Birmingham v Leicester

[Kester]

2 hours ago, Fromafar said:

I do sympathise,but by the same token I am reluctant to attend a meeting if there is a cloud in the sky nowadays, mainly because the riders just don’t want know if conditions aren’t perfect.That has a lot to do with poor attendances in regard  to weather conditions.

Interesting point.  It's a tricky one, and I do see it from the promotions point of view.

However, I think the emphasis should always be on getting the meeting on if possible.  As Stevebrum stated, it's a sign of how much the sport is on its backside that the major consideration in these circumstances isn't sporting but financial.  

[IronScorpion]

1 hour ago, Kester said:

Interesting point.  It's a tricky one, and I do see it from the promotions point of view.

However, I think the emphasis should always be on getting the meeting on if possible.  As Stevebrum stated, it's a sign of how much the sport is on its backside that the major consideration in these circumstances isn't sporting but financial.  

With 3 teams from 2018 not riding this year plus there should be enough spare dates to rearrange, calling it off was the wise move. I would think most of the riders would not be local so travel time is to be allowed & riders have to be there a lot earlier than the supporters.

[uk_martin]

23 hours ago, stevebrum said:

We can see why now why promotions are calling off meetings early. If there is a doubt of rain and the promotion call off early then they don’t incur costs so it could make the difference between surviving the season or not....sadly this is how desperate the sport has become now for survival.

I can recall, I think it was in about 2008-2009, it had been fine all day. the stadium was filling up nicely, and then almost without warning, at about 7.15pm the heavens opened. And it didn't stop. An hour later, no-one could believe it was still raining and the inevitable happened, the meeting was called off, with those who hadn't gone already, facing a wasted evening, and those who pay the bills, having a big hole in their finances.

I got the news at about lunchtime. I looked out of the window,. with spots of rain appearing on the glass, looking at a few weather forecasts on the web, and thought, yeah, sensible decision. And let's face it, what would any of us have done in the same situation? 

1 hour ago, Kester said:

...However, I think the emphasis should always be on getting the meeting on if possible...

I wonder if those fans who want promoters to take the extra risks would want to club together to fund the insurance premium for a policy that will compensate promoters for the financial losses that they could incur as a result of taking the extra risks and falling foul of them? Such "pluvius insurance" policies do exist. See if you can negotiate one, and pay for it? Maybe this could be something that the Federation of British Supporters Clubs, (or whatever that concoction that the BSPA was proposing, is called) could mastermind? They need something to do.

[stevebrum]

4 hours ago, uk_martin said:

I can recall, I think it was in about 2008-2009, it had been fine all day. the stadium was filling up nicely, and then almost without warning, at about 7.15pm the heavens opened. And it didn't stop. An hour later, no-one could believe it was still raining and the inevitable happened, the meeting was called off, with those who hadn't gone already, facing a wasted evening, and those who pay the bills, having a big hole in their finances.

I got the news at about lunchtime. I looked out of the window,. with spots of rain appearing on the glass, looking at a few weather forecasts on the web, and thought, yeah, sensible decision. And let's face it, what would any of us have done in the same situation? 

I wonder if those fans who want promoters to take the extra risks would want to club together to fund the insurance premium for a policy that will compensate promoters for the financial losses that they could incur as a result of taking the extra risks and falling foul of them? Such "pluvius insurance" policies do exist. See if you can negotiate one, and pay for it? Maybe this could be something that the Federation of British Supporters Clubs, (or whatever that concoction that the BSPA was proposing, is called) could mastermind? They need something to do.

Don’t get we wrong, it’s part of one of the many things wrong with speedway these days and one of the reasons why I only attend if the weather is ok. I’m not taking a risk of wasting my time and money in case it’s off.

Im sure the promoters feel pretty similar. It’s their business and their money. No one in the sport can afford unnecessary losses these days so I now have sympathy. Sadly however it’s made me a part time supporter as well.

[Bagpuss]

More and more punters aren’t willing to risk going to speedway on anything other than a dry evening nowadays so you can’t blame clubs for making an early decision if the forecast is poor. 

Edited April 27, 2019 by Bagpuss

[Skodaman]

12 hours ago, IronScorpion said:

With 3 teams from 2018 not riding this year plus there should be enough spare dates to rearrange, calling it off was the wise move. I would think most of the riders would not be local so travel time is to be allowed & riders have to be there a lot earlier than the supporters.

Some clubs such as Leicester have not got lots of spare dates as they run two teams!

[flagrag]

I wouldn’t worry about a restaging date for this fixture as Wednesday 12th June is already in the Lions riders schedule to be at Birmingham in KOC  2nd round which may now not be required as Birmingham lost heavily in the first leg at Eastbourne 

[Halifaxtiger]

On ‎4‎/‎25‎/‎2019 at 3:55 PM, brianbuck said:

Most people on this site seem to be sympathising with the Birmingham management on this - which I think is reasonable. All the weather forecasts predicted heavy rain, (some said torrential), hail, thunder and lighting plus a sharp drop in temperature. All of this did come, but only in very short bursts, and in hindsight, conditions would have been quite decent had the meeting gone ahead. It isn't the first time that a meeting has been called off on the strength of a poor weather prediction which then proved to be inaccurate, and it won't be the last.

Looking at the forecasts for Scunthorpe last night at 4pm, Met Office said heavy rain at 6 followed by heavy showers at 7. XC said white cloud with no rain for those times. 

Met Office changed their forecast to white cloud at 6pm. 

As it happened, there were a couple of sharp showers between 6 & 6.30, but no rain after that. 

What this illustrates is that any promoter is making a decision on the basis of weather forecasts from different sites that are entirely contradictory and, in the end, were both somewhat incorrect. 

[cityrebel]

The forecast for the island on thursday seemed to change on an hourly basis. From heavy showers to a dry afternoon and evening. The radar looked promising so i went for it. It turned out to be perfect speedway weather. Sometimes you have to go with your gut instinct!

[IainB]

On 4/25/2019 at 5:27 PM, Fromafar said:

I do sympathise,but by the same token I am reluctant to attend a meeting if there is a cloud in the sky nowadays, mainly because the riders just don’t want know if conditions aren’t perfect.That has a lot to do with poor attendances in regard  to weather conditions.

If there isn't a cloud in the sky there will inevitably be a sun delay these days!

[HGould]

Guess which day next week is the only day in Birmingham with rain showers forecast between 2pm and 6pm....ouch!

[Lenny Lion]

6 minutes ago, HGould said:

Guess which day next week is the only day in Birmingham with rain showers forecast between 2pm and 6pm....ouch!

May aswell call it off now then. Forecasts are final.

[cityrebel]

1 hour ago, iainb said:

If there isn't a cloud in the sky there will inevitably be a sun delay these days!

How right you are. Too wet, too dry or too sunny!