Information being received that a lot of Marshalls are extremely annoyed and upset over the comments made by Eddie Nelson over the Tetra Radio system, relative to the lateness of the Roads Open car this evening.

It seems that Eddie has forgotten that the Marshalls are all volunteers and that without them there aint no racing.

I would think that perhaps an apology is warranted here and should be made mightily quick if the powers that be want the remaining practice to continue.



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The clerk of the TT course has been forced to make an unreserved apology to try and calm a storm.

A deluge of criticism followed remarks made by Eddie Nelson, on the race communications system, last night (Thursday) in which he told marshals to 'stop whinging'.

It followed complaints by mountain marshals they were having to wait hours to get off the course after practice and, in some cases, had to travel to Douglas before heading back to their homes in the north.

On Manx Radio TT in the last hour, Mr Nelson apologised.

he clerk of the TT course has been forced to make an unreserved apology to try and calm a storm.

A deluge of criticism followed remarks made by Eddie Nelson, on the race communications system, last night (Thursday) in which he told marshals to 'stop whinging'.

It followed complaints by mountain marshals they were having to wait hours to get off the course after practice and, in some cases, had to travel to Douglas before heading back to their homes in the north.

Listen to the Soundbite

http://www.manxradio.com/oNews/uploaded/...ogy-jm.wma


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If I had any say... I woiuld suggest that Mr Big Mouth go to the most remote marshal post...

The marshals are out there doing their best... for FREE... We should be thanking them and helping them... in any way we can.,.. my $0.02 worth...

Ron

I'm sorry but I feel Mr Nelson is being judged very unfairly in the light of this case.

Marshalls do volunteer and must know that there are wide extremes of spots where they have to man and I suppose this must be known beforehand...

In 2011 we have had a practice week from hell which must have put a huge strain on him and instead of giving him full support he is getting increased grief by him being made to apologise for a comment made in the heat of the moment, and in these circumstances it is quite unappealing.

We need Marshalls but some of them think they should get the prime sites and stand there without any hassle.

Please support Eddie, he does a very demanding job with little acknowledgement when it is all going smoothly but slip a little and its bash him a lot...Forget it...there's a whole week to go yet !!!!

(05-06-2011, 09:59 AM)ian huntly Wrote: I'm sorry but I feel Mr Nelson is being judged very unfairly in the light of this case.

Marshalls do volunteer and must know that there are wide extremes of spots where they have to man and I suppose this must be known beforehand...

In 2011 we have had a practice week from hell which must have put a huge strain on him and instead of giving him full support he is getting increased grief by him being made to apologise for a comment made in the heat of the moment, and in these circumstances it is quite unappealing.

We need Marshalls but some of them think they should get the prime sites and stand there without any hassle.

Please support Eddie, he does a very demanding job with little acknowledgement when it is all going smoothly but slip a little and its bash him a lot...Forget it...there's a whole week to go yet !!!!

Thank goodness for you Ian, I thought I was the only one who seemed to have spotted that it is deemed OK to constantly have a dig at organisers but heaven forbid any one should say anything to a marshal!!!

We know without marshals there would be no racing, but there would be no racing without riders, organisers, spectators, each one as important as the next.
We all and I as an ex racer REALLY APPRECIATE Marshals, but it seems to me these last few years 'alot of them' not all, seem to only say they're doing it to be constantly thanked and want to try and hold the whole show to ransom of thanks for fear of them not bothering.
At the end of the day marshal are race fans and like the racers and spectators should be doing it becuase they want to see it and be part of it NOT just to be thanked every 2 minutes and told how wonderful they are. If some Marshals aren't happy then don't do it? Simple.
Because one thing that is as sure as going for a s*** every day is , IF the TT and MGP races stop, THE MARSHALS, THE RACERS AND THE SPECTATORS will ALL miss it before any of the organisers do.

Now, there are two very interesting postings above, which indicate that perhaps the most commonly held belief; that The Marshalls fully and deservedly received a public apology from the Clerk of the Course - Mr Eddie Nelson, may not be shared by all, and that consideration for the pressures that the CoC comes under have not been considered.

I wonder just how many others are of the opinion that "The Bag" has, that in fear of "upsetting the applecart" (heaven forbid any one should say anything to a marshal !!!), they just keep quiet and go with the flow, in order to ensure that disruptions are kept to a minimum where the racing is concerned.

Do you think that there is a faction within the Marshalling fraternity who are behaving in a manner that is detrimental to the overall benefit of the racing in general ? (They can't race without us, so don't upset us) !!!!

It would be interesting to hear from people who are close to the racing just what they personally think of the recent incident and the constantly broadcasted comment of "Without Marshals there would be no racing".

Whilst that is certainly very true, as The Bag says - "There would be no racing without riders, organisers, spectators, each one as important as the next".


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Now I am a retired old cynic,but I sincerely believe that someone who takes on the responsibility to be CoC for the TT and who gets very handsomely paid must be highly professional at all times.

Although some say the marshals should keep quite and go with the flow the same must apply to the other side of the equation ie even under the most extreme pressure of holding the top job you should always be cognisant of engaging brain before operating mouth.

I know from personal experience that ACU Events personnel have a less than latent bullying trait and whilst strong leadership is most certainly necessary disregarding the sensitivities of all people involved in the running of the races is not the way forward.I truly think that the 'open mike' showed Mr Nelson in his true colours.I am sure it was not a heat of the moment thing.

Those of you who heard the apology must also have heard Chief Constable Mike Langdons remarks as well.
The overall impression I got from his comments was one of downplaying the situation and of being somewhat patronising to the marshals by implying you have your apology now just pipe down and get on with it,it'stough for all of us but of course not all of us are volunteers.......are we.

As a marshal on a sheltered, non-mountain stretch, and as such not victim to all the early closing and late opening of the roads, I fully agree with the completely justified complaints (not whingeing for the sake of complaining) by the "mountain marshals." Perhaps this will act as a reminder of what they had to needlessly put up with, night after night, and hopefully a solution is now in place. I would be interested to hear the opinions of "mountain marshals" about the solutions that should now be in place.

"One experienced marshal, who did not want to be named, contacted the Manx Independent about his concerns.

‘Under the current system the marshals are on post while the Mountain Road is closed, in effect from about half an hour before to half an hour after the rest of the course being closed and opened. This is regarded as “fair enough”.

‘The present means of access, by convoy, adds about 30 mins on both ends of the session, which is survivable with a sense of humour. We’ve now added getting on for two extra hours on duty compared to the time spent by marshals on Bray Hill (no disrespect to them).’

He added: ‘The real problem is due to delays in the convoy down (after the practice session has ended) the one-way system.

‘On Monday the convoy down was delayed at Keppel Gate for about 25 minutes while a Department of Infrastructure official adjusted his bollards, and marshals on bikes were left standing in a brisk wind producing a chill factor below zero. We complained, but to little effect.
‘On Tuesday there was the very sad end to practice at about 8.45pm with the expected disruption of organisation such an incident causes, we understand that too well.

‘But was it really necessary to keep the marshals on the mountain in a freezing gale until it was dark? Many marshals have spoken of not marshalling on the mountain section in future."