Where Did All This Arguing Happen Before The Internet?

[hammer1969]

A rather simplistic, lazy analysis.

 

I've been around a few years and thankfully despite this forum still keen to see as much speedway as I can.

 

I also know that the sport in Britain is in a far worse state than it was when I started going. Then we had nearly 40 tracks, full seasons running from March to October, doubling-up restricted to young, developing talent (up, never down), a healthy supply of young developing British riders, a sport in which league racing was the priority and individual championships a great 'extra'. Promoters could stage entertaining open meetings, challenges, pairs and individual meetings without the lazy sneer of 'meaningless' (All sport is essentially, meaningless but I suspect philosophy is lost on the BSF).

 

Guests were a necessary if unfortunate need but not out of control, riders were committed to the British leagues and they stayed long enough to build bonds with the supporters who could identify properly with their teams and weren't all treating their appearances for the team as just another pay day.

 

Yes we had bad racing (but at least we saw far more reward for riders prepared to attack on the outside), bad weather and bad promoters. We also had several tracks in London - proper stadia with facilities. Now in that area there's.....Arena Essex.

 

Sorry, I'm just an old fart with nothing to contribute, am I? 44 years involvement as a fan, writer, broadcaster and official so obviously I know as much as an ignorant loudmouth on the terraces screaming at riders who can't possibly hear him then retreating to his pc to vent his spleen on here where he can force people to hear him from the safety of a false name.

 

The sport's disorganised, totally lacking in vision or intelligence with riders racing spinning machines running at full throttle on tracks whose only significant developments have been the highly vital air fences, separation of lighting poles from fences and the less-desirable decline in the potential for marketable racing due to excessive cost-cutting on track preparation.

 

The arguing is heightened by the fact that the sport corporately is unhappy and struggling to survive and that passes through into the remaining supporters.

 

So many people have given up on speedway in those four and a half decades and it would be fascinating to hear their reasons from them directly. Of course they'd be written-off as 'moaners' with those lacking in the foresight to know that the only way to get the sport in Britain back on a healthy footing is to learn from the catastrophic errors of too many recent years.

 

Of course we can just dismiss it all as moaning and nostalgia and focus on just bailing out the wreck and hoping for the best.

 

In my youth, living in the south east I could, and often did watch speedway up to seven nights a week at tracks such as Hackney, Wimbledon, White City and the surrounding tracks like Rayleigh/Rye House, Crayford, Reading or even Canterbury on a Saturday. Now I'd have Rye House and Arena Essex. You don't need rosy spectacles to know which era was better.

 

We can't recreate the past but we can build a future that's closer to it than the overpriced disgrace that calls itself speedway now.

 

And yet I still love it, I suppose in the same way a parent loves a child who's gone off the rails.

 

Anyway, this is all rather irrelevant right now given the shocking reminder in Poland of how dangerous the sport has become once more. Whatever his past errors I hope and pray that Darcy Ward recovers to full health.

 

I'll leave you all to have a good argument and blame everyone over 40.

 

A rather simplistic, lazy analysis.

 

I've been around a few years and thankfully despite this forum still keen to see as much speedway as I can.

 

I also know that the sport in Britain is in a far worse state than it was when I started going. Then we had nearly 40 tracks, full seasons running from March to October, doubling-up restricted to young, developing talent (up, never down), a healthy supply of young developing British riders, a sport in which league racing was the priority and individual championships a great 'extra'. Promoters could stage entertaining open meetings, challenges, pairs and individual meetings without the lazy sneer of 'meaningless' (All sport is essentially, meaningless but I suspect philosophy is lost on the BSF).

 

Guests were a necessary if unfortunate need but not out of control, riders were committed to the British leagues and they stayed long enough to build bonds with the supporters who could identify properly with their teams and weren't all treating their appearances for the team as just another pay day.

 

Yes we had bad racing (but at least we saw far more reward for riders prepared to attack on the outside), bad weather and bad promoters. We also had several tracks in London - proper stadia with facilities. Now in that area there's.....Arena Essex.

 

Sorry, I'm just an old fart with nothing to contribute, am I? 44 years involvement as a fan, writer, broadcaster and official so obviously I know as much as an ignorant loudmouth on the terraces screaming at riders who can't possibly hear him then retreating to his pc to vent his spleen on here where he can force people to hear him from the safety of a false name.

