Why bother?

[schumi]

Sept 25, 2009 22:15:00 GMT @tonym said:

I havent been at all this season and to be honest I haven't missed it. Yes Lynn have had another successful season but that probably equates to pretty boring speedway, over the past few years the only real entertainment was watching them away from home

It's people like you and Star Lady those in charge could learn a thing or two from - find out how they could tempt you back, as you both obviously still pay attention to what's going on via the forums, so haven't lost touch with the sport completely. And you both give concise, eloquent answers.

I dont expect to see shoulder-to-shoulder racing in every heat but its rarer than hens teeth at most tracks. What I do expect is to see two (reasonably) well matched teams and more heats than not providing an element of competition for the outcome, can you genuinely say you get that at most tracks or are most of the heats pretty much 'to form'?

But hasn't it always been that way? Racing is unpredictable - you can just as easily have no close races as you can have a whole meeting full. Although I guess, being a supporter of the one team who seem to have won by the largest margins over the last couple of years, I can see your point. But not all teams are doing that - in fact, aren't KL the exception?

The whole way the speedway is run is a complete mess with so many vested interests and no-one looking after the good of the sport and all done with a ridiculous amount of secrecy (where are the public plans for the development of the sport seen in other professional sports).

Completely agree, and I'm pretty sure that if there ever was a vote for a governing body, the majority of promoters would say "aye". However, I do realise the promoters are the ones who put the money into keeping the sport going, and will naturally want some control over the running of their business - they're still trying to make money, at the end of the day.

Rather than this obsession about getting 'close scores' the emphasis should be switched to getting 'close races' - that doesnt have to mean lots of passing but that would be the ideal.

Trouble is, the ideal isn't usually the reality. Wasn't the lowering of the points limit ultimately supposed to bring about closer racing, and get the EL more in line with PL standards? We no longer have the likes of Nicki Pedersen versus Paul Hurry, for example. I do think the abilities of the riders have got closer, but there's no way of achieving what you're asking for, in reality. You wouldn't go to a football match, or watch cricket, or motoGP, and expect it all to be close, after all. It's the chance you take with any sport. You can watch the same riders each week doing nothing special, and then one day you'll watch the best meeting you've seen for years, and be glad you didn't miss it.

Can I ask if you believe the races were closer in the days you did regularly attend?

Thus parity doesnt just mean in terms of team averages but also in finding a structure that would allow the variation within team lineups to be minimised, as a basic requirement there should be less reward for the 'big hitting' heat leader (often off in the distance and not really value for money in entertainment terms) and adjust the rules to reduce the impact of a 'top reserve' (which is an artifical notion that distorts teams and matches)

To be honest, I think Poole (Andersen, Pedersen, Holder) and Dackarna (Bjerre, Jonsson, Andersen, Lindgren and Karlsson) have proved your point there, and that teams will learn a lesson from it next year. The more balanced teams seem to be doing better, whereas those who have gone top heavy are now paying the price. It may have taken a while to realise it, but it's moving in the right direction.

[Deleted]

Sept 26, 2009 13:13:51 GMT admin said:

Most, if not all, promoters resort to what you could term "cheating" and if they don't, well, they get left for roadkill by those, such as the Chapmans and Campbell at Edinburgh who do. I prefer to call it "sharp practise". And mastery of it is the first requirement of a British promoter.

"Sharp practice" i wouldnt disagree with regrettable as it is.

Cheating = faking a heart attack and sneaking out of an A&E.

The reasons the Chapmans maybe getting out is the fact they are loathed by most of the PL and have outstayed any goodwill remaining in the PL. However its seems that they continue as normal wheedling any advantage they can get irrespective to the damage it does to KL's reputation as a team.

The lights thing could have been genuine but even only Team Chapman's brown nosers were backing them up, most KL fans and everyone else has to treat it with cynicism given their history.

[Deleted]

Sept 26, 2009 14:55:22 GMT @acheffenbacher said:

The lights thing could have been genuine but even only Team Chapman's brown nosers were backing them up, most KL fans and everyone else has to treat it with cynicism given their history.

I think the reason many Lynn fans didn't comment is because no matter what they said or what evidence they produced, reputations have been built up and no one would have believed them.
My Hubby went to school with the electrician concerned and there's no way we believe he would have been involved with any thing underhand - just our opinion I know - but had I said that it would have just provoked more comments about cheating and untruths. Quite frankly they get very boring after a while and in all honesty do the sport no good.
The same is true of the comments about JDC's rants on the centre at Armadale, they just generate more negative comments and do the sport no good in the eyes of outsiders. Personally I think they are part and parcel of being a promoter. His rants may well get column inches in the press where an "our opposition are good boys" comment would be ignored.

Now how's that for diplomacy ;D

[Deleted]

Has JDC ever sneaked out of an A&E?

[Deleted]

Sept 26, 2009 19:15:24 GMT @acheffenbacher said:

Has JDC ever sneaked out of an A&E?

