美国大学的体育文化
American College Sports Culture
INTERVIEW
I never understood why people like watching sports, and so I interviewed Henry, a runner and great storyteller, about why sports are so popular in the US. Learn more about the business that sports are, how athletes get recruited, why people enjoy watching university sports, and more from this interview!
我一直不能理解为什么美国人那么热衷于看体育比赛，于是我采访了Henry。他是个很棒的跑步运动员，也特别会讲故事，他向我讲述了为什么运动在美国很受欢迎。如果你想了解美国的体育产业、如何招募运动员、美国大学的体育比赛，以及更多美国的运动文化，请看这篇采访稿！
Aiya
Aiya: So you wanted to tell us about sports today. Why sports? What’s so cool about sports?
你说你想跟我们聊聊运动，所以我想问一下为什么你要聊运动呢？运动对你来说，是一件很酷的事吗?
Henry: Sports are fun! You go out and meet people, you play, you get to run around and have fun in a group.
运动很好玩啊！你可以出去交朋友，可以尽情地玩耍，可以让自己到各处奔跑，还可以在一个集体里获得快乐。
Henry
Aiya
Aiya: So what’s your background in sports?
那你有什么运动经历吗？
Henry: When I was young I rode horses and played soccer, baseball, and basketball. Then in middle school, I started running track. In high school, I ran cross country and track. Even today I still run regularly, I’m actually signed up for a marathon.
我很小就会骑马、踢足球，也会打棒球和篮球。上初中以后，我便开始参加田径比赛。在高中我参加过越野跑，也参加了一些其他田径项目。即使是现在，我也会定期跑步，其实我最近还报名了马拉松呢！
Henry
Aiya
Aiya: Oh yeah! I remember back when we were in China, you ran a marathon and even won a medal?
啊是的，我记得我们之前在中国的时候，你就跑了一次马拉松，还得了个奖牌？
Henry: Yeah, together with the DKU team, I have been to a couple of marathons across China. We went to the Bloomberg Square Mile Relay which I won. More competitively, we’ve been participating in the Kunshan 10k Series. We’ve also participated in the International 10k race in Shanghai, the Shanghai Marathon, Hangzhou Marathon, and a couple of others. With the prize money I won I was able to buy a big, insulated coat. I wear it a lot, it’s even got a little Chinese flag on it.
是的，我和DKU 团队一起参加过中国各地的几个马拉松。我们去了彭博广场接力赛——还赢了那场比赛。而且我们一直有参加昆山的10公里系列跑。我们还在参加了上海国际10公里跑，以及上海马拉松，杭州马拉松和其它一些比赛。我用跑步赢来的奖金买了一件很大的防寒大衣。我经常穿这件衣服，它上面甚至还有一个小小的中国国旗。
Henry
Henry running a marathon in China
Aiya
Aiya: So getting to the bigger picture, can you explain college sports in the US?
那么聊得更宽泛一点的话，你可以讲讲美国大学的运动吗？
Henry: In the US, there are usually 3 different levels of college teams – intramural, club, and varsity. Intramural is the least competitive, while students in varsity teams often get scholarships to come to the university specifically to play. It has become a huge industry.
在美国大学里，通常有三种不同级别的运动队——校内业余队，社团和专业校队。校内业余队相对最弱，而专业校队里的学生通常是拿着奖学金来的学校，因为他们专门替学校打比赛。大学专业校队已经成了一个庞大的产业。
Henry
Aiya
Aiya: How much does a university profit from sports?
一所大学一般可以从运动产业中获利多少呢？
Henry: It’s so much money that you have to talk about it by sport. According to this Fortune article, college football generates more than $4 billion in annual revenue for the 65 universities making up the Power 5, the most elite college football conference. In 48 states, the highest-paid public officials are either college football or basketball coaches. This brings up the question, should the players be paid too?
