2022年经济学人 NHL缺席冬奥

The Americas

美洲版块

Ice hockey

冰球

A puck in the teeth

牙齿上的冰球

Canada's best ice-hockey players cannot go to the Olympics

加拿大最好的冰球运动员不能参加奥运会了

Ice hockey matters in Canada.

冰球在加拿大很重要。

It is the official winter sport and national pastime.

冰球是加拿大官方的冬季运动和全国性的消遣。

Canada has won more Olympic medals for it than any other country.

加拿大在冰球项目获得的奥运奖牌比其他任何国家都多。

Fully¹ half of Canadians tuned² in to watch their team win gold in the men's ice hockey final at the winter Olympics in Vancouver in 2010, making it the most-watched broadcast television programme in the country's history.

在2010年的温哥华冬奥会上，整整一半的加拿大人收看了他们的球队赢得男子冰球决赛，这使其成为该国历史上收视率最高的电视节目。

But the chances that a Canadian team will win at the games in Beijing, which start on February 4th, are looking dismal³.

但是，加拿大队在2月4日开始的北京奥运会上获胜的机会看起来很渺茫。

Similarly the United States, the sport's other powerhouse, looks unlikely to win gold, despite the two countries hosting the National Hockey League (NHL) in which 32 teams of the world's best players do battle every week.

同样，这项运动的另一个强国——美国看起来也不太可能赢得金牌，尽管这两个国家主办了国家冰球联盟（NHL），该联盟的世界顶尖的32支球队每周都会比赛。

This year the league bosses have forbidden players from competing in China.

今年，联盟老板已经禁止球员在中国参赛。

The NHL blames the disruption wrought⁴ by covid-19.

国家冰球联盟将其归咎于新冠疫情。

Indeed, the pandemic has meant that the league has postponed⁵ more than 100 games this season, which started in October.

事实上，疫情意味着从10月份开始，该联盟本赛季已经推迟了100多场比赛。

Before Christmas more than 15% of players (or 119 people) were out for the count because of the virus.

圣诞节前，超过15%的球员（约119人）因感染病毒而缺阵。

Some fans cry foul⁶, however.

然而，一些球迷抱怨犯规。

The league also pulled out in 2018, after a dispute with the International Olympic Committee (ioc) over who should pay for players' travel, accommodation and insurance.

2018年，在与国际奥委会就谁应该支付球员的旅行、住宿和保险费用发生争执后，该联盟也退出了比赛。

The NHL loses money from lending out its players, so it has few incentives⁷ to do so.

国家冰球联盟因出借球员而亏损，所以它不想这样做。

It also cannot use footage from the games for its ads.

它也不能在广告中使用比赛的镜头。

In 2020 players negotiated to go to the Olympics as part of their collective-bargaining agreement with the league.

2020年，球员们与联盟签订了集体谈判协议，同意参加奥运会。

But even before the Omicron variant⁸, few thought the NHL would stick to its word.

但即使在奥密克戎变种之前，也很少有人认为国家冰球联盟会信守诺言。

"I think they would have looked high and low for an excuse to not send them," says Ryan Lambert, a hockey writer.

曲棍球作家瑞恩·兰伯特表示：“我认为他们会到处找借口不让球员参加比赛。”

Canada and the United States now have just a few weeks to scrape together teams from junior leagues and college players.

加拿大和美国现在只有几周的时间从青年联盟和大学球员中组建球队。

Russia's men, who won the gold medal in 2018, are almost certain to do so again (though under the Olympic flag, rather than their own, because of a doping ban).

2018年获得金牌的俄罗斯男子运动员，几乎肯定会再次获得金牌（尽管是在奥运会旗帜下，而不是他们自己的旗帜下，因为有兴奋剂禁令）。

The league is betting that fans care more about their home-city teams.

联盟正在打赌球迷们更关心他们的家乡球队。

Past Olympic glories have not translated into ratings bumps for the NHL.

