IainB Posted July 25 Report Share Posted July 25 6 minutes ago, scaramanga said: Nice for a positive post for cookie Hes not as bad as most think That's the Craig Cook I like to see and can get behind, we all know he's a complicated character and I'm not one for his antics of last week with the Edinburgh match... but credit where it's due tonight. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WembleyLion Posted July 25 Report Share Posted July 25 The Lions rode well and I am pretty certain they will make the playoffs ahead of Oxford. Nasty crash for Dan Bewley and hopefully he’ll be back on track soon. Racing wise it was a night to forget though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the hobbit Posted July 25 Report Share Posted July 25 16 minutes ago, WembleyLion said: The Lions rode well and I am pretty certain they will make the playoffs ahead of Oxford. Nasty crash for Dan Bewley and hopefully he’ll be back on track soon. Racing wise it was a night to forget though! Just another typical night at the worst, most boring speedway track ever built 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fromafar Posted July 25 Report Share Posted July 25 8 minutes ago, the hobbit said: Just another typical night at the worst, most boring speedway track ever built As a purpose built track they certainly made a pigs ear of it . 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevebrum Posted July 25 Report Share Posted July 25 As expected another away mauling for the Aces. Good win for the Lions, they needed that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ouch Posted July 26 Report Share Posted July 26 Belle Vue don’t see the best of away tracks - never have. The best way to defeat a team of racers from Collins to Bewley is to make it ALL about the start. Trouble is it soon becomes the norm and gate’n’go wins are considered the way to go. This has been truly awful for a sport that can be so spectacular if allowed. 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikebv Posted July 26 Report Share Posted July 26 13 minutes ago, ouch said: Belle Vue don’t see the best of away tracks - never have. The best way to defeat a team of racers from Collins to Bewley is to make it ALL about the start. Trouble is it soon becomes the norm and gate’n’go wins are considered the way to go. This has been truly awful for a sport that can be so spectacular if allowed. The problem now is that crowds are so low that "winning at home" is key to maintain them, (or at least keep a loss of numbers within cost controls)... You can see from how many times when many mention to others about the sport that the reply is "Speedway? Is that still going? I used to go", shows it was the racing they went for, not the team aspect.. BV is an obvious example where so many "used to go" but thought they had closed down.. If any sports team you had emotional investment with closed down, you would know.. Nowadays that home win can keep the punters who are left, returning as, I presume that is what floats their particular boat... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
40-38 Posted July 26 Report Share Posted July 26 3 hours ago, ouch said: Belle Vue don’t see the best of away tracks - never have. The best way to defeat a team of racers from Collins to Bewley is to make it ALL about the start. Trouble is it soon becomes the norm and gate’n’go wins are considered the way to go. This has been truly awful for a sport that can be so spectacular if allowed. The criticism of Speedway has always been that the first out the gate wins more often than not. It's the times where that doesn't happen that we all remember and that keeps us coming back for more. Well those of us who are left anyway! I certainly won't defend BP, it's always been a poor shape, but unless someone has the money to rip it up and start again then we're stuck with it, like it or not, so riders/fans/management have to make the best of it. With good prep and riders willing to attack it there can be good races. Unfortunately the latter two things don't always seem to go together and that was painfully obvious last night. Even SD alluded to it in his post match interview. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
40-38 Posted July 26 Report Share Posted July 26 On another note did anyone else attending notice David Hemsley's luminously white new teeth? I did wonder if the blinding flash was what caused Max Fricke to fall off 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IainB Posted July 26 Report Share Posted July 26 (edited) 48 minutes ago, 40-38 said: The criticism of Speedway has always been that the first out the gate wins more often than not. It's the times where that doesn't happen that we all remember and that keeps us coming back for more. Well those of us who are left anyway! I certainly won't defend BP, it's always been a poor shape, but unless someone has the money to rip it up and start again then we're stuck with it, like it or not, so riders/fans/management have to make the best of it. With good prep and riders willing to attack it there can be good races. Unfortunately the latter two things don't always seem to go together and that was painfully obvious last night. Even SD alluded to it in his post match interview. Although