I have no idea.

[Deleted]

Sept 26, 2009 14:55:22 GMT @acheffenbacher said:

Sept 26, 2009 13:13:51 GMT admin said:

Most, if not all, promoters resort to what you could term "cheating" and if they don't, well, they get left for roadkill by those, such as the Chapmans and Campbell at Edinburgh who do. I prefer to call it "sharp practise". And mastery of it is the first requirement of a British promoter.

"Sharp practice" i wouldnt disagree with regrettable as it is.

Cheating = faking a heart attack and sneaking out of an A&E.

The reasons the Chapmans maybe getting out is the fact they are loathed by most of the PL and have outstayed any goodwill remaining in the PL. However its seems that they continue as normal wheedling any advantage they can get irrespective to the damage it does to KL's reputation as a team.

The lights thing could have been genuine but even only Team Chapman's brown nosers were backing them up, most KL fans and everyone else has to treat it with cynicism given their history.

What are the Chapman's getting out of please???

[admin]

The Premier League, I guess.

[Deleted]

Sept 25, 2009 21:00:35 GMT @hatcham said:

Sept 25, 2009 20:52:55 GMT @schumi said:

Okay, but as you don't pay for you burger in the price of your ticket, what more do you want for your money? I mean, you knew when you paid you'd get 15 heats with 4 riders, but you can't legislate for the quality of racing - you pay your money and you take your chances. You know what you're going to get, so what's the complaint? Genuine question - just wondered what people expect from their entrance fee.

I agree with your sentiments, some posters are always banging on about 15 mins entertainment at Speedway compared with 90 mins at Football ! 90 mins at Football, what a crock, your lucky if you get 30 seconds of entertainment at the home of the beautiful ones and to be honest in Britain, unless your watching Man U, Liverpool, Arsenal or Tottenham its more than likely to be as boring as fuck, and you'll be lucky to get a ticket for under £40 in the Premier league.

It's not just the game for me though.

It's the day, it's the event, it's the going with your mates blah, blah.

But at Speedway, it seems like a dated atmosphere surrounded by deckchairs and anoraks. You just stand there and take it in all in like a robot.

It's just fell out with the sport this year. Can't really put my finger on it. When the Poole stuff started, I couldn't muster the effort to understand the specific information. Watching the GP Challenge was pretty much the final nail. I just hope Leicester start up which I am still yet to believe.

[Deleted]

I think it's part of the speedway fan psyche that some of them just enjoy a good whinge. It never ceases to amaze me some of the gripes people have, and as soon as one is resolved the next starts. I often wonder do some of these people actually enjoy going to speedway or do they just do it out of habit?

Having said that, there are genuine causes for complaints, in part seeded by some promotions' inabilities to listen to the fans and simply open the gates and take their money. There are so many things even at my own club that I'd love to sort - some of them such trifling insignificancies, yet enough to improve the whole package. I might just have a word in the winter... I'm lucky in that I don't pay to watch my speedway - the caveat being I only see parts of races, but it's enough for me to still enjoy the whole thing. But perhaps that's it - i go, i do my thing, I enjoy the whole evening and the racing is just part of it. When I pay to watch speedway, which is inevitably the NL these days, I just go, enjoy and come home. I don't take it all so seriously - perhaps that's where i maybe don't see all of these things that wind others up so much. BSF does appear to be a melting pot of all of these niggles, but then it is always easier to complain than to post when you're positive about something.

[schumi]

I have no problem with people who would like to see the sport improve - we all do, really. But it does puzzle me as to why those who spend their entire day moaning about anything and everything still go to speedway.

[Deleted]

Sept 27, 2009 18:40:27 GMT @rabbit said:

I think it's part of the speedway fan psyche that some of them just enjoy a good whinge. It never ceases to amaze me some of the gripes people have, and as soon as one is resolved the next starts. I often wonder do some of these people actually enjoy going to speedway or do they just do it out of habit?

Having said that, there are genuine causes for complaints, in part seeded by some promotions' inabilities to listen to the fans and simply open the gates and take their money. There are so many things even at my own club that I'd love to sort - some of them such trifling insignificancies, yet enough to improve the whole package. I might just have a word in the winter... I'm lucky in that I don't pay to watch my speedway - the caveat being I only see parts of races, but it's enough for me to still enjoy the whole thing. But perhaps that's it - i go, i do my thing, I enjoy the whole evening and the racing is just part of it. When I pay to watch speedway, which is inevitably the NL these days, I just go, enjoy and come home. I don't take it all so seriously - perhaps that's where i maybe don't see all of these things that wind others up so much. BSF does appear to be a melting pot of all of these niggles, but then it is always easier to complain than to post when you're positive about something.

Speaking for myself, and I am unanimous in that ;D , I agree with much of that post. Often though the positive is often ignored or not seen due to the negative poster tag. People talk about constructive but many would rather fight than communicate reasoning or explanation or indeed take anything on board