Potters v Colts - 5/5/18

[fubar]

I'm in a bit of a quandary here because I really want to support the Colts on their visit to Gloomy Road.

But I'm not sure that I can bring myself to hand over a handful of dosh to the cheerful chappies on the gate.

I vowed I would never go to Gloomy Road again after some of my dreadful experiences there but my willpower seems to be waning and I am feeling myself being dragged over to the dark side.

I know if I go I will hate myself the morning after but do I owe it to the Colts to endure the pain and suffering that visiting the home of the Gloomy Roadsters will surely cause me?

Perhaps the weather Gods will make the decision for me........

 

[gee jay]

7 hours ago, fubar said:

I'm in a bit of a quandary here because I really want to support the Colts on their visit to Gloomy Road.

But I'm not sure that I can bring myself to hand over a handful of dosh to the cheerful chappies on the gate.

I vowed I would never go to Gloomy Road again after some of my dreadful experiences there but my willpower seems to be waning and I am feeling myself being dragged over to the dark side.

I know if I go I will hate myself the morning after but do I owe it to the Colts to endure the pain and suffering that visiting the home of the Gloomy Roadsters will surely cause me?

Perhaps the weather Gods will make the decision for me........

 

you'll be more upset with yourself in the morning if the colts give them a hiding and you could have been there , and it's going to be sunny ,   

[fubar]

13 hours ago, gee jay said:

you'll be more upset with yourself in the morning if the colts give them a hiding and you could have been there , and it's going to be sunny ,   

gee jay I know what you are saying but the thought of handing over £15 to Stoke Speedway is bringing me out into a cold sweat.

So I will follow the meeting on Speedway Updates and cheer the Colts on from the comfort of my armchair.

 

[BuxtonTiger]

Time for you to make a cuppa whilst they have the traditional sun break.

[happy potter]

Stay at home mate with a couple of beers as the weekend will be nice. Spend your £15 on some Stella!

 

[fubar]

59 minutes ago, happy potter said:

Stay at home mate with a couple of beers as the weekend will be nice. Spend your £15 on some Stella!

 

I don't know anybody called Stella.

[sommelier]

53 minutes ago, fubar said:

I don't know anybody called Stella.

I do, a very hard rider!!!

[Gunner85]

I gave up going to Stoke a long time ago despite it being my nearest track.

new promoters could give Stoke a new lease of life.... including my support

unfortunately Stock cars will keep the present promotion at Loomer Road

 

[Simonh]

Is Stoke off with localised rain yet?, can't be much longer.....

Always a reason to postpone until the lovely weather of October....

[fubar]

It won't be called off because of rain.

Probably be called off because it is so hot the cheapo shale has melted.

How come Malcolm Vasey is not the team manager?

Adam Isherwood is shown as TM so I hope nothing is wrong with Malcolm as he has always seemed pleasant enough on the couple of occasions that I have spoken with him.

Anyway, for those of you off to Gloomy Road don't forget your sun tan lotion.

The sun is going to be bouncing off them there slag heaps, duck.

[fubar]

Against my better judgement I found myself at Loomer Road last night and was disheartened to see that the place was even more dilapidated than when I last visited a couple of years ago. Surely somebody can at least work a lawn mower?

It took the best part of an hour to get the first 4 heats away due to the sun being in the wrong place but at least we were able to marvel at Mr Tattum's tractor driving skills. Sadly, the centre green announcer couldn't make it last night so instead he sent his brother whose knowledge of speedway seemed a tad sparse. When it was announced that Ken Dicken was coming out  for the Belle Vue Aces in heat 2 it kind of signalled that the guy perhaps wasn't a great follower of NL speedway. It could have been worse, he could have announced that it was Ken Dodd who would be riding in white.

We had a minute's silence for Roy Smallwood who had apparently gone to a better place . Happy to say that they didn't bother playing music through the period of silence as they did when Mr Plinge witnessed a similar "mark of respect" at a previous extravaganza at Gloomy Road. Interesting to see that the deceased was still listed in the programme as being the evening's Pits Gate Manager so perhaps they were hoping that he would be there in spirit at least.

Moving on from the depressing and farcical to rather more serious matters. I think it must have been heat 14 when William O'Keefe once more carried out a close inspection of the air fence. The referee switched on the red lights and immediately all the track and stadium lights went out. Fortunately, the riders survived being plunged into a diminished light situation without incident. After a few minutes, the lights flickered back into life and no mention was made of this failure by the commentator.

