比爾·德懷爾

球迷們對(duì)于職業(yè)籃球的信任因?yàn)橐幻门性俅问艿搅丝简?yàn)，但是失望也好，怒火也罷，風(fēng)波終將過去，塞翁失馬，焉知禍福，誰(shuí)知道呢?

Time to take a deep breath, folks.

伙計(jì)們，該是時(shí)候深呼吸一下了。

Yes, the world of pro sports had a scandalous week.

Yes, we havea famous NFL quarterback accused of having illegal dogs fight for his amusement and killed for his disdain.

是的，我們的一位著名NFL四分位因?yàn)榉欠ńM織娛樂性斗狗比賽，并粗暴虐殺斗狗而遭到法院指控。

Yes, we have an NBA referee accused of wagering on games he worked and making calls favorable to the line he bet.

是的，我們的一位NBA裁判因?yàn)閷?duì)自己所執(zhí)法的比賽下注，并相應(yīng)實(shí)施對(duì)此有利判罰，也同樣受到指控。

And yes, if true, any and all of that is disgusting and stupid.

是的，如果所有指控都將成立的話，那么一切都顯得那么齷齪和愚蠢。

But it isn't life-threatening for the institutions---the NFL, the NBA or even referees in general---who all are currently reeling while figuring out when to start spinning.

但是對(duì)于NFL和NBA這樣的體育聯(lián)盟，甚至對(duì)于所有裁判來(lái)說(shuō)，這都算不上致命打擊，他們正在偃旗息鼓，但依然盤算著如何卷土重來(lái)。

This much is certain: The sun will come up tomorrow.

有一點(diǎn)是明白無(wú)誤的：明天太陽(yáng)依然升起。

This is not meant in any way to minimize the charges against the Atlanta Falcons' Michael Vick, or the NBA's Tim Donaghy. Nor is it a treatise on innocence until proved guilty,even though, in this day and age ofDuke lacrosse casesand rushes to judgment on Marion Jones' performance-enhancement habits, finger-pointing needs be selective.

這么說(shuō)并沒有絲毫試圖減輕亞特蘭大獵鷹隊(duì)邁克爾·維克，或者NBA裁判蒂姆·多納吉所犯下罪行的意思，撰寫此文也并非在他們被證明有罪之前力辯其無(wú)辜。在如今這個(gè)時(shí)代，即使是杜克大學(xué)長(zhǎng)曲棍球隊(duì)丑聞已經(jīng)昭然若揭，馬里昂·瓊斯服用興奮劑的惡習(xí)已經(jīng)大白天下的時(shí)候，對(duì)別人進(jìn)行指摘之前還是要經(jīng)過深思熟慮。

Still, there appears to be so much smokearound Vick and Donaghy that prospectsof huge fires breaking out in the near futureare good. Newspaper reporters or websitetypists with agendas who make thesesorts of accusations are one thing; Federalinvestigators altogether another.

看上去，在維克與多納吉周圍已經(jīng)硝煙彌漫，熊熊大火似乎觸即發(fā)，這樣的前景不是什么壞事。那些有計(jì)劃大肆報(bào)道這些新聞的報(bào)紙記者與網(wǎng)站打字員是一回事，聯(lián)邦機(jī)構(gòu)的大規(guī)模調(diào)查則是另一回事。

So, for the moment, what do we do? Howdo we think, act? What do we say?

那么，就現(xiàn)在的情況而言，我們?cè)撟鍪裁茨?我們?cè)撛鯓铀伎?，怎樣反?yīng)呢?我們?cè)撜f(shuō)些什么呢?

Anger is fine, appropriate. Hand-wringingis acceptable.

憤怒沒有問題，這種情緒無(wú)可厚非，即使感到絕望也絕非無(wú)法接受。

Vick has been called so many names intwo or three days that we've pretty much got itoff our chests.

兩三天以來(lái)，維克被無(wú)數(shù)人咒罵，以至于我們甚至以此為樂。

Turns out, you can anger sports fans —but don't mess with PETA.

