ALL SPORTS

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 121, 12 August 1927, Page 10

ALL SPORTS

A Weekly Budget

In splendid health, John D. Rockefeller, the multi-millionaire, celebrated the 85th anniversary of his birthday by indulging in his favourite pastime, golf. Wants Encouraging? Mark Nicholls, vice-captain of the 1924 All Blacks, said that he is not a candidate for the New Zealand team to South Africa next year. That is, unless it is found that the team absolutely needs him. £3O a Week Jack Munro is no longer the presiding deity at Sydney Stadiums. Jack put in his resignation the other day, and the £1,500 a year job was given to Pat McHugh, who had control of Leichardt Stadium, a few miles out of Sydney. Joe Wallis, the massive referee at Sydney boxing headquarters, retains his present high-salaried office. Parson or Pug? The Rev. William Laurance, who, 15 years ago, abandoned pugilism for evangelism, is training his 20-years-old son for a bout with Dan Haswell, an American State champion boxer, says an exchange. If the boy wins he will become a boxer, and if he is beaten he will wear the broadcloth of a parson. Will It Last? Here is an English opinion of the introduction of greyhound-racing to London. “It is a fine spectacle, especially when the track is lit up, but you do not want to see it more than once. Racing the electric hare will be successful only so long as it is a novelty. Two years hence i»: will have disappeared, and we sha’i have forgotten all about it.” * * * Sour Grape? Doubtless it is not altogether a sop to Suzanne Lenglen’s vanity to find that she ha been dethroned as “Queen of Wimbledon,” and that her young successor, Betty Nuthall, is proving a bigger attraction than even the great French girl - ver did. Although she was in England, Suzanne did not see the women’s championship at Wimbledon. She expressed indifference, stating, “I can never watch with interest my own sex playing tennis.” Champion Hustler Jean B.orotra, whose hurried trip between Wimbledon and France by airplane last year caused so much amusement, is a champion hustler, who could give points to many cute Yankees. Torn between the claims of business and his love of lawn tennis, lie is often hard put to reconcile the

respective claims of the two. He thinks nothing of taking a stride over the whole of Europe during one short week. llow full his life is of travel and bustle may be gauged from the fact that last year the Basque champion spent no less than 198 nights, that is over half the nights of the year, aboard ship or in a train. Warned Off A sensation has been caused in the English coursing world by the action of the Greyhound Racing Association in warning off from all tracks a leading Manchester trainer, H. A. Wilson for undefined malpractices. The association’s spokesman states; “We have sufficient grip of the game to fulfil our determination to stamp out anything wrong.” Prices of dogs have boomed as the result of the announcement that the Empire Championship, for £I,OOO, will be held in September. The “Sporting Life” states that two White City owners have refused £ 500 for dogs.

Professionalism in Sport This is from the autobiography oi the great American plant breeder, Luther Burbank: “There have been (to liis gardens) crowds of athletes and young folks famous in sports, and better known to the average American than any vice-president who ever presided over the Senate. I have found them healthy, clean-minded, likeable youngsters; I don’t know of any finer influence on our life than the influence of play, and as long as it is indulged in for the sake of the sport and the healthy rivalry and the fun there is in it, any good player is a credit to game and public alike. It’s too bad they fall into the hands of the moneymakers. but they do and probably always will. They don’t last long there, though; soon they lose their drawing power at the gate, and their promoters and managers and fairweathe.r friends drop away, and they sink back into oblivion and are forgotten, when the names of men and women who have played for the team or the college or the society or the city just for fun and for pride and pleasure are written in gold on the hearts of those they have represented, who will never forget them or their prowess.”

Cricket Curiosity A curious incident marked the partnership of Flint and Larwood, Notts cricketers, in a recent match against Sussex at Lords. Flint, in hitting a ball to square-leg, trod on his wicket. The bowler’s umpire, with his view obstructed by the bowler, did not see what happened, and signalled a bound-ary-hit. The square-leg umpire, on being appealed to, admitted that in getting out of the way of the ball he had turned his head away and had missed the incident of the wicket being brokan. Then, as neither umpire could give a decision, Flint, who had started to i'etire, was called back. However, his luck did not last, and he was bowled next ball! Henderson in Form Writing from Dundee on the match of the New Zealand cricket team with Leicestershire, M. L. Page said of M.

Henderson: “Mat Henderson in the Leicester match bowled like a champion. Good length, now and then coming .shoulde.r-high. Bestwick, the old Derby player, was umpire, telling him how to bowl. At Durham he bowled faster than ever, the fastest that we have ever seen him bowl. All the members of the

team are fit and well. We were the guests of the London Midland and Scottish Railway on a trip from Glasgow to Dundee. We stayed all day at Gleneagles and played golf. It was a good day.” * * * The Newest Rugby Besides Rugby Union, League Rugby, and Australian Rules, there is another Rugby code in New South Wales. This game, a combination of Rugby and Australian Rules, is called the Bathurst College Code, and is considered to be much faster than any of the others. It is played by only two teams, however—those of All Saints’ College, Bathurst, and St. Stanislaus’s. The game originated through a dispute between the colleges as to what code should be played, All Saints’ insisting on Rugby and St. Stanislaus’s on League. Inter-colle-giate football between these rivals had been abandoned for 13 years, although for 40 years previously they met at Rugby. Fou.r matches have been played under the new code, St. Stanislaus’s having had runaway victories, in all scoring 231 points to 25.

Many C^fc-.ualties Rival barrackers of Glebe and South Sydney, numbering about 20, took part in a free-for-all fight on the side-line at the Sydney cricket ground. There were many casualties, mostly bruised noses and blackened eyes. It was the most serious disturbance among spectators at a football match for ye_ars. Within 10 minutes of the final whistle, a South Sydney barracker, who was vigorously protesting against the number of free kicks awarded to the Glebe team, found himself i- holts with a Glebe supporter. The pair mixed it with a will. Other spectators refused to look upon it as a private fight, and they joined in. The combatants heaved and struggled in a dense mass. One man was thrown high in the air. Others hit the picket fence with a bang. A burly policeman forced his way into the thick of it. Still the fight went on, but came to an end a few minutes later through the combatants apparently having exhausted themselves. The disturbance distracted all attention for the time from the match. Death in the Ring A knock-out punch delivered by Sammy Mandell, the world’s lightweight champion, in his contest with Steve Adams, a Chicago boxer, had fatal results. Adams was struck on the chin and rendered unconscious and his head struck the boards with such force in falling that his neck was broken. He died within 15 minutes, although every effort, including the use of the pulmotor, was made to save his life. Mandell was heartbroken at the tragedy. “I would have given anything,” he declared, “rather than this should have happened.” McKnight to be Reprimanded Nelson McKnight, who recently lodged a challenge for the welter title, and as a challenger, adopted the uncustomary attitude of stipulating his own terms (he wanted £l5O plus £ls for expenses) will be severely reprimanded by the New Zealand Association on the grounds of inconsistency, says the New Zealand “Sportsman.” Shortly after his proposition had been rejected by the W.8.A., he agreed to sign up under the Frankton Junction Association for £IOO plus £lO expenses—similar terms to those offered by Wellington. However, Hay would not meet him there and, even had lie agreed, it is doubtful -whether the New Zealand Association would have sanctioned the struggle.