美国国家公共电台 NPR Blimps Full Of Money And 30 Other Sports Hypotheticals In 'Upon Further Review'

 

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

You know, what if is a really great question. It can unleash¹ the imagination in all kinds of ways. Now, sure, you can find yourself lost in a grass is greener kind of rabbit hole, but if used in moderation, wondering what if can be a fascinating intellectual exercise. And it must be said that sports fans are particularly good at the what if. Sports, after all, is full of counterfactual possibilities replete² with drama.

(SOUNDBITE OF SPORTS MONTAGE)

UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER #1: Deep to left - Yastrzemski will not get it. It's a home run.

UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER #2: There's Paxson to three. Yes. The Bulls...

UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER #3: Lloyd with Morgan streaking³. She's chipping the goalkeeper.

MARTIN: Mike Pesca loves this drama, and he understands well the power of the what-if, which is why he has put together a new book titled "Upon Further Review: The Greatest What-Ifs In Sports History." And he joins us now. Mike Pesca, host of The Gist⁴ and friend of the show, thanks for being with us.

MIKE PESCA, BYLINE⁵: Well, thank you for having me, Rachel. And I do think - so you were saying sports fans understand what-ifs. I was thinking, as you said that, it's more as if we've had it thrust upon us...

MARTIN: (Laughter).

PESCA: ...Because in every league, there are many, many more losers than winners, right? Every season ends with a team either not making the playoffs or being eliminated from the playoffs.

MARTIN: Right.

PESCA: That means everyone's a loser. And in almost all cases, every one of those losers has a moment, and their fans have a moment, when they say what if - legitimate⁶ or not, and it's often legitimate. And sometimes, the what-if extends beyond one pitch, and it goes to that draft pick we didn't make eight years ago. That's kind of the engine of sports.

MARTIN: OK. So this is 31 different chapters, 31 different scenarios⁸, of what-ifs written by some of the country's greatest sportswriters. And I just want to go through a couple of these different scenarios. I want to start with one essay written by Jason Gay of The Wall Street Journal. And his essay is titled "What If Football Had Been Deemed Too Boring In 1899?". So start us off by explaining what was happening in 1899.

PESCA: 1899 - they were inventing this game. It turned into carnage between the lines. It was eventually rehabbed by Theodore Roosevelt because too many people were dying. But back then, it was just, you know, bunches of guys grunting⁹ into a line and going two yards at a time. So football was boring then. What if it stayed boring and there was no football in America? And so Jason paints a picture of Sundays that are free for, perhaps, to worship at your local church. The foam¹⁰ finger industry would certainly take a big setback¹¹. Soccer might be more popular. There are many ways that football has entangled¹² itself in the rhythm of life that maybe we don't even think about and he tries to untangle that.

MARTIN: I mean, it's in our - it's in our language. I mean, it wasn't really until I read that essay that I realized how many sports metaphors¹³, but particular to football, creep into our everyday speech.

PESCA: That's right. Imagine if the nuclear codes were contained in the baseball. Maybe that would be different. I don't know.

(LAUGHTER)

MARTIN: So is he arguing that the demise¹⁴ in football - let's say it was super boring and it went away as a cultural phenomenon. Is he arguing that that is a good thing, that we as an American people would benefit if we had less football in our lives?

PESCA: He is just asking us to consider the possibilities. And this is one type of what-if essay that you throw a pebble¹⁵, the ripples¹⁷ happen, and all Jason's doing with the essay is looking at the ripples and saying, oh, I didn't know it would ripple¹⁶ there in that particular way. There are other forms of essay which really talk about the sociological impact. And some of these are binary¹⁸. The thing happens or the thing doesn't happen. And some of them are more, you know, let's just set in motion a set of actions and see what results.

MARTIN: So let's talk about one of those scenarios with much broader global implications really. This is by Shira Springer who writes about - well, I'll just say the title of the essay - "What If The United States Had Boycotted¹⁹ Hitler's Olympics?" I mean, that's huge.