the ripping up of the track and relaying of a proper track will please the many of us that remain it's highly unlikely to attract anybody new to the sport. Look at BV, best track in the world, riders riding to a half empty stadium... and that's also one of the better run clubs with good rider continuity over the seasons. For me the racing is better than it has ever been, you only have to look at some of the old stuff on YouTube to see that. Maybe we were lucky at Leicester in the past at Blackbird Road, we used to have a pretty decent race track and a pretty crappy team, meaning we were often treated to last heat deciders to keep the entertainment and interest levels high. The cost these days though is just too high to attract many newcomers, you're looking at around £50 for 2 adults and 2 children. People will point to other comparable sports and I just looked at The 100 cricket ticket prices and yes they are comparable... but is the entertainment and interaction level comparable? Not for me I'm afraid. Would you take a punt at £50 on something you'd never sampled before? If Speedway is indeed a family sport, there needs to be a family ticket, a proper family ticket, 2 adults + 2 children £25! And no checking of passports and birth certificates at the turnstiles. That is comparable with a night out at the cinema, where you're sat down in a nice comfy seat, in an enclosed environment away from any weather. At £25 you may also make back some of that money with burgers and chips etc. Edited July 26 by iainb 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikebv Posted July 26 Report Share Posted July 26 4 hours ago, iainb said: Although the ripping up of the track and relaying of a proper track will please the many of us that remain it's highly unlikely to attract anybody new to the sport. Look at BV, best track in the world, riders riding to a half empty stadium... and that's also one of the better run clubs with good rider continuity over the seasons. For me the racing is better than it has ever been, you only have to look at some of the old stuff on YouTube to see that. Maybe we were lucky at Leicester in the past at Blackbird Road, we used to have a pretty decent race track and a pretty crappy team, meaning we were often treated to last heat deciders to keep the entertainment and interest levels high. The cost these days though is just too high to attract many newcomers, you're looking at around £50 for 2 adults and 2 children. People will point to other comparable sports and I just looked at The 100 cricket ticket prices and yes they are comparable... but is the entertainment and interaction level comparable? Not for me I'm afraid. Would you take a punt at £50 on something you'd never sampled before? If Speedway is indeed a family sport, there needs to be a family ticket, a proper family ticket, 2 adults + 2 children £25! And no checking of passports and birth certificates at the turnstiles. That is comparable with a night out at the cinema, where you're sat down in a nice comfy seat, in an enclosed environment away from any weather. At £25 you may also make back some of that money with burgers and chips etc. All bang on points... The bottom line though is that there isn't enough (pardon the pun), riding on the results, or enough "entertainment" to be had... Same old, same old, guestfest after guestfest, simply doesn't cut it anymore does it? T20 Cricket, The Hundred, Snooker's Shoot Out, Premier League darts, all are aimed at a "night out" as well as the sport itself... And all those sports did what they did as they had the similar demographic of followers as Speedway so knew doing the same thing as crowds dropped would only end badly for them, and they needed a "new following"... "Pygama cricket? Not watching that!", the places are now full of those who want to.. Seven rider teams, 15 heats, 4 laps, no brakes, faster than a F1 car 0-60, "This dedication is for Elsie who is 79 years young today and her favourite rider of all time is Ole Olsen" etc etc etc ad infinitum... Oh. "And bring a friend"... Yawn... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gjcone44 Posted July 26 Report Share Posted July 26 anyone for monkey tennis 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikebv Posted July 26 Report Share Posted July 26 6 minutes ago, gjcone44 said: anyone for monkey tennis Youth Hosteling with Chris Eubank for me... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gjcone44 Posted July 26 Report Share Posted July 26 smell my cheese. