THE ONLOOKER'S BLUNDER

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVI, Issue 23275, 18 February 1939, Page 1 (Supplement)

THE ONLOOKER'S BLUNDER

Spoiling Sport

By MATANGA

SHAKESPEARE'S Duke in "Measure for Measure" is one, it seem's, of a long line, not yet extinct. When the play has almost run its length he declares emphasis— My business in this State jlade mo a looker-on here in Vienna. A looker-on! There you have it. So might thousands upon thousands honestly describe themselves, as people whose business in the State includes a parlous lot of looking on. However, our concern now should be with those viewing the physical fitness campaign with an aloof indifference. They have acquired the habit of thinking that physical games and pastimes are mainly to be encouraged for the pleasure these give to a watching crowd. It must startle them to be told, in so many words, that'they themselves ought to turn to and see what they can make of such activity; yet it is high time for the shock to be administered.

Are we not becoming, with reference to any one of a dozen things in life, a race of onlookers? New Zealanders are not a whit better than others in this respect, and the case against them, in connection with physical fitness, is all the stronger because a love of prowess in thew and sinew is in the inheritance of most of them, and because the conditions of their lives favour personal culture of that same prowess. A census of our muscular recreations, wen? it taken with adequate accuracy, would show that many of us are content to take these recreations by proxy. We devote, in the aggregate, a vast Bum to providing grand-stands and people's stands and pavilions and terraces. Thousands will rather pay + o see two men strive in single combat for mastery than engage in the sport themselves. Tens of thousands will spend much time and money to see even domestic animals course and leap, whereas all, but a handful of these "patrons" would cut a sorry figure if they ventured to run or jump. What about it? Excuses Oh, yes! —wherein these displays minister"wholesomely to sensible relaxation and give reasonable entertainment, they are not to be roundly condemned. "All work and no play"— to be sure. And the sight of experts at any pastime can be safely calculated to provoke a spirit of emulation in those less proficient?, thus the standard will be improved and the good influence be spread. And there is some physical gain, without a doubt, in having one's circulation quickened while watching an exciting struggle; the exercise is not all confined to the ring or the court or the field. There is mental . exhilaration, too, in such experiences, a tonic better than none. Let all this be granted: it leaves untouched the general truth that the fond habit of onlooking is one to be charily indulged, save by the halt and the maimed and the feeble. To mako a practice of looking on at anything, even a pastime, in which one is naturally qualified to engage, is to become flabby and lazy. U l sbe looker-on sees most of the game," it is said. True enough; but he does not have the best of the fun, nor does he get most out of the game. These joys go to the active participant. He alone is fulfilling the purpose about which the game grew; it was meant originally for the players. WTien it is staged especially for the onlookers it ; i': misses its way. , What results from this misfortune is indicated best, perhaps, by the manners of the habitual "barracker," for a study of extremes is a good guide to the nature of tendencies. This pernicious fellow, not to be confused with the ringsider occasionally giving vocal vent to his feelings, evidently believes that games were invented for his peculiar delight. He really over-rates flis importance. Signs of the Times Round certain cricket fields of both sides of the world the ' -'barracker" does his best —or his worst, it is the same thing—/to insist on having a cricket match played to suit his fancy: if this does not happen, he will insult the players; he has beeu known to wreck the pitch. He completely loses sight of the fact that the recreation of the players is the fundamental purpose, whatever else may bo true.

No wonder he fails to appreciate the zest and strain' of a' tussle in which caution and restraint are sometimes as important as meteoric brilliancy. Ho must have 'brightness, snap, thrill, without alloy; never mind how the players feel or what they know. By these signs, albeit they are exceptional in their sustained manifestation, the habit of onlooking stands con- ,•! demned. It is the inversion of rational recreation. It turns a means of developing skill and strength into a fashioner of folly. In place of tense nen-es and muscles it produces leather lungs and brazen throats. Instead of fine sportsmanship it engenders peevish resentment and unrestrained selfassertion. ' , Let the case for "the crowd" be argued before a jury of referees and umpires and judges. What would the finding be? It would acknowledge the chivalry and insight of many onlookers, certainly. These are mainly the folk that are either players themselves or have been players. But against this acknowledgment would be set an indictment of a considerable-number to whom looking on has become a profession, w ho cannot take a beating—in the grandstand or on the bank. History For their admonition—if they would bother themselves to think of it dnstory records a remarkable happening: as soon as games became spectacular the nations that fostered the change began a descent to oblivion. Itorne s !! gladiatorial shows were more imperilling than the, onslaughts by the Goths. The Spanish bull-fights have cost Spain much more than tho lives of all the unlucky toreadors and matadors slain m the arena.

What does it profit to breed only a few fine fighters? One Goliath could not save Pliilistia Better, indeed, a nation of pottering amateurs, all keen and gay, taking their pastimes tor the fun of the thing and the sheer joy of the contest, than a nation of onlookers content to let others do the things they, poor souls, dare not try. Not enough material could be collecte.d from all the grand-stands of the world to build for the smallest city an ensuring temple of fame. The millennium ■ "will never be seen by eyes that look only through opera-glasses. But out of the hurly-burly of the playing-field, where opposing energies are at handpips, the hopes of greater days will "kelier spring. To the people that work hard and Play hard all things are possible. To those willing to hand over to others the activities that rightly call for their °*n exertions there is 110 future worth a thought.