NBA东部球队名字的由来

　　The entry of Wang Zhi zhi, Yao Ming, and Mengke Bateer into the National Basketball Association have created millions of new NBA fans in China. Although teams such as the Rockets and the Lakers have become well known in China, very few Chinese fans know the stories behind the NBA"s team names.
　　
　　The NBA is divided into the Eastern and Western Conferences. The two conferences are split along the Mississippi River, which is the traditional East-West dividing line in the United States. In this article, the first in a two-part series, I will discuss Eastern Conference team names. The next article will move on to the Western Conference.

　　The New York Knicks. The first Europeans to settle permanently (in 1626) in the area now known as New York City were immigrants from the Netherlands. They named their colony "Nieuw Amsterdam" after the city in Holland. In 1664 the town was captured by the English, who renamed it "New York". The word "Knickerbocker", a Dutch surname, is used as a colloquial term for New Yorkers descended from the original Dutch settlers. Among the best known "Knickerbockers" in American history is the Roosevelt clan, which has produced two presidents, Theodore Roosevelt (president 1901-1909) and Franklin Delano Roosevelt (president 1933-1945). "Knick" is an abbreviation of "Knickerbocker." The Boston Celtics. Starting in the 1840s large numbers of Irish immigrants came to Boston. Eventually Boston became known as America’s most Irish city. John F. Kennedy (president 1961-1963) was an Irish-American who was born in Boston. The word "Celtic," which designates the ancient language and ethnic group from which the Irish (along with the Welsh and most Scots) spring, celebrates Boston’s Irish-American heritage.

　　The Philadelphia 76ers. The US states along the Atlantic Ocean were originally colonies of Great Britain. On July 4, 1776, these colonies declared independence from England and established the United States of America. The meeting at which the Declaration of Independence was issued was held in the city of Philadelphia. Philadelphia"s team name commemorates this event.

　　The Miami Heat. This team has an accurate though unexciting name. Located at the southern tip of the Florida peninsula, Miami is the southernmost major city in the contiguous 48 states. Miami has hot weather year-round, hence the name.

　　The Washington Wizards. The Wizards play in the nation"s capital, Washington, DC (not to be confused with Washington state on the other side of the country). The name "Wizards" (meaning "magicians") has no special significance, except perhaps for those cynics who say that Washington politicians magically make Americans" tax dollars disappear. The team was known as the "Bullets" until 1997. The name was changed because Washington"s violent crime rate was (and is) among the highest in the nation. The name "Bullets" was deemed inappropriate in light of the large number of gun-related crimes that were occurring in the city.

　　The Orlando Magic. Orlando, Florida, is best known as the home of Walt Disney World. The centerpiece of Walt Disney World is "The Magic Kingdom", from which the team takes its name.

　　The Indiana Pacers. Indianapolis is best known for the Indianapolis 500, which is a popular 500-mile (805 km) automobile race held once every year. During certain parts of the race, the racers are guided by a "pace car", i.e. a "pacer", which sets the speed at which the racers may drive.

　　The Detroit Pistons. Detroit has long been the center of the American automobile industry and for that reason it has earned the nickname the "Motor City" or, more colloquially, "Motown". The name "Pistons" refers to a key part of an automobile engine.

　　The Milwaukee Bucks. White-tailed deer are found in many parts of North America, but they are particularly numerous in Wisconsin"s landscape of fields and forests. In fact, the white-tailed deer is one of the official state symbols of Wisconsin. The name "Bucks" refers to the male of the species, which is the only gender to have antlers.

　　The Chicago Bulls. During the 1980s and 1990s, Michael Jordan made the Bulls the most widely recognized American sports team in the world. A hundred years before Jordan"s era, Chicago was a center of the meatpacking industry. Cattle were shipped by train to Chicago from all over the central United States and slaughtered in vast meatpacking factories. (For a critical look at this era in Chicago"s history, read Upton Sinclair"s classic muckraking novel TheJungle.) Although the meatpackers are now for the most part gone from Chicago, the name "Bulls" recalls this legacy.

　　The New Orleans Hornets, NewJerseyNets, ClevelandCavaliers, TorontoRaptors, AtlantaHawks: These names are all generic labels with no special significance for the cities where the teams are based.

