A Game Fit for a President 一項(xiàng)為總統(tǒng)“私人定制”的運(yùn)動(dòng)

By+Holly+D.+Yount+譯/Jasmine

Bert twists his upper body， gathers his strength， and hurls the ball back toward the opposing team. Back and forth the ball goes. Sweat rolls down the players' faces as each three-man team scrambles to get under the ball and catch it on the fly. One thought is on their minds： don't let the ball touch the ground. The distant sound of a whistle blows， ending the game. Bert's team wins， but the men will be back in the morning for a rematch1）.

Bert isn't just any player. He is Herbert Hoover， President of the United States. The ball field isn't ordinary either. It is the neatly trimmed2） White House lawn. And the game？ Hoover-ball.

Hoover didn't always like to exercise， but he did like to be healthy.

After his 1928 election， President Hoover noticed he had gained weight. "Getting daily exercise to keep physically fit is always a problem for Presidents. Once the day's work starts there is little chance to walk， to ride， or to take part in a game，" Hoover admitted. Still the extra 20 pounds were enough to make him talk to his doctor， Admiral3） Joel T. Boone， about a fitness program.

Hoover mentioned a game called bull-in-the-ring. He had played it on the battleship Utah with the ship's crew during a goodwill trip to South America. Players form a circle around one person. The player in the middle is the "bull". Players toss an eight-pound ball to each other while the bull tries to catch it.

The Game Begins！

Admiral Boone took parts of three games—bull-in-the-ring， tennis， and volleyball—to create a new sport. At first， Hoover didn't think anyone would join him at 7：00 a.m.， but he tried anyway. Armed with a heavy leather ball， President Hoover began playing just four days after he entered office. Soon 16 players showed up. Two years later， William Atherton Du Puy， a New York Times reporter， nicknamed the sport "Hoover-ball".

The President's game used a six-pound medicine ball4）. （Injured patients in hospitals often exercised with them to improve muscle strength.） Two teams， with three players each， stood on either side of an eight-foot-high net. Players had to catch the ball tossed by a member of the opposing team and return it over the net without letting it drop on the ground. Passing the ball to a teammate was not allowed. Teams scored points in the same way as a tennis match.

Playing Rain or Shine

According to White House records， President Hoover played almost every morning from 7：00 to 7：30. At 7：30， a factory near the Potomac River blew its whistle—the sign for the men to stop the game and begin the workday. The teams， made up of cabinet5） members and other White House officials， played in snow and rain and even on holidays. Sunday was the only day off. They moved inside a few times， and the President canceled just once to prepare for an important speech.endprint

Hoover-ball was indeed good for the President. He dropped 25 pounds and never missed a day of work because of illness.

After President Hoover left office in 1933， Hoover-ball disappeared， but 50 years later， small groups in the United States began playing the game. And today， people as far away as Australia play Hoover-ball.

伯特扭轉(zhuǎn)上身，使出全身力氣把球朝對(duì)方球隊(duì)扔回去。球在兩隊(duì)之間飛來(lái)飛去。每隊(duì)的三名球員都爭(zhēng)搶著跑到球下面，趁球在空中時(shí)將它接住，汗珠順著他們的臉頰滑落。他們腦海中只有一個(gè)念頭：不能讓球觸地。遠(yuǎn)處的汽笛聲響起，比賽結(jié)束了。伯特所在的隊(duì)贏了，不過(guò)這些人明天一早還會(huì)回到這里再比一場(chǎng)。

伯特可不是一名普通的球員，他名叫赫伯特·胡佛，是美國(guó)的總統(tǒng)（編注：第31任）。這個(gè)球場(chǎng)也不是普通的球場(chǎng)，是精心修剪過(guò)的白宮的草坪。那這是什么比賽呢？是胡佛球。