大学从体育产业里赚得是盆满钵满的，所以我甚至需要按不同的运动种类来谈他们的运动收入。有一篇《财富》杂志的文章讲到，美式足球运动能为65所组成美国“五强联盟”（美国五大大学足球竞技联盟）的大学（美国最精英的足联的成员大学）带来40亿美元以上的年收入。在美国的48个州，工资最高的公务员不是大学足球教练就是大学篮球教练。但这也带来了一个疑问，运动员们到底该不该拿工资呢？
Henry
Aiya
Aiya: I see, but would their scholarships cover everything, tuition, dorms…
了解了，但是运动员们的奖学金会囊括大学期间的所有开销吗？比如学费，住宿费等等…
Henry: Well, it depends. If you’re a really good player playing a big sport, then yeah you could easily get a full ride. You know, Duke had Zion Williamson, an incredible basketball player. He probably had a full-ride scholarship. But for example, I got recruited to be a college runner at UNC Asheville (UNCA) but was only offered $5000.
嗯……看情况吧。如果你是一个热门运动竞技项目里很厉害的运动员，那么当然，你可以轻松地拿到全额奖学金。你听说过杜克的锡安·威廉孙吧，他是一个特别牛的篮球运动员，他大概率拿到了全额奖学金。但是像我之前被北卡罗来纳大学的艾塞维亚分校（UNCA）录取做田径运动员，就只得到了5000美元的奖学金。
Henry
Aiya
Aiya: Wow, that’s cool, can we talk about how colleges recruit players?
哇，好有意思，你能谈谈大学是怎么招收运动员的吗？
Henry: Just as there are three divisions within the college, there are also three different leagues that colleges can be in. Division I (or D1), is the most elite league, and they put a lot of effort into recruiting good high school athletes. For running, the way they recruit is they’ll look for strong performances at high school events and club events. There are certain schools that you have to run below a certain number before they’ll even look at you. I wanted to run for the College of William & Mary, but they didn’t even talk to me, because my time wasn’t low enough.
就像在一所大学里面有三种运动校队一样，大学赛区有三个不同的运动联盟。甲级赛区（或者D1）是最精英的联盟，他们会花费很多时间精力招募优秀的高中运动员。他们招募跑步运动员的主要方式是在高中体育比赛和社团活动中寻找表现出色的学生。某些大学要求你跑到一定时间之内他们才会考虑招你。我之前想报考威廉玛丽学院的田径运动员，但是因为我跑步成绩用时不够短他们没有回复我任何信息。
On the other hand, UNCA, a less competitive school, liked me. The coach that tried to recruit me found me through a big stats website where your times get recorded and ranked. He showed up to the qualifier race for the national championship. I didn’t qualify, but I was in the top 50. When I finished, he was standing at the finish line waiting for people to come through and he talked to me there. There were other, even more aggressive recruiters. I got recruited by a different college, VMI (Virginia Military Institute). They will often stand on the finish line and grab you and ask, “Have you considered VMI!?” They’re trying to recruit you before the other guys.
相反，一个运动不那么强的大学，UNCA，看中了我。那个想要招收我的教练是在一个大数据网站找到我的，那里面有我跑步成绩用时的记录和排名。他后来来看了一场国家锦标赛的资格赛。我当时落选了，但是我在前50名里面。他当时站在终点线那里等着选手们过来，然后他就在那里和我聊上了。但其实还有其他更拼的教练。我之前也被一所叫弗吉尼亚军事学院（VMI）的大学录取了。据我所知，VMI的教练经常守在终点线旁，逮着人就问“你考虑过VMI了吗！？”他们真的就是拼尽全力想抢在其他人来之前招到他们的体育特长生。
Henry
Henry was with the running team at Duke
Aiya
Aiya: I see, wow. So why is there such a demand for college sports?
原来是这样啊。所以为什么美国大学对运动员有这么大的需求呀？
Henry: I have a lot of opinions about this but I can’t give you any facts. I think sports have become popular because people like having a sense of identity. People will support teams to be part of the fandom. For a lot of people who grew up playing the sport, they enjoy watching people play it well. A lot of it is also family-based. Let’s say your dad is always watching his favorite team on TV and you grew up watching it together. When he eventually passes away, this is your connection back to him. Now you’re also a parent and doing the same with your kids.
