bill94d Posted January 7, 2015 Report Share Posted January 7, 2015 Time for a CHR rant. I expect to get some brickbats thrown in my direction but maybe 1 or 2 likes too. I do not like the World Championship qualification system. With 8 seeded riders and 4 hand-picked by the puppet-masters there are only 3 places available for every other rider in the whole speedway world. Under the old system everyone had a chance to qualify from the reigning world champion to the lowest scoring reserve in the bottom-placed Provincial League side. I am not happy that the top points scorer in a GP is not necessarily the winner, How is it right that a rider can score a 15 point maximum yet the rider finishing 8th. could win the GP. I would be mightily p****d off if I was the best rider on the night but fell in my semi. I do not like play-offs. West Ham won the inaugral British League in 1965. Had they been beaten in a play-off by the team finishing 4th. my comments would have stripped wallpaper. During the 60's and 70's my favourite meeting of the year was the Internationale, with a gleaming new bike for the winner. Had I been a rider and scored a flawless 5-ride maximum only to see someone I had beaten ride off with my bike because he beat me in a ride-off, I would have been livid. In all competitions, Team or Individual the winner is the winner. The man with the most points or the team finishing top,,,simples!. I have had a rant along similar lines on another topic. We pay a heavy price for this GP thing. Top riders avoid our EL ,the latest being Tai. At least in the old days every rider had a go at the World Championship, and the fans got to see their favourites against the big boys. Play offs are a money making sham. Win the league and you win the league. Simples! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
customhouseregular Posted January 7, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 7, 2015 BUT without the desire to be the very best, which we know he can be, he will never have the recognition that someone with his talent deserves. Very disappointing... I must admit I don't understand this opting out situation. Did Craven, Briggs, Fundin ever choose not to compete?. I doubt it as the desire to be World Champion trumps all other considerations. I'm sure this went for every rider who ever entered a World championship round. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruiser McHuge Posted January 7, 2015 Report Share Posted January 7, 2015 (edited) I think the GP series is a massive step forward from the old World Finals, or should I say what the World Finals had become. The World Finals were never the best 16 riders in the world anyway but there is no doubt that they were superb dramatic entertainment in their day and on mostt occasions produce a worthy world champion.......but there is no doubt they had faded and the last couple were shadows of what they were...people look back at the heydays of Wembley, Gothenburg and Katowice but. The latter day ones were really nothing like that, I think to move with times and to try and generate sponsorship and outside interest then a GP was and is necessary and unfortunately the World Final had had its day.....I think from the outside they look very professional and promote an excellent image for the sport. As for the points system I have no problem with it...I think it's good that a rider winning the final actually wins the GP...it's less confusing for viewers and ensures it builds to a big finish...I also think it's good that a rider not winning the final is not penalised by losing their race points gained on the night....it's the best of both worlds and does mean every race means something. As regard to the line ups...well there isn't really a rider that you could honestly say should be in there who isn't so if you're good enough you tend to get in so the champion is always a worthy winner....Emil Sayfutinov is another story but that's his decision and not the GP' s fault. Now play offs......I am a big fan of play offs in sports...and in theory I am in speedway as I think it gives clubs plenty to race for and plenty on a meeting for fans when clubs are still fighting for play off spots where a meeting might have been run of the mill with nothing at stake...I think it keeps seasons alive......my concern with speedway is that in other sports play offs are contested by the same group of players who have competed through the season whereby in speedway they are often contested on wet , almost u rideable tracks and with teams sometimes unrecognisable from the team that actually got them there....a team winning a one off match with 3 or 4 guests just doesn't feel right and can take gloss off the win....so I'm not sur play offs are totally right for speedway on the track...but in principle I like the idea of them. ....and I'm not convinced riders would flock back to Britain if there were no GP.s....the biggest factor there was the growth of the foreign leagues, especially Poland...Britain would still be behind Poland and Sweden for a rider planning a schedule Edited January 7, 2015 by Bruiser McHuge 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
customhouseregular Posted January 7, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 7, 2015 Hard to argue with you McH. My last World Final was 1981. I saw very little League speedway post the demise of West Ham. Conradictory I know but I love watching the GP's. My concern is that the series is largely a "closed shop" whilst the pre 1995 system was much more open. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruiser McHuge Posted January 7, 2015 Report Share Posted January 7, 2015 Hard to argue with you McH. My last World Final was 1981. I saw very little League speedway post the demise of West Ham. Conradictory I know but I love watching the GP's. My concern is that the series is largely a "closed shop" whilst the pre 1995 system was much more open. Yes I was at Wembley in 81....loved that.....now compare that to say Havvy's win...no disrespect to Havvy who was a worthy champion that whole year but the event itself and the media coverage was poor......after Wembley I went to 83 in Norden, 84 in Gothenburg , 85 in Bradford, 87 in Amsterdam , 88 in Vojens and 90 in Bradford....I loved them all but each year the media coverage went less and it dipped further as we got into the 90's ...I think a GP had to happen . 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
