Why People Love Watching Sports | Kate Fagan | TED

譯者: Lilian Chiu 審譯者: Helen Chang

Did you know that a crowd of New Yorkers once filled a hall,

各位可知道，

曾經有一大群紐約人擠滿了大廳，

with thousands more awaiting word outside,

還有數千人在外頭等消息，

and that the police had to come

警方必須出動，

and forbid the selling of additional tickets,

禁止銷售額外的票，

and that the "New York Times" used the phrase --

《紐約時報》用這個句子——

a phrase not yet a cliché --

那時還不算老套——

that people were "packed like sardines"?

人潮「擠得像罐頭裡的沙丁魚」？

And did you know that this frenzy

各位可知道，這種狂熱，

was all because people were desperate to watch

全都是因為大家極渴望

a woman walk in circles on sawdust?

想看一名女子在鋸木屑上走圈子？

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

The sport was pedestrianism --

這種運動叫做步行——

when watching people walk was America's pastime.

那時美國的消遣就是看人走路。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

I won’t get too deep into the story of our pedestrian, Ada Anderson,

我不會太深入講述步行者 艾達‧安德森的故事，

and the breathless “New York Times” articles about her walk:

及《紐約時報》針對她的行走 撰寫了讓人屏息的文章：

2,700 quarter miles in 2,700 consecutive quarter hours.

兩千七百個四分之一哩，

在兩千七百個連續的 四分之一小時內完成。

I bring up this long-ago event for a singular purpose:

我提起這麼古老的活動， 只有一個目的：

to question what you think you know about why we watch sports.

質疑各位是否真的知道 自己為什麼要看運動。

If people lost their minds watching someone walk in circles,

如果是神經錯亂了 才會去看別人走圈子，

(Laughter)

what can this teach us about the heart of sports?

我們能從中學到什麼 關於運動核心的知識？

Understanding what compels us to watch sports,

了解是什麼讓我們非看運動不可，

it's not just a thought experiment, although it is that,

不僅是個思想實驗，

雖然的確是，

but it's more.

但不只如此，還有可能 產生實質的影響。

It could have tangible effects.

If we're willing to inspect what actually spikes our heart rate

如果我們願意探究 是什麼讓我們的心跳向上衝，

and pushes us to the edge of our seats,

讓我們幾乎要從椅子上跳起來，

instead of just assuming we know,

而不只是假設我們都知道，

we can all, collectively, make the sports world a more equitable place.

我們便能同心協力 讓運動界變成更公正的地方。

I didn't say "equal," I said "equitable."

我說的是「公正」而非「平等」。

Fair, evenhanded, just.

公平、不偏不倚、正義。

Often, if you ask someone why they watch sports,

通常，如果問某人為什麼要看運動，

they will tell you because they want to watch the best of the best.

他們會說，因為他們 想看菁英中的菁英。

Anything else ...

任何其他的……

isn't worth their time.

就不值得他們花時間。

This reasoning ...

這種論據……

it presents itself as biological.

它和生物學有關。

The men’s sprint champion --

男子短跑冠軍——

always a half-second faster than the women's sprint champion.

總是比女子短跑冠軍快半秒。

The men of the NBA --

NBA 的男性球員——

most of them can jump higher than the women of the WNBA,

大部分都能跳得比 WNBA 的女性球員更高，

and on, and on ...

以此類推……

If we passively accept this premise

如果我們被動地接受這個前提假設，

that the only sports worth watching are those played at the apex of humanity,

也就是，值得看的運動只有

人類發揮到頂尖水準的運動，

then we have baked into our sports world a reason for why women's sports don't ...

那麼我們就在運動界 置入了一個理由，

說明為什麼女子運動沒有……

and can't ...

也無法有……

and won't matter.

也不會有其重要性。

For example:

舉例來說：

"Call me when women can dunk"

「有女性能灌籃時再通知我」

is a thing that people have long said.

是長久以來大家會說的話。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

Yeah, alright, so we're dunking now.

