BY DENNIS NEWLYN

In the days when I was Parramatta Raceway Media Manager (2006-2012) and regularly had speedway featured in print/electronic mainstream media, one person who related to the sport better than most was Sydney journalist Mike Gibson.
Mike's recent tragic passing touched many and was felt in a lot of sports – speedway included.
Gibson, 75, was a great sports writer and I often met him at Fox Sports studios when I got Sydney speedway competitors constantly on prime time Fox Sports programming in addition to speedway regularly featured in news bulletins and sports shows on major free-to-air TV networks in Sydney (TCN 9, ATN 7, TEN 10, ABC-TV AND SBS AS WELL AS PAY-TV SKY NEWS/SPORT).
I secured a spot for Max Dumesny on Mike's extremely high rating Fox Sports Back Page programme and Mike Gibson was great to deal with.
His – and the panel's – interview with Max was superb as Mike Gibson clearly showed more than a casual speedway interest.
Mike was well aware of speedway – especially in Sydney – and how big the sport was in days of yesteryear.
On one occasion he related to me what a night at the Sydney Showground meant when speedway in Sydney attracted massive weekly crowds AVERAGING BETWEEN 14,000 – 20,000 PEOPLE!!!
Now, 5000 – 6000 people is considered a great crowd!!
His memories were the smell of cooking Pluto Pups and Tasmanian chips wafting through the air from a nearby snack bar mixed with the aroma of Castrol-R as the bike and car daredevils raced under lights on a narrow dirt rack on the perimeter of a darkened infield.
When Mike wrote a Daily Telegraph newspaper colour piece in the week leading up to the Final Salute at the Sydney Showground on April 27, 1996, he brilliantly captured “the way we were” in those halcyon days of Sydney speedway when the sport was owned, managed and controlled by astute businessmen who knew their product and entertainment values. They very successfully got the message out there to Sydneysiders with an expertise that always ensured a prominent spot in the public domain and massive media coverage in days of a wonderful era of former professionalism.
On learning of Mike Gibson's sudden death, memories of meeting him flashed through my mind. He was a knock-about bloke who loved all sports, a beer and a punt. He was the consummate professional whether in front of a camera, microphone or keyboard.
What he wrote about speedway reflected how it has clearly been lost in time as the sport in Sydney in current times has been relegated to a secondary status, totally devoid of prominent, high rating main stream latter day media exposure through a variety of reasons. Times have certainly changed (met with tough environmental issues) and it's up to speedway to meet those challenges against a plethora of public entertainment options, higher profile sports ruthlessly chasing media coverage and succeeding with outstanding coverage.
Except for the speedway news items I often have featured in Sydney's Daily Telegraph without cost, any other articles on the sport are published in the biggest selling Australian daily newspaper only on the condition paid advertising space is taken.
The pursuit of the entertainment almighty dollar has a big field of contenders with many presenting a product that is far more attractive to the media. It is what it is, no matter how many people try to believe otherwise.
I recently had cause to phone a prominent media name in Sydney sport and during our conversation when the subject of speedway arose, he made an interesting observation – a viewpoint some people in the know may say is totally accurate. In this day and age he described speedway as at best a “fringe sport” that, apart from isolated occasions, is generally well out of the mainstream multi media interest or focus.