BWitcher Posted July 28, 2016 Report Share Posted July 28, 2016 Witcher did you ever get a ticket for the Wimbledon Final? i never did went into a ballot every year went to the semi,s one year Cash v Connors. Lendl v Edberg.I see some great matches on court 1 stopped going after Sampras retired then the precedure of tickets and watching certain matches changed. No Sid, I never bothered with the ballots or any of that even though was member of local tennis club for a while. First time went was 1997 when there had been a tonne of rain so they had an extra day's play on the Sunday. I remember sat on the sofa at home, Desmond Lynam at around 7pm announcing the order of play.. My favourite player back then was Mary Pierce and she was playing on Court One so I just said to my Mom, I'm going to Wimbledon. She was "Yeah ok" and carried on reading the paper. Within 45 mins I was at the train station boarding the 8pm train to London Euston.. as the train pulled out I was thinking, what am I doing haha. Got there around midnight and joined the queue, had no sleeping bag or anything like that, so just lay down on pavement and tried to get some sleep. By the morning the line was massive, around 20,000 in it. Got tickets for Court One so was happy. After that went regularly for the next five years or so, always queuing up the night before, was a good atmosphere. The one year they thought I was insane, having queued up all night they come along the line around 7am giving out wristbands and you choose which court you want, centre or No 1. I'd listened to Radio Wimbledon for the Order of Play. Mary Pierce was playing on Court 18, as was Anna Kournikova plus a decent mens match, then a mixed doubles with Pierce in.. the matches on centre and no 1 didn't appeal so I declined the wrist bands. The look the steward gave me was priceless! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve roberts Posted July 28, 2016 Report Share Posted July 28, 2016 (edited) No Sid, I never bothered with the ballots or any of that even though was member of local tennis club for a while. First time went was 1997 when there had been a tonne of rain so they had an extra day's play on the Sunday. I remember sat on the sofa at home, Desmond Lynam at around 7pm announcing the order of play.. My favourite player back then was Mary Pierce and she was playing on Court One so I just said to my Mom, I'm going to Wimbledon. She was "Yeah ok" and carried on reading the paper. Within 45 mins I was at the train station boarding the 8pm train to London Euston.. as the train pulled out I was thinking, what am I doing haha. Got there around midnight and joined the queue, had no sleeping bag or anything like that, so just lay down on pavement and tried to get some sleep. By the morning the line was massive, around 20,000 in it. Got tickets for Court One so was happy. After that went regularly for the next five years or so, always queuing up the night before, was a good atmosphere. The one year they thought I was insane, having queued up all night they come along the line around 7am giving out wristbands and you choose which court you want, centre or No 1. I'd listened to Radio Wimbledon for the Order of Play. Mary Pierce was playing on Court 18, as was Anna Kournikova plus a decent mens match, then a mixed doubles with Pierce in.. the matches on centre and no 1 didn't appeal so I declined the wrist bands. The look the steward gave me was priceless! Good post! Enjoyed reading that! Generally been a good and interesting thread. Edited July 28, 2016 by steve roberts 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
no-brakes-uk Posted July 28, 2016 Report Share Posted July 28, 2016 Regarding the painted programme boards, the guy that used to paint them has a Facebook page with photos of some of the ones he did. https://www.facebook.com/Speedart-Programme-Boards-658127557653527/ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sidney the robin Posted July 28, 2016 Report Share Posted July 28, 2016 You beat me to it... Best i managed was paying on the gate then milling around and eventually queuing and getting into Johnny Mac v Wilander semi with John Amer , or was that with you? No i didnt go to that mate but forgot i did go to the semi in 92 when Johnny Mac tried to roll back the years and beat a young Agassi i was gutted he lost in three.My biggest disappointment in tennis was Mcenroe being two sets up against Lendl in the French Final and he finally lost a hard pill to swallow mate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BWitcher Posted July 28, 2016 Report Share Posted July 28, 2016 (edited) No i didnt go to that mate but forgot i did go to the semi in 92 when Johnny Mac tried to roll back the years and beat a young Agassi i was gutted he lost in three.My biggest disappointment in tennis was Mcenroe being two sets up against Lendl in the French Final and he finally lost a hard pill to swallow mate. Agassi was one of my favourite players back in the day and one of the few top players I never saw play live... although I should have! I'd travelled down and attended and upon leaving rejoined the queue to go in again the next day, got centre court tickets, I think Henman was on first, then Mary Pierce, then Agassi, superb line up. However.. I was surrounded by a loud contingent of Spanish and when Serna defeated Pierce 7-6 7-6 I was not a happy bunny, stormed out of the court, someone asked me if I was going back in as I left I replied no and just gave them my ticket and walked out of the grounds! An hour later, sat on the train I'd calmed down and realised what a pillock I'd been as Agassi was up next. Still, the person who took the ticket was very happy indeed! Steffi Graf was the other major favourite of mine I never saw play live, although when I was on Court 18 she was practicing on the court behind and I spent more time watching that than the game on Court 18, which I completely forget who was playing. One other experience that really opened my eyes as I played a fair bit of tennis back then was when along with a mate headed to the practice courts before play had got underway. The Williams sisters were there. At the practice courts its a wire/mesh fence that you can look through and the players are only a few metres away. The