2007年VOA标准英语-Super Bowl Draws Crowd of International Media

By David Byrd
Miami
02 February 2007

While the National Football League's Championship Game, the Super Bowl, is played in the United States by U.S. teams, it has worldwide appeal. This year's game in Miami, Florida will be broadcast live to 232 countries and territories including China, Russia, Belgium, Hungary, Japan and France. VOA's David Byrd spoke¹ to some of the International media covering Sunday's game, and reports the NFL's audience continues to grow.

Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning is surrounded by reporters and photographers as he answers questions at a media availability, 1 Feb 2007

More than 3,000 media members are credentialed for the Super Bowl. But listen in on one of the press conferences this week, and you are just as likely to hear Japanese, Chinese, French, Spanish or Hungarian as you are to hear English.

Richard Farago is with Hungary's Sport One television. He says that the NFL Championship game might keep a few people up late, but the League's fan base is growing.

"Everybody's talking about the NFL and of course the Super Bow," he said. So we have 12 teams in Hungary right now. So I think it is growing dramatically in Hungary as the NFL has said."

Sitting with Richard is Candor² Kovacs, a linebacker with a Budapest American-style football team. He says seeing the NFL up close is the chance of a life time, and there's one particular player he wants to emulate³.

"Brian Urlacher. That's an amazing thing. He's 6'4" he's fast like … he's tough, he's hard nosed, what else. That's an icon⁴. An NFL icon," he said.

Farhan Lalji is a reporter for Canada's Sports Network. He told VOA sports that the NFL championship game will draw as big an audience as Canada's Grey Cup of Canadian football, and could even rival a Stanley Cup ice Hockey final.

He said, "You know, even though it is not the CFL [Canadian Football League] people don't . . . it is a one-game deal. It is as much as football game as it is a massive⁵ event. So you know would it compare to game seven of a Stanley Cup final for TV ratings⁶? Absolutely."

Jose Manuel Villalva is a reporter for Multimedios television in Monterey, Mexico. He says fans in Mexico are embracing U.S. football more and more each year.

"Ramiro Pruneda has just signed with the Kansas City Chiefs," he said. "So you could see that because of that reason, and because they have played all their lives - because there are many junior leagues, youth leagues in Mexico - the love for football in Mexico has grown."

Luciana Quaresma works with the Brazilian network and Internet site TVGlobo.com. This is her first time covering the Super Bowl, but she has worked for ESPN Television network broadcasting to Brazil in Portuguese⁷. She says that the NFL game is catching⁸ on in Brazil to the point that there is now a beach football championship game in Rio.

"It is not like soccer of course. It is not a sport that we grew up with. But it is growing and people are playing on the beaches of Rio. They actually have the Carioca Bowl, which is the Super Bowl in Rio with the teams from Rio Di Janeiro and they play on the sand of Copa Cabana Beach," she said.

This year's Super Bowl is going to be broadcast live to 232 countries and territories world wide. The NFL has also expanded its influence in Europe by scheduling a regular season game to be played at London's Wembley Stadium between the Miami Dolphins and the New York Giants next season.

1 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

2 candor   

n.坦白，率真

参考例句：

• He covered a wide range of topics with unusual candor.他极其坦率地谈了许多问题。
• He and his wife had avoided candor,and they had drained their marriage.他们夫妻间不坦率，已使婚姻奄奄一息。

3 emulate   

v.努力赶上或超越，与…竞争；效仿

参考例句：

• You must work hard to emulate your sister.你必须努力工作，赶上你姐姐。
• You must look at the film and try to emulate his behavior.你们必须观看这部电影，并尽力模仿他的动作。

4 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。

5 massive   

adj.巨大的，大规模的，大量的，大范围的

参考例句：

• A massive sea search has failed to find any survivors.经过大规模的海上搜救仍未找到幸存者。
• He drank a massive amount of alcohol.他喝了大量的烈酒。

6 ratings   

n.等级( rating的名词复数 )；收视率；表示电影分级的数字（或字母）；（海军）水兵

参考例句：

• He won high ratings [marks] in all his examinations. 他所有的考试都获得高分。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The boat was operated by two naval ratings in dress whites. 船由两个穿着白色礼服的水兵驾驶。 来自辞典例句

7 Portuguese   

n.葡萄牙人；葡萄牙语

参考例句：

• They styled their house in the Portuguese manner.他们仿照葡萄牙的风格设计自己的房子。
• Her family is Portuguese in origin.她的家族是葡萄牙血统。

8 catching   

adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住

参考例句：

• There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
• Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。