Referees And The Speedway Star

[Mark]

In this weeks Star Peter Oakes reports about Dale Entwhistle quitting the sport as a referee. Plenty of reasons why he has quit but he says "riders don't appreciate we don't make the rules we just enforce them"

 

In the Sheffield v Rye report the Star's own reporter Paul Rickett complains of a 'jobsworth decisions from the referee's box". He gives two examples where the ref excluded a rider for breaking a rule. Rickett doesn't say the decisions were wrong so I'll assume they were made correctly but he's not happy about the ref enforcing them.

 

If the trade mag can't back a ref for doing his job correctly then we are in the mire. Its a pathetic piece of reporting.

Edited September 12, 2016 by marky

[waiheke1]

Looking at updates, I assume the issue was heat 4 where 2 Rye riders managed to get themselves excluded for riding across the centre green on the way to the tapes.

I saw the same thing at a meeting in nz this summer.

How you can blame the ref, and not the brain dead actions of the riders, I font know.

But agree with the op, that is poor from the Star

[The White Knight]

Looking at updates, I assume the issue was heat 4 where 2 Rye riders managed to get themselves excluded for riding across the centre green on the way to the tapes.

I saw the same thing at a meeting in nz this summer.

How you can blame the ref, and not the brain dead actions of the riders, I font know.

But agree with the op, that is poor from the Star

Do the Riders know of the Rule disallowing riding on the Centre Green? If the answer to that question is YES - then the Referee was correct. That is surely what Referees are there for - to administer the Rules. If Riders (or Reporters) don't like it then TOUGH.

 

Them's the Rules folks.

 

A bit like me with Double Points really.........

Edited September 12, 2016 by The White Knight

[woofers]

Just read the report referred to.

Looks like riders and team managers didn't know the rules.

I tend to agree that some rules are confusing because they get "added to" instead of rewritten when they get changed, however it should not be that difficult for riders and team managers to understand them - they can be easily found and the chapters are clearly headed into applicable responsibilities, with changes to previous years in bold type. Surely one of the first things you do either as a rider, or any official, is understand the rules you are operating to ?

I don't agree that referees apply all the rules all the time, otherwise some meetings just wouldn't run - how many times have you seen the mandatory Countdown Clock at TV meetings (rule 15.2.4), and why do so many riders ignore rule 12.4 (necks must be covered)?

Woffinden falls foul of rule 10.5 (name on seat or mudguard), and every time an Elite League riding comes out on someone else's bike he probably breaks rule 10.28.

I'm not suggesting these rules are good and have to enforced, but rules, like law, that aren't or can't, be enforced are usually bad rules / laws.

[foamfence]

It doesn't matter whether the riders knew the rules or not, you stand in front of a Judge and say you didn't know the law......It's their job to know.

[Humphrey Appleby]

A surprising number of officials in sport don't have a great grasp of the rules, although in fairness it's difficult to keep up with some of them in speedway. Reading the judicial reports from motorsports federations is comically funny sometimes, and quite often the officials make themselves look foolish when a competitor appeals against a decision they've made.

 

Unfortunately though, this is just reality and regardless of how good or bad officials might be, they're also necessary to the running of a meeting. It's also harder than most fans (and evidently journalists) think to judge racing incidents - there are actually a lot of things to think about and observe beyond two competitors racing side-by-side, and it's well known that human beings can only process a limited number of things at once which is why you sometimes see GP drivers (and referees) making what seem to be apparently ridiculous mistakes. The same with football which nowadays has professional referees, but who still make mistakes.

 

The bottom line is that just as competitors make mistakes because they're human, so do officials. I have less tolerance for officials that can't be bothered to acquaint themselves with the rules or who are unnecessarily jobsworth'ish, but I've every sympathy for officials who just make honest mistakes of judgement.

 

I've also occasionally been asked to clerk motor sports events and whilst you do get paid, it's basically expenses and a bit of beer money. You're not going to make any sort of living unless you're doing Formula 1, and even then probably not.

[E I Addio]

It is not the job of the Speedway Star to back (or otherwise) the referee in a match report.

 

Reporters should report news and not their own opinions.

 

The Star should have edited this report to make it a factual report of the meeting.

 

I don't care a jot what the Sheffield reporter thinks. He needs to jo back to journalism school and relearn the trade.

I totally agree. The whole report was poorly written but going by what the reporter wrote it's difficult to see what the ref did wrong. Amazing that Paul Ricket blames the ref for enforcing the rules, when he should be blaming above all others the team managers.

Incidently, the follwing report of the NL match between Isle of Wight and Eastbourne, written by the BSF's own Bryn Williams is an excellent unbiased report that tells the reader what he wants to know. Wel done Bryn!

