and I have to agree with the writers comment that, his unique style of presenting could inject some US type razzmatazz into a few lack-lustre British speedway meetings. I remember the Bristol Bulldogs flag man at Eastville who used to dress up and jump up and down waving the finishing flag. Occasionally I have persuaded new people to come to a match, and they all have one same comment, "There is a lot of standing around with nothing happening." So how would you improve the presentation at your track? More USA style presenting and announcements? more jingles? better and more up to date music? cheer leaders? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catabracadabra Posted March 14, 2014 Report Share Posted March 14, 2014 I totally agree with your post. British speedway meeting throughout the country need more razzmatazz yes. Far more. There is too much of 'nothing happening' if your spending hard earned money to go in to these shabby speedway stadiums the least you expect is razzmatazz fun, exciting, lively, modern and that "something happening all the time". You go to a meeting in Poland and you get all that, oh you also see the speedway, the speedway is the addition to the entertainment. 15 minutes is the racing, only 15minutes and currently most clubs drag a meeting out for 2 hours with what.... Nothing. Not really value for money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
george.m Posted March 14, 2014 Report Share Posted March 14, 2014 Simples....... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIZpG0fvRD0 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foamfence Posted March 15, 2014 Report Share Posted March 15, 2014 I would prefer not to have things that reduce it to the level of a circus. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Midland Red Posted March 15, 2014 Report Share Posted March 15, 2014 Do away with start tarts Do away with Peter York Smart outfits for track staff 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vince Posted March 15, 2014 Report Share Posted March 15, 2014 It is easy to have razzamataz for one off meetings but whatever you do in that vein will very quickly become boring if seen week in and week out. I do think a good, enthusiastic announcer / commentator is a must and things like rider introductions could be improved at a lot of tracks without going over the top. I know that a lot of tracks want to keep people on site for a good amount of time in order to take some more money off them via the food and drink outlets but would much prefer that the meeting was run at a quick pace with a long but filled interval rather than drag the meeting out. I struggle to think of any reason why apart from injury that it should take more than an hour to run 15 heats of Speedway. The interval could be fairly easily and cheaply filled with something like the local Trials club putting on a demo trial with an made obstacles. Something that could only work at some tracks which I think would be an excellent time filler would be to have a cycle Speedway track on the centre green and run their heats between the motorcycle version. In the interval you could run some kids races which would get them along. You can't underestimate the importance of giving the kids something to do each week. At Weymouth they used to have a running race around the track and there several kids who dragged their parents along so they could take part in that and eventually the parents went to watch the Speedway. Again for kids you could have lucky tickets with small prizes. You could do the same with adults with one of the prizes being the chance to watch a race from the centre green (something every Speedway fan should do at least once). The best thing of all would be to have well prepared tracks and a short practice session before the meeting so that both teams started the meeting with well set up bikes. At the end of the day if the racing is good fans will go home a lot happier. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
george.m Posted March 15, 2014 Report Share Posted March 15, 2014 I would prefer not to have things that reduce it to the level of a circus. Clowns? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Smith Posted March 15, 2014 Report Share Posted March 15, 2014 I've mentioned this on the Lynn v Gora thread. It peez me of with how boring the atmosphere at tracks is. I think atmosphere is the one thing that WILL bring people back. An awesome atmosphere makes a bad meeting ok and puts smiles on faces. This is where speedway right now is: Sh!te presentation Sh!te presenters Sh!te music Sh!te tracks Sh!te racing =Sh!te atmosphere What I'd do: Theme nights for spectators Music & presenters to include crowd interaction Cheaper airhorns, speedway is about noise Get the fans to bring a football / Polish speedway style singing crowd (I'd so be into this) How likely is this? 0. Promoters are only interested in taking and 0 giving back 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foamfence Posted March 15, 2014 Report Share Posted March 15, 2014 Clowns?You should know all about them! :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The White Knight Posted March 15, 2014 Report Share Posted March 15, 2014 I've mentioned this on the Lynn v Gora thread. It peez me of with how boring the atmosphere at tracks is. I think atmosphere is the one thing that WILL bring people back. An awesome atmosphere makes a bad meeting ok and puts smiles on faces. This is where speedway right now is: Sh!te presentation Sh!te presenters Sh!te music Sh!te tracks Sh!te racing =Sh!te atmosphere What I'd do: Theme nights for spectators Music & presenters to include crowd interaction Cheaper airhorns, speedway is about noise Get the fans to bring a football / Polish speedway style singing crowd (I'd so be into this) How likely is this? 0. Promoters are only interested in taking and 0 giving back But NOT that type of noise. Airhorns are an aberration. Why do you think we have these ridiculous Silencers on the Bike these days? It is in order to lessen the noise and make the Sport more acceptable to the General Public. I would love to go back to the days of open exhausts, but if we want to keep Tracks open we can't. Anything that increases the noise these days is a 'no no' in my opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruffdiamond Posted March 15, 2014 Report Share Posted March 15, 2014 if the crowd make the noise, there should'nt be a problem, just cheering n that,,, the presenters could mabye get a few old CD's, (like Now 1 or something) ,,, any music post 1970 would help, IMO I've got loads of old ones in the garden, (they help keep the cats out) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SCB Posted March 15, 2014 Report Share Posted March 15, 2014 Buy some new CDs. I dont just mean modern music, I mean the right music. There is some really good music that is 20, 30 and 40 years old that works. But it's no good having a great race, the young home second string (or reserve) has the race of his career in a battle with the opposition number 1, the crowd are on their feed and going mad. Then they all fill in their programmes and listen to smashy and nicey on the PA followed by a bit of Procol Harums whiter shade of pale (which is not a bad song for the record - but it is NOT