Peterborough v Kings Lynn 5th August

[Crump99]

6 minutes ago, NeilWatson said:

Certainly not, but I accept that certain aspects of the sport can't be changed immediately and need to be worked around to try and save the sport in the hope/expectation of better times ahead.

For example (not exhaustive): availability of riders, especially top riders; availability of rented stadiums; rider costs hence pay demands; club owners  subsidising clubs rather than making a handsome living from them (anyone remember Danny Dunton's gold Rolls Royce?).

Ultimately it all comes down to the (lack of) money in the sport, which precludes a lot of initiatives that might make the sport more viable.; such as cheaper admission, more races, better facilities, better merchandise, maybe even a practical way of covering the track to ensure an advertised meeting goes ahead.

Not forgetting the wasted opportunity provided by Skysports and their Elite League, or that we had Frost and Mahoney at the helm who had the money to do much of what you say is needed. These two should have upped the profile of the sport to take it to another level but both saw that aspects of the sport can't be changed full stop so it gets the product it deserves, which is ??? - well I'm sure that everyone has their own opinion.

[Crump99]

15 minutes ago, wealdstone said:

Frankly even I suspect there is more to this than meets the eye. However it has just begun to rain here in Cambridge

If they still have to make a decision early to avoid rental charges then a decision has to be made based on the forecast which wasn't great although it looks like it make blow over with a little bit of wet stuff and not much more.

Another date could see Ostrich fit or a guest option but Lynn shouldn't have been a problem even with r/r.

 

[bigcatdiary]

1 hour ago, Noodles said:

He's also expert in riding a speedway bike in the rain.  There's nothing he doesn't know. 

And yet knowing everything he goes to Leicester to watch rubbish speedway.

 

 

[Gambo]

18 minutes ago, bigcatdiary said:

And yet knowing everything he goes to Leicester to watch rubbish speedway.

 

 

You mean rubbish like this??? Heat 13 - Leicester Lions vs Birmingham Brummies - YouTube

[wealdstone]

30 minutes ago, Crump99 said:

If they still have to make a decision early to avoid rental charges then a decision has to be made based on the forecast which wasn't great although it looks like it make blow over with a little bit of wet stuff and not much more.

Another date could see Ostrich fit or a guest option but Lynn shouldn't have been a problem even with r/r.

 

I have no problem  with an early call off for economic reasons

[Crump99]

3 minutes ago, wealdstone said:

I have no problem  with an early call off for economic reasons

Well the rain has arrived now so it's just how much and how long. The forecast has changed again so it looks even more like the right call now.

[NeilWatson]

11 minutes ago, Gambo said:

You mean rubbish like this??? Heat 13 - Leicester Lions vs Birmingham Brummies - YouTube

That’s decent racing Dave but it’s not at the Peterborough level of excitement :-)  

Edited August 5, 2021 by NeilWatson

[Gambo]

3 minutes ago, NeilWatson said:

That’s decent racing Dave but it’s not at the Peterborough level of excitement :-)  

It was if you were watching it 'live'! One of the best races I have seen this year!

[IainB]

44 minutes ago, bigcatdiary said:

And yet knowing everything he goes to Leicester to watch rubbish speedway.

If you're going to talk about me, at least have the decency to @ me so I can know

28 minutes ago, Gambo said:

You mean rubbish like this??? Heat 13 - Leicester Lions vs Birmingham Brummies - YouTube

When you see Speedway like that there's not a lot wrong with the sport is there? It's a good job the forecast was a good one on the Thursday 

If you could guarantee a race like that once a meeting instead of once a season, I suggest there would be far more people on the terraces.

1 hour ago, NeilWatson said:

Certainly not, but I accept that certain aspects of the sport can't be changed immediately and need to be worked around to try and save the sport in the hope/expectation of better times ahead.

For example (not exhaustive): availability of riders, especially top riders; availability of rented stadiums; rider costs hence pay demands; club owners  subsidising clubs rather than making a handsome living from them (anyone remember Danny Dunton's gold Rolls Royce?).

Ultimately it all comes down to the (lack of) money in the sport, which precludes a lot of initiatives that might make the sport more viable.; such as cheaper admission, more races, better facilities, better merchandise, maybe even a practical way of covering the track to ensure an advertised meeting goes ahead.

To be honest, although I don't like it, I'm not so concerned about the Peterborough postponement... The Eastbourne one does worry me though, just because mystic meg has seen some cows sitting down in a field and the "promoter" has leafed through the radio times they've postponed the match. This sets a dangerous precedent in my opinion. Matches never used to be called off based on forecasts, now they are with more regularity, and now 2 and half days ahead of start time. The BSPL should not allow clubs to call meetings off until the day of staging without penalty, probably a match forfeit. It causes fixture congestion not just for the home side but the away side also and with riders doubling up and stadium availability there are limited opportunities to restage matches on regular race nights... even with a 6 team league in Peterborough's case.