我对这个问题有很多看法，但是我没有事实依据。我认为运动在美国很流行是因为人们喜欢有一种身份认同感。而成为某个运动员或者某个队伍的粉丝就是这种身份认同感的来源。人们会支持各种体育团队，他们会成为某些队伍的铁粉。对于很多从小就接触运动的人，他们也很喜欢看别人精彩的比赛。他们对运动的热爱一般会很大程度地受到家庭的影响。比如说你的爸爸经常在电视上看他最喜欢的队伍打比赛，而你也看着这些比赛长大。等他去世以后，这些队伍，这些比赛就是联结你和他的纽带。之后你也会成为你孩子的标杆，而你的孩子也会和你做着类似的事情，有着相似的爱好。
Like when DKU plays against another team, you want DKU to win because DKU is your identity, it’s your university. Even after you graduate your alma mater is still at that university, so you continue to care about their sports. And there are a lot of alumni, think about how old most universities are, the generations of students that have gone through. Once there’s that core fanbase it can build off too because maybe you have a friend or family member that went to that school.
就像是昆杜和其他队伍打比赛的时候，你希望昆杜赢是因为昆杜也是你身份的一部分。就算你毕业之后，它还是你的母校，所以你还会继续关注这里的体育运动。一所大学一般会有很多校友，你想想大多数美国大学都有多久的历史，想想全球有多少从那些大学走出去的学生。所以大学里一旦有了那个核心的运动迷圈子，整个群体就能一步步壮大起来——这是因为他们运动的受众不仅限于学生本身，而且更有来自那所大学的学生的朋友或者家人。
Henry
Henry: There’s a wrong and a right way to watch sports. If you watch sports the right way you will be entertained. But if you don’t watch them the right way you’re going to think it’s boring, why do I care about someone playing ball? To enjoy watching sports, you want to know things about the players, so that you care about them. Sports are very entertaining when you want somebody to win. Once you have a team that you want to win, now there’s drama, there are stakes, you’ll be happy if they win, sad if they lose.
看体育比赛也是很有讲究的。如果你看比赛有个良好的心态，你就会获得乐趣。但是如果你心态不对，你可能就会觉得这些比赛很无聊。你可能会想，“别人打球关我什么事？”只有当你真正去了解那些运动员之后，你才会真正跟他们喜忧相连。当你盼着某个人赢的时候，运动就会变得很有意思。一旦你心有所属，比赛的过程就会有戏剧性的起伏和冲突，你看好的那个队伍/运动员赢了，你会跟着高兴；他们输了，你也会跟着难受。
When you care about the players, the human beings involved, it becomes exciting. You start thinking, this guy is only three home runs away from breaking the world record of home runs. I hope he can win! Or maybe your city’s team hasn’t won a game in 30 years and now it looks like they have a chance to win. Sports are all about stories.
当你真正开始操心你支持的运动员的时候，一切就会变得更加刺激了。你可能会想：“这家伙只差三个全垒打就打破世界纪录了。他一定要赢啊！”或者你城市的运动代表队已经连续30年没赢过了，但是在某个赛事中它看起来非常黑马，而且很有可能赢下比赛，你就会满心期待的盼着它赢。但不论如何，运动的迷人之处都在于它背后的故事。
For example, in the baseball College World Series, Mississippi State University, ranked pretty low, played against Vanderbilt, who was ranked 2nd at the time and had the highest-ranked pitchers in all of college baseball. Mississippi State has never won a national championship in any sport. People who know these details start thinking I don’t want these Vanderbilt people to win, they always win! When Mississippi lost the first game only to come back and win, they emerged as the heroic underdog. Now I have positive feelings about that team, and if I saw them competing against a random team I would cheer for them.
举个例子，密西西比州立大学赢得棒球比赛的故事就挺有趣。在大学生棒球系列赛里，密西西比州立大学排名一直挺靠后的，而当时范德堡大学排名第二，且拥有全赛最优秀的投手。密西西比州立大学从来没有在任何一个项目的国家锦标赛中取得过很好的成绩。了解这些事情的人可能会觉得：“别让范德堡大学再赢了，总让他们赢多没意思！”当时，密西西比州立大学输了第一场比赛，但在这之后他们竟然逆转局面赢了——他们成为了英勇的黑马。现在我很看好他们，如果我看到他们和别的队打比赛，我也会为他们加油。
Henry
Duke students tenting to attend the UNC-Duke game.
Aiya
Aiya: I see! So do they broadcast college games on TV?
