SPORTSMAN’S NOTEBOOK

Evening Star, Issue 20989, 31 December 1931, Page 5

SPORTSMAN’S NOTEBOOK

lUANINGS FROM SPORT

[By H.P.S.]

The proposal to divide the intermediate and junior swimming championships from the New Zealand National Championships was not adopted without opposition, but all who attended the highly successful meeting held at Ashburton by the intermediates and juniors last year would be satisfied that there was no cause for regret from the viewpoint of the youngsters at any rate. The competitors at that meeting were more in the nature of one large nappy family than rivals at a swimming championship meeting, there was an absence of friction of any kind, and the swimming in some divisions was of a high standard, fields, too, being particularly good. For other reasons, too, it is desirable that the intermediate and junior meeting should be held separately from the senior meeting. There is no need to go into all of them, but it may be pointed out that it is almost essential that the

youngsters should have their meeting during the school holidays, and it has been pointed out in the past that that was too early for the seniors many of whom found difficulty in getting leave to travel so soon, after the holidays. Mr J. L. M‘lndoe, president of the Otago Swimming Centre, put the position very clearly for the division of the championships when he returned from Ashburton last year, and one of Lis best points was that he thought it was more in the interests of the children themselves that the meetings should be held .as at present. The writer hopes that the Otago Centre will uphold that view when it is called upon to discuss a 'suggestion from the Auckland Swimming Centre that the meeting should be held in one as formerly. Auckland’s main "argument is that of the additional expense incurred in the despatch of two teams each year, but the writer is one of those who believe that the advantages accruing from.the division of the championships more than outweigh that argument.

Rugby enthusiasts will no doubt be Wondering what prompted l Mr H. R. Jenkins to make his unwarranted attack upon the sportsmanship and popularity of the Invincible 1924 All Blacks, and members of the team and others who are in a position to speak a good deal more authoritatively than Mr Jenkins have strongly refuted tho ridiculous statements made by Mr Jenkins, who, even if his remarks had been correct, would have certainly shown himself up in a better light had he left them unsaid. But Mr S. F. Wilson, a well-known and very sound Canterbury Rugby administrator, who was an official member of the 1924 party, has replied most; effectively to Mr Jenkins’s unwarranted attack. Through the medium of the Christchurch ‘Star,’ Mr Wilson has stated that Mr Jenkins’s description of the 1924 All Blacks was “ too silly and stupid 1 for words.” Mr Wilson was ■with the team right through the tour representing New Zealand at the international conference. He states that New Zealanders can rest assured that what Mr Jenkins has said was absolutely wrong. “We have bad the opinion of such people as the Prince of Wales. Lord l Desborough, and Lord Lonsdale, and I would prefer theirs to the class of person in England that made the criticism.” It may be added that though the New Zealanders’ system of play had its critics, tho sportsmanship of the tourists was not impugned during the tour, not even after the unfortunate happening in the international with England, the critics recognising that in tho stress of a solid and fiercely-fought game things are apt to happen which might not occur at other times. Mr Jenkins’s remarks are not likely to cause much concern .among those who value New Zealand’s prestige in the world of sport, but one can not help wondering why he should havo gone to the trouble of making them after all these years.

. Although most American writers persist in referring to Bob Fitzsimmons as an Australian, just as they termed the .New Zealander, Billy Murphy (one-time feather-weight champion of the world) an Australian, the fact remains that, bom in Cornwall, Fitzsimmons came to New Zealand at an early age, and actually made his first appearance in a ring at Timaru, where it has been stated that he knocked out four men in one night on his first appearance. But all American writers seem agreed that “Ruby Robert” was one of the phenomenons of ring history. He frequently gave away from 201 b to 40! b in weight and beat his men, he was the middle-weight and heavy-weight champion of the world at different periods, and he was beating good men at an age when all other fighters would have put away their gloves for all time. Shortly after his fortieth birthday Fitzsimmons performed one of the most remarkable feats ill the history of pugilism. He knocked out Gus Ruhlin and Tom Sharkey within two weeks of each other, and the latter was one of the great heavyweights of his time. They were stacked up against Fitzsimmons for a trial bout preceding a possible championship bout with Jim Jeffries. Fitzsimmons put Ruhlin away in six rounds, and a couple of weeks later knocked Sharkey out in two rounds. And this was after Fitz. had been beaten by Jeffries. In his life of Bob Fitzsimmons in the ‘ Police Gazette,’ Dan Hickey, one-time middleweight champion of Australia, stated that when Jeffries came and asked Fitzsimmons for a. chance at the title, the latter replied; “ J ’aven’t got a good fight left in me. My ’amis are broken, my feet and logs are bad.. I can’t light any more.” Jeffries said it would mean £6,000 to Fitz. He himself did not want the money then—ho would get that if he got the title. So the match was made, and Fitz. gave Jeffries a tough battle while he lasted. But Fitz. fooled himself, for he was better than ho thought, as he showed by the victories mentioned above. Yes, Bob Fitzsimmons earned his place among the immortals of fistiedom which great boxing authorities hare awarded’him. * * * « If there is any possibility of a tour of the dominion by an English universities’ athletic team being arranged, as has been stated by Mr C. S. Thomas, well-known Canterbury athletic official, on his return from England, then the New Zealand Amateur Athletic Association should make every effort to explore the possibilities. An English team would give a big fillip to the sport hero, especially as there is a wealth of talent in the universities at Home at the present time. The present season is an off one in respect of a visit from outside athletes, and early efforts should bo made to follow up the interest that will be aroused by the Olympic Games at Los Angeles next August by endeavouring to arrange for a tour of New Zealand by some overseas team.