NOTES ON SPORT FROM A LISTENER’S DIARY

New Zealand Listener, Volume 1, Issue 3, 14 July 1939, Page 14

NOTES ON SPORT FROM A LISTENER’S DIARY

Not Enough Science The broadcast of the Louis-Galento fight came over very well so it will not be necessary to do more than draw the attention of listeners to this outstanding example of the value of brains and science in sport. Galento very evidently had plenty of strength and courage, but Louis had these, as well as brains and training to help him use them. Galento needed luck to land a punch and did not get enough of it. But he did very well for a clown away from his own circus. Close Finish Science is useful in more sports than boxing. Frank W. Lane, in a recent broadcast talk for the B.B.C., told of the case of Eddie Tolan and Ralph Metcalfe in the Olympics at Los Angeles in 1932. Tolan had been given the race. When the chronographs were developed they showed Metcalfe only two inches and 1/100th of a second behind. The Amateur Athletic Union decided that this was a virtual dead heat and the men shared the record. In golf there are innumerable scientific gadgets to help the rabbit. Science determines the depth of the depressions in the golf ball. What it Takes The calorimeter is perhaps the most scientifically interesting of all adjuncts to sport. The human body acts very much in the same way as a petrol engine. Well fueled it works well, without fuel it is useless. The calorimeter measures the amount of fuel, or food, used by the body. One ounce of butter, for instance, contains a little more than 200 calories, and would keep us going for two hours of ordinary living. Our stomachs, of course, would object to a diet of butter. We should probably spread our ounce on half-a-dozen biscuits and by eating them take in 400 calories with 2 ounce biscuits at 100 calories per ounce. The energy generated by the biscuit and butter would give us a good stiff walf for an hour. Walking is Strenuous Calory output has been measured for several sports. It has been found that the most strenuous measured Sport is mountain climbing, at which up to 767 calories per hour have been used. A racing cyclist comes up to 600 per hour and straight walking at a fast speed can use 650. In actual practice few of us relate energy output to fuel intake very accurately. The mountaineer at home usually eats half as much again as his body needs. Out on the hills, where he has to carry his calories on his back, he is lucky if he raises this figure and more than often he eats less. Water in Meat Meats, which most of us erroneously believe are good fuel for strenuous work, actually have a comparatively low calorific value. The steak which tha

footballer eats before the game contains very little less water than the beer he possibly drinks after. Seventy per cent., to be exact. In practice, meats are harder to digest and so last longer. Honey is ideal for short bursts of energy expenditure. A spoonful before a sprint makes all the difference. Incidentally, farmers can use it very effectively for reviving halfdead lambs. Chocolate is similar, but like alcohol, is good while it lasts and not so good when it’s finished. Stamina of Man However, the human body is extraordinarily adaptable. When the science of calories says that a man should drop with exhaustion he can keep on walking to such good effect that he will travel further at one stretch than any horse, even if the horse is allowed to rest between sprints. But there are limitations even to supermen. Strenuous exercise generates lactic acid, sometimes as much as three grammes per second. If the body is not given time to deal with this excess it must be rested until chemical equilibrium is re-established. Tony Galento probably did not know that beer has very little calorific value and contains no vitamins. In any case, it was not brawn he needed.

Out of the Past Two of the Scenes from the Sporting Past will be broadcast this week. On Monday, at 9 p.m., 4YZ Invercargill will broadcast the wrestling match in which Lofty Blomfield met champion Nagurski at Vancouver, on March 17, 1938. On Wednesday, at 9.10 p.m., 3ZR Greymouth will broadcast the famous Rugby match, All Blacks v. Scotland, November 18, 1905. —

Rugby Football Rugby and Rugby topics once again have a good share in the programmes this coming week. The talks on "Is Rugby Deteriorating?" will be broadcast as follows: E. J. Roberts, from 1YA on Friday, July

21, at 7.45 p.m.; Mark Nicholls, from 2YA on Friday, at 7.40 p.m.; Mark Nicholls, from 3YA on Monday, July 17, at 95p.m.; G. G. Aitken, from 2YD on Wednesday, July 19, at 8 p.m.; and Mark Nicholls, in the first talk from 4YA c> Tuesday, July 18, at 8.40 p.m. On Saturday, July 22, relays will be given as follows: 1YA at 3p.m.; 2YA at 2.45p.m.; 3YA at 2.30 p.m.; 3ZR at 3p.m.; and 4YZ at 2.45 p.m. The Invercargill station will cover the representative match between Otago Sub-Unions and Southland, This is one of the southern provinces’ best trials for new material. Overseas The coming week brings several attractive items from Daventry. On Sunday, July 16, from Transmission 2, at 10.15 p.m., Captain E. H. Robinson will broadcast a commentary on the final stages of the King’s Prize rifle shooting at Bisley. The same day on the same Transmission mountaineers might be interested in "Storm Over Everest,’ written by Gordon Ireland and produced by John Richmond. It will be heard at 11.30p.m.; but perhaps it would be better to wait for the same item from Transmission 1 on Monday at 5.30 p.m. On Saturday, July 22, there will be frequent commentaries and eye witness accounts of the second cricket test, West Indies v. England. In addition, a special continuous transmission, primarily for the West Indies, will be given from 10 p.m. on Saturday = ay a.m, on Sunday from GSJ, GRX, GSG and Ss