我懂了！ 所以电视上会转播大学体育比赛吗？
Henry: Oh yeah, there’s a lot of money in that. The more famous and better your college is at the sport, the more likely you’re going to get a TV contract. Some college leagues are so famous that they even have their own TV networks. There is the ACC network (Atlantic Coast Conference), which is dedicated to Division I sports. These schools are very competitive, at some point each one has been a national champion.
会的，这里面还牵扯到很多经济利益呢。你的大学在某种运动上越有名、越优秀的话，就越有可能签到电视合同。有些大学联盟名气很大，所以他们甚至有自己的独立电视频道。我知道一个叫ACC（大西洋海岸联盟）的频道，他们专门转播和直播甲级联盟体育比赛。这些大学联盟里的学校一般都很有竞争力，每一所学校在某个时间节点上都得过全国冠军。
Henry
Aiya
Aiya: Okay, so how is the experience of going to a game?
好的，那去看比赛感觉如何？
Henry: Broadcasting is big, so most people watch the games on TV. Sports bars are popular for people to watch the game together because there’s a sense of community.
我们这儿比赛直播挺普及的，所以大多数人都在电视上看比赛。体育主题的酒吧也很受欢迎——大家可以一起在酒吧里看比赛，因为这样能有一种群体归属感。
But going to a sports game is a whole different experience. It almost feels like attending a concert. Unless it’s a smaller team, getting tickets can be difficult, and once you get it, there’s a huge crowd that tries to go in all at the same time.
但是现场看比赛是截然不同的一种体验。那种感觉就跟听现场音乐会很像（现场效果会不一样）。这些比赛的门票一般很难买到，除非参赛的是些不太出名的小队伍。而且就算你买到了门票，你也还得和一大群人同时挤进场。
So I used to go to a lot of UNC (University of North Carolina) basketball games. UNC games are usually played in Dean Dome, a sacred place for college basketball. You first enter a hall, and then you step out through the vomitorium and into the stands. There are these massive speakers hanging down in the middle of it, projected four ways, with even more massive screens in between them. They will usually have a video playing on the screens of a bouncing basketball or blue flames, something to set the mood. You’ll see players down in the court practicing their shots or stretching. The college band will be in the corner playing peppy songs.
我以前经常去看UNC（北卡罗来纳大学）的篮球比赛。UNC的比赛通常是在迪恩·史密斯中心举行，那里是大学篮球的圣地。你首先会进入一个大厅，然后穿过一个大通道走到看台上。硕大的喇叭横挂在场地中央，对着四方，中间还有更大的电视屏幕。为了调动气氛，屏幕上通常会放些篮球弹跳或蓝色火焰（蓝色是UNC的代表色之一）的视频。你还会看到球员们在球场上练习投篮或者做伸展运动，而大学的乐队会在角落里演奏一些很带劲的歌。
Henry
Henry: So you’ll find your seat, maybe get some trashy food like hotdogs and nachos. Then the players will empty the court before the game starts, for the countdown. The band will be playing, and it’s the same song every time, so you know exactly when the players are about to come back. The band will suddenly cut off, and the speakers will start playing super loud pop music, the bass literally shaking you. The players are running out and the lights are flashing.
一般看球的话，人们可能会买点热狗、玉米片这种垃圾食品，然后一边找座位一边吃。球员们会在比赛开始前离场，然后比赛倒计时就开始了。每次这种时候大学乐队会演奏同一首歌，等到曲终，球员们就差不多该进场了。乐队停下来的那一刻，场馆的喇叭就会开始播放震耳欲聋的流行音乐，那贝斯声简直会震得你发慌。球员们会在闪耀的灯光下跑着进场。
Suddenly, they will turn off all the lights so the stadium becomes pitch black. Then spotlights will roam the court and the players get introduced. The announcer will introduce the visiting team in an uninterested way, but for the UNC team, he’ll get all excited and dramatic. Once the big announcement of the home team is made, the music will keep playing and the crowd will go crazy. Then suddenly this all stops and that’s when the game starts.