PESCA: Yes.

MARTIN: Primarily, the first thing that comes to mind is that those Olympics made Jesse Owens a cultural icon²⁰.

PESCA: They did. And what happened to Jesse Owens afterwards was a crime, essentially²¹. He was shunned²² in America to a large degree after being a hero who stood up to Hitler. They burnished²³ Hitler's credentials²⁴. They established the Olympics as a political tool where they were supposed to transcend²⁵ politics. And the great thing about that essay is it's also a history lesson, and history seems like it's inevitable²⁶. The march of history - well, of course, that was going to happen and of course Jesse Owens wins, and we close our eyes and we could see at least the newsreel footage. And when you erase²⁷ the memory, I don't know exactly what you replace it with, but that's what Shira and a lot of the other essayists are trying to provide.

MARTIN: And lastly, I want to talk about this essay - this is so great. This is written by Paul Snyder, who is a track athlete, and his essay is titled "What If A Blimp Full Of Money Had Exploded Over World Track Headquarters In 1952?" And I will shorthand the premise²⁸ here. It's about big money in sports in America, and we don't need to say that track and field - not a lot of money there. So let's imagine that there were.

PESCA: Right.

MARTIN: So lay out what that looks like.

PESCA: Well, one scenario⁷ is that the battles we saw on the hardwood between Wilt²⁹ Chamberlain and Bill Russell very well could have taken place on the track because...

MARTIN: By hardwood, we mean the basketball court.

PESCA: That's right. But what if this all played out mano a mano, Russell against Chamberlain, on the track? And then he, as this huge track nerd, analyzes³⁰ for himself if he would have liked that because I think fans of niche³¹ media do this thing where they wish it was bigger. They say, why doesn't everyone like this, you know, kind of prog rock that I do? But then he realizes that part of the appeal of track for him is the nerdom (ph)...

MARTIN: Totally.

PESCA: ...And is also the things inherently that stops it from being a huge sport in America. It's always kind of a nice contemplation on that level.

MARTIN: I know. I loved the idea that to be a super successful sport it needs to be uber competitive and there needs to be all kinds of, like, aggression³² around it. And it seemed to me by the end of it he's just like, we're too nice. Like, track people, we're just, like, way too nice to be a really popular sport in America because it's just not what American sports culture is about.

PESCA: Yeah. Well, at least that's his perception of them, and maybe the niceness has something to do with the fact that there isn't blimps full of money sloshing around. Look, I have to be honest with you. All I ever wanted to do was write a book of essays that was blimp related, and this was the only chance that I could get a dirigible in there.

(LAUGHTER)

MARTIN: The book is a really fun read. It is called "Upon Further Review: The Greatest What-Ifs In Sports History," written by Mike Pesca, who is the host of The Gist on Slate³³. And he's got a new podcast about this very book and the essays contained in it. The podcast is called Upon Further Review. Mike, thanks so much.

PESCA: You're welcome.

(SOUNDBITE OF THE LONDON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA AND ROYAL CHORAL SOCIETY'S "CHARIOTS OF FIRE")

1 unleash   

vt.发泄，发出；解带子放开

参考例句：

• They hope to create allies to unleash against diseases,pests,and invasive species.他们希望创造出一些新群体来对付疾病、害虫和一些有侵害性的物种。
• Changing water levels now at times unleash a miasma of disease from exposed sewage.如今，大坝不时地改变水位，从暴露的污水释放出了疾病瘴气。

2 replete   

adj.饱满的，塞满的；n.贮蜜蚁

参考例句：

• He was replete with food and drink.他吃喝得饱饱的。
• This immense space may be replete with happiness and glory.这巨大的空间可能充满了幸福和光荣。

3 streaking   

n.裸奔（指在公共场所裸体飞跑）v.快速移动( streak的现在分词 )；使布满条纹

参考例句：

• Their only thought was of the fiery harbingers of death streaking through the sky above them. 那个不断地在空中飞翔的死的恐怖把一切别的感觉都赶走了。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）
• Streaking is one of the oldest tricks in the book. 裸奔是有书面记载的最古老的玩笑之一。 来自互联网

