World Championship Pairs

[IainB]

1 minute ago, MattK said:

I work two doors down from IMG. I might go there on Monday with my cost saving idea for their speedway coverage.

perhaps you can suggest turning the picture off as well 

[Star Lady]

8 minutes ago, iainb said:

Star Lady... you're paying for the football

No I'm paying to watch the speedway, which is broadcast by BT. 

football dictating the cost has nothing whatsoever to do with the quality or otherwise of speedway commentary. Nice try at diversion tactics tho

[IainB]

4 minutes ago, Star Lady said:

No I'm paying to watch the speedway, which is broadcast by BT. 

football dictating the cost has nothing whatsoever to do with the quality or otherwise of speedway commentary. Nice try at diversion tactics tho

If that's what you want to believe and it makes you feel better, you go with it... I suggest you'd be better off getting a VPN and watching the free coverage streamed online. Also you misspelled "tho" it should be "though" or if you are going to abbreviate it use an apostrophe... I suggest you are sacked or at least banned from the forum!  

Edited June 3, 2018 by iainb

[stevebrum]

23 minutes ago, MattK said:

How so? Speedway is four blokes going round in a circle. How much commentary does it really need? In my opinion less is more and I actually watched last night's meeting on my laptop without the sound. It didn't impact my enjoyment and I didn't have to put up with the commentary so many seem to be complaining about.

The problem is new people have been tried several times ........ and they fail miserably because of lack of knowledge of the sport. It’s a total embarrassment.

only this season Eurosport started their Polish coverage with a ‘new’ commentator who lasted a couple of weeks because his commentary was beyond shocking and clueless. Thankfully Dave Goddard is now doing it who is a speedway fan.

speedway fans commentating is the only credible way. 

Im not ashamed to admit I’m a fan of Nigel and Kelvin and find their excitement and exuberance exciting and sums up our sport perfectly.

Also what I’ve found in speedway is that fans like to moan about everything and anything. If there is a better commentator(s) out there put their names forward to BT as that’s the only way of making changes happen.

our sport is too niche for any recognised commentator to do a credible job, facts that have been proven by those who have tried and failed.

long like our current commentary team, and that includes Dave Goddard on other channels.

[Hamish McRaker]

1 hour ago, paulboy said:

The beef is he’s a crap commentator that does nothing to enhance my enjoyment, quite the opposite

I think Murray Walker might be available

[Fromafar]

I think Nig is very knowledge and knows his stuff,but he just repeats himself it too often.Needs to take a more measured approach even if it means saying nothing at times,and stop shouting!!

[Star Lady]

Just now, Fromafar said:

I think Nig is very knowledge and knows his stuff,but he just repeats himself it too often.Needs to take a more measured approach even if it means saying nothing at times,and stop shouting!!

Agree totally

[IainB]

4 minutes ago, Fromafar said:

but he just repeats himself it too often.

I can agree with that, but it must be difficult when there's nothing worth speaking about happening on track. Some time I do wish NP & KT would talk a little more in depth about the sport during the duller moments, talking about the machinery and engine tuners a little more...

The shouting I can deal with when it is genuine excitement

There I've done some criticism and offered an alternative

Edited June 3, 2018 by iainb

[paulboy]

17 minutes ago, stevebrum said:

The problem is new people have been tried several times ........ and they fail miserably because of lack of knowledge of the sport. It’s a total embarrassment.

only this season Eurosport started their Polish coverage with a ‘new’ commentator who lasted a couple of weeks because his commentary was beyond shocking and clueless. Thankfully Dave Goddard is now doing it who is a speedway fan.

speedway fans commentating is the only credible way. 

Im not ashamed to admit I’m a fan of Nigel and Kelvin and find their excitement and exuberance exciting and sums up our sport perfectly.

Also what I’ve found in speedway is that fans like to moan about everything and anything. If there is a better commentator(s) out there put their names forward to BT as that’s the only way of making changes happen.

our sport is too niche for any recognised commentator to do a credible job, facts that have been proven by those who have tried and failed.

long like our current commentary team, and that includes Dave Goddard on other channels.

