→ bri :看完這篇正好可以準備開電視了~ 05/19 02:58
→ archzxc :不看先推...等待中...XD 05/19 03:00
推 Kreen :看完了xd 05/19 03:01
http://www.slate.com/id/2191488/pagenum/all/#page_start
Dispatch From the New Garden
By John Swansburg
Posted Thursday, May 15, 2008, at 1:05 PM ET
BOSTON—When historians look back on these last days of American hegemony, they
will perhaps point to our blunders in Iraq or the fall of the once-mighty
dollar as the first signs of our impending decline. I fear, however, that
future scholars may overlook an equally ominous recent development: the
invention of the T-shirt cannon. This device—used to project balled-up T
-shirts into the farthest reaches of sports arenas—has proliferated among the
NBA franchises with alarming speed. Last night, during breaks in the action
between the Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers, Lucky, the Celtics' mascot,
pranced onto the court brandishing this weapon, using its coveted ammunition to
work the crowd into a lather. That he succeeded despite the fact that every
ticket holder had already been given a free Celtics T-shirt seemed to this fan
a clear indication that our society's best days are behind it.
當美國的歷史學者回頭看美國的領導霸權，他們也許會指向我們在伊拉克的失策，或是
一度強勢的美元作為我們衰落的第一個象徵。然而，我害怕未來的學者會忽略一個同樣
不吉利的新進發展—T恤槍。這項設備—被用來把T恤發射的老高，到離場館最遠的地方
—在 NBA球隊裡以驚人的速度激增。昨晚，在波士頓塞爾蒂克隊和克里夫蘭騎士隊比賽
的中間休息，塞爾蒂克的吉祥物 Lucky揮舞著這項武器，雀躍地走進球場，用它令人渴
望得到的填充物鼓動觀眾的情緒。他成功了，只不過每個有票的球迷都已經得到一件免
費的塞爾蒂克 T恤了，不過這似乎是一個清楚的指標，指出我們社會的最好日子已經過
去了。
There was a time, not all that long ago, when the Celtics didn't need to
assault their fans with 100 percent preshrunk cotton to get them pumped up for
a game. Nor was it deemed necessary to titillate the crowd by flashing footage
of visiting celebrities on the Jumbotron during TV timeouts (last night's
unlikely assortment: Jay-Z, Jonah Hill, and Rob Lowe). In the Bird era, there
was no JumboTron—and, perhaps not unrelatedly, no celebrities. Nowadays, pre
-game introductions are accompanied by a fireworks display powerful enough to
make the menacing Ben Wallace hide in the locker room.
曾經有一度，不是很久以前，那時塞爾蒂克不需要用百分之百純棉衣物來攻擊球迷，讓
他們為比賽興奮，也不需要在暫停時，在大螢幕播放看球明星的作品片段使球迷高興 (
昨晚的不太像是真的組合：Jay-Z、Jonah Hill、Rob Lowe)在大鳥的年代，根本沒有大
螢幕—還有，也許不太相關，也沒有明星。現在，賽前介紹還要伴隨煙火施放，強烈到
讓Ben Wallace都要躲到休息室去。
I could go on about how the old Garden ways have been adulterated, cheapened,
disrespected. But that'd be a bit silly. Last night, I saw the Celtics defeat
the Cavaliers 96-89, improving their home record in the playoffs to 7-0.
Clearly the T-shirt cannon is working. Or something else is, and not just for
the Celts. The Boston win last night, coupled with the Lakers' victory over the
Jazz at the Staples Center, makes the home teams a staggering 19-1 in the
second round of the 2008 NBA playoffs. The only team to win on the road is the
Pistons, who beat the Magic in Orlando in Game 4 of their series. By one point.