How early is too early to call a match off based on a weather forecast? At the moment it's 2 and a half days... next a week?

Some clubs don't seem to want to go to any effort to get matches on these days, gone are the days of packing the track down to take the rain, working it after rain has passed and spreading sawdust to soak up the moisture if it was particularly wet.

Edited August 5, 2021 by iainb

[IainB]

Just now, Gambo said:

It was if you were watching it 'live'! One of the best races I have seen this year!

One of the best races I've seen anywhere in a long time

[Gambo]

6 minutes ago, Gambo said:

It was if you were watching it 'live'! One of the best races I have seen this year!

And Eurosport could do with watching it to learn how to film a race! Just one camera needed. Well done Pete! (Clean Cut)

[NeilWatson]

 

7 minutes ago, Gambo said:

It was if you were watching it 'live'! One of the best races I have seen this year!

I'll watch again with the sound on!

[Red Flag]

2 hours ago, scoobydoo said:

You just had to awaken the beast didn't you .

Who’s given him that bloody bone back?

[IainB]

Enjoy your 2 Speedway matches in 2 months!

[maneacat]

1 hour ago, wealdstone said:

Frankly even I suspect there is more to this than meets the eye. However it has just begun to rain here in Cambridge

Raining hard where I live too - Metoffice said 5pm rain and were spot on again!  
 

 

Edited August 5, 2021 by maneacat
Spelling!

[scoobydoo]

Ipswich called off early due to forecast nothing said on there meeting thread

Eastbourne called off 2 days early due to forecast nothing much been said especially on there own championship thread

Peterborough called off early due to forecast all hell breaks loose as usual 

[IainB]

16 minutes ago, scoobydoo said:

Ipswich called off early due to forecast nothing said on there meeting thread

Eastbourne called off 2 days early due to forecast nothing much been said especially on there own championship thread

Peterborough called off early due to forecast all hell breaks loose as usual 

That's because there's that few fans that attend anymore and most people have given up caring... I'm sorry for still caring

Edited August 5, 2021 by iainb

[JIROUT]

1 hour ago, iainb said:

If you're going to talk about me, at least have the decency to @ me so I can know

When you see Speedway like that there's not a lot wrong with the sport is there? It's a good job the forecast was a good one on the Thursday 

If you could guarantee a race like that once a meeting instead of once a season, I suggest there would be far more people on the terraces.

To be honest, although I don't like it, I'm not so concerned about the Peterborough postponement... The Eastbourne one does worry me though, just because mystic meg has seen some cows sitting down in a field and the "promoter" has leafed through the radio times they've postponed the match. This sets a dangerous precedent in my opinion. Matches never used to be called off based on forecasts, now they are with more regularity, and now 2 and half days ahead of start time. The BSPL should not allow clubs to call meetings off until the day of staging without penalty, probably a match forfeit. It causes fixture congestion not just for the home side but the away side also and with riders doubling up and stadium availability there are limited opportunities to restage matches on regular race nights... even with a 6 team league in Peterborough's case.

How early is too early to call a match off based on a weather forecast? At the moment it's 2 and a half days... next a week?

Some clubs don't seem to want to go to any effort to get matches on these days, gone are the days of packing the track down to take the rain, working it after rain has passed and spreading sawdust to soak up the moisture if it was particularly wet.

It is weird ,we put Polish Speedway on a pedastal as the best in the world.....and yet quite often this year they have postponed fixtures 3 or 4 days before hand because of the weather forecasts.....This country does it and we are unprofessional.......strange

[IainB]

1 minute ago, JIROUT said:

It is weird ,we put Polish Speedway on a pedastal as the best in the world.....and yet quite often this year they have postponed fixtures 3 or 4 days before hand because of the weather forecasts.....This country does it and we are unprofessional.......strange

The Poles don't have to worry about which riders are available to restage the match and on which day

[stevehone]

At Brokstedt last weekend there had been lots of localised flooding through the week leading up to the meeting, on the morning of the meeting the rain had been torrential, the track was under water, but they cleared it and got practice on (about 10.30am instead of 10.15) then after practice there was a lot more rain, but they still got the meeting on and was only delayed by about 15 minutes. There was a lot of water on track but no one associated with the track seemed too concerned. If it was a UK meeting that would have been off, no doubt, but it turned up some decent racing. Sometimes you have to think about the surfaces and size of tracks we have here, and whether the club want to take chances on getting supporters in, it’s a business after all.

early call offs have become a necessary evil here due to sometimes not having time to get on the track to get it sorted, it’s something we need to live with, people will still moan but generally they turn out to be correct decisions. 
iainb needs to think whether if it was HIS money on the line if he would run a meeting when no one is going to turn up due to forecasts