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在伟大与好之间
Between the great and the good
原作者：西蒙·巴恩斯 刊载日期：8月12日《泰晤士报》网站 译者：可汗
But the abiding memory is of disappointment. Beckham, and Beckham誷 England, had enough talent to raise our hopes, but not — quite — enough to fulfil them.
Those whom sports writers most despise, they first overrate. That is why the passing of David Beckham has been greeted with such glee. Apparently he誷 no good, he never was any good, his flaws were always more numerous than his virtues and, now he誷 gone, England, unencumbered, can get on with the usual job of winning a trophy every couple of years.
对那些最鄙视的人，足球记者总是先开始夸张。这就是为什么贝克汉姆被弃用的消息，得到了如此热烈欢迎的原因。显然地，他根本就不够好，他从来就不够好，他的缺点总是比他的优点多……还有，现在他终于走了，没有负担的英格兰终于可以完成每隔两年就赢得一座奖杯的日常工作了。
In all forms of history, the revisionists and rewriters are always at work. But sporting history happens so fast that we can actually catch them at their work. Still, at least we know that Steve McClaren, the new England head coach, is aware how to please the media. Give誩m what they want! A 100 per cent win record may be harder to deliver, but Beckham誷 dismissal from the England set-up has given huge pleasure to the I-told-you-so brigade.
在所有形式的历史文稿中，那些修正派和改写派总是要插手。但体育历史发展得如此之快，以至于我们可以在他们改写时就当场抓获他们的行动。至少我们知道英格兰新帅麦克拉伦了解如何取悦媒体：给他们所有想要的！百分百全胜纪录显然更难获得，但把贝克汉姆开除出英格兰队会给那些喜欢说“我早告诉你”的新闻团队巨大的快乐。
It is my belief, however, that even in sport, we should make judgments based on history as it happened rather than history as it is rewritten. Under Beckham誷 captaincy, England qualified for three tournaments and reached the quarter-finals of each one. That is a good record. Many leading footballing countries would envy it, Argentina and Spain for starters. It is not, however, a great record. Good but not great — that is true of England誷 recent record; that is true of Beckham誷 career as England captain.
尽管如此，我相信，哪怕是在体育界，我们也应该根据真实的历史，而不是改写过的历史来作出评价。在贝克汉姆当队长时，英格兰在三届大赛中出线，每一届都进入了1/4决赛。这是一个好的纪录，很多足球强国甚至会嫉妒这个纪录，至少阿根廷和西班牙就是。当然，这不算是一个伟大的纪录。好，但不够伟大——用这来形容英格兰最近成绩是没错的，用来形容贝克汉姆作为英格兰队长也是没错的。
If we — sports writers, spectators and all — had hoped for more, it is unfair to blame Beckham for our disappointment. But blaming is one of football誷 most important pleasures, so Beckham must cop the lot. Beckham誷 entire nature is now spoken of with a weary disgust. In truth, Beckham showed us very vividly that such 襢eminine?qualities as sobriety, decency, gentleness, concern for personal appearance and an often-professed devotion to his spouse and the children do not compromise a warrior-like zest for the contest.
如果我们——体育记者、球迷或者所有大家——希望得到更多，但因为自己失望就批评贝克汉姆是不公平的。可足球最重要的一种愉悦就是可以让人责骂，所以贝克汉姆就得承受这结果。现在大家都以鄙视的态度谈贝克汉姆的整个个性，这种鄙视让人厌倦。确实，贝克汉姆有很多“女性”特质，比如冷静、高雅、彬彬有礼、关心个人外表、经常承认自己对配偶儿女的虔诚，但他生动地展现了这些特质并没有影响他在竞争中战士般的渴望。
We remember the highlights, of course: Beckham誷 extraordinary performance against Greece in the final 2002 World Cup qualifier, in which he played every single position in a four-man midfield all at once, then scored the injury-time free kick that took England to Japan and South Korea; Beckham誷 shot-at-redemption penalty against Argentina in Sapporo. But the abiding memory is of disappointment. Beckham, and Beckham誷 England, had enough talent to raise our hopes, but not — quite — enough to fulfil them. Me, I reckon that trying for glory and failing is at least better than settling for mediocrity.
我们当然还记得贝克汉姆的那些高光时刻：在2002年世界杯预选赛中对希腊一样的非凡表现，在那场比赛中，他一个人打了中场的4个位置，然后在补时阶段打入一脚任意球，把英格兰带到了韩日世界杯；贝克汉姆在扎幌攻入对阿根廷的救赎点球……但更难忘的记忆是失望：贝克汉姆，和贝克汉姆的英格兰队，有足够的才华让我们燃起希望，却没有足够的能力去实现这些梦想。但就我来说，我宁愿人们去追寻光荣然后失败，也好过从一开始就甘于平庸。
England did not fail because of Beckham誷 hankering after glory or because he loved being captain so much, or because he wanted too much to be centre stage or because he was a gay icon, or because he was a marketing man誷 dream or because he played the star with over-much conviction. Beckham failed because, in the end, he lacked the ability to go from very good to great.
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