WRESTLING BROADCASTS
Sir.-Your correspondents A. TI. Bailey and A. Binnie seem to have missed the main point of my letter on wrestling broadcasts. I maintain that professional wrestlers, who, after all, are merely earning their living like anybody else, should not benefit by free publicity over National Stations but should, if they so desire it, go to the Commercial Stations for their advertising. Why should this one class of entertainers be privileged? Professional wrestling, in my opinion, is not a sport in the sense that we class cricket and football as sports,. but is _ merely an exhibition of brute strength designed to entertain audiences in the same way as do entertainers at a circus. In order to convince Messrs. Bailey and Binnie of some of my remarks concérning this so-called sport, I have examined the newspaper reports of wrestling contests over the past few weeks and in almost every bout there was at least one incident which could hardly be described as sporting. In one recent bout in the South Island, police aid was required to break a stranglehold; in another in the North Island, to quote the words of the . paper, "X, after being subjected to numerous illegalities throughout the bout, tied Y up in the ropss, and after throwing the referee across the floor several times, refused to release his opponent and was disqualified." A fine "sport"!
Mr. Bailey, among other remarks, accuses me of "not understanding what sport is." My answer to this is that it is my knowledge of the principles of good sport that has caused me to rebel against such lack of sportsmanship as is so characteristic of wrestling. I agree with him in his statements about "the rigorous self-discipline and strict training’ which wrestlers have to undergo. But I would point out that some of the genuine sports require a little training and occasional self-discipline too.
HAMISH G.
HAY
(Riccarton).
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New Zealand Listener, Volume 17, Issue 422, 25 July 1947, Page 18
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317WRESTLING BROADCASTS New Zealand Listener, Volume 17, Issue 422, 25 July 1947, Page 18
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