customhouseregular Posted January 7, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 7, 2015 You can please some of the people all of the time, all of the people some of the time but you can't please all of the people all of the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waiheke1 Posted January 7, 2015 Report Share Posted January 7, 2015 You are not doing your 'I have no Poole paranoia bias' argument any favours by posting that comment in the SGP and SWC section!!! On this occasion I dont see how gavans post can be seen as anti poole? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BWitcher Posted January 7, 2015 Report Share Posted January 7, 2015 I must admit I don't understand this opting out situation. Did Craven, Briggs, Fundin ever choose not to compete?. I doubt it as the desire to be World Champion trumps all other considerations. I'm sure this went for every rider who ever entered a World championship round. In answer to your earlier question... He has opted out and doesn't have the desire to be World Champion. Thus he is a non-entity at this point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveLyric2 Posted January 7, 2015 Report Share Posted January 7, 2015 lol. see i can be nice about Poole when its deserved! just a shame the odd few cant ...but still irrelevant in this section. On this occasion I dont see how gavans post can be seen as anti poole? Didn't say it was 'anti-Poole' just inappropriate in the SGP/SWC section!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waiheke1 Posted January 7, 2015 Report Share Posted January 7, 2015 ...but still irrelevant in this section. Didn't say it was 'anti-Poole' just inappropriate in the SGP/SWC section!!!!! even though the OP introduced playoffs to the discussion, and gavan mentioned poole (and other teams) only with regards to the playoffs? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gavan Posted January 7, 2015 Report Share Posted January 7, 2015 You are not doing your 'I have no Poole paranoia bias' argument any favours by posting that comment in the SGP and SWC section!!! well the person who set up the thread, customhouseregular, talks in his opening post of likes and dislikes of the play offs starman also comments on the play offs and so do others. yet when I comment on them and in fact show no sign of anything anti poole in my post you choose to mention my comment and nobody elses. correct the league play offs are not in the world cup but the thread starter includes them so for once concentrate on topic instead of trying to throw another anti poole cheap shot hoping for others to join in, when quite clearly you are wrong 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveLyric2 Posted January 8, 2015 Report Share Posted January 8, 2015 (edited) For the second time I have not said your post was anti-Poole. But I and others do believe you have a slightly weird obsession with all things Poole - for or against - so such a specifically worded post stuck out when I read it. (Incidentally I now have you on ignore,(one of my likes) so only see your posts when others quote/refer/reply to them - usually when they are Poole-related (one of my dislikes).) Reading the opening post again - the bulk of it is about the World Championships, GPs and the Internationale individual meetings - there is only passing reference to UK play-offs, which I confess I missed initially. Edited January 8, 2015 by Skidder1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theknow 2 Posted January 8, 2015 Report Share Posted January 8, 2015 You're not the only one. Emil Sayfutdinov thinks the same and for the 2nd year running will not compete for the World title. The Russian rider believes that he is not adequately prepared to battle for the GP medals at the world championships. - "The Grand Prix is a special game. To ride in it you have to have arranged everything accordingly. This applies to mental issues, logistics and equipment base. To obtain a good results, tone also needs a bit of luck. GP cycle is difficult to compare with the SEC, where there are only four rounds. The Grand Prix have twelve of them and one practically has to be focused just on them running from one GP competition to another. For me, it's too tiring. When I competed in it, there was always a moment when I was sick of seeing a motorcycle. Last season was different for me. I was focused only on the league and on the SEC appearances. I had more time for myself, I was able to relax between events. Thanks to this I managed to get satisfying results, and being on a bike brought me only joy - said Emil Sayfutdinov in an interview with the Polish newspaper "Glos Wielkopolski". He is all about money and had no desire to be World Champion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dabbsjoe Posted January 8, 2015 Report Share Posted January 8, 2015 I like the playoffs, but I think the organisers could do something about the league that is maybe similar to the nfl way of doing things in that the league is split into 2 divisions (north and south perhaps) and that top 2 from each division progress to the playoffs. would have been ideal a few seasons ago when we had that stupid fixture list where you race some teams four times but some only twice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The White Knight Posted January 8, 2015 Report Share Posted January 8, 2015 Time for a CHR rant. I expect to get some brickbats thrown in my direction but maybe 1 or 2 likes too. I do not like the World Championship qualification system. With 8 seeded riders and 4 hand-picked by the puppet-masters there are only 3 places available for every other rider in the whole speedway world. Under the old system everyone had a chance to qualify from the reigning world champion to the lowest scoring reserve in the bottom-placed Provincial League side. I am not happy that the top points scorer in a GP is not necessarily the winner, How is it right that a rider can score a 15 point maximum yet the rider finishing 8th. could win the GP. I would be mightily p****d off if I was the best rider on the night but fell in my semi. I do not like play-offs. West Ham won the inaugral British League in 1965. Had they been beaten in a play-off by the team finishing 4th. my comments would have stripped wallpaper. During the 60's and 70's my favourite meeting of the year was the Internationale, with a gleaming new bike for the winner. Had I been a rider and scored a flawless 5-ride maximum only to see someone I had beaten ride off with my bike because he beat me in a ride-off, I would have been livid. In all competitions, Team or Individual the winner is the winner. The man with the most points or the team finishing top,,,simples!. To absolutely nobodies surprise I totally agree with your 'rant' CHR. I am anti the GPs and BSI as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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