我可以繼續說舊的花園的方式是如何被攙假、廉價化和不被尊敬。但是那就有點無聊了
。昨晚，我看到塞爾蒂克以96-89擊敗騎士隊，把主場戰績提升到7勝0敗。很明顯T恤槍
發揮了作用。或者其他什麼發揮了作用，而且不只是塞爾蒂克。昨晚波士頓贏球，湖人
隊在主場也贏球，使得今年NBA季後賽第二輪的主場球隊戰績是19勝1敗。唯一一支在客
場贏球的球隊是活塞隊，他們在奧蘭多擊敗魔術隊，取得第四戰的勝利。只有贏一分。
The Celtics had the league's best road record in the regular season, but
they've yet to win on the road in the playoffs, not even against the supposedly
lowly Atlanta Hawks. I'm not the first to ask, What gives? This isn't baseball,
where every ballpark has a unique shape, or football, where road teams are
often subjected to drastic shifts in climate. Basketball courts are uniform in
size and shape. The contemporary arena is a sleek, climate-controlled
environment designed to pamper fan and player alike. In other words, it's
nothing like the old Garden, which forced its visitors to endure cramped, rat
-infested quarters that were cold in January and Kareem-sucking-on-oxygen hot
in June. And let us not forget the parquet floor, which Celtic players
supposedly knew better than they knew their wives.
塞爾蒂克季賽時有聯盟最好的客場戰績，但是他們在季後賽還沒在客場贏過一場球，甚
至連應該比較低種子的老鷹隊都沒贏過。我不是第一個提出問題的人，到底為何？這不
是棒球，每個球場都有獨特的形狀，也不是美式足球，客場球隊常會遇到氣候的劇烈改
變。當代的球場是保養得好好的，氣候受到控制的環境，足以縱容球迷和球員。換句話
說，完全不像是舊的花園，那時客隊被強迫忍受狹窄、老鼠叢生的地方，在一月時很冷
，在七月時又熱到賈霸要吸點氧氣。也且別忘了拼花地板，那是個塞爾蒂克球員應該比
了解自己的老婆更多的東西。
Today, there's a section of the old parquet encased in glass hanging outside a
ladies' room on the dining concourse behind the loge-level seating. The
glimpses of the visiting locker room that I've caught on TNT suggest more than
hospitable environs. So why have the home teams in this year's NBA playoffs
been so dominant?
今日，有一塊的拼花地板被裝在玻璃櫃裡，懸掛在包廂層飲食區的女生洗手間外面。我
在TNT上一瞥而見的客隊休息室是很招待周到的環境。所以為什麼今年NBA季後賽的主場
球隊如此有主宰力？
Damned if the Celtics know. After another anemic performance Monday night at
Cleveland, none of the players could put his finger on why their play was
suffering so badly on the road. Kevin Garnett: "If I knew that, man, I don't
think we'd be having these conversations or these problems on the road." Ray
Allen: "It's hard to say. I have no answer for it. I have no answer."
X 的要是塞爾蒂克知道就好了。在禮拜一克里夫蘭又一場貧攻的表現後，沒有球員知道
為什麼他們在客場的表現如此糟糕。KG說”如果我知道啊，我不認為我們還會有這段談
話，或是客場這些問題了。”Ray Allen說”很難說。我沒有答案。我沒有答案。”
Does anyone? The leading theories go like this:
任何人有答案嗎？有幾個理論如下：
It's the building. Remember that scene from Hoosiers, when Coach Dale takes his
players out on the court before the state tournament and has them measure the
distance from the floor to the rim? Ten feet—just like back home! Yet even if
basketball courts don't vary in shape and size, there are differences in how
the courts play. Sight lines and floor markings, both of which are cues for
shooters, can differ subtly from arena to arena. And there are other quirks.
At Cleveland's Quicken Loans Arena, the JumboTron displays both the score (87
-78, for example) and "The Diff" (in that case, 9). Maybe the Cavaliers have
learned to put the split second they gain from not having to do math to their
advantage.