I agree, their commentary around heat 21 summed up speedway in a nutshell

[THE DEAN MACHINE]

So on to Tuesday, last night just didn’t do it for me at all but will Tuesday be the saviour of the SON ? I’m one of the very few people who are totally uninspired by the NSS, it’s a great track but the stadium is bland imo but anyway I’m trying to be neutral and give the SON a chance so Tuesday will have to be something special ortherwise scrap it and bring back the SWC, I’m not really bothered if GB get through as i I’m not a fan of two of our team and that’s putting it mildly ,I just want to see a good meeting, good racing and a tense finish, hopefully a good crowd but for me it’s too expensive to attend, so let’s see 

[Daniel Smith]

Speedway and commentary is a strange one. More often than not there's not much to comment on as we see 4 strung out rider's 'playing follow the leader.'

I believe Nigel and Kelvin do a terrific job, yes they can be ott but what is there to talk about. Even during the breaks when they go back to Nicholls and Quirk, I find that very boring. Tend to just repeat all that's already been said. 

3 hours to waffle over 23 minutes of racing isn't an easy task. 

[Fromafar]

12 minutes ago, iainb said:

I can agree with that, but it must be difficult when there's nothing worth speaking about happening on track. Some time I do wish NP & KT would talk a little more in depth about the sport during the duller moments, talking about the machinery and engine tuners a little more...

The shouting I can deal with when it is genuine excitement

There I've done some criticism and offered an alternative

Agree,Kelvin should give some in depth information on technical stuff, like what he thinks riders change(in more depth).Theres Hancock saying in the SS this week that the number of fans at indoor meeting can effect the carbaration on bikes with the oxygen the suck in.Quite a lot of fans are interested in the technology IMO 

[THE DEAN MACHINE]

8 minutes ago, Fromafar said:

Agree,Kelvin should give some in depth information on technical stuff, like what he thinks riders change(in more depth).Theres Hancock saying in the SS this week that the number of fans at indoor meeting can effect the carbaration on bikes with the oxygen the suck in.Quite a lot of fans are interested in the technology IMO 

This goes back to the old argument of type of fans who watch speedway, fans like me are interested in that kind of thing but the majority of fans haven’t a clue about the mechanical side of the sport and are not interested, my Mrs is your typical speedway fan and switches off when i explain about the technical side, it’s not a motorsport it’s a sport on motorbikes, I don’t get the moaning about pearson and Tatum, just turn the sound down, although I watch the polish even though we have BT 

Edited June 3, 2018 by THE DEAN MACHINE

[RobMcCaffery]

3 hours ago, PHILIPRISING said:

NOT the best start, I must admit, but hopefully;y there will be far better racing at the NSS on Tuesday and then again in Wroclaw. 

The worst possible scenario, of course, is that after nearly 100 races we get to the final, Joe Bloggs is excluded for a tapes offence, and the two opposition guys ride round waving to the crowd knowing they cannot be beaten.What an anti-climax that would be.

No doubt there will be a comprehensive post-mortem after Wroclaw but whether the FIM revert to the SWC or continue with the SON the lack of viability for tracks staging these events, especially the qualifiers, ,remains a big issue. 

As far as I know the only alternative to Wroclaw this year was Belle Vue but while Polish fans, given the popularity of speedway there and their fervent national enthusiasm, might support a two-day event cannot see it working anywhere else including the UK.

 

The point about venue options is actually quite chilling. Have we really reached the situation where our supposedly premium events can only be staged on a handful of tracks? If so, why run them? Now, I've been in love wit the WTC since the Wembley thunderstorm in 1973 but if the only option is to switch to the rightly discarded World Pairs format then the time is sadly here to ditch the whole thing and just carry on with the GPs alone - and be more selective on venues there with choices based on excellence of venue, either for racing, accommodation or hopefully both, rather than political choices. Sadly sporting politics are even less pleasant than politics themselves, with the exception that nobody has to stand for election outside their own closed group. 