speed and spin they were hitting the ball with was staggering and showed just how far below that standard we were. Kind of gone off on a tangent here though I think! Edited July 28, 2016 by BWitcher Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruno Posted July 28, 2016 Report Share Posted July 28, 2016 you will like this bwitcher, in my youth I thought I was a decent squash player. I played in leagues and tournaments. at one tournament I was playing a lad who was supposed to be decent. however, I won the first game. I could tell I annoyed him cuz he then took his tracksuit off and I never took another point. lol. as you say , a different level. this was still amateur as well. God only knows how good the top players are 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Icicle Posted July 28, 2016 Report Share Posted July 28, 2016 Why is Speedway great? One can see All the action as it happens (as opposed to F1, superbikes, even Footy!). It is all action, even FTG can be exciting as the riders are alway doing something, & it is fast action. I can't remember the rider, but when asked why speedway, he replied that it was an immense Adrenalin rush, etc., also it is SPRINTING ON A BIKE. That is it! 15 Motorised SPRINTS. ( that's how it should be sold 15 Sprints of £15; £1 a race! Sounds good). However that is also it's fault, I know of many who go for a few years, then get "bored" leave but often (if a track nearby), return after a few years. Why? So many races, one sees c200+ races per season, so after say 5 years one has seen 1000 races, so become a bit "saturated" & instead of being excited tend to think of FTG as dull, etc. I am NOT advocating less races of matches! But if more other entertainments or less gaps would improve the experience. Sprints on Bikes! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike.Butler Posted July 28, 2016 Report Share Posted July 28, 2016 the smell the noise the adrenalin a relatively small no. of participants meaning you feel as though you almost know them personally my statistics Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SCB Posted July 28, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 28, 2016 the smell the noise the adrenalin a relatively small no. of participants meaning you feel as though you almost know them personally my statistics Less about the kids running around Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sidney the robin Posted July 28, 2016 Report Share Posted July 28, 2016 (edited) Agassi was one of my favourite players back in the day and one of the few top players I never saw play live... although I should have! I'd travelled down and attended and upon leaving rejoined the queue to go in again the next day, got centre court tickets, I think Henman was on first, then Mary Pierce, then Agassi, superb line up. However.. I was surrounded by a loud contingent of Spanish and when Serna defeated Pierce 7-6 7-6 I was not a happy bunny, stormed out of the court, someone asked me if I was going back in as I left I replied no and just gave them my ticket and walked out of the grounds! An hour later, sat on the train I'd calmed down and realised what a pillock I'd been as Agassi was up next. Still, the person who took the ticket was very happy indeed! Steffi Graf was the other major favourite of mine I never saw play live, although when I was on Court 18 she was practicing on the court behind and I spent more time watching that than the game on Court 18, which I completely forget who was playing. One other experience that really opened my eyes as I played a fair bit of tennis back then was when along with a mate headed to the practice courts before play had got underway. The Williams sisters were there. At the practice courts its a wire/mesh fence that you can look through and the players are only a few metres away. The speed and spin they were hitting the ball with was staggering and showed just how far below that standard we were. Kind of gone off on a tangent here though I think! My wife Witcher went to alot of Tennis more than me, she saw Curran beat Mcenroe which then was a huge shock .Agassi was a great player Sampras with Courier as well were real players the USA were powerful then.Witcher do you think Wimbledon has changed? as in who does well style of play., For me growing up if you had a mega serve you were nearly halfway there, now that has gone there are now great returners of the ball.ISNER as a example would of been better in other eras i am convinced of that saying that he has his limitations being a big man movement wise. Edited July 28, 2016 by Sidney the robin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve roberts Posted July 28, 2016 Report Share Posted July 28, 2016 I used to get excited attending the official pre-season practice watching the riders go thru' their paces and anticipation was high for the new campaign! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waiheke1 Posted July 28, 2016 Report Share Posted July 28, 2016 Sid are you feeling OK? Just you've exchanged half a dozen posts with Witcher and you haven't called him a pr1ck once? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vince Posted July 29, 2016 Report Share Posted July 29, 2016 Proof of how exciting Speedway is in comparison to other sports. Even Witcher and Sid can't fall out over something as boring as Tennis 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sidney the robin Posted July 29, 2016 Report Share Posted July 29, 2016 (edited) Sid are you feeling OK? Just you've exchanged half a dozen posts with Witcher and you haven't called him a pr1ck once?Why would i the man is a gentleman😄😜 Edited July 29, 2016 by Sidney the robin 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FAST GATER Posted July 29, 2016 Report Share Posted July 29, 2016 Agassi was one of my favourite players back in the day and one of the few top players I never saw play live... although I should have! I'd travelled down and attended and upon leaving rejoined the queue to go in again the next day, got centre court tickets, I think Henman was on first, then Mary Pierce, then Agassi, superb line up. However.. I was surrounded by a loud contingent of Spanish and when Serna defeated Pierce 7-6 7-6 I was not a happy bunny, stormed out