是建築。記得火爆教頭草地兵的一幕，Dale教練在州巡迴賽前帶著球員上場，測量地板
到籃框的距離嗎？十呎—就像家裡一樣！但是即使籃球場的形狀尺寸沒有改變，球場如
何還是有所不同。視線和地板的記號，兩者都是射手的記號，可以在場館間微妙地有所
不同。還有其他的不同。在克里夫蘭主場，大螢幕同時顯示比數 (比如說87-78)和比分
差(在前例是9分)。也許騎士隊已經學會在空檔時間不用作數學心算作為優勢。
It's the crowd. You're thinking thunder sticks, but not so fast. If it were
possible for fans to distract visiting shooters, you'd expect a pronounced
drop-off in free-throw percentage, right? Yet Roland Beech of 82games.com has
found that free-throw percentage is one of the only statistics that doesn't
suffer on the road. Of course, this doesn't mean the home crowd can't have a
deleterious effect on the visitors. Basketball is the most intimate of major
professional sports, with fans (some quite partial) literally sitting on the
playing floor. I was up in the balcony last night, so I doubt Delonte West
heard the gentleman behind me, who inquired of the former Celtic guard, "Hey
Delonte, how's your herpes?" But I'm confident even the more tactful types down
in the padded seats were giving West, and his teammates, an earful.
是觀眾。你在想加油棒，但是還沒這麼快。如果球迷有可能使客隊射手分心，你會期待
罰球命中率的顯著下滑，對嗎？但是 82games.com的Roland Beech發現，罰球命中率是
唯一在客場不會降低的數據之一。當然，這不代表主場觀眾不能對客隊造成有害的影響
。籃球是主要職業運動裡最親密的，球迷名副其實地坐在球場地板上。我昨晚在高高的
樓廳之上，所以我懷疑Delonte West有沒有聽到我後面那位先生，他詢問這位前塞爾蒂
克後衛：”嘿 Delonte，你的皰疹怎麼了？”但是我有自信，下面那些座位上會給West
，和他的隊友更圓滑的滔滔不絕。
It's the refs. What if the crowd doesn't just affect the players but the
officials as well? The generous version of the ref theory posits that the
game's arbiters are subconsciously loath to make calls that will cause abuse to
be rained down upon them from the stands. The more sinister version is that the
fix is in for hometown teams in the playoffs, part of a conspiracy to extend
series, since more games equal more television, more tickets, more Gino
paraphernalia sold. This is a small sample, obviously, but so far this
postseason the home teams have won 76 percent of the time (49-15) compared with
60 percent in the regular season (739-491).
是裁判。如果觀眾不只影響了球員，也影響了裁判？一般的裁判理論假定，球賽的仲裁
者潛意識中不喜歡會讓自已被潮水般辱罵的吹判。更邪惡的版本是季後賽裡主場球隊會
得到調整，一部分是為了延長系列的陰謀，因為更多比賽等同於更多電視、更多門票、
更多Gino相關事物被販賣。很明顯地，這只是個小例子，但是目前為止，今年季後賽主
場球隊已經贏了76%的比賽(49-15)，而季賽是60%(739-491)。
It's the travel. One study of home-field advantage determined that the highest
winning percentages for home teams in football, basketball, baseball, and
hockey all occurred in the leagues' early years. One obvious reason for this
would be the rigors of travel, which were more arduous before the private-plane
era. When it comes to today's NBA playoffs, it's a bit harder to see how travel
fits into the equation. Both teams are negotiating the same distances, and at
least in the opening rounds, regional divisions mean you're not crossing many
time zones. Road teams have to stay in hotels, but it's not like they're being
put up in some flea trap. Then again, lobby life, even in luxury hotels, can
have its drawbacks. During their Round 1 visit to Boston, the Hawks stayed in
the swank new Liberty Hotel (formerly the Charles Street Jail). The story
making the rounds last week was that the owner of Alibi, the hotel bar,
instructed his employees to double the shots for any Atlanta Hawks who bellied
up.