As the riders were approaching the gate for heat 15, the commentator puts out an urgent call for the clerk of the course to contact the ref. Whether he did contact him, I know not.  The race gets under way and Lawlor and Atkin come down heavily at turn 3. No red lights come on but the commentator is shouting at the the corner marshals to put the red flags out which they do after a few seconds delay.

Now my questions are these:-

Were the red lights not turned on because the referee knew that if he pushed the switch then the track lights would probably go out again?

Did the referee  know before he started the heat that there was a fault with the warning lights hence the urgent call out to the C of C?

If the referee was aware that the safety systems were not in place then why was the race allowed to start?

Perhaps there is a perfectly reasonable explanation for these events but I would be interested to know what it might be. Electrical failures appear to be a common occurrence at Loomer Road but the referees and the SCB  seem to take no heed of these potentially catastrophic defects. I just hope that it does not take a rider getting seriously hurt before action is taken to remedy the situation.

I see no mention in Stoke's own match report of any of these failings and it is shame that they didn't take the opportunity to apologize to the customers for last night's failings and give an assurance that they would get things sorted out.

A win for the Colts but numerous crashes, interminable delays and some genuinely frightening incidents mean that it wasn't one of my most enjoyable speedway jaunts. I spoke to a family (grandfather through to grandchildren) on the terraces who were attending speedway for the first time and asked them if they would be likely to come back again. Unsurprisingly, they indicated that they would not be returning and after last night's show you can understand why.

Speedway is a better sport than this.

 

 

 

 

[woofers]

Very disturbing. The referee should have tested the lights before giving the go ahead to run heat 15. If they failed the meeting should have been abandoned.

The referee is now in a quandary. If he mentions it in his report but failed to take action, he should be in trouble. And rightly so. As should the clerk of the course.

If he fails to mention it in his report the problem 'doesn't exist' and those in authority can 'rest easy'. Or can they ? Have the promoters, referee and officials no conscience ?

it seems that there is no 'rider power', so perhaps you should get in contact with speedway authorities at a higher level, BSPA, SCB, the ACU even, and relay your observations.

This sort of thing cannot go unreported, ignored, 'swept under the carpet' or pretend it didn't happen. 

Someone could be seriously hurt, or worse, if it's not dealt with provisionally and responsibly. 

[uk_martin]

1 hour ago, fubar said:

I spoke to a family (grandfather through to grandchildren) on the terraces who were attending speedway for the first time and asked them if they would be likely to come back again. Unsurprisingly, they indicated that they would not be returning and after last night's show you can understand why.

Another nail in the coffin of the arguement that "any speedway is better than no speedway".

[fubar]

I have only expressed my opinion based on my observations from last night.

Perhaps there is an alternative explanation that may be forthcoming from the management in the fullness of time.

It can be no coincidence though that these calamities see to affect Stoke on a very regular basis and there is no evidence that anybody is minded to do anything about it.

If the lights were indeed faulty and as a result a rider (or marshal) suffered serious injury or worse then surely the referee, the clerk of course, the SCB and the promoter would be hard pressed to mount any credible defence should the matter be brought before the courts.

I spoke with some long-standing Stoke supporters last night and they expressed the opinion that enough was enough and it is sad when even a club's die hard supporters have no faith in the club that they have supported for donkey's years.

[uk_martin]

33 minutes ago, fubar said:

I spoke with some long-standing Stoke supporters last night and they expressed the opinion that enough was enough and it is sad when even a club's die hard supporters have no faith in the club that they have supported for donkey's years.

Just been chatting to friends on Facebook who made the trip from Birmingham last night. "Never again" was the summary of the polite things they said about their experiences.

[sommelier]

25 minutes ago, uk_martin said:

Just been chatting to friends on Facebook who made the trip from Birmingham last night. "Never again" was the summary of the polite things they said about their experiences.

I thought it was a OK meeting

[coldace]

Fubar, if you don't mind a word on how Joe Lawlor went last night, how many rides did he take to score his 12.  Also, surprised that Rob Shuttleworth only scored 2, he's better than that surely?

 

 

[uk_martin]

1 hour ago, sommelier said:

I thought it was a OK meeting

I guess it comes down to how high you set the bar of acceptability.

[fubar]

1 hour ago, coldace said:

Fubar, if you don't mind a word on how Joe Lawlor went last night, how many rides did he take to score his 12.  Also, surprised that Rob Shuttleworth only scored 2, he's better than that surely?

 

 

Joe was riding really well but had an engine failure in his first ride and was excluded after Atkin came down in heat 15. So 12 points from 6 rides.

Joe was giving it 110% as usual.

Rob Shuttleworth was totally useless and fell off 3 times.

To be fair the track looked bumpy in parts and a lot of riders fell off. I'm sure Stoke is pretty good as a banger racing track but it sure knackers the track up.

