The Oval World: A Global History of Rugby
The Oval World: A Global History of Rugby
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椭圆形世界：橄榄球的全球史
DOI：
10.1080/09523367.2015.1120006
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发表时间：
2015
期刊：
影响因子：
--
通讯作者：
Adrian A. Smith
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Adrian A. Smith
乔治·奥威尔--作为一名老伊顿公学学生，而不是天生的橄榄球迷--相信，“在国际日在特威克纳姆西停车场下放置一枚炸弹，将结束英格兰一代人的法西斯主义。”有些时候，当路虎揽胜排放物的毒性等于其所有者的观点时，任何出生在泰晤士河以北的人，更不用说特伦特河了，都会点头表示同意。资产阶级早期的一个祸害坚持认为历史会重演，首先是悲剧，其次是闹剧。卡尔·马克思（Karl Marx）在他的第一个三冠王获得几天后去世，他显然预感到自1995年以来连续的跨代码失败，这是一个划时代的时刻，橄榄球两个竞争对手橄榄球代码之间长达一个世纪的内战，“橄榄球联盟”和“橄榄球联盟”终于结束了。一百多年来，两个非常不同的运动演变：无论好坏，15人的“联盟”版本比13人的“联盟”版本复杂得多;至关重要的是，在联盟中，任何人都会本能地抓住球，而联盟球员一旦被带到地面就会被释放。澳大利亚的小袋鼠和新西兰的全黑队认识到，即使是最有天赋的橄榄球联盟球员也需要多长时间才能在一项以前陌生的运动中达到国际水平。在一个，可能是两个例外（都是边锋）的鼓舞下，一支不耐烦的英格兰队只看到了连续的失败。联赛星星萨姆·伯吉斯最近一个赛季在橄榄球联盟的逗留是我们这个时代的一个故事，大笔转会，媒体炒作助长了对世界杯荣耀的荒谬期望，久经考验的队员牺牲了适应暴发户，俱乐部和国家之间的利益冲突，每个代码的球迷之间的偏见得到了加强，最重要的是，一个标志性的球员在不必要的火的洗礼中谦卑下来。巴斯橄榄球的百万富翁赞助人支付的50万英镑的薪水，以及罗素·克劳将伯吉斯带回南悉尼所花费的70万英镑，凸显了精英橄榄球-在两个代码中-是如何脱离基层的，无论是la vallée Garonne还是M62走廊。每项运动的高收入者在巨大的鸿沟上都有更多的共同点，而不是那些纯粹为了娱乐而玩各自代码的人。在他们共同的历史中，这两种形式的橄榄球构成了金字塔，最好的球员主要是凭借天赋与其他球员区分开来。当然，今天的情况仍然如此，但现在的潜力是从很小的时候就与体格联系在一起的，因此精英球员与非职业球员明显不同：重塑身体以踢一场快速，高影响力的比赛的回报是巨大的，尽管与许多职业足球运动员相比并不多;但身体，以及一些情感上的成本随着季节的推移而增加。
George Orwell–as an Old Etonian not an instinctive rugby fan–believed,‘a bomb under the west car park at Twickenham on an international day would end fascism in England for a generation.’There are those moments, when the toxicity of the Range Rovers’ emissions equals the views of their owners, that anyone born north of the Thames, let alone the Trent, would nod their heads in agreement. An earlier scourge of the bourgeoisie famously insisted that history repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce. Dying only days after his adopted country secured its first Triple Crown, Karl Marx clearly had a presentiment of successive cross-code failures since 1995, the epochal moment that rugby’s century-long civil war between the two rival rugby codes,‘rugby league’and ‘rugby union’at last came to an end. Over one hundred years, two very different sports evolved: for good or ill the 15-man ‘union’version is far more complex than its 13-man ‘league’counterpart; crucially, in league anyone tackled instinctively holds on to the ball, whereas a union player is hardwired to release once brought to ground. Australia’s Wallabies and New Zealand’s All Blacks recognize how long it takes for even the most talented rugby league player to attain international class in a previously alien sport. Encouraged by one, possibly two, exceptions (both wingers), an impatient England team sees only serial failure. League star Sam Burgess’s recent season-long sojourn in rugby union is a story of our times, with big-money transfers, media hype fuelling absurd expectations of World Cup glory, tried and tested squad members sacrificed to accommodate the arriviste, conflict of interests between club and country, prejudices reinforced among fans of each code, and above all, an iconic player humbled in an unnecessary baptism of fire. The purported salary of£ 500,000 paid by Bath Rugby’s millionaire patron, and the£ 700,000 it cost Russell Crowe to bring Burgess back to South Sydney, highlights just how detached elite rugby–in both codes–is from its grassroots, whether that be la vallée Garonne or the M62 corridor. Each sport’s high earners have more in common across the great divide than they do with those who play their respective codes purely for pleasure. For much of their shared history, the two forms of rugby constituted pyramids, with the best players primarily distinguishable from the also rans by virtue of talent. That of course remains the case today, but now potential is from an early age linked to physique, such that elite players are demonstrably different from their non-professional counterparts: the rewards of remoulding one’s body to play a fast, high-impact game are substantial, albeit modest when compared to many professional footballers; but the physical, and for some emotional, cost is ratcheted up season by season.