是旅途。一個主場優勢的研究說，主場球隊在美式足球、籃球、棒球和曲棍球的勝率較
高，都發生在聯盟早期的日子裡。一個明顯的理由是旅行的艱困，這在私人飛機年代之
前是更困難的。當來到今年的 NBA季後賽，要看到旅行如何進入這個方程式是比較困難
的。兩隊都要面對相同的距離，至少在第一輪，地域分區代表你不用橫跨太多時區。客
隊要待在旅館，但是他們不是要被丟到都是跳蚤的陷阱裡。但是同樣地，即使是在豪華
旅館裡，酒吧生活都會造成妨礙。在老鷹隊造訪波士頓的第一輪裡，他們住在華麗嶄新
的自由旅館裡(之前是查爾斯街監獄)，這輪決定的故事是，旅館酒吧”不在場證明”(
Alibi)的老闆指示他的員工，給任何老鷹隊想要喝點酒的人兩倍酒精含量。
LeBron James, who finished with a game-high 35 points last night, certainly
didn't play like a man who'd been slipped a Mickey. And despite some hearty New
England vituperation from the Garden crowd, the refs hardly seemed in the bag
for the Celtics (on the contrary). It's possible the Cavaliers missed The Diff,
but Cleveland came out of the gate much faster than the Celtics, amassing a
diff of as many as 14 points. The loudest noise the fans around me made in the
first half came when several voices cried out, "Don't shoot!" when the trigger
-happy Sam Cassell touched the ball.
LeBron James昨晚得了全場最高的35分，看起來不像是被下了安眠藥的人。儘管觀眾有
一些熱情的新英格蘭式責罵，裁判也幾乎沒有對塞爾蒂克比較好(反而相反)。有可能騎
士隊會想念大螢幕上的得分差，但是克里夫蘭比賽爾蒂克還要早進入狀況，累積了14分
的領先。上半場我周圍最吵的噪音來自於幾個人大喊”不要投籃！”，這是當Sam Casell
拿到球的時候。
It wasn't until the Celtics put together a run in the third quarter that the
Garden crowd really got into the game. But when they did, it made the Celts'
10-point lead feel insurmountable in a way their earlier deficits never did.
I'm at a loss for how a sports economist could ever measure this effect, but it
felt very real. It was perhaps most clearly manifested in the person of Kevin
Garnett. The Celtics are officially ruled by a triumvirate, but K.G. has become
the undisputed team leader. Before the game, he conducts his own opening
ceremonies, spending some quality time with the padding underneath the home
basket (against which he bangs his heads ritualistically and not softly) and
anointing himself with a cloud of talcum powder so thick one official scorer
has taken to wearing a surgical mask.
直到塞爾蒂克在第三節打出一段進攻，花園的觀眾才真正加入戰局。但是當他們如此時
，使得塞爾蒂克的十分領先如此難以被克服，好像他們早先的落後從未發生一樣。我不
知道運動經濟學者會如何衡量這個效果，但是它感覺非常真實。也許最明白顯露在Kevin
Garnett 身上。塞爾蒂克是被一個三人組掌握，但是KG變成沒有爭議的球隊領袖。在比
賽前，他執行他自己的比賽儀式，在籃框下的填充物花了一點時間 (他會用他的頭去撞
它，那不是太軟 )，然後用滑石粉塗抹自己，厚到一個官方記分員要戴上手術用的面罩。
Garnett is always a live wire, whether he's on the road or at home. He's
constantly chattering—to his teammates, to his opponents, to the fans, and,
perhaps most animatedly, to himself—a look of intensity bordering on insanity
in his eyes. And more than any other player on the Celtics, he seems to feed
off the adulation of the crowd. Last night, as the Celtics started to pull away
in the third, and the fans really started to get into it for the first time,
Garnett began a series of points, waves, and wags at the crowd, creating a
feedback loop of frenzy. When K.G. is locked in, and when the new Garden's
crowd is behind him, you start to feel an aura of invincibility that feels very
old Garden. In those moments, free T-shirts could rain from the rafters and no
one would notice.
Garnett 總是一個勁量中心，不管他是在客場或是主場。他不斷地嘮叨—對隊友、對對
手、對球迷、還有最生氣勃勃地，對自己—一抹在發瘋邊緣的認真眼神。還有比賽爾蒂
克的任何一個球員都多，他從觀眾的鼓勵中得到力量。昨晚，當塞爾第課開始在第三節
甩開對手，球迷真的開始參與其中，Garnett 開始一系列的手指到處亂點、揮舞、對觀
眾搖擺，創造出一個瘋狂的回饋效果。當KG上場，新花園的觀眾在他背後，你開始感覺
一種戰無不勝的，老花園的氣氛。在那些時刻裡，免費的 T恤會從屋頂落下，但是沒有
人會注意到。
--
※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.cc)
◆ From: 218.166.203.55