 

Edited May 6, 2018 by fubar
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[SpeedyOne]

A big crowd at Stoke last night, but those who stayed away missed another Speedway Extravanganza at the Stadium of Wonky Light.

A dodgy-awfully prepared track sent entertainment values soaring.  If you blinked you might miss another faller.  Stoke delivered on their aim to have fallers into double figures (10 at the last count).  Where else in world speedway can you see 7 out of 15 heats awarded due to falls?  Fantastic stuff.   Why don't other clubs booby-trap the track in this way?

Stoke convincingly won 8 falls to 2, which excited the crowd so much that they lifted the roof off the grandstand (at least I presume that's why parts of the bar ceiling are falling in).   But despite winning on falls, Stoke lost by 7 submissions and numerous knockouts (mostly knockout blows to the credibility of the sport).

Back to the beginning, Stoke started with a minute's silence for Roy Smallwood MBE (since he had worked at Stoke for over 40 years, an MBE seemed most insulting.  He should have been given the George Cross for acts of heroism in extreme danger).   I don't know if Roy was a good man or a bad man, but even if he is now in hell being tortured for all eternity, we can feel content that he is in a better place than Stoke.   Roy was pictured in the programme in a 50s Teddy Boy suit.  The picture was taken the last time the Stoke electrics didn't fail.  

Despite being dead, Roy was still in the programme's officials' list as the Pits Gate Manager.   

Then the announcer.  It was his first time.  Not just his first time announcing, but his first time at speedway (possibly his first time out of the house).  He had no idea what was happening.   Remember the taxi driver interviewed on BBC by mistake?  It was far worse.

The poor sod tried to hand over to a centre green presenter, but the presenter had no microphone.  So the confused newbie had to read out Belle Vue names he'd never heard of all by himself, such as Ken Dicken and Joe Lola.   The hapless announcer must have thought he had been duped into the Jeremy Beadle show, except for the fact that Beadle has been dead for 10 years, and is now presumably working as the Stoke Pits Marshal.

Heat 1 and novice O'Keefe leads from the far better Clegg and Perry.  He realises this is wrong and throws the bike at the fence to become first faller.

SUN BREAK

Heat 2 and O'Keefe becomes the first rider to cause an awarded race.

Heat 4.  O'Keefe retires and Shuttleworth inspects the "shale" to give BV an awarded 5-0  (Shuttleworth's first of 3 track inspections).

SUN BREAK

Heat 5  All 4 riders finish.   This is to be an extreme rare occurance.

Heat 7 Awarded again as the hungry Shuttleworth eats more "shale"

Heat 10.  Alcock falls, and Clegg goes an unexplained splat while in a comfortable lead.  Awarded 5-0

Heat 13  Smith is the first BV faller, trying to use the outside on the first bend. (You can't do that).  In the re-run tired Shuttleworth needs a third lie down on the track.  Awarded

Heat 14  Who else but O'Keefe falls.   The ref puts on the red light and fuses the whole stadium.   He's been over-using the red light.   (Remember in the 70s when it got cold and you had to switch off the TV before you could put on the second bar of the electric fire, or else risk fusing the whole street?   The City of Stoke still runs like this).

The referee is warned that he must not use the red lights again.  To do so would damage the flux-capacitor, destroy the space-time continuum, and we'd all be stuck here in 1955 with Biff Tattum, and Roy Smallwood playing Johnny B Goode whilst dressed as Stoke's answer to Showaddywaady.....  Shoddyshoddy.

The ref agrees that when the inevitable awarding of heat 15 happens, the race will be stopped by hand signals and the shouting of the moronic announcer, which will alert members of the track staff to wave red flags (the ones that are still alive anyway - Roy and Beadle are excused duty).

Heat 15 and an actual race develops between Atkin and Lawlor.   Perry is a distance back in 3rd, Clegg further back stone last.    Lawlor chases Atkin and just gets ahead up the back straight.  Atkin faces being moved into the outer part of the 3rd bend track (here be dragons) and tries to resist.  The two collide and the race needs to be awarded.  (the 3rd awarded race in a row, 7th of the night).   The Announcer then announces Perry (who was minding his own business back in third) is excluded.  The win awarded to Max Clegg (who was stone last).    The announcer returns minutes later (possibly with a referees hands around his throat) to change the exclusion to Lawlor...but still has the awarded places wrong.  After a further few minutes it is changed again.

The MDL match is cancelled and everyone leaves, completely unsure on the final score or the final awarded decision of heat 15.

 

Edited May 6, 2018 by CottonOn