美国国家公共电台 NPR Behind That Bonkers Golden Knights Pregame Show: 'We Threw Everything On The Wall'

Behind That Bonkers Golden Knights² Pregame Show: 'We Threw Everything On The Wall'

MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:

Tonight in Las Vegas, Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final is the main event barely. The elaborate pregame show for the Vegas Golden Knights is a close second billing. Now, most NHL teams keep their pregame shows pretty straightforward³. The arena⁴ goes quiet. Maybe the lights turn off. The Jumbotron shows a highlight video. The players skate out onto the ice, and the game begins. But this is Las Vegas, and straightforward just doesn't cut it.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: The West belongs to Vegas.

(CHEERING)

KELLY: There are flames shooting up out of a castle, neon robots, a sword fight on the ice, all culminating in the actual Golden Knights themselves skating out of a giant knight¹'s helmet which of course is billowing with red smoke. And all of this is set to the "Ride Of The Valkyries."

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

KELLY: The guy responsible for all this is Jonny Greco. He is vice⁵ president of entertainment production for the Golden Knights. Before that, he was a live events director for pro⁶ wrestling. Well, I caught up with him today as he was prepping for the show at T-Mobile Arena. And I asked him, given this is the Golden Knights' first-ever season - they were starting from scratch - what kind of debate was there about just how Vegas to take this thing?

JONNY GRECO: We threw everything on the wall. Like, how do we want to go? Do we want to go traditional, which is great and is no thrills and - or do we want to go Vegas - 'cause we also talked about going uber-Vegas, right? Is Elvis your host? Do you have showgirls...

KELLY: (Laughter).

GRECO: ...On skates? Like, and we kind of found a happy medium. You know, you got the slot machines and the dice⁷ roll that says make some noise. And, you know, we tried to balance all of that there, but we definitely talked about going - running the whole gauntlet of traditional to, like I said, Elvis as a PA announcer or host.

KELLY: So you landed on Vegas - whole lot of Vegas but not quite full uber-Vegas.

GRECO: Yeah.

KELLY: To give people a little bit more of a sense of what is actually unfolding here, the Golden Knights - you know, in your pregame show, they come out. As the season has unfolded, you have had them shooting down a fighter jet. This was when y'all...

GRECO: (Laughter) Yeah, yeah.

KELLY: ...Played the Winnipeg Jets.

GRECO: Yeah, yeah.

KELLY: You have had them eating a piece of shark. This was when...

GRECO: (Laughter) Yeah, sure.

KELLY: ...Y'all were playing the San Jose Sharks.

GRECO: Right.

KELLY: What's been your personal favorite?

GRECO: You know, I'm a little partial to cutting an airplane in half because the juxtaposition⁸ of a medieval knight - a warrior⁹ with a sword skating on ice in Las Vegas, slicing a F-18 in half just kind of sounds so crazy. You're like, that's not going to work. And it did (laughter).

KELLY: I should just mention you didn't actually bring a jet onto the ice. This was a projection¹⁰, right?

GRECO: Very good point. Yeah, a lot of our elements - because you don't know who you're going to play. You know, sometimes you have a couple of days to prepare for this elaborate, you know, event. So we were either going to play the National Predators¹¹, which is a saber-toothed tiger, or you were going to play the Winnipeg Jets. So those opens couldn't have been any different as far as an experience goes.

KELLY: (Laughter) Right.

GRECO: So we were either talking about a live tiger on the ice or, you know, potentially slicing a jet in half. And ice projection allows you to suspend disbelief a little bit more versus¹² practical elements.

KELLY: Before I move on from the tiger, did you ever at any point actually contemplate¹³ the live tiger?

GRECO: (Laughter) Oh, absolutely.

KELLY: Oh, really?

GRECO: This group - oh, yeah, yeah. This group here, we - especially when you're brainstorming¹⁴, like, you got to kind of go real big and just plan. And we were like, OK, so is there a diaper on the tiger...

KELLY: (Laughter).

GRECO: ...So nothing happens on the ice? We threw everything out on the wall. And usually we go real big.

KELLY: Thank God you played the Jets (laughter).