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IainB Posted July 26 Report Share Posted July 26 (edited) 1 hour ago, mikebv said: All bang on points... The bottom line though is that there isn't enough (pardon the pun), riding on the results, or enough "entertainment" to be had... Same old, same old, guestfest after guestfest, simply doesn't cut it anymore does it? T20 Cricket, The Hundred, Snooker's Shoot Out, Premier League darts, all are aimed at a "night out" as well as the sport itself... And all those sports did what they did as they had the similar demographic of followers as Speedway so knew doing the same thing as crowds dropped would only end badly for them, and they needed a "new following"... "Pygama cricket? Not watching that!", the places are now full of those who want to.. Seven rider teams, 15 heats, 4 laps, no brakes, faster than a F1 car 0-60, "This dedication is for Elsie who is 79 years young today and her favourite rider of all time is Ole Olsen" etc etc etc ad infinitum... Oh. "And bring a friend"... Yawn... I know you're anti-guest, personally I don't mind it, within reason... but I turn up every week and pay my money over and have become immune to it but I can see how it looks to outsiders. Speedway, at the moment, is quite a bit different to all other team sports in respect to replacing unavailable riders. The only way I can see to eradicate guests would be to operate a squad system, standardisation of machinery or handicap racing... or all 3!!! Edited July 26 by iainb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikebv Posted July 26 Report Share Posted July 26 3 hours ago, iainb said: I know you're anti-guest, personally I don't mind it, within reason... but I turn up every week and pay my money over and have become immune to it but I can see how it looks to outsiders. Speedway, at the moment, is quite a bit different to all other team sports in respect to replacing unavailable riders. The only way I can see to eradicate guests would be to operate a squad system, standardisation of machinery or handicap racing... or all 3!!! Sadly the current way of using everyone else's best rider to boost your own chances of success, whilst at the same time said rider potentially knocking himself, his team, and their fans, out of the play offs, is never going to meet with any major sponsor approval, at both club and national level.. If it is "all we have" and I do realise it is, then "something else" is definitely needed to make punters want to turn up... What that is? I suppose we will never find out... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted July 26 Report Share Posted July 26 Well after fifty five years following my two teams Leicester & Long Eaton, I thoroughly enjoyed last night's meeting. To all those who continually slag off the track, racing & everything else to do with Leicester speedway, may I suggest that you find something else to do on a Thursday night, before you have no speedway team to support. And to all those idiots who said there was no overtaking last night, what planet were you watching from, because I saw plenty off overtaking. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IainB Posted July 26 Report Share Posted July 26 (edited) 19 minutes ago, Liontamer said: Well after fifty five years following my two teams Leicester & Long Eaton, I thoroughly enjoyed last night's meeting. To all those who continually slag off the track, racing & everything else to do with Leicester speedway, may I suggest that you find something else to do on a Thursday night, before you have no speedway team to support. And to all those idiots who said there was no overtaking last night, what planet were you watching from, because I saw plenty off overtaking. Prior to heat 11 it was all pretty much done and dusted by the entry to turn 3 on lap 1, there was some good stuff in those opening 2 bends and 1 straight but it was all pretty much follow the leader stuff after that, until heat 11. Heat 11 and 13 were pretty good races not much else beyond that. Glad you enjoyed it though. A solid performance from the Lions though and with Oxford seemingly having given up on the play offs we may well sneak in 4th place. If we can stay injury free, unlike Sheffield and Ippo, who knows it could well be a Leicester vs Belle Vue final! Edited July 26 by iainb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ouch Posted July 27 Report Share Posted July 27 10 hours ago, Liontamer said: Well after fifty five years following my two teams Leicester & Long Eaton, I thoroughly enjoyed last night's meeting. To all those who continually slag off the track, racing & everything else to do with Leicester speedway, may I suggest that you find something else to do on a Thursday night, before you have no speedway team to support. And to all those idiots who said there was no overtaking last night, what planet were you watching from, because I saw plenty off overtaking. “Make it a date Friday at 8” “British speedway - Fuelled by excitement” “ No brakes, no gears, no fear” “Find something else to do on a Thursday night” Not sure the last one works despite it’s accuracy. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FishersGate Posted July 27 Report Share Posted July 27 Great result for the Lions. Still work to be done but it all seems to be coming together abit now. Wasn't at meeting but my mate was constantly moaning about the lack of passing at the meeting to my dad, shortly after a voice shouted from a distance said ' oh shut up you ' it was Dave Hemsley ! He doesn't mind getting stick about the track and we all take the piss out of him for it ! Just a good laugh at the end of the day and he certainly enjoys watching meetings with his pals now. He seems much happier. Play offs are now more a game of guess who with the injuries to Ipswich and Sheffield. Can the Lions be a dark horse ? Still not convinced but it's good to see us strong at home again 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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