By Marilyn Dubinski, Mark Barrington, Jeje Gomez | Pounding The Rock (PtR), 2024-09-01 08:30:00
由生成式人工智能翻译，译文内容可能不准确或不完整，以原文为准。
每年夏天，NBA 狂热球迷都不得不寻找其他类型的娱乐活动。以下是 PtR 工作人员迄今为止是如何度过休赛期的。
随着凯特琳·克拉克(Caitlin Clark)、安吉尔·里斯(Angel Reese)、里基亚·杰克逊(Rickea Jackson)和卡米拉·卡多索(Kamilla Cardoso)等新秀的加入，WNBA 的人气大幅提升。你今年对 WNBA 的关注度更高了吗？
玛丽莲·杜宾斯基(Marilyn Dubinski)： 我的观看次数和往常一样多（几乎从未观看过，尤其是自达拉斯之星队搬到拉斯维加斯之后），但她们绝对充斥着我的推特（X）时间线和体育新闻，因此我对正在发生的事情有了一些了解。讽刺的是，我从不喜欢垃圾话，所以这最初让我在凯特琳·克拉克读大学时就对她没有好感。然而，她遭受了所有不必要的仇恨，尤其是来自谢丽尔·斯伍普斯(Sheryl Swoopes)这样我曾经仰慕的人，这让我成为了她的粉丝，因为我很欣赏她无视这些仇恨并继续比赛的方式。
马克·巴灵顿(Mark Barrington)： 我只看了一点点。说实话，我在巴黎奥运会的赛场上看到的女运动员比我在 WNBA 常规赛中看到的还要多。我认为现在的女子比赛非常有竞争力，而且很有看点，但我现在的体育观赛时间有限，无法再关注另一项运动。但每次观看WNBA比赛，都是一次有趣的体验，所以我猜测随着时间的推移，我可能会成为一名更忠实的粉丝。
杰瑟斯·戈麦斯(Jesus Gomez)： 我以前经常看 WNBA，后来有一段时间没有看了。几年前的某个时候，我尝试重新开始关注 WNBA，并购买了联盟通行证，但我的电视上没有应用程序，所以我放弃了。现在本应是回归 WNBA 的最佳时机，尤其是我一直是印第安纳狂热队的球迷，但 1- 我不想成为一个“晴天球迷”，所以我觉得在克拉克进入联盟的时候回归会感到内疚；2- 在观看了多年可以说太多的篮球比赛之后，我在过去的几个月里一直在努力减少观看篮球比赛的时间。但这个联盟显然很有趣，而且充满了令人兴奋的天赋，所以我认为下个赛季我会优先关注 WNBA。
奥运会是否留下了什么不可磨灭的时刻，还是像许多人所说的那样，是一届令人难忘的比赛？
杜宾斯基： 从篮球的角度来说，并没有。美国队不负众望地赢得了比赛，但即使拥有一支几乎完全由 NBA 超级巨星组成的球队，他们也必须为此付出努力，这表明世界其他国家正在迎头赶上。对我来说，最持久的记忆将是，它表明维克多·文班亚马(Victor Wembanyama)能够并且将会在有重要意义的比赛中挺身而出（即使他的其他队友都紧张得发挥失常）。在篮球之外，西蒙·拜尔斯(Simone Biles)巩固了她作为史上最佳的地位，这真是太棒了，但除此之外，似乎没有其他关于这届奥运会的事情能够被人们长久铭记。
巴灵顿： 我观看了奥运会篮球比赛，最精彩的部分是男子和女子决赛都是经典之战，实力较弱的法国队在两场比赛中都差点爆冷。在此之前，比赛过程相当艰难，男子队战胜了实力较弱的对手，只有塞尔维亚队给他们制造了一些麻烦。约基奇(Nikola Jokić)是地球上最优秀的篮球运动员（目前为止），但他无法凭借一己之力战胜星光熠熠的美国男篮。女子队在决赛前一直占据统治地位，但在决赛中，状态神勇的法国队在最后一刻惜败。
我观看了很多其他比赛项目，有很多东西让我感兴趣。我了解了许多不同的运动项目，并对比赛的质量印象深刻，即使是来自那些没有像美国和欧洲球队那样拥有丰富资源的国家的运动员也是如此。
戈麦斯： 有一些有趣的时刻，但总的来说，这不是一个让我特别享受的比赛，我观看的比赛比以往任何时候都少。部分原因是阿根廷的一些球队/运动员表现不佳，部分原因是我把重新开始观看足球比赛放在了我的体育观赛时间分配的首位。
在过去的几个月里，你都看过/听过/读过/做过什么来代替 NBA 带给你的娱乐？
杜宾斯基： 我不知道为什么我花了这么长时间才注意到这部剧，但我已经开始狂看《芝加哥烈焰》、《芝加哥警署》和《芝加哥医院》，这三部剧都已经播出了两位数的季数，当然，考虑到它们是由迪克·沃尔夫(Dick Wolf)制作的，所以它们都很棒——迪克·沃尔夫就是那个创作了《法律与秩序》和《联邦调查局》的人。在贝丽尔飓风期间停电的时候，我还开始重读我最喜欢的小说——大仲马的《基督山伯爵》。我有一本完整的 1000 多页的版本，所以还在读，但我一旦开始就永远放不下这本书。当然，大学橄榄球赛季终于开始了！这是我最喜欢的另一项运动，它帮助我度过了 NBA 休赛期的最后一段时间。
