VOA标准英语2009年-Professional American Football Returns to

By Tom Rivers
London
28 October 2009

 
 
American professional football returned to the heartland of soccer a few days ago, as the New England Patriots¹ faced the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on the hallowed turf of London's Wembley stadium. For the third year in a row, a sell-out crowd screamed and enjoyed a piece of true Americana in a regular season contest. For both teams, playing in London was a unique part of their season and both squads² were well supported in Britain where television coverage³ over the years has boosted interest.

They came from all across Britain, from Ireland and the European continent too, fans of American professional football, a sport once alien but now avidly⁴ followed by many in Europe.

And they came wearing the jerseys⁵ of every team in the National Football League, the NFL.

For the third year in a row. the NFL hosted a regular season game at Wembley, and 84,000 fans crammed⁶ into Britain's national stadium to witness the spectacle.

The fans saw the New England Patriots defeat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 35-7.

New England was in control from the very beginning.

 
Wes Welker
For stars like Patriot's wide receiver Wes Welker, who had never been to Europe before, coming to London was a great experience.

"I am a big soccer fan so you know I played soccer all growing up so really getting to feel that vibe and everything kind of you know, them doing the wave, you could not hear anything when they started doing the wave and things like that so, it was definitely a cool experience to kind of see their energy and what they bring to the game," said Wes Welker.

Fellow teammate, quarterback Tom Brady agreed, it was fun playing on British soil.

 
Tom Brady
"All the flash bulbs were going out there before kick off and everyone seemed excited," said Tom Brady. "The wave went on for about ten minutes which you do not see that in the states too often. But it seemed very exciting you know for the fans here. Like I said, I think it is really a privilege for the players to come over here and get to enjoy this type of experience so, like I said, it probably will never happen again for us but so we will retire one-and-zero internationally."

Given the high interest level, the league is considering increasing the number of games played each season in Britain.

Two days before the game, the Patriots got in some practice at the Brit Oval cricket ground in London. There, NFL International spokesman Neil Reynolds explained where things stood.

"It is no secret that the commissioner⁷, this commissioner Roger Goodell is very excited and keen to push that through," said Neil Reynolds. "He has spoken at the owners' meetings recently about how they want to explore expanding this market. He wants to look at two games. That is a natural step. We have had one that is successful, can you host two? Can you host four? If you do that maybe then after that, what we are looking at? Maybe a franchise⁸. So I mean, it is baby steps. We are trying to move it forward."

But what would the fans think? I caught up with some at Wembley.

"Keep it to one," said a fan. "It is more special yeah. If you bring two games in then it is not as special as just the one, and it would saturate⁹ it too much. You want to have just the one game a year, yeah. Definitely, keep it as one." 

NFL expansion in Britain, a topic that will occupy the fans here as they watch the rest of the season on television.

1 patriots   

爱国者，爱国主义者( patriot的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Abraham Lincoln was a fine type of the American patriots. 亚伯拉罕·林肯是美国爱国者的优秀典型。
• These patriots would fight to death before they surrendered. 这些爱国者宁愿战斗到死，也不愿投降。

2 squads   

n.（军队中的）班( squad的名词复数 )；（暗杀）小组；体育运动的运动（代表）队；（对付某类犯罪活动的）警察队伍

参考例句：

• Anti-riot squads were called out to deal with the situation. 防暴队奉命出动以对付这一局势。 来自辞典例句
• Three squads constitute a platoon. 三个班组成一个排。 来自辞典例句

3 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。

4 avidly   

adv.渴望地，热心地

参考例句：

• She read avidly from an early age—books, magazines, anything. 她从小就酷爱阅读——书籍、杂志，无不涉猎。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Her melancholy eyes avidly scanned his smiling face. 她说话时两只忧郁的眼睛呆呆地望着他的带笑的脸。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）

5 jerseys   

n.运动衫( jersey的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The maximum quantity of cotton jerseys this year is about DM25,000. 平方米的羊毛地毯超过了以往的订货。 来自口语例句
• The NBA is mulling the prospect of stitching advertising logos onto jerseys. 大意：NBA官方正在酝酿一个大煞风景的计划——把广告标志绣上球服！ 来自互联网

6 crammed   

adj.塞满的，挤满的；大口地吃；快速贪婪地吃v.把…塞满；填入；临时抱佛脚( cram的过去式)

参考例句：

• He crammed eight people into his car. 他往他的车里硬塞进八个人。
• All the shelves were crammed with books. 所有的架子上都堆满了书。

7 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

8 franchise   

n.特许，特权，专营权，特许权

参考例句：

• Catering in the schools is run on a franchise basis.学校餐饮服务以特许权经营。
• The United States granted the franchise to women in 1920.美国于1920年给妇女以参政权。

9 saturate   

vt.使湿透，浸透；使充满，使饱和

参考例句：

• We'll saturate California with the rise in its crime rate.我们将使加利福尼亚州的犯罪案件增长率达到饱和点。
• Saturate the meat in the mixture of oil and herbs.把肉浸泡在油和作料的卤汁里。