是啊，所以，我們現在會灌籃囉。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

"Actually, you know what?

「事實上，你知道嗎，

Call me when women can do 360 dunks."

等女性可以做三百六十度 灌籃時再通知我。」

2050 here, on the line.

電話上是 2050 年：

“Yeah, alright. We’re doing 360 dunks now too.

「好，我們現在也會做 三百六十度灌籃了。

Ah, yeah, alright. We’ll call you, then.”

啊，好，那我們會再通知你。」

You get it.

你們懂的。

So let me lay out my theory for you.

讓我跟大家說明我的理論，

My theory about what actually compels us to watch sports.

關於到底是什麼讓我們 非看運動不可的理論。

I spent seven years as a columnist and feature writer at ESPN,

我在 ESPN 做了七年的 專欄作家和專題作家，

and I did shows like "Around the Horn," "Outside the Lines," "First Take."

我也做過《Around the Horn》、

《Outside the Lines》、 《First Take》等節目。

And we would always look at the sports calendar

我們總會看著運動日曆，

and try to pinpoint moments when women's sports would be big --

試圖找出女子運動可能 大受歡迎的時刻——

like, really big.

大紅大紫的程度。

And it was always the same two events,

找到的總是同樣的兩項大賽事：

the Olympics, then the World Cup.

奧運和世界盃。

Then, the Olympics.

接著就是奧運。

Toss some tennis in there,

偶爾有些網球比賽，

but mostly the Olympics and the World Cup.

但多半就是奧運和世界盃。

And so we got to thinking: What is it about these two events?

所以我們開始想：

這兩項賽事有什麼特別？

What are the common factors that allow women's sports to transcend

有什麼共同因子

讓女子運動能夠在這些 短暫的時刻有所超越？

for these fleeting moments?

Because even at the Olympics,

因為，

就連在奧運中，男子游泳的時間

the men's swim times

are just a fraction of a second faster than the women's.

也還是比女子游泳 要快個零點幾秒鐘。

These two events have two crucial elements in common:

這兩項賽事有兩個關鍵共同元素：

stakes and storylines.

賭注，和故事情節。

This is what burns at the center of sports.

這就是在運動核心的關鍵點。

In the Olympics, we have all agreed a gold medal matters.

在奧運，

我們都認同金牌很重要。

Same with the World Cup.

世界盃也一樣。

And now, paired with these agreed-upon stakes,

搭配這些大家一致認同的賭注，

we also have -- at the Olympics and the World Cup --

在奧運和世界盃，我們還有

very obvious storylines.

非常明顯的故事情節。

One person has a USA jersey on,

一個人穿著美國的隊服，

someone else has a different country's jersey on.

另一個人穿著另一國的隊服。

Alright.

好。

We’ve got agreed-upon stakes, we’ve got very obvious storylines --

有大家一致認同的賭注， 有非常明顯的故事情節——

當然，我們會更投入在 更深入的故事情節上，

of course, now, we're going to have a commitment

to even deeper storytelling,

which is how we end up teary-eyed

這就是為什麼我們最後

會因為看了一段 NBC 關於 羅馬尼亞體操選手的花絮影片

after a three-and-a-half-minute NBC vignette about a Romanian gymnast.

就熱淚盈眶。

（笑聲）

(Laughter)

You have everything you need, now, for the next two hours of competition.

針對接下來的兩小時比賽， 你已經有了你需要的一切了。

An Olympic gold medal is on the line.

奧運金牌等著看誰能摘下，

And you’ve got your storyline.

你也知道故事情節了，

A Romanian gymnast desperately overcoming the odds.

羅馬尼亞體操選手 不顧一切克服萬難。

Boom.

砰！

Storylines drive up the stakes.

故事情節讓賭注更高。

Higher stakes -- more storylines,

賭注越高——越多故事情節，

and on and up we go.

相輔相成。

Every so often, a female athlete or a team,

偶爾，

一名女運動員或一個團隊

they will hit the tipping point.

