美国国家公共电台 NPR Long Shot: Moonlighting Golf Blogger Quits His Day Job

 

AILSA CHANG, HOST:

Chris Solomon recently burst onto the golf scene, but not by scoring birdies on the links. He's a blogger. He loves the PGA, and golf-clap coverage¹ was just not doing it for him.

CHRIS SOLOMON: There definitely is certain just kind of archaic² rules to the media. Like, we don't pretend to be journalists. We're more of a community of like-minded people that discuss the game in the way that we do it.

CHANG: Solomon's site is called No Laying Up. We'll get to the meaning in a minute. It's a little edgy³. And it's really popular, so popular Solomon just left his safe job with benefits in Europe. And he set up shop - temporarily, he says - at his parents' house in Ohio.

SOLOMON: After giving up a job with a 401(k) and health insurance and all that, a few rent-free months don't sound like the worst deal in the world.

CHANG: And this weekend, Chris Solomon will travel to Charlotte, N.C., to cover the PGA Championship. We called him to talk about the journey.

OK, so full disclosure, I know nothing about golf.

SOLOMON: Perfect.

CHANG: So you're going to have to show me the way a little bit here. Let's start with the name of your blog, No Laying Up. What does that phrase even mean?

SOLOMON: The short description I usually give people that are not golf experts is to say it means go for it. So let's say you have a shot, and there's water between you and the hole. Laying up would be hitting in front of the water and then getting over it with your next shot, whereas⁴ not laying up would mean you hit it over in one shot. You go for it. So it's kind of more of a lifestyle thing than it is necessarily a direct translation. So that's the kind of personalities⁵ that we try to celebrate.

CHANG: I want to give people an idea of what your coverage is like. So what do people see flash across, say, your Twitter thread when you guys are watching a tournament?

SOLOMON: What I'll try to do at times is try to relate something related to the tournament to some kind of pop culture references⁶, usually making fun of some guy's outfit⁷ or comparing it to some "Game Of Thrones" quote or something like that, but trying to just keep things fun and entertaining and that - not everyone's going to necessarily be watching the tournament live. So they kind of rely on Twitter for updates on funny things that happen. I mean, Phil Mickelson a few years ago at a tournament slid down a hill on a cardboard⁸ box to get down to his ball.

CHANG: (Laughter).

SOLOMON: And like, that's the kind of thing that, you know, Twitter is going to light up over something like that.

CHANG: So over time, your blog really took off. You've got this huge Twitter following. You've got a podcast, where you interview star players. Earlier this year, I saw that you broke some news about Rory McIlroy, who my editor just told me is the No. 4 ranked player in the world.

SOLOMON: I got an anonymous⁹ tip that Rory had played a recent round of golf with the sitting president of the United States.

CHANG: You got that, too.

SOLOMON: So I went - and so I went straight to Rory, who've I've been lucky enough to develop a relationship with, and he confirmed it. And it was somehow not in the news yet. So I was at my day job at the time, and I typed it up in 20 minutes. And next thing you know, it is all over every website. The Trump¹⁰ administration had said that he had only played a few holes of golf, whereas my report had said that he played 18 holes of golf.

CHANG: Wait, this came up in like a White House press briefing?

SOLOMON: So the administration actually had to correct their statement to confirm that he played 18 holes. It was actually one of the first corrections they ever (laughter) made...

CHANG: (Laughter).

SOLOMON: ...Was in response to my little blog report. It's an interesting space that we live in, where we are trying to be funny and entertaining...

CHANG: Yeah.

SOLOMON: ...Yet at times, we do get some news scoops¹¹.

CHANG: Chris Solomon, founder¹² of the golf blog No Laying Up and soon to be moving out of his parents' house.

SOLOMON: Hopefully.

CHANG: Thanks so much.

SOLOMON: Hopefully that's the case. Thank you so much for having me.

1 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

2 archaic   

adj.(语言、词汇等)古代的，已不通用的

参考例句：

• The company does some things in archaic ways,such as not using computers for bookkeeping.这个公司有些做法陈旧，如记账不使用电脑。
• Shaanxi is one of the Chinese archaic civilized origins which has a long history.陕西省是中国古代文明发祥之一，有悠久的历史。

3 edgy   

adj.不安的；易怒的

参考例句：

• She's been a bit edgy lately,waiting for the exam results.她正在等待考试结果，所以最近有些焦躁不安。
• He was nervous and edgy, still chain-smoking.他紧张不安，还在一根接一根地抽着烟。

4 whereas   

conj.而，却，反之

参考例句：

• They want a house,whereas we would rather live in a flat.他们想要一座房子，而我们宁愿住在一套房间里。
• Some praise him,whereas others condemn him.有些人赞扬他，而有些人谴责他。

5 personalities   

n. 诽谤，（对某人容貌、性格等所进行的）人身攻击； 人身攻击；人格, 个性, 名人( personality的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There seemed to be a degree of personalities in her remarks.她话里有些人身攻击的成分。
• Personalities are not in good taste in general conversation.在一般的谈话中诽谤他人是不高尚的。

6 references   

n.参考( reference的名词复数 )；证明书；（为方便查询所用的）标记；（帮助或意见的）征求

参考例句：

• Applications with a full curriculum vitae and two references should reach the Principal by June 12th. 申请书连同完整个人简历和两份推荐信必须在6月12日以前送达校长处。
• The book is full of references to growing up in India. 这本书谈到许多在印度怎样长大成人的事。

7 outfit   

n.（为特殊用途的）全套装备，全套服装

参考例句：

• Jenney bought a new outfit for her daughter's wedding.珍妮为参加女儿的婚礼买了一套新装。
• His father bought a ski outfit for him on his birthday.他父亲在他生日那天给他买了一套滑雪用具。

8 cardboard   

n.硬纸板，卡纸板

参考例句：

• She brought the shopping home in a cardboard box.她将买的东西放在纸箱里带回家。
• There is a sheet of stiff cardboard in the drawer.在那个抽屉里有块硬纸板。

9 anonymous   

adj.无名的；匿名的；无特色的

参考例句：

• Sending anonymous letters is a cowardly act.寄匿名信是懦夫的行为。
• The author wishes to remain anonymous.作者希望姓名不公开。

10 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

11 scoops   

n.小铲( scoop的名词复数 )；小勺；一勺[铲]之量；（抢先刊载、播出的）独家新闻v.抢先报道( scoop的第三人称单数 )；（敏捷地）抱起；抢先获得；用铲[勺]等挖（洞等）

参考例句：

• two scoops of mashed potato 两勺土豆泥
• I used three scoops of flour and one(scoop)of sugar. 我用了三杓面粉和一杓糖。 来自辞典例句

12 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。