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Mouse that roared like a tadpole
29/09/2008
Tonight sees the sudden death stage of the Elite League season with the play off semi finals at Lakeside and Poole. Arguably the spectre of elimination makes this the most exciting part of the finale and, you’d have thought, that this would be a public relations gift for both the BSPA and the Sky Sports […]
more from the blog
Tough Spokes & Slow Bikes
12/09/2008
8th September Leading up to the latest televised broadcast, the Sky Sports Speedway publicity office had worked their usual communicational magic to minimise the armchair audience. The Speedway Star told us that we’d get to see the ‘relegation’ clash of the titans that is the Belle Vue versus Wolverhampton meeting from Kirkmanshulme Lane. In a […]
Tenacianos
02/09/2008
The converted window cleaning booth that serves as the Sky speedway commentary booth has certainly been going back to its roots in recent weeks. Recently it has been another week, another meeting staged in the rain for the benefit of Sky television. I always understood that “rider safety” was always the number one priority for […]
More Praise for ‘Concrete for Breakfast’
01/08/2008
‘A masterpiece of observation and writing. I swear his books get better and better’ Peter Oakes/Speedway Star To order your copy, click here
Is the recent Cardiff GP 2009 Advert Misleading?
17/07/2008
An incredible four days after the 2008 Cardiff GP ended, the organisers are so desperate to further swell their coffers that they’re already trying to put their grasping hands inside the British speedway fans less than bulging pockets with a so called ‘special offer’ for next years event! Not yet migrated to the seemingly endless […]
Talking Points Galore
14/07/2008
2nd June The lure of another visit to Monmore Green Stadium proves irresistible for the Sky Sports cameras, which tonight sees the visit of Swindon. Though, we’re often rightly told that British speedway would be comprehensively up the Swanee River without the oxygen of publicity provided by the glare of the cameras, the Sky speedway […]
Behind the Scenes at the Cardiff GP with the Blunsdon blog
01/07/2008
For a unique perspective you really can’t find anywhere else about what really goes into making the Cardiff GP the best attended event in British speedway – visit the Blunsdon blog here and read Graham Cooke insightful account. Comes complete with splendid photographs.
Wonderful Times review by Ian McMillan
The Times review by Ian McMillan, 28th June 2008 THERE ARE CERTAIN sports that seem to be shaped by their histories and their settings just for the purpose of lyrical description: county cricket, with its long afternoons in the sun, its trundle to the pavilion as the rain threatens, its slowly changing scoreboards and its […]
Banner trailed as Green fades from screens
07/06/2008
12th May The last ever live Sky Sports speedway broadcast to feature the legendary presenter Jonathan Green simultaneously showcased his skills along with the grave limitations of his talent, his obsessions (too many to list but invariably an endless loop of discussions about the weather, the track, both teams REALLY wanting to win, the wonder […]
Jonathan Green: the poor man’s Jeremy Clarkson
22/05/2008
Unless I missed it, without fanfare or ceremony one of the speedway broadcasting greats – Jonathan Green – has slunk away from our screens without the brilliance of his decade of live television work being truly appreciated and acknowledged. Surely this is a crime! With a whimper rather than a bang – after the last […]
Wonders of the Wonderwheel
12/05/2008
28th April The Sky cameras have chosen to show a clash of birds when the Swindon Robins take on the Eastbourne Eagles at Blunsdon. It’s a brave choice of fixture given that the Eagles in recent years have rarely performed well in Wiltshire. The Elite League table has an ominous look about it too though […]
Tim Stone
27/04/2008
Tim Stone has sadly been prematurely snatched from his family and friends as well as the speedway community today. What you saw is what you got with Tim. Without his dedication and vision Newport Speedway wouldn’t have survived. Like he helped so many youngsters, Tim quietly and without fuss always helped me too (albeit in […]
Another Evening of Insight & Thrills
26/04/2008
If you weren’t a speedway fan and had accidentally tuned into the Panthers versus Eagles meeting from the East of England Showground, you’d have been treated to an evening where the weather and consistency of the dirt on the track almost garnered as much discussion as the racing. Making him sound like a dog needing […]
Ongoing Scandal of GP Series Prize Money
25/04/2008
What would it be like to live in world without inflation? Strangely enough, the riders who have competed in the Grand Prix series know this feeling well. They’ll know this again this year as the 2008 Grand Prix series starts tomorrow in Slovenia with exactly the same prize money on offer as in 2005! Given […]
Midget bikes and enhanced graphics herald dawn of a new era
07/04/2008
31st March Sky Sports choose to send their cameras to Brandon for the Coventry versus Eastbourne to open another season of live televised speedway coverage. I don’t know what package everyone else subscribes to but mine costs £35 per month and you have to ask does this represent good value or guaranteed entertainment? For the […]
If you enjoyed ‘Shale Britannia’…
28/03/2008
…then you might also enjoy my latest photo book Banter & Bustle The Big Issue ,the Daily Telegraph, the Sunderland Echo, salut! Sunderland all liked it! They said: “The ritualistic walk to and from the football ground is the subject of this quirky book of photographs. Filled with mundane images of the back end of […]
‘Wahoo…LOOK NO BRAKES’ article riddled with inaccuracies
29/02/2008
An almost immutable law of the Rupert Murdoch Empire is that one part of his media kingdom will invariably but spontaneously chose to promote the products of another, particularly if they hold exclusive rights. For example, it’s not unusual to find The Times, The Sun or the Sunday Times using the Sky Sports invented catchphrase […]
Praise for 2008 Yearbook
15/02/2008
Robert Bamford’s Yearbook remains an essential purchase..every conceivable fact and figure is coveredAllan Melville, Speedway Plus 14/02/08 The 2008 edition of the Speedway Yearbook has been given a welcome makeover…it’s a good move as the dull-as-ditchwater presentation has been beefed up into an attractive packagePeter Oakes, Speedway Star 16/02/08
Chokka clubhouse greets New Dawn
01/02/2008
26th January I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from the Eastbourne fans forum in the bar at Arlington Stadium on a January winter’s night. I knew that the new promotional team of Bob Dugard and Martin Hagon would be present along with the key post-season signings – the diminutive Lee Richardson and the affable […]
New Team for the Window Cleaning Cage
21/06/2008
May 19th The post-Jonathan Green era on Sky Sports immediately dawns with a Matrix type moment in the first few seconds of the broadcast when Nigel Pearson brazenly rewrites history with the claim, “Kelvin Tatum alongside me as always!” Clearly for most of the last decade, Nigel has been mostly hidden away unseen in the […]