11.15-On Writing Well

17 Sports

Expressions

They come flooding automatically out of the typewriterof every scribe (sportswriter) in every press box.

press box  (体育场的)新闻工作室,记者席

a special area or a room at a sports ground where sports journalists sit

Smith was a devout angler, and it was a pleasure to watch him bait his hook and come up with that slippery fish, a sports commissioner, gasping for air.

devout 1.(强调内心信仰的深入与强烈的) 虔诚的

有趣的延伸:Devout is often used to describe religious individuals, but this word also pop ups in the context of sports fans — a fact that may shed some light on the role of sports in today's society. However, while it's usually acceptable for a devout individual to miss work for religious holidays, devout sports fans have a tougher time convincing their boss to let them off for the big game.

2 衷心的,热烈的  a ~ hope衷心 [真诚] 的希望

devoutly [修饰 hope,believe 等的动词] 衷心地,热诚地

angler  1 钓鱼者,钓鱼人

辨析：fisherman 通常指把捉鱼做职业的“渔民”，称垂钓的“雅人”最好用 angler。

2 善用计谋的人,为达目的不择手段的人

3 (又作 angler fish) ‘鱼’琵琶鱼

In sports, all is writ large and writ in concrete.

writ   1.法律令状,书面命令,传票

2.(the) Holy [Sacred] Writ圣经

3.writ((古))write 的过去式.过去分词

writ 'large  这里意思 1. easy to see or understand显而易见的；公然

»Mistrust was writ large on her face.她脸上明显流露出不信任的神情。

2. (用于名词后) being a large or obvious example of the thing mentioned 明摆着；公然:

»This is deception writ large.这是明目张胆的欺骗。

Thoughts

The best sportswriters know this. They avoid the exhausted synonyms and strive for freshness elsewhere in their sentences.

What gives the article its depth is that it’s the work of a writer, not a sportswriter.

The ego of the modern athlete has in turn rubbed off on the modern sportswriter.

这一章虽然作者讲得和举例的比较有趣，我还是看得有点困难——我对体育不感冒，加上偶尔出现的体育专业名词。基本是略读过去的，不过还是有所收获。

1.作者说sports is one of the richest fields now open to the nonfiction writer. 许多以严肃书籍著称的作家都曾写过这方面的书籍。举了一些例子，其中一个经典是John Updike的“Hub Fans Bid Kid Adieu,”惊讶到我了。约翰·厄普代克竟然也写体育——我只知道他的长篇小说“兔子四部曲”，还看过几个精彩的短篇。

2.语言新鲜生动，不然没人想看。

3.美国体育总是与社会历史交织在一起，优秀的作家会将其结合起来。

4.写体育的过程中所要寻找重要的是:人，这些与体育相关的人们都是一个个普通人，场上场下都有着复杂困难要去应付，深入地了解再写作更打动人。我没看过体育文章书籍，只记得看了一些体育相关电影小说，都是如此，让我深刻记住的，都不只是写比赛，更深入的刻画了赛场上下的人物。

5.作者还举例了很多体育写作的正面和反面例子，没怎么深入看，就不写了。

6.Observe closely. Interview in depth. Listen to old-timers.Ponder the changes. Write well.