2016-04-05

【Aiden in English】

        Why Madness?

        Well, it’s March, a month of grueling fire for your favorite team, the passionate fan for the underdog, the ice stabbing at the heart after defeat.

        And the fierce competition for bragging rights among friends regarding the best bracket? Oh.

        So that’s why it’s called March Madness.

        ……

        At the moment I completed my bracket of NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship and had no idea that it would be so close, yet so far, from being amazing. Yeah, I had Oklahoma Sooners going the distance, and call me what you want, it seemed right at the time. Then again, a lot of things had seemed right at the time, like the really good Miami Hurricanes that were going to beat Villanova Wildcats. Totally going to happen… And also that Michigan State Spartans were totally going to make it through the first weekend. Oh, and Syracuse Orange probably wasn’t going to see April 2nd in their tournament schedule.

        March Madness is really the best sporting event ever.

        If you didn’t catch the sarcasm, well, I was sarcastic. Besides, each sports fan painfully knows how the Villanova won the title, beating the Miami, crushing Oklahoma, and then seized the North Carolina Tar Heels, pushing aside the Kansas Jayhawks on the way. They also might understand how the Michigan State lost to the no-one-knew-but-now-they-know team of the Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders. Plus the fact that the Mid-West was basically trashed when the Syracuse arrived headfirst into the Final Four, squeezing into a spot where everyone put a large Virginia Cavaliers on their brackets. Yeah, you know what I mean, bracketologists.

        It’s absolutely tough to go against a team in which there is a ninety-nine point nine percent chance of seeing a die-hard fan of that team every five minutes. To start, Villanova is local. And they’re in the Final Four, which means there are a lot of crazy people walking around town outside Philadelphia with their faces painted blue and white, wearing the V of Destiny. It also means I get beat up for calling people bandwagons.

        The finals were Madness, but I’m pretty sure everyone watched the game even after midnight. Well, not me, since you know, Chinese mom… math test the next day… yeah. The news around the school and the internet got me caught up on the game and the game-winning shot anyway. My bracket was half decent since all my Final Four teams were in the Elite Eight. However, March brings a lot of ripping paper and frustrated fans, along with the feeling of Madness.

【紅霞譯文】

        何謂“瘋狂”？

        本年度進入三月以來，你玩命為自己熱衷的球隊搖旗吶喊，熱情為弱旅鳥隊加油打氣，深切為痛失比賽傷心苦惱。

        而激烈競爭保不齊成為朋友之間調侃最佳對陣組合的聊天素材？了不得嘞。

        這正是為什麼稱之為“瘋狂三月”。

        ……

        比賽當頭，我已排好全美大學體育協會籃球錦標賽男隊對陣格局，萬萬想不到竟然猜得八九不離十，可以說截止到目前為止，眼光相當靠譜。是的，我賭俄克拉何馬大學捷足者隊名落孫山，隨你怎麼捭闔，反正這場球賽恰巧沒出我意料之外。下面一連串的賽事令我拍手稱快，譬如一向叫好並曾經打敗過維拉諾瓦大學野貓隊的邁阿密大學旋風隊誤失機緣，風水輪流轉……還有密歇根州立大學斯巴達人隊勇闖第一個周末大關。呃，雪城大學橘子人隊恐怕要去除四月二號那一天任何賽程。

        “瘋狂三月”堪稱最佳體育盛會。

        對了，如果你不擅長開玩笑，那麼千萬別介意我上述所說的話。再者，每位體育愛好者無不糾結萬分，維拉諾瓦野貓隊過五關斬六將，先絕殺堪薩斯松鴉鷹隊，又戰勝邁阿密隊旋風隊，再淘汰俄克拉何馬捷足者隊，接着擊垮北卡羅萊納大學焦油踵隊，最後才摘取桂冠。大家也許看清密歇根州立斯巴達人隊是怎樣輸給一個過去名不見經傳而今朝卻蜚聲體壇的中田納西州州立大學藍色突擊隊的，“三十年河東三十年河西”。不僅如此，當雪城橘子人隊將備受矚目的弗吉尼亞大學騎兵隊掃地出門並率先進入四強的時候，中西部賽區基本上大局已定。沒錯，身為對陣專家的你領悟我指的意思。

        球員們熟知身後跟有一位死磕鐵杆，每隔五分鐘便跑來瞄上一眼戰績，欲求打贏這樣一支後盾堅實的隊伍該有多難呵。最初，維拉諾瓦野貓隊僅受當地人追捧；如今，他們闖進四強，也就意味着費城郊外鄉間小鎮突然來了許多熱血沸騰的球迷，他們滿臉塗蓋蘭、白兩種顏色，身穿象徵勝利的“維”（拉諾瓦）字球衣，而我同時深受這些跟屁蟲無端紛擾。

        決賽本身就是“瘋狂”，即使夜半三更，想必人人都在觀看比賽，但我卻不在其中，要知道中國媽媽……況且明天還有數學考試……結果可想而知。翌日，消息傳遍學校內外，我一頭栽進網絡視頻看個痛快，依然觸目驚心。我猜中了一半球隊，因為四強全部進入我所挑選的精英八強之列。然而，三月讓廢紙遍地成災，令球迷情緒波動，叫“瘋狂”隨意蔓延。