巴灵顿： 奥运会非常精彩，在整个两周左右的时间里，我一直在观看比赛。我本质上是一个乏味的人，当我不看体育比赛的时候，我最喜欢的消遣就是独自一人坐在黑暗的房间里思考问题。我读了很多科幻小说：我喜欢约翰·斯卡尔齐(John Scalzi)的作品，我刚刚开始读阿德里安·柴可夫斯基(Adrian Tchaikovsky)的作品。有时我只是在追我的流媒体剧集。《公寓大厦里的谋杀案》的新剧集出来了！你知道吗，冥王星电视台有一个频道只播放经典的《神秘博士》？把这部剧放在后台播放很有趣，可以看看他们是如何用特效编织出有趣的故事的，这些特效通常是一群演员穿着极其廉价的服装。如果你对简单的事情感兴趣，你就永远不会感到无聊。
戈麦斯： 我一直在看很多足球比赛。美洲杯让我着迷，然后我又开始关注阿根廷联赛，令我惊讶的是，尽管缺少球星，但我还是很享受比赛。我还经常一边做饭一边听皮特·霍姆斯(Pete Holmes)的播客《你成功了，真怪》(You Made It Weird)的旧节目。近年来，该节目已经从喜剧转向了更多关于精神层面的讨论，这未必是件坏事，但早期的节目邀请了一些如今最顶级的喜剧演员，当时他们还不是家喻户晓的人物，这些节目既滑稽又有趣。如果你感兴趣，而且不介意一些少儿不宜的内容，可以听一听时长两个半小时的“库梅尔·南贾尼回归(Kumail Nanjiani Returns)”这期节目。
点击查看原文：How NBA superfans fill their time in the offseason
How NBA superfans fill their time in the offseason
Every summer, NBA fanatics have to look for other sorts of entertainment. Here’s how the PtR staff has been surviving the offseason so far.
The WNBA has gotten a huge boost in popularity with rookies like Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, Rickea Jackson and Kamilla Cardoso joining. Have you paid more attention to the W this year?
Marilyn Dubinski: I haven’t watched it any more then I usually do (which is almost never, especially since the Stars moved to Vegas), but they are definitely all over my Twitter X timeline and sports news in general, and as a result I feel a little more in tune with what is going on. Ironically, I never liked trash talkers, so that initially made me dislike Caitlin Clark when she was in college. However, all the unnecessary hate she has received, particularly from people I used to admire like Sheryl Swoopes, has made me a fan as I appreciate the way she has brushed it off and kept playing.
Mark Barrington: I’ve only watched a little bit. Honestly, I saw the women players much more on the Olympic court in Paris than I’ve seen them in regular season WNBA games. I think the women’s game is very competitive and watchable now, but I just have limited sports bandwidth now and I just can’t pick up another sport. But every time I watch, it’s a fun experience, so I suspect over time I may become a bigger fan.