盡管如此，但結(jié)論卻是，你可以激怒體育迷，但千萬(wàn)別得罪PETA(人類善待動(dòng)物組織)。

Now Donaghy has taken our anger to abigger target, to an institution we never quitetrusted but badly wanted to. Barry Mano ofRacine, Wis., is a perfect spokesman for thatinstitution. He is president of the National Assn.of Sports Officials (NASO), and Friday, whileprefacing all statements with the phrase "if thisis true," he was clearly a man shouting out awindow for all the world to hear.

現(xiàn)在多納吉把我們的怒火引向了更大的批判對(duì)象，一個(gè)我們從未給予多少信任，但卻衷心希望信任它的組織(NBA)。來(lái)自威斯康星州拉辛市的巴里·馬諾，是NBA最適合的發(fā)言人。作為全國(guó)體育裁判協(xié)會(huì)(NASO)主席，本周五他用“如果這是真的”作為開頭，發(fā)表了一系列的聲明。很明顯，他要把頭伸向窗外，讓全世界都能聽到他的聲音，

"What we bring to the table is impartiality,"

Mano said. "Without that, we're lost. Thatmakes this a horror story."

“我們的職責(zé)就是保證不偏不倚，”馬諾說(shuō)，“缺了這一條，我們就輸了一切，這也就是為什么這條消息如此令人恐怖的原因?！?/p>

Mano also used the word "tragedy"frequently in several conversations, which,in his world, is accurate and understandable.He comes from a family of NBA referees,and he knows no matter the legal outcome ofthe Donaghy case, what life will be like for hisconstituency next season.

在幾個(gè)談話節(jié)目當(dāng)中，馬諾同樣也不斷使用“悲劇”一詞，在他看來(lái)，用這個(gè)詞來(lái)描述這一丑聞既恰如其分，又通俗易懂。他出生于一個(gè)NBA裁判世家，對(duì)于多納吉一案在法律上會(huì)有怎樣的結(jié)果，他并不清楚，至于下賽季他手下會(huì)員(即裁判)的生活會(huì)產(chǎn)生什么變化，他也一無(wú)所知。

"Hey, rock head. How many dimes yougot down tonight?"

“嗨，笨蛋，今晚你進(jìn)帳多少?”

"Nice callJimmy the Greek."

“吹得不錯(cuò)，Jimmy the Greek?！?/p>

Yes, the fans will speak. Loudly, angrily.Their trust will be hard-earned. For a while,they may not attend a basketball game, whichwould be a fair message to both leagueand referees, who should have, somehow,prevented this.

沒錯(cuò)，球迷會(huì)開口說(shuō)話，分貝極高，滿腔憤怒，贏得他們的信任很難。一段時(shí)間里，他們或許根本不會(huì)去現(xiàn)場(chǎng)看球，這將是針對(duì)聯(lián)盟和裁判的一個(gè)強(qiáng)烈信號(hào)，而他們，本可以阻止這一切。

But eventually, fans always comeback. Remember how many said they weredone forever with baseball duringstrikes?Remember how quickly baseball was backsetting attendance records?

但最終，球迷們還將回來(lái)。曾記否，MLB鬧罷工時(shí)，多少人聲稱永遠(yuǎn)不再看棒球?曾記否，MLB以多快的速度接連創(chuàng)下現(xiàn)場(chǎng)觀眾紀(jì)錄?

Both Vick and Donaghy, if guilty, havedone temporary harm to the sports andinstitutions that paid them handsomely anddefined them. But neither is big enough to bringthem down, or, in the long run, even do muchserious damage.

無(wú)論是維克還是多納吉，如果被判有罪，他們的行為對(duì)于給予他們豐厚收入并幫助他們找到人生定位的聯(lián)盟，乃至整個(gè)運(yùn)動(dòng)都帶來(lái)了暫時(shí)的損傷，但是這些丑聞都不具有摧垮它們，甚至從長(zhǎng)遠(yuǎn)來(lái)看，都不會(huì)有太大的破壞力。

We love our sports. They are bothentertainment and big business for us. Theyare pillars in deep cement.