4 gist   

n.要旨；梗概

参考例句：

• Can you give me the gist of this report?你能告诉我这个报告的要点吗？
• He is quick in grasping the gist of a book.他敏于了解书的要点。

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 legitimate   

adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法

参考例句：

• Sickness is a legitimate reason for asking for leave.生病是请假的一个正当的理由。
• That's a perfectly legitimate fear.怀有这种恐惧完全在情理之中。

7 scenario   

n.剧本，脚本；概要

参考例句：

• But the birth scenario is not completely accurate.然而分娩脚本并非完全准确的。
• This is a totally different scenario.这是完全不同的剧本。

8 scenarios   

n.[意]情节；剧本；事态；脚本

参考例句：

• Further, graphite cores may be safer than non-graphite cores under some accident scenarios. 再者，根据一些事故解说，石墨堆芯可比非石墨堆芯更安全一些。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
• Again, scenarios should make it clear which modes are acceptable to users in various contexts. 同样，我们可以运用场景剧本来搞清楚在不同情境下哪些模式可被用户接受。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

9 grunting   

咕哝的，呼噜的

参考例句：

• He pulled harder on the rope, grunting with the effort. 他边用力边哼声，使出更大的力气拉绳子。
• Pigs were grunting and squealing in the yard. 猪在院子里哼哼地叫个不停。

10 foam   

v./n.泡沫，起泡沫

参考例句：

• The glass of beer was mostly foam.这杯啤酒大部分是泡沫。
• The surface of the water is full of foam.水面都是泡沫。

11 setback   

n.退步，挫折，挫败

参考例句：

• Since that time there has never been any setback in his career.从那时起他在事业上一直没有遇到周折。
• She views every minor setback as a disaster.她把每个较小的挫折都看成重大灾难。

12 entangled   

adj.卷入的；陷入的；被缠住的；缠在一起的v.使某人（某物/自己）缠绕，纠缠于（某物中），使某人（自己）陷入（困难或复杂的环境中）( entangle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The bird had become entangled in the wire netting. 那只小鸟被铁丝网缠住了。
• Some military observers fear the US could get entangled in another war. 一些军事观察家担心美国会卷入另一场战争。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 metaphors   

隐喻( metaphor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I can only represent it to you by metaphors. 我只能用隐喻来向你描述它。
• Thus, She's an angel and He's a lion in battle are metaphors. 因此她是天使，他是雄狮都是比喻说法。

14 demise   

n.死亡；v.让渡，遗赠，转让

参考例句：

• He praised the union's aims but predicted its early demise.他赞扬协会的目标，但预期这一协会很快会消亡。
• The war brought about the industry's sudden demise.战争道致这个行业就这么突然垮了。

15 pebble   

n.卵石，小圆石

参考例句：

• The bird mistook the pebble for egg and tried to hatch it.这只鸟错把卵石当蛋，想去孵它。
• The pebble made a ripple on the surface of the lake.石子在湖面上激起一个涟漪。

16 ripple   

n.涟波，涟漪，波纹，粗钢梳；vt.使...起涟漪，使起波纹； vi.呈波浪状，起伏前进

参考例句：

• The pebble made a ripple on the surface of the lake.石子在湖面上激起一个涟漪。
• The small ripple split upon the beach.小小的涟漪卷来，碎在沙滩上。

17 ripples   

逐渐扩散的感觉( ripple的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The moon danced on the ripples. 月亮在涟漪上舞动。
• The sea leaves ripples on the sand. 海水在沙滩上留下了波痕。

18 binary   

adj.二，双；二进制的；n.双(体)；联星

参考例句：

• Computers operate using binary numbers.计算机运行运用二进位制。
• Let us try converting the number itself to binary.我们试一试，把这个数本身变成二进制数。