No it wasn't a good start. When have we ever had a classic on the German tracks? It's tempting to ask when we've ever had a simply memorable (for the right reasons) meeting.To them and other nations it's a Sunday afternoon amateur sport and they simply can't step up to the level required. That's been obvious since Norden. Instead we get the usual pious bilge about expanding the sport. I've watched this process long enough to know it just does not work and all it does is compromise the sport in the developed countries. How? It diverts riders from their league racing which despite the attempts to portray the sport as an individual one is the rock on which the sport was built nearly a century ago here and which was exported to great success elsewhere. I'm sure the Poles are only interested in anything other than their leagues unless the nation or an individual are winning. A track or nation should stage these events on merit. 

Edited June 3, 2018 by RobMcCaffery

[RobMcCaffery]

2 hours ago, Grachan said:

The two day World final was an embsrassment, although having it in Holland probably didn't help.

Last night's meeting was not good. It was supposed to be a pairs event, but where was the team riding? Whatever happened to thr great USA team racing style? Hancock racing off into the distance while his partner got passed by all and sundry cost USA a place in the final.

Did anyone really care about the World Pairs in the past? It was always the poor relation of the World Team Cup and the individual championship, and still is.

If they are having the World Cup every 2 years, with this as a filler, then fine. But if this is replacing it then it is a disastrous decision.

You got this exactly right. Thank you. 

[Aces51]

I'm sure the racing will be better on Tuesday. Yes there are riders who are much below the standard of others but there are enough quality riders to ensure some and maybe, a lot, of entertainment and excitement.

Like others I thought the racing was dire last night and the format was over complicated. However, I've seen some dire GP's and meetings in all sorts of domestic and international competitions so, not a good start but I am prepared to wait until after the final before forming an opinion on this competition.

For what it's worth I like Nigel and Kelvin's commentary. Yes they get things wrong sometimes but don't we all. 

[Daniel Smith]

I've said it before, the scoring system in pairs meetings should be 4-2-1-0.

Race winning should take precedence over a 2nd & 3rd. If they want to use bonus point for count back then these bonus points should be for 1st & 2nd only.

[screm]

Rules need looked at as IMO no team should be competing if they cant come with a full team, that team including an Under-21 reserve.

It just looks amateurish. 

[RobMcCaffery]

3 hours ago, iainb said:

you never made a mistake at work?

Yes, but then I wasn't being paid significant amounts of money to share my work with a large international audience. And yes, I have done the job myself, albeit not at such a level as live to an international market. I do know what the job entails however and what is required. Declaring heat 21 as irrelevant and insisting both teams were eliminated wasn't just a minor slip-up. It could and most definitely should have been avoided. It just needs a little bit of the budget to be used on hiring someone to monitor the scores and correct the commentary team over talkback when they are factually incorrect or have missed a vital point. 

Add in dreadful camerawork and I'd be asking some very pointed questions of the producer. It didn't hep that it was a dreadful meeting on a dreadful track. I'm sure the rest will be better but you only really get one chance to make a first impression. This was not the SWC. To be honest I've enjoyed Rye House v Crayford challenge matches far more ;-) (and they were far more meaningful, well to us and the budgies...) 

[IainB]

4 minutes ago, RobMcCaffery said:

Yes, but then I wasn't being paid significant amounts of money to share my work with a large international audience. And yes, I have done the job myself, albeit not at such a level as live to an international market. I do know what the job entails however and what is required. Declaring heat 21 as irrelevant and insisting both teams were eliminated wasn't just a minor slip-up. It could and most definitely should have been avoided. It just needs a little bit of the budget to be used on hiring someone to monitor the scores and correct the commentary team over talkback when they are factually incorrect or have missed a vital point. 

Add in dreadful camerawork and I'd be asking some very pointed questions of the producer. It didn't hep that it was a dreadful meeting on a dreadful track. I'm sure the rest will be better but you only really get one chance to make a first impression. This was not the SWC. To be honest I've enjoyed Rye House v Crayford challenge matches far more ;-) (and they were far more meaningful, well to us and the budgies...) 

So they made a mistake... just like you did when you typed "help" as "hep"

It's if these mistakes keep happening  on a regular basis that people would be justified in complaining.

Unfortunately there's no spell check or edit button on live TV

Edited June 3, 2018 by iainb