　　Timothy Kiefer　　

　　译文：

　　中国球员王治郅、姚明和巴特尔加入美国NBA后，使NBA在中国增加了数百万新球迷。虽说火箭队、湖人队这些NBA球队在中国已经家喻户晓，但在中国球迷中还很少有人知道这些球队名字后面的故事。

　　NBA分为东部联盟和西部联盟，两个联盟是以密西西比河为界，密西西比河也是美国传统上东西部的分界线。我的文章分为二部分，本期介绍东部联盟球队的名字，下期介绍西部联盟。

　　纽约尼克斯队(Knicks)　1626年，最早来到当今纽约市一带定居的欧洲人是来自荷兰的移民，他们根据荷兰城市的名字将这片土地称为“新阿姆斯特丹”。到了1664年，该市被英国人占领了，重新将它命名为“新约克”即纽约。而荷兰的一个姓氏“尼克伯克尔”则成为了一个俗语，用来指那些祖辈是荷兰移民的纽约人。在美国历史上最著名的“尼克伯克尔”人是罗斯福家族，这一家族出了两位总统：西奥多-罗斯福(1901-1904任总统)和富兰克林-罗斯福(1933-1945任总统)。“尼克”是“尼克伯克尔人”的简称(尼克斯是尼克的复数形式)。

　　波士顿凯尔特人队(Celtics)　从19世纪40年代开始，大量的爱尔兰移民来到了波士顿，最后，波士顿成为了爱尔兰人最多的美国城市。约翰-肯尼迪(1961-1963年任总统)就是出生于波士顿的爱尔兰裔美国人。“凯尔特”一词表示一种古老的语言凯尔特语，也表示爱尔兰(以及威尔士、苏格兰)人的祖先凯尔特人，该词纪念了波士顿爱尔兰裔美国人的传统。

　　费城76人队(76ers)　美国大西洋沿岸的州最初是英国的殖民地。1776年7月4日，这些殖民地宣布独立，建立了美利坚合众国，发表《独立宣言》的会议就是在费城召开的，费城篮球队的名字纪念了这一历史事件。

　　迈阿密热队(Heat)　这个队的名字很确切，然而并不让人为之兴奋。位于佛罗里达半岛南端的迈阿密是美国大陆相互接壤的48个州中最靠南的大城市，一年到头天气都很热，名字便由此而来。

　　华盛顿奇才队(Wizards)　一帮奇才在美国首都华盛顿市(请不要将华盛顿市与西海岸的华盛顿州相混淆)打篮球。“奇才”(英文意为“魔术师”)作为队名没有什么特别的意义，除非是一些愤世嫉俗的人认为华盛顿的政治人物们魔术般地把美国人交的税钱变没了。该篮球队在1997年之前叫“子弹队”，之所以改名是因为华盛顿曾经而且现在仍属于全国暴力犯罪高发地区，考虑到发生在该市的大量持枪犯罪，“子弹队”这个名字是不大适宜的。

　　奥兰多魔术队(Magic)　佛罗里达州的奥兰多以迪斯尼世界乐园最为著名。迪斯尼世界乐园的中心是“魔术王国”，该队的名称便由此而来。

　　印第安纳步行者队(Pacers)　印第安纳波利斯市以印第安纳波利斯500汽车赛最为著名，每年都要举办500英里(805公里)长的汽车赛。在比赛的某些地段，参赛者都要跟着一辆领跑车，以领跑车的速度往前开(英文领跑车一词pacer也作步行者讲，中国人就将其译成了步行者队，其实译成领跑车队更为准确)。

　　底特律活塞队(Pistons)　底特律长期以来就是美国汽车工业的中心，并由此获得了“汽车城”的美誉，更口语话一点儿，则被称为“摩托”。活塞一词是指汽车发动机的关键部件。

　　密尔沃基雄鹿队(Bucks)　在北美地区能看到很多白尾鹿，但在威斯康星州的田野和森林里尤其的多。实际上，白尾鹿还是威斯康星州的标志之一。“Bucks”是指这种鹿中的雄性，是唯一能长鹿茸的一种鹿(密尔沃基位于威斯康星州)。

　　芝加哥公牛队(Bulls)　在上个世纪八十年代和九十年代，迈克尔-乔丹使公牛队成为世界上最知名的美国篮球队。在乔丹时代之前的一百年，芝加哥是美国肉类加工业中心。美国中部各个地方的牛都被装上火车运到芝加哥，并在大型肉类加工厂进行屠宰(要想以批判的眼光了解芝加哥历史上的这一时期，可看由厄波顿-辛克莱所写的暴露性小说《屠场》)。虽说如今肉类加工厂大部分已撤出了芝加哥，但“公牛”这一名字还是让人回想起那段历史。

　　新奥尔良黄蜂队、新泽西网队、克利夫兰骑士队、多伦多猛龙队、亚特兰大鹰队这些名字都是一般性的，对他们所在的城市来说没有什么特殊的意义。

NBA西部球队名字的由来　　

　　Two weeks ago, I discussed the meaning of the team names in the National Basketball Association"s Eastern Conference. This week we move on to the Western Conference.

