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Grand Prix preview on mainstream tv this morning. Action from Kings Lynn with ruthless Lambert interview, and Mike on a bike!

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I thought it was very well done. Emphasised the extreme of the sport without over hyping it. Liked that the presenters knew what the sport was and that it is popular in certain parts of the country.

Edited by Star Lady
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A fantastic piece

Great work from whomever got that agreed and arranged

A prime spot like that would cost thousands as a paid for promotional 

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  • 1 month later...

Steady on HT speedway is only a minority sport :nono: & didn't Tai come close in winning that award in 2015(now I will have to do a search).

I think SPOTY should be renamed anyway as how many "Personality Sports People" win it. I think they should rename it SWOTY Sports Winner Of The Year. NOW he might stand a chance.

Go on Tai and show Great Britain in 13 days time that you ARE Great Britain's Best Ever speedway rider. :cheers:

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7 hours ago, Halifaxtiger said:

I am waiting to see what happens if Woffinden wins a third world title. If he does, he can rightly claim to be the greatest British speedway rider of all time. 

I wonder if he will get a place in the Sports Personality of the Year ? 

He could win it 5 times on the bounce and will never get a nomination. Some woman footballer, a woman golfer, a rugby player, athletic person, swimmer, footballer, cricketer, cyclist, netballer, gymnast, tennis player, snooker ........no room for speedway. The main issue is the people who pick the shortlist do not know the sport. 

It’s called “bbc” sports personality. So if the beeb don’t cover it, forget it. Imagine if all speedway fans blocked voted Tai. He could easily end up third. How would the bbc talk that one off?

Edited by Steve Shovlar
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3 hours ago, Steve Shovlar said:

He could win it 5 times on the bounce and will never get a nomination. Some woman footballer, a woman golfer, a rugby player, athletic person, swimmer, footballer, cricketer, cyclist, netballer, gymnast, tennis player, snooker ........no room for speedway. The main issue is the people who pick the shortlist do not know the sport. 

Probably some women I imagine....what do they know? Ruddy BBC...grrrrr.

Where's my Sun newspaper? Ah, that's better...women who know their place...right there on page 3. 

Anyway, back in the real world....

A speedway rider would have to do something utterly exceptional and totally out of the ordinary to ever have a hope of a nod for BBC SPOTY.  In my totally biased opinion, it is a great sport, but the reality it that is is a minority sport and of utter irrelevance to non speedway supporters.

Whether you are interested in them or not, it will always be important who wins Wimbledon, who wins the Olympic 100m title, who wins the Formula One World Title, who is the World Heavyweight Champion, etc. and I get that. The best tennis player, the fastest runner in the world, the best driver in the world and the toughest fighter in the world - those have real global status.

You can't even say the Speedway World Champion is the best motorcyclist in the world, the consensus would be that's the MotoGP Champion.

Get out of your speedway supporters shoes for a minute and think about it. Do we really expect a rider who is the best at sliding round a dirt track for a minute to be regarded as one of the UK's best sportsmen in the public's eyes?  There have been UK sportsmen and women who have internationally dominated in sports like squash -  would you really expect them to be recognised too? 

That's not to say Tai Woffinden couldn't get nominated one day, but it's a long way off yet. I think Carl Fogarty once got in the top three when he was winning World Superbike Titles and he made the British Superbike GP  a pilgrimage for bikers across the UK - Phil Taylor also was recognised when his World Title winning streak in darts reached freakish proportions.

So, just a decade more Tai...and you might just have a shot :) 

 

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On ‎9‎/‎23‎/‎2018 at 4:52 PM, Steve Shovlar said:

He could win it 5 times on the bounce and will never get a nomination. Some woman footballer, a woman golfer, a rugby player, athletic person, swimmer, footballer, cricketer, cyclist, netballer, gymnast, tennis player, snooker ........no room for speedway. The main issue is the people who pick the shortlist do not know the sport. 

It’s called “bbc” sports personality. So if the beeb don’t cover it, forget it. Imagine if all speedway fans blocked voted Tai. He could easily end up third. How would the bbc talk that one off?