會走到關鍵轉折點。

We understand their storylines, we’ve got the stakes.

我們知道他們的 故事情節，也有賭注。

Here, I'm thinking Serena Williams, Simone Biles, Ronda Rousey,

此刻我想到的是小威廉斯、 西夢‧拜爾斯、榮達‧魯西、

Megan Rapinoe.

梅根‧拉皮諾。

Right?

對吧？她們是異常值。

These are the outliers.

And having representation matters.

有代表性是很重要。

But what tends to happen

但通常的狀況是， 這些少數女性運動員

is that these handful of female athletes

carry the media burden for all of women's sports.

要背負所有女子運動的媒體重擔。

Not only that --

不僅如些——媒體還能說：

the media gets to say "Yeah, we checked that box, we're good.

「是的，我們有做了， 確認，我們那樣做了，

We did that thing,

we put so-and-so on the cover, like, seven years ago.

我們把某某放在封面上了， 大概是七年前的事吧。

We're good."

沒問題。」

What doesn’t happen is the pursuit of additional storylines,

沒有發生的，

是去追求額外的故事情節，

expanding the breadth of our storytelling,

擴展我們說故事的廣度，

which is what is continually happening on the men's side.

但在男子的部分卻持續一直在做。

When I worked at ESPN and I would do a TV show,

我在 ESPN 工作時做電視節目，

I was in the production room,

在製作室裡，我總會 力推女子運動的故事。

and I was always pitching women's sports stories.

It almost never worked.

幾乎不會成功。

Every once in a while, it would work.

偶爾會成功一次。

And the thing about doing sports on TV ...

在電視上做運動，有個特色……

is that you are not actually an expert at everything you're talking about.

你講的東西不見得是你專長的東西。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

But you read, you do your homework,

但你要閱讀，要做功課，

you figure out a position.

找出一個適當立場。

But this thing would happen when we would do a women's sports segment:

但當我們要做一段女子運動 節目時會發生這個狀況：

Many of the other men on the segment ...

做這個片段的其他男性，多半

didn’t really do their homework.

沒有做他們該做的功課。

So they were kind of "blah."

所以他們可說是在「胡扯」。

Then, the segment would be kind of "blah."

接著，這個片段就 可說是在「胡扯」。

There's actually a term for this,

其實有個專有名詞 可以用：「性別平淡」。

it's called "gender bland."

And then, the segment would end,

這段節目結束後，

and the producer would be like,

製作人會說：「看吧？這就是 為什麼我們不做女子運動，

"See? This is why we never do women's sports,

because they're boring."

因為很無趣。」

When a men's segment fell flat, the problem was us.

如果一段男性的節目太乏味，

問題就是我們，

We would redo it.

我們會重做。

"Alright, come on, do your homework. Pick it up. We're doing that again."

「好，拜託，要做功課， 上工吧，我們再做一次。」

When a segment on women's sports fell flat,

如果一段女性的節目太乏味，

the problem was women's sports.

問題就變成是女子運動。

This is a microcosm for how this plays out across media.

這是個縮影，

在整個媒體界的狀況都是如此。

Never finding the new angle, never finding the new story.

永遠不找新的角度， 永遠不找新的故事。

So what you do

你要做的就是仰賴 既有的數百萬個故事。

is you rely on the millions of stories that already exist.

And you know what already exists?

各位知道什麼是既有的嗎？

Every men's sports story imaginable.

能想得出來的所有男子運動故事。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

The reality is that just existing in our culture,

現實是，光是身在我們的文化中，

you will know a dozen men’s storylines.

你都會知道十多個男性的故事情節。

I mean, these things are literally push-notified to your phone.

這些內容真的就會出現在 你手機的推播通知中。

Or you're sitting behind someone on an airplane,

或者你在飛機上坐在某個人後面，

and you can’t help but see what they’re watching on ESPN.

不小心就看到這個人 在看的 ESPN 節目。

Or you’re at a bar, or a doctor’s office,

或者你在酒吧，或醫生的診間，

and the talking heads are giving you the latest NBA drama.

