The Daily News. THURSDAY, JUNE 16. TUB POWER OF SPORT.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 57, 16 June 1910, Page 4

The Daily News. THURSDAY, JUNE 16. TUB POWER OF SPORT.

Sport is good 'only as Jong as it interests and exhilarates; as long as it is played fairly; as long a s the manly attributes are not lacking, and as long as rivals are generous, self-restrained, and keen. New Zealand has ia magnificent reputation in the playing field, the only accusation that can :be .brought against sportsmen being that they regard their amusements too seriously and allow even amateur contests to degenerate into work pure and simple. There are no players of games in the world who put more hard slogging into their sport than 'New Zealanders, and, this being so, it is remarkable that there are so few compiafnts, showing, of course, that in the main the contestants "play the game." It happens most frequently in all British countries that the sightseers are much more biassed than the players. An unpopular action iby a football referee is frequently resented with the utmost harshness, and everybody 'know® that a referee's job i» ever a thankless one. At a recent football match in Melbourne the spectators (harshly criticised the referee, and,, to show their sporting insitinct, a large crowd assailed him. The curious point about this case is that the referee in defending himself struck one of the mob, who brought a charge of assault against him. A® may be seen, the element of "sport" did not enter into the spectator's ideas at all. A few years ago in Australia it was almost possible for the crowd to control a match, and on one celebrated occasion the unpopular team was ''dealt with" by a "push," whiclh used 'bottles and any other milsilos that could be obtained. During May in Melbourne the Carlton and South Melbourne teams played each other literally. Throughout the game the footballers did not play football at all, and the "game" was merely a free fight. ' Battles were fought all over the ground. One player was "dealing with" an opponent when another walked over and gave him the "knockout" blow. The injured man was carried away senseless, and mounted police had to draw swords and ride into the mass of "sports" in order to quell the turbulence. These are only samples of common occurrences in the Australiaa football field, and at last the Victorian football authorities are desperately fighting to regain for ,the splendid game its place as a sport and not a war. It is not always apparent that even a New Zealand crowd desires the best team to win, and the seriousness of the defeat of a pet combination is like a heart-stab to many. Everybody remembers the famous occasion on which the news was received that the invincible All Blacks had at last been defeated by the Welshmen. One man in Wellington, when he saw the awful news, dropped dead. Th« shock was too great for his weak heart. Everywhere crowds gloomed, read the news, and passed away as if from the deathbed of a friend. .If the bottom had fallen out of the Empire the gloom could not have been deeper. There is no doubt that sport is taken too seriously in all Anglo-Saxon communities. We have already heard that in the coming battle of fisticuffs the negro Johnson will not be allowed to win. Where the element of avarice enters into alleged sport, the wreath of 'bay is a poor, dusty concern. In all British sports the element of professionalism ihas crept in, so that games formerly played for amusement and certainly for the benefit of immense numbers of people have degenerated into a mere show. The professional sport who is carefully looked after like a racehorse until he is "done" and then cast out to grow, fat and puffy sever confers any lasting benefits on sport or his nation. There is nothing more pathetic than the "has-been," whether it is a cab-horse, an ex-jockey, or a burst-up footballer, once the worshipped of cheering myriads. Clean, unbiassed sport is good discipline for players and watchers. It is a demonstration of self-control, organisation, combination, and unselfishness. By the way a man plays, it is possible—unless he Lives by and entirely for a game and its emoluments—you may know how he works. If he is ungenerous in the field he will be uncontrolled, undisciplined, and unsportsmanlike out of it. If he plays hard, plays to win, plays to beat the best that is opposed to him because he loves conquest and the emotions of victory, he will give a good account of himself in the battle of life. Spite and personal animosity is as foreign to the true field of sport as tigers are to Devon-, street. The enormous scope and influence of pastimes grows with the years, and is generally a direct denial that the race decays ,p!hysically. A race cannot be gauged by its few successful units, but by the power of its collective people. The power of the collective people 3s demonstrated by their physical excellence and the strength of their minds in controlling' it. Uncontrol, evil temper, and passionate unsportsmansliip are indications of decadence. The passionate fighter may be good for a sudden inspirational burst, but he cannot "stay." The cool, controlled, disciplined fighter smites him at the finish. Fortunately, oiy greatest sport is calmly controlled, and although in spots the national pas-

time is not quite free from imputation, on tlhe :whole there is not a great deal to cavil at. Young Wood is hot anil young heads forgetful, but when it is insisted always that play is play and war is war, and that the man who wars at a football match is a poor sport, the element of personal grievance may die. Bias in a crowd is harder to deal with, ■as everybody knows, but the same elements that produce good sportsmen in the ranks of a team are the same elements that produce fairness in a crowd.