Fucked, again

[admin]

I see that the Coventry versus Peterborough meeting miraculously made in to Ht 12 and was then abandoned, with the result standing. So, Mr Joe Public fucked again, it would seem. The way speedway treats the paying public is shocking. If we get to Ht such-and-such we don't have to give the buggers re-admission and if we manage Ht 12 we can get a binding result. Is it any wonder the drift of supporters away from the sport continues?

[donsking]

There's an interesting thread on the BSF (I know the terms 'interesting thread' and 'BSF' don't often appear in the same sentence, but we'll gloss over that) at the moment about a long term speedway fan and her sudden realisation that she's not that inclined to go anymore.

The interesting part is, there's three pages of people agreeing with her, and I would be one of them; I haven't been to 'home' meeting since April, in fact the only meetings I've been to are the 4TT last weekend (and that was more to do with meeting some other folk than the actual speedway) and Eastbourne the Monday before because someone I knew wanted to go to a match and that was the most convenient one to go to.

So, speedway, a sport I have followed since I was a small child, has managed to woo me back, enthuse me and then disillusion me in less than a year.............

[admin]

Started watching speedway in 1982, when the Bandits weren't domiciled in the cruel, crazy town, but were to be found in a home-made stadium in a farmer's field near Ancroft. Stopped watching speedway in 1993, thoroughly disillusioned. Didn't think I'd be back. The addiction was broken. And for many I think it is an addiction.
I came back to the sport in 2005.

[donsking]

I suppose for me it's all about credibility.

I started watching in around 1970 at Wimbledon; the sport was the second most attended after football, the team were at the top of the tree and a real heritage name, and we had black and white TV that closed down at night and fuck all else to entertain us.

I carried on through the 70s and early 80s with the Dons and Milton Keynes, then knocked it on the head when little things like jobs and women became priorities.

Next visit was Swindon in 1990, John Louis ("bugger me, is he still riding" I thought), the exhausts were silenced, the smell had all but disappeared, and the crowd (if you could call it a crowd) weren't allowed near the track.

Fast forward to 2006, and I'm at the Essex Arena; it hasn't changed since I was racing stock cars there in the 80s, and I've now been treated to three different teams in less than six months worth of racing.

It's not good is it?

[admin]

donsking said:

I've now been treated to three different teams in less than six months worth of racing.

It's not good is it?

Try watching your speedway in the cruel, crazy team - often seems like Peter Waite's trying for three different teams in three weeks.

[donsking]

admin said:

donsking said:

I've now been treated to three different teams in less than six months worth of racing.

It's not good is it?

Try watching your speedway in the cruel, crazy team - often seems like Peter Waite's trying for three different teams in three weeks.

I've given some leeway to the R/R and guest rules, you have to if you want to keep up with modern speedway, but it's all too much for me really.

If the logistics of going to Coventry on Monday will work, then I'll go (but again, more because of the people I will meet and less about the actual match), but I've got no specific plans to go back to Lakeside again; that's rather sad, don't you think?

[admin]

It certainly is.
But I've got to state an interest here, young fellow. Although we've only exchanged comments on a variety of forums and via private messages, I've developed a great respect for Mr Douglas down at Lakeside. So, anything I say would be perhaps a little biased. I'd be inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt - he wants to achive things at Lakeside. He'll make mistakes along the way, but he'll learn from them.

[donsking]

admin said:

It certainly is.
But I've got to state an interest here, young fellow. Although we've only exchanged comments on a variety of forums and via private messages, I've developed a great respect for Mr Douglas down at Lakeside. So, anything I say would be perhaps a little biased. I'd be inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt - he wants to achive things at Lakeside. He'll make mistakes along the way, but he'll learn from them.

Make no mistake, Stuart has my greatest respect, if for no other reason than, like me, he is a speedway fan since childhood and is prepared to put his money where his mouth is; what concerns me is that he's ploughing in the cash, but not always turning on the screw of his business accumen.

Jon Cook's statement on the Lakeside website was very poor marketing in my view, and Duggo should bring his weight to bear more often; Stuart might not know much about the ins and outs of a ducks arse concerning speedway riders, but he knows a lot more than his team manager about how to market a speedway team!

I just hope Stuart doesn't suddenly realise that running Lakeside speedway could be quite a good tax loss, but there comes a point when the loss outweighs the gain.

[Genghis]

Incidentally, were Peterbrough fined for putting out such a weakened side at Coventry?

Once when an Oxford meeting was abandoned after 12 heats, the Purchase promotion offered discounted admission to the next meeting. Allen Trump seems a good bloke, so I would suggest the same to him if Oxford was called off after 12 heats this season. It's little things like these that make all the difference to the fans.

All the best
Rob

[admin]

A Berwick meeting at Edinburgh was called off after Ht 12 earlier in the season and the Edinburgh promotion offered reduced admission to the following meeting for those with valid tickets, which wasn't much good for the Berwick faithful. But give JDC & Co credit, they offered reduced admission to the next Edinburgh versus Berwick fixture to any supporter with a valid ticket from the previous meeting at Berwick (against Redcar or Sheffield, I think).
So, although I wasn't at the original abandoned meeting, I got reduced admission to the next Edinburgh versus Berwick meeting. A wonderful gesture from the Edinburgh promotion, although I felt a bit of a fraud. Still, JDC told me to enjoy the meeting anyway when I thanked him.

[Deleted]

Talking of rain offs what realy hacks me off is when its been chucking down all bloody day and you get to the track and its like a ploughed field(ok I know some tracks are like that every week!).
The meeting starts and its still chucking down, and then as soon as heat 6 has finnished, the riders are moaning(whats new there some of you may say!), the refs called to the track and what a supprize its been abandoned, due to a waterlogged track!
And what is the reason they have struggled to get it to Heat 6???and the
Its so the clubs don't have to give the fans re-admission to any other meeting! another way of ripping off what fans they have left!

[admin]

I thought it was Ht 7 or 8 these days?

[Deleted]

Heat 8 it is Sube.

Changed this season and about time too, how many years has it been since meetings were 13 heats .

[Deleted]

To be fair the track was rideable, nay make that raceable until about heat 10. I can fully understand the point of the thread, however I reckon the bees were right to make a stand over this issue. Horton has done the sport no favours whatsoever with his reported actions and comments, and it is about time he began to think of the wider picture and not just his £250,000 worth of assets!!