電視上有個人的臉部特寫在 播報最新的 NBA 戲劇性事件。

In America, osmosis will have you knowing men’s sports storylines.

在美國，

滲透作用會讓你知道 男子運動的故事情節。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

And by the way,

順便一提，

when men have a daughter and they finally get women's sports,

當男性有了女兒， 他們終於懂了女子運動，

what they're really saying is,

他們真正在說的是，

they finally have a front-row seat to the stakes and the storylines.

他們終於有了前排座位， 可以看到賭注和故事情節了。

Let's go back in time again.

咱們再次回到過去：

Philadelphia, 1931.

1931 年的費城。

The Philadelphia Quicksteppers, an all-Black women's basketball team,

全黑人的女子籃球隊費城快步者，

led by a legend, Inez Patterson.

由傳奇人物伊奈茲‧派特森領導。

Patterson, she knows a thing or two about storylines.

派特森很懂故事情節。

She's ahead of her time.

她走在時代前端。

So she goes to the local all-Black newspaper,

所以她去找當地的全黑人 報社《費城論壇報》，

"The Philadelphia Tribune,"

and she proposes a deal.

她提出一個交易提案。

Sponsorship.

贊助。

Storylines in exchange for naming rights.

用故事情節交換命名權。

This may very well be the first naming-rights deal in history.

這可能是歷史上第一個命名權交易。

The Philadelphia Quicksteppers become the Philadelphia Tribunes.

費城快步者變成了費城論壇報。

And I bring this up because the very next year, 1932,

我提到這件事， 是因為隔年，1932 年，

there's an intracity rival --

市內出現了競爭者——

the Germantown Hornets with Ora Washington, very famous player.

日耳曼敦黃蜂，隊上有非常 知名的球員奧菈‧華盛頓。

And they decide, the two of them -- Germantown, the Tribunes --

他們決定，兩隊—— 日耳曼敦，論壇報——

to play a five-game series to determine the best team in Philadelphia.

要進行五場比賽來決定 誰是費城最好的球隊。

別忘了，故事情節是銷售的一部分。

Remember, storylines was part of the deal.

Five-game series goes to a fifth game.

五場比賽打到了第五場。

And this is how the "Tribune" writes about the atmosphere in game five, 1932:

而論壇報是這樣描述

1932 年第五場比賽的氣氛：

"The cash customers fanned to fever heat by the ardor and closeness of combat

「付現的客人因為對戰的激情 和驚險而高燒到要一直扇風，

gave outlet to all kinds of riotous impulses."

當了各種暴亂的衝動一個出口。」

Alright?

這可能聽起來還不耳熟， 但我們的女孩艾達‧安德森？

This may not sound familiar yet, but our girl, Ada Anderson?

1879, the "New York Times" writes about her walk.

1879 年，《紐約時報》 報導了她的走路。

Her walk.

她的走路！

"Many women were seen to faint in the dense crowd,

「在密集的群眾中可以看到 有許多女性昏倒，

but as they could not be carried out,

但因為無法把她們帶出來，

it is not known what became of them."

無法得知她們後來變成怎樣。」

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

Hot damn, y'all, people loved ladies' sports, right?

老天，各位，大家 很熱愛女子運動對吧？

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

I mean ...

我的意思是……

(Applause)

（掌聲）

Who knew?

誰會知道？

Well, wherever you find compelling storylines

不論在哪裡，只要你能找到 令人信服的故事情節，

and agreed-upon stakes,

及大家認同的賭注，

you will find people on the edge of their seat.

就會看到有人激動到快跳起來。

No matter the vertical leap of the participant.

不論參賽者能跳多高。

So ...

所以……

Who tells the storylines of women’s sports today?

現今，誰在說女子運動的故事情節？

Many of you will know the statistic I'm about to put up.

在座很多人知道 我等下要提的統計數字。

University of Southern California, Purdue University,

南加州大學，普渡大學，

released in 2021,

2021 年刊出，

studying the year 2019 in sports media coverage.

