RADIO AND SPORT

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 160, 24 July 1937, Page 17

RADIO AND SPORT

"CroEs-Bar," )

WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD? SPECTACLE AGAINST DESCRIPTIVE COLOURING

( By

Are we in New Zealand fast becoming a race of armchair sportsmen who would ratlier .listen to the highly colonred wofd* of a radio announcer tliaii go to see a football match, watcli & wrestling exponciit twist himself into death-locks or clamps, or go to a race meeting to see the f&TOtlxite beatenf t There is ground for that questiou, beMQN not a day passes but what the radio is not made a . , *tor» potent force in supplying the wants of the great ■ «port-loving public. j f . * '■

'"•H H foeogniaed that a game worth iKbtnltyg tO, particularly when it is mcrft»d by the right type of anJOMUUii; gripc public imagtoation, -and jftir hearintf the spoken word and ••adlng the written word, the true yorUuiuua Wants to go and see for .toBaerif, Radio there is a help to \WOTt The danger is, of course, that ! $6km and written word* oan be too 1 ipy cotoured and when the listen er- ! in forsakes his ferm-chair and pays toBMthtag to see Lofty Blomfleld #swa SaH McCready (not that that vhM «*w been done or is likely to be) j be foes back to his flres&de and the [ spefcw weri, getttog more enjoyment jtoooi the description of a deathlock, : Ihe ecoring of a try or the winning | ef- a home. race than the actual • IgMtode, . The Playing Publle /* the ttoderlying danger of radio lliltt In lit effect on the actual playhkg public. It may sound ridiculous at the preeent tlme to say that golfers w M xefraln from playtog among jftotntotoe* to Bsten-in to others who ara adepts playing. Yet it is hard to baHeve that wa are not trending that wmf. We want flrst dass sports attHMtfcma to listen to, but we forget what gom to maka those flrst-class . matmta. Ttke ihe tour of the Springboks liwtgh Kew Zealand now under way. Aotahi jflaying won those- Springboks their ptaoe*. They played for the love of fbo game. Tfcey wero not profestaah But if radio has Its way, and Hi«0 1* nothing to stop it, then the timo is f»fiim*y>g when Ihe actual playfeg pdbBe wffl have to be drawn from wnwholis oiiil jinlil fn pTnr It.iswell hS paoder then wfcether radio does not moMI fbo destruction of amateur SMci fn bmrar of professiondism— pyni pfii to product a epectacle beSpM on pnnounoer and pressmen for tfao benoflt of ft Jistening and reading be nrgued that those who woot to play will play. Certainly they ,wtt, tet V tbe appeal of sport can be made ao easy as radio snakee it there Wpt bt too few wanting to play and too r*T wanting to llsten-in. When tbnt bappens the standard of sport wHftdl. ■pfc pJood nm yetsos Flreslde . SdnSe wfll.eounter arguments wlth Hhe anertkm that even had radio not It ItS appearance the lookers-on WOOfd multiply enormously. They WMfld argue that it would be just as hnpS to mahe footballers cwt oi toudillne or grandstand supporters as «f fhose sittlng by the flre. But woold ItT The touchline can cheer, cam&ro Tent to his feelings, can sense

the appeal of the actual spectacle. He creates an atmosphere which envelopes the young and develops sporting ambitions. What of the listener-in? He daren't cheer, he daren't even move his chair for fear that Aunt Mary misses who scores the next try, or racing Uncle Bill is left in doubt as to what won the New Zealand Cup. You daren't cheer, you daren't argue round the radio. You must be mute, silent list* eners to the up-to-date annuoncer— "Hooper's broken away, he is still going. Mitchell is with him. Mitchel'l has it, It must be a try. Nothing to stop a try here. Sullivan is coming up onr the outside. Yes, it's a try. It must be a try . . . And then you hear the great crowd (55,000. periiaps) cheering, and you— why you poor, sllly stop-at-home — all you can do Is get up and look for the pbker and give veht to your feelings by poklng the ooals a little further. If you say so much as a word Aunt Mary would wither you wilh a look and your eldest boy would throw the newspaper at you. But rob the ■radio •£ its touchline and ringside cheering. Destroy the great crowd looking on and what then? Comforting Reflections The radio fan, to the tense mom-; ents, when ihe cheers ring over the alr, gets the longing to be with the crowd. But when the matdt is over and he knows what team has won, and the stralned silence has departed, he takes comfort in a knowledge that he is not trying to push his way through thousands to get out of AtMetie Park to face a long drive over the Bimutakas to Napier, perhaps, or along the monotonous roads from Paekakariki to Palmerston or to Wanganui. He Is pleased he is at home and pleased at having enjoyedt the match. It is then that he goes back to his Jlklng for the radio and his hesitation ebout goinf to the touchline. He may do it unconsciously and, llkewise uneonsciously, may influence his household, thus swelling the growing army of llsteners-ln, at the expense'ef the cheering throng which helps so much to make listening in worth while. Perhaps there are many, even in thls still keenly Rugby-nflnded Dominion, who have listened to the scorlng of tries as descrlbed over the alr who have never seen a football. Some mlght scoff at that, but if the radio continues to capture the Rugby fan from his seat in the stand it will be hard to encourage the growing youth that the game will need players to kick a ball round Ihe paddock if there is any listening in to be done.