a speedway song). Have presenters who are the right side of 40 (preferably 30), they dont actually have to be speedway people, they just need to know when to get excited and when to shut up. I maintain that the 4 riders, 4 laps is better now that it was 30 or 40 years ago if the videos and youtube stuff is what we have to compare against but sadly, all we get now is 15 heats of speedway and some dull rubbishe in between. Liven it up for God sake. It should be loud, adrenaline pumping and wild. Speedway meetings should be full of Tai Woffindens (young, tattoos, piercings) loving the adrenaline junkie side of it but it's not, it's full of Maud and Margaret sipping tea moaning that it's not how it used to be totally obvious to the fact that the sport pandering to them is why it's not what it used to be. It's no good promoters asking us to take along our mates and work colleagues because getting them there is not the issue. Its that when they get there they are bored rubbishless with no announces, no nothing until 2 minutes before the advertised starts time. Then they tell us of a late change. then we hang around until 5-10 minutes after start time for the parade that is the biggest waste of time since something that was a big waste of time. The riders wave to a small % of the crowd on the home straight before putting helmets on to compete. Shake it up FFS! At least Cardiff this year was a trying something. go to ice hockey and see how they do it! You're excited before they even start. And encourage a bit more finger wagging between riders, maybe the odd punch. Not mass brawls. If two riders want to throw handbags encourage it. But discourage jumped up little oiks piling in and getting involved. When Swindon go to Brandon, interview Hans and ask him about how much he hates Swindon - just ask him to read out some of his tweets and explain then Then set Rosco on him Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben91 Posted March 15, 2014 Report Share Posted March 15, 2014 Noise is to be encouraged at any track where there are no restrictions on it. Air Horns, whistles etc make atmosphere. When you don't have enough people in the stadium to make atmosphere with their voices an air horn can make all the difference. That, however is down to the fans not the clubs. As a Rye House fan, there are a few simple changes that would improve presentation no end. Music befitting of the event: Listening to smooth jazz or now 54 on a loop doesn't scream motor racing to me. When Craig announces the song that is playing just gets paused. Half of one meeting last season was punctuated by Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol, not only is it depressing it is a complete contrast from the thing people have paid to come and watch. A roving mike man: If Craig was complemented by an announcer to go interview riders/management in intervals/between heats then the breaks in action wouldn't be so bore some. A proper presentation: Send the riders around on their bikes to wave to the crowd, or bring the bikes out, then the riders, then let them do a few laps. Simple but it'd make a world of difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SCB Posted March 15, 2014 Report Share Posted March 15, 2014 And within 30 minutes you have 3 of us saying play the right music!It's so simple. As RocketBen says, simply pausing the music and then unpausing it sop the same song plays all night is not right. Pick the right song for the moment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gemini Posted March 15, 2014 Report Share Posted March 15, 2014 (edited) At Weymouth they used to have a running race around the track and there several kids who dragged their parents along so they could take part in that and eventually the parents went to watch the Speedway. I remember watching them at Weymouth. Great fun. Not sure that would be on SCB's list of things to liven up speedway evenings though. Edited March 15, 2014 by Gemini Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SCB Posted March 15, 2014 Report Share Posted March 15, 2014 I remember watching them at Weymouth. Great fun. Not sure that would be on SCB's list of things to liven up speedway evenings though. You'd be surprised. While not my cup of tea, anything that get the kids involved and interested is a great idea. Its certainly better than the nothing at all that they get to do now for 20 minutes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Star Lady Posted March 15, 2014 Report Share Posted March 15, 2014 I remember watching them at Weymouth. Great fun. Not sure that would be on SCB's list of things to liven up speedway evenings though. Something is better than nothing tho It doesn't need to be non stop entertainment. Half the fun is talking to friends between races BUT a mere 15 minutes of action interspersed by banal comments from the bloke on the centre is not what's needed. Neither is the repetition of comments already publicised in social media/ Star etc. Get some interviews preferably with a rider able to string more than 2 words together. Get some interaction from the riders, not just the customary lower arm in the upright position whilst talking to another rider on a victory lap. And as someone else said get some interaction between riders, it doesn't have to be fisticuffs. Bring back some charecter and personality. No one goes to speedway for the music, the interviews or the centre green presenter. People go to see the riders - get those riders involved. Somehow, anyhow it doesn't matter how. They just have to remember that the fans are there to be entertained for up to 2 hours and it's their JOB to do just that and not just ride a bike for 4 minutes. Whether they are GP stars or raw novices it doesn't matter just interact with the crowds. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColinMills Posted March 15, 2014 Report Share Posted March 15, 2014 thought into the right music IS a big part of the night, totally agree with scb posts, and also agree you dont need to be a speedway fan to present..it clearly helps, but for me id much rather listen to jonathan green than nigel pearson, for example Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SCB Posted March 15, 2014 Report Share Posted March 15, 2014 No one goes to speedway for the music, the interviews or the centre green presenter. People go to see the riders - get those riders involved. Somehow, anyhow it doesn't matter how. They just have to remember that the fans are there to be entertained for up to 2 hours and it's their JOB to do just that and not just ride a bike for 4 minutes. Whether they are GP stars or raw novices it doesn't matter just interact with the crowds. Nobody goes to a restaurant for the music either but if you turned up and they were playing some grunge rock metal at full volume you'd probably not stay to find out the meal was the greatest food ever. It's the little things that make the difference. That said, I do agree, the rider can and should do more! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trees Posted March 15, 2014 Report Share Posted March 15, 2014 Come on then let's have a list of good speedway tunes .......... I'll start with Queen - Don't Stop Me Now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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