突然，所有的灯都会被关掉，体育馆里一片漆黑。然后聚光灯就开始在场馆里四处扫射。主持人介绍到哪位球员，聚光灯就亮到哪里。主持人会用一种很无聊的方式来介绍客队，但一旦聊到UNC的球队，就会很激动，语气也会变得很夸张。等他认真介绍完主队，音乐又会响起来，观众们也会跟着嗨起来。过一阵子音乐又会停下来——这时候，比赛就正式开始了。
Henry
https://www.tarheelblog.com/unc-tar-heels-basketball/2019/7/11/20689067/north-carolina-tar-heels-basketball-michigan-state-national-championship-lawson-hansbrough-ellington
Aiya
Aiya: Wait, so the announcer will be super biased towards one team?
哦，那主持人会特别偏向其中一支球队？
Henry: Yeah, this is what homecourt advantage is about! When you go into that building, everyone is rooting for UNC. There might be 20 or 30 visiting spectators who have their own designated section. But other than that, everyone else is a fan of the home team.
是啊，这就是主场优势！你进场的时候会发现几乎每个人都是UNC的粉丝。反观客场队伍，可能只有二三十个客队的观众在专门的客场座位支持自己的球队。
Henry
Aiya
Aiya: So what will happen during the game?
那么正式比赛的时候是什么样的呢？
Henry: Well the thing you’ve come to do is watch the game. But because basketball takes a lot of breaks they’ll have little things during the breaks. For example, they’ll have 8-year olds from the Youth Basketball League play short games. That’s also what the cheerleaders, band and dancers are there for, to entertain the audience during the breaks. It’s a whole festival.
嗯，你来这里的主要目的是看比赛，但是因为篮球比赛有很多中场休息时间，所以这时候会有一些小表演。比如说，会有青少年篮球联盟的8岁孩子来打小型比赛。啦啦队、乐队和舞蹈也是为中场休息准备的，他们会在中场休息期间表演。这一切就像一个盛大的节日一样。
I think everyone who gets a chance should go to a Dean Dome basketball game. Every season they do it twice a week, and they’ve been doing it twice a week for 30 years at least.
我觉得有机会的话，迪恩·史密斯中心的篮球赛是非去不可的。每个赛季那里每周都会举办两场比赛——这是近30年来的传统项目。
Henry
The Dean Smith Center (outside) – https://rocktourdatabase.com/venues/dean-e-smith-center
Henry: So this builds a story. In Dean Dome, if you look up at the rafters you’ll see all these banners hanging, some of them shaped like jerseys. They are jerseys with numbers that no UNC player can wear because the player who wore that number was really good. For example, there’s a jersey hanging in Dean Dome with Michael Jordan’s name and the number 23 on it. It seems stupid, but what they’re doing is creating the drama, getting you invested in the story.
比赛举行得多了，就会有更多好玩的事情。如果你在迪恩·史密斯中心里抬头看场馆天花板，你会看到那儿挂着的所有旗子，有的长得就跟球衣一样，上面印着熟悉的名字和号码。UNC没人敢穿印着那些号码的球衣，因为之前穿这个号码的球员实在是太厉害了，比如被挂在迪恩·史密斯中心的23号球衣——那是一件印着迈克尔·乔丹名字的传奇球衣。他们挂旗子装饰屋顶的目的是希望记录下这里发生的传奇故事，并吸引你去探索这些故事。
Henry
The Dean Smith Center (inside) – https://goheels.com/news/2007/9/1/205682730.aspx
Aiya
Aiya: I’m curious, can you speak more about women in sports? Anything you’ve noticed in your running career?
我挺好奇女性运动员的故事的，你能讲讲她们吗？在你的田径生涯中你注意过她们吗？
Henry: Yeah so 5k is the usual distance for high school cross country, 8k is women’s college distance, and 10k is men’s college distance. I think that difference is just sexism though, some men didn’t want to wait around for women to finish a 10k so they just made the race shorter (laughs). Eventually, I hope that all college runners will compete in a 10k course.
当然！在美国高中女子田径比赛里，总赛程一般是5公里，而大学女子项目一般是8公里，但是大学男子田径项目的赛程却是10公里。我觉得这种区别就是性别歧视，有的人嫌女运动员跑得太慢，觉得她们跑十公里太久，所以他们干脆把赛程一点。我真的希望以后所有的大学生跑步运动员都能完整地跑完10公里的比赛项目。
Henry
Aiya
Aiya: Would you say that all women’s sports are not as popular because of sexism?