of the court, someone asked me if I was going back in as I left I replied no and just gave them my ticket and walked out of the grounds! An hour later, sat on the train I'd calmed down and realised what a pillock I'd been as Agassi was up next. Still, the person who took the ticket was very happy indeed! Steffi Graf was the other major favourite of mine I never saw play live, although when I was on Court 18 she was practicing on the court behind and I spent more time watching that than the game on Court 18, which I completely forget who was playing. One other experience that really opened my eyes as I played a fair bit of tennis back then was when along with a mate headed to the practice courts before play had got underway. The Williams sisters were there. At the practice courts its a wire/mesh fence that you can look through and the players are only a few metres away. The speed and spin they were hitting the ball with was staggering and showed just how far below that standard we were. Kind of gone off on a tangent here though I think! I have been to about 18 mens finals ( my brother was an LTA concillor ) IMO the two stand out player were/are Sampras and Federer ,it is no accident the number of titles they have between them and Roger shaves it by the sheer grace he plays with .In recent times I have only missed the finals because a certain Scotsman was in them and I refuse to watch him under any circumstances because his contempt for the English which he barely conceals . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spencebel Posted July 29, 2016 Report Share Posted July 29, 2016 As a child going to watch my team BV at Hyde Rd..(the place to be).Last meeting of the season all riders ligned up across from the main stand,and said a few words , and esp if they said See you next year.. Now with silly rules ,most teams are never the same two yrs running.......... .Also loads of things to buy in the track shop, always new stuff every week. Wooden rattles.. World finals at Wembley. The men with their big display boards with every rider rosettes. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FAST GATER Posted July 29, 2016 Report Share Posted July 29, 2016 (edited) For me the racing is almost everything, I've no real interest in the rules (apart from the ones about machinery), don't care much about teams, actually prefer individual meetings and never fill in a programme. Was a bit different when I was a kid in that I had a team but now although I usually want one team to win more than the other I'd prefer good racing to the right team winning every time. The only reason it's almost and not all is that I also have an interest in the machinery and the way it's set up. 4 blokes with big balls on a good track is unbeatable entertainment in my view. In my own case I love the starts I believe they are as entertaining as the races and love the different methods and ways in which each rider sets himself up ,from my own point of view this has been wrecked by the strict and IMO boring robotic rules implimented today .I believe Colin Mererdith is to blame sorry one of the main reasons that we have gate and go s/way today would not mind but if my memory serves me correctly he was at best a very average rider perhaps this is his revenge on Mauger & Co . Edited July 29, 2016 by FAST GATER 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve roberts Posted July 29, 2016 Report Share Posted July 29, 2016 (edited) Internationals between England and the USA and Denmark....or going further back Sweden. Those badges with year bars. Going into a last heat decider and winning. Memories of many with Hans Nielsen and his partner achieving same on many such occasions. In my own case I love the starts I believe they are as entertaining as the races and love the different methods and ways in which each rider sets himself up ,from my own point of view this has been wrecked by the strict and IMO boring robotic rules implimented today .I believe Colin Mererdith is to blame sorry one of the main reasons that we have gate and go s/way today would not mind but if my memory serves me correctly he was at best a very average rider perhaps this is his revenge on Mauger & Co Remember when said Colin Meredith appeared in a second half race at Oxford under the name of Tony Brooklister. Personally I used to enjoy the tactics at the gate with riders trying to out wit their opponent but can understand why the no touching tape ruling was brought in. Edited July 29, 2016 by steve roberts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FAST GATER Posted July 29, 2016 Report Share Posted July 29, 2016 Internationals between England and the USA and Denmark....or going further back Sweden. Those badges with year bars. Going into a last heat decider and winning. Memories of many with Hans Nielsen and his partner achieving same on many such occasions. Remember when said Colin Meredith appeared in a second half race at Oxford under the name of Tony Brooklister. Personally I used to enjoy the tactics at the gate with riders trying to out wit their opponent but can understand why the no touching tape ruling was brought in. Imo the rule was brought in to try and level the field( in fact it had the oposite effect because top riders would often get caught out) because some felt that Ivan &co would not win as many races as they did but cream will always float to the top and Ivan ,Ole and the rest would have adapted because were great riders . 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sidney the robin Posted July 29, 2016 Report Share Posted July 29, 2016 I have been to about 18 mens finals ( my brother was an LTA concillor ) IMO the two stand out player were/are Sampras and Federer ,it is no accident the number of titles they have between them and Roger shaves it by the sheer grace he plays with .In recent times I have only missed the finals because a certain Scotsman was in them and I refuse to watch him under any circumstances because his contempt for the English which he barely conceals .You never see Laver live in his prime then Gater? Sampras is the best player i have ever seen live would still have Laver at no1 though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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