研究的是 2009 年的

運動媒體報導。

Of all of the minutes of ESPN's SportsCenter in 2019,

2019 年所有ESPN 《運動中心》節目的記錄中，

5.1 percent of them given to women's sports.

只有 5.1% 是報導女子運動。

You know what's really sad about this number?

各位知道這個數字 最讓人悲痛的地方嗎？

It's that it's not even as high as it looks,

那就是它實際上可能更低，

because 2019 was a Women's World Cup year.

因為 2019 年有女子世界盃。

Audience: Woo-hoo.

觀眾：哦！

KF: What happens when you take out the Women’s World Cup minutes?

講者：如果把和女子世界盃 相關的記錄排除呢？

3.5 percent

3.5%

of all of the minutes of SportsCenter ...

《運動中心》的記錄中 只有這樣子的比例

given to women's sports.

是在談女子運動。

Now what if I told you that number is even higher than it seems?

如果我告訴各位， 那個數字還是高估了呢？

Because what mostly makes up that number

因為那些報導的大部分內容

is, like, a game recap,

比較像是快速的比賽 重點整理，簡短的精華。

a quick highlight.

We call these "one-and-dones."

我們稱這些報導為 「有做就算是有了」。

There is nothing to think about.

沒有什麼可思考的，沒有後續追蹤。

There's no follow-up.

It is a “storyline” for a reason,

叫故事情節（故事線）是有原因的，

because a "line" keeps going.

因為線會一直延伸下去。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

A game recap is not a storyline.

比賽重點整理不是故事情節。

What drives interest in sports are the heroes and the villains,

讓大家對運動有興趣的，

是英雄和反派，

and the "Were they paid too much?"

及「他們是否拿太多薪水？」 及「那個教練該被開除嗎？」

and "Should that coach be fired?"

要能讓你完全投入

Something to really sink your teeth into

and to stake a position on.

並選邊站。

Do you know that ESPN has had the rights to the WNBA

各位可知道，ESPN 有 WNBA 的轉播權，

all 26 years of the league's existence?

且聯盟存在的二十六年間都有？

And in that time,

而在那段時間，

not one studio show was ever made to introduce people to these storylines

完全沒有製作任何一個節目

向大家介紹 WNBA 的故事情節。

of the WNBA.

People will tell you that number reflects consumer demand.

有人會說，那個數字 只是反映出消費者的需求。

But that number reflects one thing --

但，那個數字反映出一樣東西——

that number.

就是那個數字。

Who can want more of something they have never been given?

從來沒有得到過的東西， 誰會想要更多？

And how can we believe we want more of something

且我們怎麼可能會相信 我們想要更多那樣東西，

if the reasons for not wanting it are biological?

如果不想要它的理由

是生物學的理由？

That feels pathological.

感覺很病態。

Remember Ada Anderson?

記得艾達‧安德森嗎？

Remember the Philadelphia Tribunes?

記得費城論壇報嗎？

"The cash customers fanned to fever heat."

「付現的觀眾高燒到要一直扇風。」

And why did they fan the fever heat?

他們為什麼高燒到要一直扇風？

Because our collective love of sport is deep, and it's human,

因為我們集體對運動的熱愛

很深刻，是人性，

and it's driven by deep and human motivations.

背後的推手是很深 且很人性化的動機。

The physical expression of athleticism

熱愛體育的實體表達

is just one element of the equation.

只是方程式中的一個元素。

But somehow, for reasons we know,

但基於我們知道的原因，

it has been elevated above all else to justify our current model.

它被提升到一切之上，

以給予我們目前的模型 一個正當理由。

This is a model built ...

建造這個模型時……

without vision,

就沒有遠景，

meant to, reluctantly, provide women a small place.

很不情願地必須要給女性 一個小小的空間。

But never ...

但從來不

not really, a chance.

給一個機會。

Thank you.

謝謝。

(Cheers and applause)

（歡呼聲及掌聲）