 

The sport's disorganised, totally lacking in vision or intelligence with riders racing spinning machines running at full throttle on tracks whose only significant developments have been the highly vital air fences, separation of lighting poles from fences and the less-desirable decline in the potential for marketable racing due to excessive cost-cutting on track preparation.

 

The arguing is heightened by the fact that the sport corporately is unhappy and struggling to survive and that passes through into the remaining supporters.

 

So many people have given up on speedway in those four and a half decades and it would be fascinating to hear their reasons from them directly. Of course they'd be written-off as 'moaners' with those lacking in the foresight to know that the only way to get the sport in Britain back on a healthy footing is to learn from the catastrophic errors of too many recent years.

 

Of course we can just dismiss it all as moaning and nostalgia and focus on just bailing out the wreck and hoping for the best.

 

In my youth, living in the south east I could, and often did watch speedway up to seven nights a week at tracks such as Hackney, Wimbledon, White City and the surrounding tracks like Rayleigh/Rye House, Crayford, Reading or even Canterbury on a Saturday. Now I'd have Rye House and Arena Essex. You don't need rosy spectacles to know which era was better.

 

We can't recreate the past but we can build a future that's closer to it than the overpriced disgrace that calls itself speedway now.

 

And yet I still love it, I suppose in the same way a parent loves a child who's gone off the rails.

 

Anyway, this is all rather irrelevant right now given the shocking reminder in Poland of how dangerous the sport has become once more. Whatever his past errors I hope and pray that Darcy Ward recovers to full health.

 

I'll leave you all to have a good argument and blame everyone over 40.

A rather simplistic, lazy analysis. I've been around a few years and thankfully despite this forum still keen to see as much speedway as I can. I also know that the sport in Britain is in a far worse state than it was when I started going. Then we had nearly 40 tracks, full seasons running from March to October, doubling-up restricted to young, developing talent (up, never down), a healthy supply of young developing British riders, a sport in which league racing was the priority and individual championships a great 'extra'. Promoters could stage entertaining open meetings, challenges, pairs and individual meetings without the lazy sneer of 'meaningless' (All sport is essentially, meaningless but I suspect philosophy is lost on the BSF). Guests were a necessary if unfortunate need but not out of control, riders were committed to the British leagues and they stayed long enough to build bonds with the supporters who could identify properly with their teams and weren't all treating their appearances for the team as just another pay day. Yes we had bad racing (but at least we saw far more reward for riders prepared to attack on the outside), bad weather and bad promoters. We also had several tracks in London - proper stadia with facilities. Now in that area there's.....Arena Essex. Sorry, I'm just an old fart with nothing to contribute, am I? 44 years involvement as a fan, writer, broadcaster and official so obviously I know as much as an ignorant loudmouth on the terraces screaming at riders who can't possibly hear him then retreating to his pc to vent his spleen on here where he can force people to hear him from the safety of a false name. The sport's disorganised, totally lacking in vision or intelligence with riders racing spinning machines running at full throttle on tracks whose only significant developments have been the highly vital air fences, separation of lighting poles from fences and the less-desirable decline in the potential for marketable racing due to excessive cost-cutting on track preparation. The arguing is heightened by the fact that the sport corporately is unhappy and struggling to survive and that passes through into the remaining supporters. So many people have given up on speedway in those four and a half decades and it would be fascinating to hear their reasons from them directly. Of course they'd be written-off as 'moaners' with those lacking in the foresight to know that the only way to get the sport in Britain back on a healthy footing is to learn from the catastrophic errors of too many recent years. Of course we can just dismiss it all as moaning and nostalgia and focus on just bailing out the wreck and hoping for the best. In my youth, living in the south east I could, and often did watch speedway up to seven nights a week at tracks such as Hackney, Wimbledon, White City and the surrounding tracks like Rayleigh/Rye House, Crayford, Reading or even Canterbury on a Saturday. Now I'd have Rye House and Arena Essex. You don't need rosy spectacles to know which era was better. We can't recreate the past but we can build a future that's closer to it than the overpriced disgrace that calls itself speedway now. And yet I still love it, I suppose in the same way a parent loves a child who's gone off the rails. Anyway, this is all rather irrelevant right now given the shocking reminder in Poland of how dangerous the sport has become once more. Whatever his past errors I hope and pray that Darcy Ward recovers to full health. I'll leave you all to have a good argument and blame everyone over 40.