[TheReturn]

If the trade mag can't back a ref for doing his job correctly then we are in the mire. Its a pathetic piece of reporting.

And not helped by a certain speedway commentator blaming ref's for riders jumping by constantly banging on about ref's holding tapes. They're not, riders are just jumping too much.

[moxey63]

Any chance we may play Unsatisfactory Start Speedway Bingo one evening, where players name six heats of the 15 which the race will be restarted?

 

Give us something interesting to do...

 

This is cack.

 

And before I get shot down in flames... have you seen the crowd for the top of the table clash? I don't mean the photographers on centrestage, the few that have ventured to the plush new stadium, that would be the dawn of Belle Vue's rebirth?

 

Nigel Pearson has just said they'll come out for the Play-offs (think he meant crowd), but what is the point of a nice crowd for one match... at the cost of the qualifying matches' attendances?

 

If this Belle Vue v Poole thing was the normal match pre-Play-Offs, the crowd would have been much much bigger, as both sides would have needed a win and not already been in the P/Os, which renders this top of the table encounter nothing more than... nothing.

 

No one will persuade me that the few bumper paynights Play-Offs produce makes up the numbers that stay away during the meaningless qualifiers.

Edited September 12, 2016 by moxey63

[ch958]

Do the Riders know of the Rule disallowing riding on the Centre Green? If the answer to that question is YES - then the Referee was correct. That is surely what Referees are there for - to administer the Rules. If Riders (or Reporters) don't like it then TOUGH.

 

Them's the Rules folks.

 

A bit like me with Double Points really.........

 

 

its their job to ensure they know the rules

[Trees]

Any chance we may play Unsatisfactory Start Speedway Bingo one evening, where players name six heats of the 15 which the race will be restarted?

 

Give us something interesting to do...

 

This is cack.

 

And before I get shot down in flames... have you seen the crowd for the top of the table clash? I don't mean the photographers on centrestage, the few that have ventured to the plush new stadium, that would be the dawn of Belle Vue's rebirth?

 

Nigel Pearson has just said they'll come out for the Play-offs (think he meant crowd), but what is the point of a nice crowd for one match... at the cost of the qualifying matches' attendances?

 

If this Belle Vue v Poole thing was the normal match pre-Play-Offs, the crowd would have been much much bigger, as both sides would have needed a win and not already been in the P/Os, which renders this top of the table encounter nothing more than... nothing.

 

No one will persuade me that the few bumper paynights Play-Offs produce makes up the numbers that stay away during the meaningless qualifiers.

BV probably charge too much to sit in their posh Grandstand .... there were a lot more people in the cheap back straight stand lol

[E I Addio]

I have heard that Mick Bates has retired . Anybody know if this is true ? I hope it isn't. The sport can't afford to be losing blokes like Mick.

[Tsunami]

I have heard that Mick Bates has retired . Anybody know if this is true ? I hope it isn't. The sport can't afford to be losing blokes like Mick.

I think I saw him at the PLRC at Sheffield last Sunday. Don't know what job he was doing, but he looked 'official'.

[Gemini]

I have heard that Mick Bates has retired . Anybody know if this is true ? I hope it isn't. The sport can't afford to be losing blokes like Mick.

Is he the ref that David Hemsley had his little disagreement with at Leicester?

[spin king]

I think that you had to be there to see the incident involving Leigh Lanham.

 

The rules state that riders are not allowed to ride across the infield before the start of the heat.

 

Yes he did put the bike onto the infield but it was barely a bike length that he was on the infield.

 

Very harsh decision as especially earlier in the season at Scunthorpe I saw a Scunthorpe rider ride his bike on the infield to get to gate travelling from one side of the track to the other.

 

Maybe if referee's were far more consistent in their interpretations of the rules fans and journo's might not be so critical of them.

[Mark]

I think that you had to be there to see the incident involving Leigh Lanham.

 

The rules state that riders are not allowed to ride across the infield before the start of the heat.

 

Yes he did put the bike onto the infield but it was barely a bike length that he was on the infield.

 

Very harsh decision as especially earlier in the season at Scunthorpe I saw a Scunthorpe rider ride his bike on the infield to get to gate travelling from one side of the track to the other.

 

Maybe if referee's were far more consistent in their interpretations of the rules fans and journo's might not be so critical of them.

So he went on to the infield and was excluded. The ref was right and followed the rule.

[June01]

Doesn't matter how we or the riders interpret the rules, the ref's decision is final. Right or wrong, the whole point of having them is to be the adjudicator, and. although we might not always agree with it, we should accept their decision.

[Blackadder]

If the Referee saw the incident, action has to be taken. The opposing Team Manager will more than likely be on the phone otherwise.

There was also a delay in heat 4, when Rye House tried to do a reserve switch for their no. 6 to replace no. 7, which is not allowed in the PL.