19 boycotted   

抵制，拒绝参加( boycott的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Athletes from several countries boycotted the Olympic Games. 有好几国的运动员抵制奥林匹克运动会。
• The opposition party earlier boycotted the Diet agenda, demanding Miyaji's resignation. 反对党曾杯葛国会议程，要宫路下台。

20 icon   

n.偶像，崇拜的对象，画像

参考例句：

• They found an icon in the monastery.他们在修道院中发现了一个圣像。
• Click on this icon to align or justify text.点击这个图标使文本排齐。

21 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

22 shunned   

v.避开，回避，避免( shun的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She was shunned by her family when she remarried. 她再婚后家里人都躲着她。
• He was a shy man who shunned all publicity. 他是个怕羞的人，总是避开一切引人注目的活动。 来自《简明英汉词典》

23 burnished   

adj.抛光的，光亮的v.擦亮（金属等），磨光( burnish的过去式和过去分词 )；被擦亮，磨光

参考例句：

• The floor was spotless; the grate and fire-irons were burnished bright. 地板上没有污迹；炉栅和火炉用具擦得发亮。 来自辞典例句
• The woods today are burnished bronze. 今天的树林是一片发亮的青铜色。 来自辞典例句

24 credentials   

n.证明，资格，证明书，证件

参考例句：

• He has long credentials of diplomatic service.他的外交工作资历很深。
• Both candidates for the job have excellent credentials.此项工作的两个求职者都非常符合资格。

25 transcend   

vt.超出，超越(理性等)的范围

参考例句：

• We can't transcend the limitations of the ego.我们无法超越自我的局限性。
• Everyone knows that the speed of airplanes transcend that of ships.人人都知道飞机的速度快于轮船的速度。

26 inevitable   

adj.不可避免的，必然发生的

参考例句：

• Mary was wearing her inevitable large hat.玛丽戴着她总是戴的那顶大帽子。
• The defeat had inevitable consequences for British policy.战败对英国政策不可避免地产生了影响。

27 erase   

v.擦掉；消除某事物的痕迹

参考例句：

• He tried to erase the idea from his mind.他试图从头脑中抹掉这个想法。
• Please erase my name from the list.请把我的名字从名单上擦去。

28 premise   

n.前提；v.提论，预述

参考例句：

• Let me premise my argument with a bit of history.让我引述一些史实作为我立论的前提。
• We can deduce a conclusion from the premise.我们可以从这个前提推出结论。

29 wilt   

v.(使)植物凋谢或枯萎；(指人)疲倦，衰弱

参考例句：

• Golden roses do not wilt and will never need to be watered.金色的玫瑰不枯萎绝也不需要浇水。
• Several sleepless nights made him wilt.数个不眠之夜使他憔悴。

30 analyzes   

v.分析( analyze的第三人称单数 )；分解；解释；对…进行心理分析

参考例句：

• This approach analyzes management by studying experience usually through cases. 这个学派通常从实例获得经验，用以分析管理。 来自辞典例句
• The econometrician analyzes statistical data. 经济计量学者要分析统计材料。 来自辞典例句

31 niche   

n.壁龛；合适的职务(环境、位置等)

参考例句：

• Madeleine placed it carefully in the rocky niche. 玛德琳小心翼翼地把它放在岩石壁龛里。
• The really talented among women would always make their own niche.妇女中真正有才能的人总是各得其所。

32 aggression   

n.进攻，侵略，侵犯，侵害

参考例句：

• So long as we are firmly united, we need fear no aggression.只要我们紧密地团结，就不必惧怕外来侵略。
• Her view is that aggression is part of human nature.她认为攻击性是人类本性的一部份。

33 slate   

n.板岩，石板，石片，石板色，候选人名单；adj.暗蓝灰色的，含板岩的；vt.用石板覆盖，痛打，提名，预订

参考例句：

• The nominating committee laid its slate before the board.提名委员会把候选人名单提交全体委员会讨论。
• What kind of job uses stained wood and slate? 什么工作会接触木头污浊和石板呢？