Sadly, I think you are absolutely right and it exposes the programme for the fit up it is.

On ‎9‎/‎23‎/‎2018 at 8:44 PM, falcace said:

Probably some women I imagine....what do they know? Ruddy BBC...grrrrr.

Where's my Sun newspaper? Ah, that's better...women who know their place...right there on page 3. 

Anyway, back in the real world....

A speedway rider would have to do something utterly exceptional and totally out of the ordinary to ever have a hope of a nod for BBC SPOTY.  In my totally biased opinion, it is a great sport, but the reality it that is is a minority sport and of utter irrelevance to non speedway supporters.

Whether you are interested in them or not, it will always be important who wins Wimbledon, who wins the Olympic 100m title, who wins the Formula One World Title, who is the World Heavyweight Champion, etc. and I get that. The best tennis player, the fastest runner in the world, the best driver in the world and the toughest fighter in the world - those have real global status.

You can't even say the Speedway World Champion is the best motorcyclist in the world, the consensus would be that's the MotoGP Champion.

Get out of your speedway supporters shoes for a minute and think about it. Do we really expect a rider who is the best at sliding round a dirt track for a minute to be regarded as one of the UK's best sportsmen in the public's eyes?  There have been UK sportsmen and women who have internationally dominated in sports like squash -  would you really expect them to be recognised too? 

That's not to say Tai Woffinden couldn't get nominated one day, but it's a long way off yet. I think Carl Fogarty once got in the top three when he was winning World Superbike Titles and he made the British Superbike GP  a pilgrimage for bikers across the UK - Phil Taylor also was recognised when his World Title winning streak in darts reached freakish proportions.

So, just a decade more Tai...and you might just have a shot :) 

 

The fact that speedway is a minority sport is utterly irrelevant - or at least it should be. The fact of the matter is that if Woffinden does win again - and that looks very likely - he can reasonably be called the greatest British speedway rider of all time. Personally, it doesn't matter what sport -within reason - you are in, that's worthy of a nomination. 

I'd also point out that a couple of years ago a yachtsman was nominated. To my knowledge, he wasn't even competing at the time. In addition - and to use Steve's example - I wouldn't back against a woman cricketer being selected. I somehow doubt that she would be seen as one of the country's best.

Steve is absolutely right. Its not a question of how good you are, what records you have broken or titles won. Its a matter of whether your face (or more accurately your sport) fits, which makes the programme a sham.

Edited by Halifaxtiger
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51 minutes ago, Halifaxtiger said:

Sadly, I think you are absolutely right and it exposes the programme for the fit up it is.

The fact that speedway is a minority sport is utterly irrelevant - or at least it should be. The fact of the matter is that if Woffinden does win again - and that looks very likely - he can reasonably be called the greatest British speedway rider of all time. Personally, it doesn't matter what sport -within reason - you are in, that's worthy of a nomination. 

I'd also point out that a couple of years ago a yachtsman was nominated. To my knowledge, he wasn't even competing at the time. In addition - and to use Steve's example - I wouldn't back against a woman cricketer being selected. I somehow doubt that she would be seen as one of the country's best.

Steve is absolutely right. Its not a question of how good you are, what records you have broken or titles won. Its a matter of whether your face (or more accurately your sport) fits, which makes the programme a sham.

Well, it is relevant.

The greater the popularity of a sport, the greater the number of participants then the greater the achievement in being the best. I'm no sailing fan, but there are around 900,000 sailors in England, according to Sport England's data. How many speedway riders are there?

I think Tai Woffinden is an exceptional talent, probably Britain's best ever rider. But in wider sporting terms, beyond speedway, it has very little significance.

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9 minutes ago, falcace said:

Well, it is relevant.

The greater the popularity of a sport, the greater the number of participants then the greater the achievement in being the best. I'm no sailing fan, but there are around 900,000 sailors in England, according to Sport England's data. How many speedway riders are there?

I think Tai Woffinden is an exceptional talent, probably Britain's best ever rider. But in wider sporting terms, beyond speedway, it has very little significance.

That's like comparing Lewis Hamilton to the number of people that drive a car.

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