GRECO: Yeah, yeah. Probably the whole world was happy that Winnipeg won in that case, I guess. The number one thing that we're doing is creating home-ice advantage. We want to create an atmosphere that gives our boys on the ice a little extra oomph, a little extra volume, a little extra cheering from the fans. They can pick up on that energy, and it helps them just go a little harder. Like, that's kind of incredible.

KELLY: Well, Jonny Greco, thank you so much.

GRECO: It is my pleasure. It is my honor, and I'm super excited about what's going to happen tonight. And I was super excited to talk to you, Mary Louise. Thank you.

KELLY: It has been our pleasure. That's Jonny Greco, vice president of entertainment production for the Vegas Golden Knights, talking to us from the arena where they will be facing off against the Washington Capitals - Game 2 tonight.

(SOUNDBITE OF RICHARD WAGNER'S "RIDE OF THE VALKYRIES")

1 knight   

n.骑士，武士；爵士

参考例句：

• He was made an honourary knight.他被授予荣誉爵士称号。
• A knight rode on his richly caparisoned steed.一个骑士骑在装饰华丽的马上。

2 knights   

骑士； （中古时代的）武士( knight的名词复数 )； 骑士； 爵士； （国际象棋中）马

参考例句：

• stories of knights and fair maidens 关于骑士和美女的故事
• He wove a fascinating tale of knights in shining armour. 他编了一个穿着明亮盔甲的骑士的迷人故事。

3 straightforward   

adj.正直的，坦率的；易懂的，简单的

参考例句：

• A straightforward talk is better than a flowery speech.巧言不如直说。
• I must insist on your giving me a straightforward answer.我一定要你给我一个直截了当的回答。

4 arena   

n.竞技场，运动场所；竞争场所，舞台

参考例句：

• She entered the political arena at the age of 25. 她25岁进入政界。
• He had not an adequate arena for the exercise of his talents.他没有充分发挥其才能的场所。

5 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

6 pro   

n.赞成，赞成的意见，赞成者

参考例句：

• The two debating teams argued the question pro and con.辩论的两组从赞成与反对两方面辩这一问题。
• Are you pro or con nuclear disarmament?你是赞成还是反对核裁军？

7 dice   

n.骰子；vt.把（食物）切成小方块，冒险

参考例句：

• They were playing dice.他们在玩掷骰子游戏。
• A dice is a cube.骰子是立方体。

8 juxtaposition   

n.毗邻，并置，并列

参考例句：

• The juxtaposition of these two remarks was startling.这两句话连在一起使人听了震惊。
• It is the result of the juxtaposition of contrasting colors.这是并列对比色的结果。

9 warrior   

n.勇士，武士，斗士

参考例句：

• The young man is a bold warrior.这个年轻人是个很英勇的武士。
• A true warrior values glory and honor above life.一个真正的勇士珍视荣誉胜过生命。

10 projection   

n.发射，计划，突出部分

参考例句：

• Projection takes place with a minimum of awareness or conscious control.投射在最少的知觉或意识控制下发生。
• The projection of increases in number of house-holds is correct.对户数增加的推算是正确的。

11 predators   

n.食肉动物( predator的名词复数 )；奴役他人者（尤指在财务或性关系方面）

参考例句：

• birds and their earthbound predators 鸟和地面上捕食它们的动物
• The eyes of predators are highly sensitive to the slightest movement. 捕食性动物的眼睛能感觉到最细小的动静。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 versus   

prep.以…为对手，对；与…相比之下

参考例句：

• The big match tonight is England versus Spain.今晚的大赛是英格兰对西班牙。
• The most exciting game was Harvard versus Yale.最富紧张刺激的球赛是哈佛队对耶鲁队。

13 contemplate   

vt.盘算，计议；周密考虑；注视，凝视

参考例句：

• The possibility of war is too horrifying to contemplate.战争的可能性太可怕了，真不堪细想。
• The consequences would be too ghastly to contemplate.后果不堪设想。

14 brainstorming   

献计献策,合力攻关

参考例句：

• With Brainstorming, treat the view on how to solve the problem rightly. 利用脑激励法(Brainstorming)，正确对待学生实验中的问题解决观。
• We are going to do some brainstorming soon. 我们很快就要做些脑力激荡。