　　The Memphis Grizzlies: Giant "grizzly bears" range the Rocky Mountains in the US and Canada. They do not live anywhere near the city of Memphis, which is on the Mississippi. Then why the name "Grizzlies"? The reason is that the Grizzlies were originally based in Vancouver, British Columbia, on Canada"s Pacific coast, where grizzly bears do live.

　　The Minnesota Timber wolves: Minnesota, like Memphis, takes its team name from wildlife, but the Timber wolves" name actually makes sense. Minnesota, which is located on the border with Canada, contains large expanses of forested wilderness where timberwolves make their home.

　　The San Antonio Spurs: The mythology of the "cowboy", solitary, tough and self-reliant, has long been an important part of the American national identity, particularly in Texas, where San Antonio is located. While the average Texan today is far more likely to work in an office than on a horse, the cowboy remains an important cultural symbol in Texas. Spurs are sharp metal devices attached to a cowboy"s boots. By jabbing a horse"s flanks with the spurs, the cowboy can encourage his mount to run faster. The Spurs" team logo includes a picture of a spur.

　　The Dallas Mavericks: The name of the Dallas team also reflects Texas" cowboy past. A "maverick" is a rebellious person who refuses to obey social norms. The word is derived from the name of Samuel Maverick (1803-1870), a Texas rancher who refused to brand his cattle.

　　The Houston Rockets: The NASA Mission Control Center is located in Houston; hence the name "Rockets". Ironically, no actual rockets are ever launched into space from Houston -- launches take place at a separate facility in Florida.

　　The Utah Jazz: Jazz is a uniquely American musical style invented by African-Americans in the South. Utah is a deeply conservative Rocky Mountain state with few African-Americans and no connection to jazz music. The reason for the name? The team started in New Orleans, one of the birthplaces of jazz, and subsequently moved to Utah.

　　The Denver Nuggets: The city of Denver, Colorado, arose during a gold rush in 1859. Searching for nuggets of gold and silver was important in a Rocky Mountain state where even today mining plays a significant role in the economy.

　　The Los Angeles Lakers: A look at a map of the Los Angeles area shows that there are virtually no lakes in the metropolitan area. Why then the name "Lakers"? The name only makes sense if you know where the team was originally located -- Minneapolis, Minnesota. Minnesota is known as the "Land of 10,000 Lakes" thanks to the abundance of small lakes within its boundaries. Minnesota is also on the world"s largest freshwater lake, Lake Superior.

　　The Lakers" move from Minneapolis to Los Angeles parallels a general demographic trend in America over the last several decades: the nation"s South and West have boomed, while the population in the North has grown relatively slowly. In fact, all of California"s NBA teams (the Lakers, the Clippers, the Warriors and the Kings) originally played in Northern cities and then moved to California.

　　The Portland Trailblazers: During the 1800s, the United States expanded westward to the Pacific. As the pioneers traveled west, they blazed trails for others to follow. One of the most famous of these trails was the Oregon Trail, which led from the state of Missouri in the center of the country to the state of Oregon in its northwestern corner. Today Portland is the largest city in the state of Oregon. The name of its NBA team honors the pioneers who traveled on the Oregon Trail.

　　The Seattle Supersonics: As a result of its association with Boeing, Seattle has long been a center of the airplane manufacturing industry. Although Boeing recently moved its corporate headquarters from Seattle to Chicago, it maintains a large manufacturing presence in Washington State. The Boeing 747 and other jetliners are built in Seattle. The name "Supersonics" honors Seattle"s contribution to the jet age.

　　The LosAngeles Clippers: During the mid-1800s, fast sailing ships known as clippers transported goods and passengers across the oceans. Before the building of transcontinental railroads, California too relied on such ships for much of its trade. The clipper ship era ended with the advent of steamships, but their memory lives on in the name of one of Los Angeles" two NBA teams. The Clippers first acquired the name when they played in the oceanside city of San Diego. The team later moved up the coast a bit to LA, but kept the name.

　　The Phoenix Suns: The natural environment of Phoenix is a torrid desert. For its existence as a big city, Phoenix depends on the air conditioner and imported water. The team"s name recognizes Phoenix"s hot, sunny climate.

