Sporting Sprints.

Maoriland Worker, Volume 2, Issue 64, 31 May 1912, Page 13

Sporting Sprints.

Talking about Johnson avoiding ■Langford and -Mc'Voa, an English authority points out that, "seeing he has 'beaten the former once and the latter three titmex, it is hardly likely that the limits would draw much Vinncy anywhere but in Sydney, where the" public Boom to be more enamored of ni;_'-p.' rs than even the .Parisians." * . « Tommy Burns, who is now back in this country, is full of fight talk, and .(says a New York sporting journal) naturally likes to discuss what he thinks he can do to Johnson if anyone will come across with enough of tho •tuff. There is no prospect of another battle between them, for while both may be willing to fight, there is no one easy enough to be the angel for the 60,00 dollars odd that they would surely demand. Burns is reported as saying that he intends to return to Australia next summer, and will first meet Porky Flynn. Yes, Burns also says -Ic-Vea is not much of a lighter, and has a yellow streak. How very, very interesting. Several years ago Burns Baid the same thing about Johnson. * * * George (iillett has been officially apSointed organiser for flic "Now Zealand -Ugby League throughout the Doniin■jon, and he should i;rn\e the right man in the right position. "1 have said it before, and therefore havo no hesitation in saying it again," writes a well-known football authority. "The Rugby game is all right, and the rules a.re all right, provided you get tho players willing and able to pla.v the -game in the spirit of the rules."' * * » The delegates fo the annual meeting of the New Zealand Rugby f'uioii, by an overwhelming majority, threw out tho motion for secession from the English Rugby Union, only three unions-— Eawke's Bay, Otago, and Southland — Toting for it. "There is no doubt the delegates showed their wisdom in throwing out the proposal," writes ! ''Rover," a strong admirer of Rugby, I in tho Christchurch "Fvoniiig News." "After all, the cry for a change has come from the semi-professional camp and a low newspaper writers. Fully !)0 per <sont. of the players do not want a change. The point, seems to be lost that Rugby .is only meant to be a pastime for the players, not an -exhibition Ifor the spectators. Tbe game could I ■till exist without the spectators. As j a priAif, look at the junior matches, i which go on from week- to week without being witnessed by more than a handful of spectators. But that fact does not Boom to worry the players. The trouble I is there is apt to be a feeling in certain quarters Mint ai!;!-'lie sports and panics are intended solely for the delectation j of the spectators, not as a pasiiine lor j the players. Happily. Ido not think j Hugby football iv New Zealand lias reached this level yet. Personally, f consider the' Northern League game las so far done more good than burin to Rugby in Zealand: it has clean- j ed the Rugby game of some of ..s most undesirable elements.' * # * Jack Johnson is still engaged upon tbe process of getting off flesh, "i know 1 am too fat now,' says Johnson, "but I mean to be the fittest man on earth when I fight Fireman Flynn." Asked whether he thought he would win, the negro said, "Of course, T shall win. Flynn is not half the mi«r Burns was when 1 mot him, and if you put a straight proposition to mc, I say that Tommy was the hardest nut I ever had to crack." Flynn is just as confident of victory as is Johnson. "I'll beat the I coon or die," he says. G. A. Tyler, the famous All Black win, has had a long and distinguished football career as a member of the City Club and an Auckland and New Zealand representative player, has definitely decided to retire from the game. His duties as doel.ma.stor to the Auckland Harbor Board interfere, with football. Thirteen years have passed since Tyler first won senior representative honors, and he has played in the Auckland representative team in 11 seasons.

According to a Dunedin writer 3 'the Otago representative Rugby football team will make an extended northern tour at the cud of the club season, playing matches against Canterbury. Wellington. Waiiganui, Taranaki and Auckland. The tour will commence at tinend of August or beginning of' September, and i\ill occupy three weeks. m * » Then' is a firmly-lixod opinion in America that the man who is destined to .become heavy-weight champion ot the world when the star of Johnson vanes is Al. Palzer, a strapping young farmworker, who recently defeated Kaulinann. Johnson is anxious to light Ib.ly.or before his mulch with Flynn, but the advisers of the white men are urging him to wait until he has had a little more experience. In a year's time, when Johnson will be 37 years of age. it is figured I'al'/.er would have more than an even chance-of-boating the redoubtable negro. An interesting contest will be staged in San Francisco on July 4 (Independence Day), when Palzer will meet Bombardier Wells, the Knglish heavy-weight. Jt .is one of the most attractive heavy-weight shows that could be arranged. Tho winner will unquestionably lie given a chance Ito light Johnson for the. worhpf, championship. Wells Was to IIKVe fought Johnson in London, but -insistent public opinion put a stop to the ai'.'air. The white man who succeeds in making Johnson bite the dust will b( the hereof the day in America,-and uilleai-ify amass a fortune. _■ * » "The Common Failings ot Cyclists" is tbe title of an interesting articleby the English, cycling i journalist, F. T. Bidlako. In it lie refers to the failing many present-day cyclists have of neglecting the art of (inkling. After pointing out that cyclists who do not iie-ikij |-rop-i ;'y ignore tin- fact that the human engine has a, valuable and beautifully-controlled' hinge, missing in all steam engines— j namely, the ankb —he comb ions the | | "wooden leg" action, rightly taking; the view that the accomplished '-ank- j lor" will easily accomplish journeys i which would tire a stronger man who, less skilfully applies his superior force. ! The position he recommends tor the foot is that it- should be placed so t-h-'i-t j the centre barrel of the lvdal is «th- ; wart the widest portion ol the- sbec : the ; ball of the foot, which carries the load '' when walking, should take the thrust j when pedalling, such thrust being most j advantagoou'dv applied over the"i.ire : of the pedal. ' Another failing laid stress dr; Is that ; of ovcr-cstinifit iug streng'i ;,;id using i an unduly high gear. This may seen. 1 very pleasant in the o:;rlv stages ol an ; easy ride, but is a baffling ji.'id disabling defect when l'..tig',:c sets in. , Her,', in Bidlake's opinion, is where ih.. ■ advantage of the variabb g'-ar -device - asserts itself, in affording a usclul means of escape from the e\ ils of a sin- : g|e excessive avar, provided the rider; cultivates the use of it, and does not: expect fallacious results from it. In the case, however, of a rider whose machine is not titled with a variable gear device, he thinks that far more enjoyment. is to be had by tho average cyclist, for | all-round purposes, from a gear of (\f~ j inches or thereabouts than from the I high eighties or nineties. }',<• consul- j ers it wiser to under-gear than overgear, as the one error at worst only j "winds" a man, while the error of overgearing fatigues the average rider com- i plotoly, and may lead to exhaustion and I overstrain. With these views we are j disposed to entirely agree. I