密歇根新闻广播 信鸽比赛在密歇根东南部发展有望吗?

That question might surprise those who didn't realize pigeons are "a thing" in the Metro¹ Detroit area.

Immigrants from Belgium came to Detroit and brought their national passion of pigeon racing² with them and it spread from there.

See this clip of an old pigeon race from the Detroit News:

But these days, Detroit-area pigeon racers are struggling to keep their sport flying as Metro Times writer Michael Jackman has discovered.

In his piece, In the face of race bans, dwindling³ membership, and a low, low profile, metro Detroit’s pigeon racers struggle to keep the sport flying, Jackman explains why Detroit became a hotbed for pigeon racing.

All the elements were there: modest yards large enough to hold a pigeon loft⁴, motor vehicles to ship birds out for races, and dense⁵, ethnic⁶ neighborhoods to support the clubs.

Jackman explained to us why those clubs are dwindling today.

He said the sport was almost exclusively male and the sport was typically transferred from father to son.

"You figure that it really thrived in these tight-knit, sort-of white ethnic communities of old Detroit 50 and 60 years ago," says Jackman. "And with sprawl⁷ ... some people today who still do the sport have to drive an hour or more to get to the clubhouse. It was easier to do in the old days. And today there are some impediments as well as the fact that maybe younger people would rather be snowboarding or surfing than cleaning pigeon waste out of a loft."

Jackman says, more recently, fears about the avian flu have grounded pigeon racing in the area.

Today, Jackman says the Mexican community in Detroit holds the promise of keeping pigeon racing alive in the area.

"I think that it hearks back to the old ethnic white roots of pigeon racing 60 or 70 years ago. These are people who are living in tight knit neighborhoods, where they know each other. They have the resources to pool, and they really seem to love the sport."

Jackman says, for the pigeon racers, there's something therapeutic⁸ for them in keeping these birds in their backyard.

For more on the fading practice of pigeon racing, watch this documentary set in northeast England.

1 metro   

n.地铁；adj.大都市的；(METRO)麦德隆(财富500强公司之一总部所在地德国，主要经营零售)

参考例句：

• Can you reach the park by metro?你可以乘地铁到达那个公园吗？
• The metro flood gate system is a disaster prevention equipment.地铁防淹门系统是一种防灾设备。

2 racing   

n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的

参考例句：

• I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。
• The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。

3 dwindling   

adj.逐渐减少的v.逐渐变少或变小( dwindle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The number of wild animals on the earth is dwindling. 地球上野生动物的数量正日渐减少。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He is struggling to come to terms with his dwindling authority. 他正努力适应自己权力被削弱这一局面。 来自辞典例句

4 loft   

n.阁楼，顶楼

参考例句：

• We could see up into the loft from bottom of the stairs.我们能从楼梯脚边望到阁楼的内部。
• By converting the loft,they were able to have two extra bedrooms.把阁楼改造一下，他们就可以多出两间卧室。

5 dense   

a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的

参考例句：

• The general ambushed his troops in the dense woods. 将军把部队埋伏在浓密的树林里。
• The path was completely covered by the dense foliage. 小路被树叶厚厚地盖了一层。

6 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

7 sprawl   

vi.躺卧，扩张，蔓延；vt.使蔓延；n.躺卧，蔓延

参考例句：

• In our garden,bushes are allowed to sprawl as they will.在我们园子里，灌木丛爱怎么蔓延就怎么蔓延。
• He is lying in a sprawl on the bed.他伸开四肢躺在床上。

8 therapeutic   

adj.治疗的，起治疗作用的；对身心健康有益的

参考例句：

• Therapeutic measures were selected to fit the patient.选择治疗措施以适应病人的需要。
• When I was sad,music had a therapeutic effect.我悲伤的时候，音乐有治疗效力。