过去的奥运辉煌并没有给冰球联盟带来收视率上涨。

Its decision to miss the previous games did little to hurt the league's popularity in North America, according to Cliff Grevler of the Boston Consulting Group.

波士顿咨询集团的克里夫·格雷夫勒表示，取消前几场比赛的决定并没有影响到该联盟在北美的受欢迎程度。

Gary Bettman, the NHL's commissioner⁹, has suggested that ice hockey be moved to the summer games, during the league's off-season, but the ioc put his idea on ice.

冰球联盟主席加里·贝特曼曾建议将冰球运动移至夏季奥运会，在联盟的淡季期间举行，但国际奥委会将他的想法暂时搁置。

The NHL may feel it is tapping into a larger feeling in Canada.

冰球联盟可能会觉得在加拿大比赛感觉更好。

The Canadian government has been one of the loudest proponents¹⁰ of the diplomatic boycott¹¹ of the Olympics.

加拿大政府一直是在外交上抵制奥运会最强烈的支持者之一。

1 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

2 tuned   

adj.调谐的，已调谐的v.调音( tune的过去式和过去分词 )；调整；（给收音机、电视等）调谐；使协调

参考例句：

• The resort is tuned in to the tastes of young and old alike. 这个度假胜地适合各种口味，老少皆宜。
• The instruments should be tuned up before each performance. 每次演出开始前都应将乐器调好音。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 dismal   

adj.阴沉的，凄凉的，令人忧郁的，差劲的

参考例句：

• That is a rather dismal melody.那是一支相当忧郁的歌曲。
• My prospects of returning to a suitable job are dismal.我重新找到一个合适的工作岗位的希望很渺茫。

4 wrought   

v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的

参考例句：

• Events in Paris wrought a change in British opinion towards France and Germany.巴黎发生的事件改变了英国对法国和德国的看法。
• It's a walking stick with a gold head wrought in the form of a flower.那是一个金质花形包头的拐杖。

5 postponed   

vt.& vi.延期，缓办，（使）延迟vt.把…放在次要地位；[语]把…放在后面（或句尾）vi.（疟疾等）延缓发作（或复发）

参考例句：

• The trial was postponed indefinitely. 审讯无限期延迟。
• The game has already been postponed three times. 这场比赛已经三度延期了。

6 foul   

adj.污秽的；邪恶的；v.弄脏；妨害；犯规；n.犯规

参考例句：

• Take off those foul clothes and let me wash them.脱下那些脏衣服让我洗一洗。
• What a foul day it is!多么恶劣的天气！

7 incentives   

激励某人做某事的事物( incentive的名词复数 )； 刺激； 诱因； 动机

参考例句：

• tax incentives to encourage savings 鼓励储蓄的税收措施
• Furthermore, subsidies provide incentives only for investments in equipment. 更有甚者，提供津贴仅是为鼓励增添设备的投资。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

8 variant   

adj.不同的，变异的；n.变体，异体

参考例句：

• We give professional suggestions according to variant tanning stages for each customer.我们针对每位顾客不同的日晒阶段，提供强度适合的晒黑建议。
• In a variant of this approach,the tests are data- driven.这个方法的一个变种，是数据驱动的测试。

9 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。

10 proponents   

n.（某事业、理论等的）支持者，拥护者( proponent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Reviewing courts were among the most active proponents of hybrid rulemaking procedures. 复审法院是最积极的混合型规则制定程序的建议者。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法
• Proponents of such opinions were arrested as 'traitors. ' 提倡这种主张的人马上作为“卖国贼”逮捕起来。 来自辞典例句

11 boycott   

n./v.(联合)抵制，拒绝参与

参考例句：

• We put the production under a boycott.我们联合抵制该商品。
• The boycott lasts a year until the Victoria board permitsreturn.这个抗争持续了一年直到维多利亚教育局妥协为止。