你觉得女子项目没有那么受人欢迎的主要原因是性别歧视吗？
Henry: Yeah, I think it all boils down to sexism. Perhaps a secondary reason is that sports are about being a part of the community and following a story. The problem is women’s sports don’t get publicized as much, so it’s harder to get invested in the players. Even as a non-NBA fan I know the smaller teams like the Phoenix Suns or Utah Jazz, but it’s sad that I don’t know the names of most Women’s NBA players.
嗯，我认为问题的根本就是性别歧视。但也许还有一个次要原因——女性运动的社区文化建设还不够。运动是团体性的活动，是一群人聚在一起共同书写一个故事，是关乎社区关乎归属感的群体文化。女子运动受到的宣传并没有像男子运动的那么广泛，所以人们更难关注到女性运动员。即使我不是NBA球迷，我都知道菲尼克斯太阳队或者犹他爵士队这样的小队，但我觉得很不好意思的是我居然不知道大多数女性NBA球员的名字。
Also, having watched many games, I think WNBA players are not as good. I feel if there were as many women playing competitive basketball as men, the quality of talent would go up; or if there was a bigger industry there would be better players. It’s kind of an endless cycle. There are a lot of really good female basketball players in college who don’t go into the WNBA because they’re not paid well. What it needs is way more publicity. Not just like “Ooo, this is WNBA so you should watch women’s basketball,” but more like “this is your team, these are your players!”
而且，看过不少次比赛之后，我感觉女子NBA球员的确没那么优秀。我觉得如果像男篮一样，女篮也有那么多球员“竞争上岗”的话，人才质量就会提高。或者如果有一个更庞大的女篮产业支持女篮的发展，更多优秀的运动员也可能进入这个产业。这就像个无尽的循环。大学里很多优秀的女球员因为低薪的问题不愿意进入女子NBA。同时，女子NBA也需要比现在多得多的媒体报道。媒体报告不能仅仅是像：“看，这是女子NBA，你应该去看女人打篮球”这样生硬的说教，而更应该从情感上打动着人们的心：“这是你的球队，这是你的运动员们！”
However, I think women’s soccer has been doing well because we like our American team. Honestly, there are so many teams that have been doing really well. I was watching the Olympic women’s soccer and I was like wow, they’re really good! There’s no reason why women’s sports can’t be exciting and cool. I just think that the industry hasn’t been built up to produce as many “superstars.” But that can totally change.
但我觉得女子足球做得挺棒的，因为美国人还挺喜欢自己的美国足球队。实话实说，不管是哪个时期，美国都有一些发展得很好的足球队。我看奥运会女足的时候就觉得：“哇，她们太厉害了！” 女子运动照样可以非常酷炫又激动人心。我只是觉得女子运动产业还不够完备，还没有培养出足够的“超级巨星”，而这点是完全可以改变的。
Henry
Henry Stevens grew up playing soccer and baseball in rural Virginia. He ran cross country and track in high school and was recruited by the University of North Carolina at Asheville, but he turned the offer down to attend DKU. He is still a member of the Duke Running Club and competed in the NIRCA National Championships.
Henry Stevens (习何力) 在弗吉尼亚州的乡下长大，从小喜爱足球和篮球。他在高中的时候是越野跑步和田径径赛跑步的运动员，并且被北卡莱罗纳大学录取，但他选择了来到昆山杜克大学。如今他是杜克大学跑步社成员，并且参加了全美大学生跑步协会的国家锦标赛。
Aiya Kuchukova (Anika Kuchukova) is a senior student at Duke Kunshan University, majoring in Applied Mathematics. She is also an editor for Intersections and she likes to sing, play the ukulele, and interview people about their cultures.
Aiya Kuchukova （孔楚安）是DKU的一名大四学生，她的专业是应用数学。她也是《交集》的编辑之一，她喜欢唱歌，弹尤克里里，也喜欢采访人们跟他们文化相关的事。
英文编辑 English Editors | Erica Ham Faith Ho
中文翻译和编辑 Translators and Chinese editors |
何思樾 孙骥远 张家祺 吴子璇
排版 Layout | 王若菡