我愛我們的體育，對(duì)我們來(lái)說(shuō)，它們既是娛樂也是商業(yè)，它們是建立在堅(jiān)實(shí)混凝土上的支柱。

Vick and Donaghy just hit us with a coupleof cherry bombs, and nothing fell.

維克和多納吉攻擊我們的武器只是少數(shù)幾個(gè)櫻桃炸彈，什么損失都沒有。

The NFL will react with appropriate angerand punitive action to reassure fans and, moreimportant to them, big sponsors.

NFL將采取行動(dòng)，恰當(dāng)?shù)乇憩F(xiàn)出憤怒，祭出懲戒利刃，以示球迷，以及對(duì)他們來(lái)說(shuō)更重要的——大贊助商。

League administrators of sports officials,NBA and others, will treat their referees morelike whipping boys than they do now, which insome leagues is considerable.

與現(xiàn)在相比，主管體育裁判的聯(lián)盟管理者、NBA和其他組織對(duì)于裁判，將像對(duì)待替罪羔羊一樣不留情面，這對(duì)某些聯(lián)盟來(lái)說(shuō)意義重大。

And Mano and his group, whocoincidentally meet for their annual Summitof Sports Officials starting July 29 in Denver,will put their heads together— all 250 ofthem spanning many sports—and seelunderstanding and solutions.

馬諾和他的組織，恰巧要參加7月29日在丹佛舉行的體育裁判年度峰會(huì)。來(lái)自眾多體育項(xiàng)目的250名裁判將在此聚首，群策群力，相互理解，共商大計(jì)。

A couple of grief counselors might findwork there too.

一群憂心忡忡的法律顧問們也會(huì)在那里找到活計(jì)。

For a while, every officiating call will belinked to a sports book in Vegas, every closeloss on a controversial ruling will be furtherproof that everything stinks. There will even

be those demanding that officiating duties betaken over by technology.

在一段時(shí)間里，每一次裁判哨音響起，都會(huì)與拉斯維加斯的比賽盤口聯(lián)系起來(lái)，每一個(gè)由于吹罰爭(zhēng)議導(dǎo)致比分接近情況下的輸球都將成為“一切都是設(shè)計(jì)好的”證據(jù)，甚至還會(huì)有人要求用現(xiàn)代科技手段接管裁判職責(zé)。

But reality will set in. It will become clearthat Donaghy is one official in a sea of otherswho, remarkably, have stayed clean. Anyway,hollering at machines is no fun.

但是現(xiàn)實(shí)情況是，很明顯，多納吉只是問題裁判中的滄海一粟，值得一提的是，其他人都將平安無(wú)事。畢竟，對(duì)著鏡頭大喊大叫并不是什么好玩的事情。

More so, we have always conductedour sports this way —people ruling on otherpeople. We may hate the system, but it is oursystem.

更何況，我們一直在用同樣的方式從事著我們的體育運(yùn)動(dòng)——些人執(zhí)法另一些人。我們可以痛恨這種體系，但這就是我們的體系。

More likely, it will be 20 years beforeanother NFL player will be seen in the samestate as a dog fight. More likely, sports officialswill be so far under the microscope— liedetector tests, random phone-call monitoring,etc. — that you can bet there'll be no bets.

更有可能發(fā)生的情況是，另一位NFL球員20年后又出現(xiàn)在同一個(gè)州組織另一場(chǎng)斗狗比賽；更有可能的是，體育裁判將從此在“顯微鏡”的密切關(guān)注下執(zhí)法比賽——測(cè)謊儀、隨機(jī)電話監(jiān)控等——你可以下注，賭沒有人再下注。

Sometimes, from this much bad comessome good. We may even want to thank thesetwo alleged perpetrators someday.

有時(shí)候，塞翁失馬，焉知禍福。也許有一天，我們會(huì)感謝這兩個(gè)正在受到指控的作奸犯科者。

Bet your bottom dollar.

對(duì)此，不妨押上你全部的籌碼。