Jesus Gomez: I used to watch the WNBA a lot more in the past before taking some time away from it. At some point a couple of years ago I tried to get back into it and bought league pass but there was no app for my TV so I gave up on it. This would have been the perfect time to get back into, especially since I’ve always been a Fever fan, but 1- I don’t want to be a fairweather fan, so I felt guilty going back just as Clark entered the league and 2- I spent the last couple of months trying to cut down on watching basketball after years of watching arguably too much. But the league is clearly fun and filled with exciting talent, so I think next season I’ll make it a priority to keep up with the WNBA.
Did the Olympics provide any indelible moments or were there a forgettable Games, as many have suggested?
Dubinski: From a basketball standpoint, not really. Team USA did what they were supposed to do by winning, but even with a team built almost entirely of NBA superstars, they had to work for it, which shows the rest of the world is catching up. The lasting memory for me will be it showed Victor Wembanyama can and will step up in big games with something to play for on the line (even while the rest of his teammates’ nerves got the best of them). Outside of basketball, Simone Biles cementing her status as the GOAT was awesome, but other than that, it doesn’t seem like much else about these Olympics will stick over time.
Barrington: I watched the Olympic basketball tournament and the best part was that both men’s a women’s final games were classics, with the underdog French team coming close to a historic upset in each case. The tournament up to that point was pretty much a grind, as the men’s team ground down the less talented opponents, with only the Serbians providing significant resistance. Jokic is the best basketball player on the planet (for now), but he couldn’t overcome the stacked US men’s team by himself. The women’s team was pretty dominant until the finals, when an inspired French squad fell just short at the buzzer.
I watched a lot of other sports, and there was a lot to interest me. I learned about a lot of different sports and was impressed with the quality of competition, even from countries that haven’t got the kind of resources that the US and European teams enjoy.
Gomez: There were some fun moments, but overall it wasn’t a super enjoyable iteration for me and I watched less of it than I ever had. Part of it was a poor performance from some Argentinean teams/athletes, and part of it was prioritizing a return to watching soccer over anything else in my allocated sports-watching time.
What have you watched/listened/read/done to replace the entertainment you get from the NBA in the last couple of months?
Dubinski: I don’t know how it took me this long to notice this series, but I have started binge watching Chicago Fire, Chicago PD and Chicago Med, which have all been going for double-digit seasons now, and of course they’re great considering they’re produced by Dick Wolf — the same guy known for creating Law & Order and FBI. I also started re-reading my favorite book of all time, The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas, when I didn’t have electricity during Hurricane Beryl. I have the complete 1000+ page version, so it’s still a work in progress, but I can never put that book down once I get started. And of course, college football is finally here! That’s my other favorite sport and what really gets me through the final stretch of the NBA offseason.
Barrington: The Olympics were pretty amazing as I had the games on all the time for the entire two weeks or so. I’m fundamentally a dull person, when I’m not watching sports, my favorite pastime is sitting alone in a dark room by myself just thinking about stuff. I read a lot of science fiction: I enjoy the work of John Scalzi, and I just started on Adrian Tchaikovsky. Sometimes I just catch up on my streaming. New episodes of “Only Murders in the Building” are out! Did you know there’s a channel on Pluto TV that’s just classic Dr Who? It’s fun to have that on in the background and see how they can weave interesting stories with practical effects that are usually a bunch of actors in extremely cheaply made costumes. If you’re interested in simple things, you’ll never be bored.
Gomez: I’ve been watching a lot of soccer. Copa America got me hooked and then I returned to watching the Argentinean league and, to my surprise, I enjoyed it despite the lack of stars. I’ve also been cooking more while listening to old episodes of You Made It Weird, Pete Holmes’ podcast. The show has shifted more towards spiritual discussions instead of comedy in recent years, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but the earlier episodes featuring some of the biggest comedians of today back when they weren’t household names are hilarious and interesting. If you are intrigued and don’t mind some NSFW moments, give the whole two-and-a-half hours of the episode “Kumail Nanjiani Returns” a listen.
By Marilyn Dubinski, Mark Barrington, Jeje Gomez, via Pounding The Rock