　　在两周前的文章中，我解释了NBA（全美篮球协会）东部球联球队的名字，本文将转到西部球联。

　　孟菲斯灰熊队　身体硕大的灰熊分布在美国与加拿大境内的洛基山脉，在孟菲斯市（位于密西西比河岸边）附近的任何地方都不是它们的栖息地，那为什么孟菲斯队以灰熊命名呢？因为该队最初是在加拿大的温哥华市打球，温哥华地处不列颠哥伦比亚省，在加拿大西部的太平洋海岸，而那里是灰熊的家。

　　明尼苏达森林狼队　像孟菲斯一样，明尼苏达也用野兽作为该州球队的名字，但是森林狼这个名字的确有意义，与加拿大接壤的明尼苏达州拥有大片森林，荒无人烟，森林狼在那里安了家。

　　圣安东尼奥马刺队　有关独闯天下、吃苦耐劳、自强自立的牛仔的故事一直是美国特征的重要组成部分，而对于圣安东尼奥市所在的得州来说尤为如此。虽说如今得州人多是在办公室而不是在马背上工作了，但牛仔还是得州重要的文化象征。马刺是附在牛仔靴子上的尖尖的金属物，牛仔用马刺戳马的胁部，就可以让马跑得更快。马刺队的队标上就有一个马刺。

　　达拉斯小牛队　达拉斯（位于得州）的队名也反映出得州的牛仔历史。maverick是指拒绝遵守社会规范的反叛之人，该词来源于一个叫Samuel Maverick的人的姓。他是得州的一个牧场主，拒绝按照通则给他的牛打烙印。（中国将达拉斯队的名字译成小牛队有悖原意，译为特立独行者队则更为准确，虽说maverick也可代表没打烙印的离群之牛。）

　　休斯顿火箭队　美国宇航局控制中心位于休斯顿，因此取名火箭队。有意思的是，其实没有一枚火箭是从休斯顿发射的，火箭发射是在佛罗里达州的另一个基地。

　　犹他爵士队　爵士乐是美国南部黑人所发明的一种独特的美国音乐流派，而犹他州是极为保守的洛基山区的州，几乎没有黑人居住，与爵士乐也毫无联系，那么用这个名字的原因何在呢？该队最初在新奥尔良打球，而新奥尔良是爵士乐的发源地之一，后来该队搬到了犹他州。

　　丹佛掘金者队　位于科罗拉多州的丹佛市，是在1859年的淘金热中崛起的。在这个洛基山区的州中，对天然金矿银矿的寻找曾经非常重要，即使是在今天，矿业仍在该州的经济中起着重要作用。

　　洛杉矶湖人队　如果打开洛杉矶一带的地图，在都市地区简直就没有湖，为什么他们有湖人队这个名字呢？这个名字只有在你知道该队最初所在地———明尼苏达州的明尼阿波利斯市———才有意义，明尼苏达州号称“万湖之地”，这是因为该州拥有大量的小湖，并位于世界上最大的淡水湖苏必利尔湖边上。

　　湖人队从明尼苏达搬到洛杉矶与美国过去几十年人口统计所反映的趋势是一致的：美国南部和西部人口飞速增长，而北方人口增长则比较慢。实际上，加州的NBA球队（湖人队、快船队、勇士队和国王队）最初都是在北部城市打球，后来才迁往加州的。

　　波特兰开拓者队　美国在19世纪向西部太平洋沿岸扩展。当先行者们向西行进时会为后面的人沿路做下记号。这些西行之路中最著名的一条就是俄勒冈之路，这条路引导着位于美国中部密苏里州的人们来到西北角的俄勒冈州。今天，波特兰是俄勒冈州最大的城市，它的NBA球队的名字是纪念当年沿着俄勒冈之路行进的开拓者。

　　西雅图超音速队　由于波音公司地处西雅图，西雅图一直是飞机制造业的中心。虽然最近波音将总部搬到了芝加哥，但大部分制造厂还留在了华盛顿州（注意，不是华盛顿市），波音747和其他喷气式飞机都是在西雅图造出来的。超音速这个名字是为了纪念西雅图对喷气式飞机时代的贡献。

　　洛杉矶快船队　在19世纪中叶，航速很快的帆船带着货物和乘客漂洋过海。在修建贯穿美洲大陆的铁路之前，加州的大量贸易也依靠这种快帆船进行。快帆船时代的结束是在轮船出现之后，但对它们的记忆还留在洛杉矶两支NBA球队之一的名字上。“快船队”第一次获得此名是他们在海滨城市圣迭戈打球的时候，后来这个队沿海岸北上了一点，来到了洛杉矶，但原来的名字还保留着。

　　凤凰城太阳队　凤凰城所处的自然环境是热带沙漠。它作为一个大城市能够得以存在，靠的是空调和从外面运来的水。该队的名字道出了凤凰城骄阳似火的天气

whoiswho 发表于 2006-5-29 20:40:00 阅读全文 | 回复(0) | 引用通告 | 编辑