胡佛雖然不怎么喜歡運(yùn)動(dòng)，但他確實(shí)想一直保持健康。

1928年大選后，胡佛總統(tǒng)發(fā)現(xiàn)自己胖了。他承認(rèn)說(shuō)：“對(duì)總統(tǒng)們來(lái)說(shuō)，每天運(yùn)動(dòng)以保持身體健康向來(lái)都是一大難題。每天一旦開始工作，基本就沒(méi)什么機(jī)會(huì)散步、騎車或參加比賽。”不過(guò)，他那多出來(lái)的20磅還是足以讓他去找自己的私人醫(yī)生海軍上將喬爾·T·布恩談?wù)勚贫ń∩碛?jì)劃的事了。

胡佛提過(guò)一個(gè)叫“斗牛”的游戲。在訪問(wèn)南美的親善之旅中，他曾在“猶他號(hào)”戰(zhàn)艦上跟船員們一起玩過(guò)這個(gè)游戲。參與者圍著一個(gè)人站成一圈。中間的那個(gè)人就叫做“牛”。其他參與者互相投擲一個(gè)八磅重的球，中間的那個(gè)人則設(shè)法將球攔截下來(lái)。

比賽開始了！

海軍上將布恩把三項(xiàng)運(yùn)動(dòng)——“斗牛”、網(wǎng)球和排球——融合在一起創(chuàng)造出了一項(xiàng)新的運(yùn)動(dòng)。起初，胡佛總統(tǒng)覺(jué)得沒(méi)有人會(huì)在早晨7點(diǎn)跟他一起做運(yùn)動(dòng)，但不管怎樣他還是做了嘗試。在入主白宮僅四天后，胡佛總統(tǒng)就帶著一個(gè)分量不輕的皮球開始做這項(xiàng)運(yùn)動(dòng)了。很快就有16個(gè)人參與。兩年后，《紐約時(shí)報(bào)》記者威廉·阿瑟頓·杜普伊給這項(xiàng)運(yùn)動(dòng)起了一個(gè)昵稱——“胡佛球”。

總統(tǒng)的這項(xiàng)運(yùn)動(dòng)要用到一個(gè)六磅重的醫(yī)療健身球。（醫(yī)院里受傷的病人常用這種球進(jìn)行鍛煉以增強(qiáng)肌肉力量。）兩個(gè)三人小隊(duì)分別站在八英尺高的球網(wǎng)兩側(cè)。參與者要接住對(duì)方隊(duì)員扔過(guò)來(lái)的球，再把球從網(wǎng)上方扔過(guò)去。整個(gè)過(guò)程中既不能讓球落地，也不能把球傳給隊(duì)友。團(tuán)隊(duì)計(jì)分方法和網(wǎng)球比賽一樣。

堅(jiān)持運(yùn)動(dòng)，風(fēng)雨無(wú)阻

根據(jù)白宮的記錄，胡佛總統(tǒng)幾乎每天早上7：00～7：30都做這項(xiàng)運(yùn)動(dòng)。波托馬克河附近的一個(gè)工廠每天7：30定時(shí)鳴笛，這笛聲成為大家停止比賽、開始一天工作的信號(hào)。球隊(duì)由內(nèi)閣成員以及白宮的其他官員組成。除了周日，不論雨雪，大家每天都會(huì)進(jìn)行這項(xiàng)運(yùn)動(dòng)，就連節(jié)假日也不例外。有幾次他們把比賽挪到了室內(nèi)。胡佛總統(tǒng)只有一次為準(zhǔn)備一個(gè)非常重要的演講取消了比賽。

胡佛球?qū)鹂偨y(tǒng)確實(shí)益處良多。他減掉了25磅，也從沒(méi)有因?yàn)樯《⒄`過(guò)一天工作。

胡佛總統(tǒng)于1933年卸任，此后胡佛球就銷聲匿跡了。但50年后，美國(guó)一些小團(tuán)體又開始玩起了這項(xiàng)運(yùn)動(dòng)。現(xiàn)在，遠(yuǎn)至澳大利亞的人們也會(huì)玩胡佛球。

1. rematch [?ri?m?t?] n. （與對(duì)手之間的）第二次比賽；重賽

2. trim [tr?m] vt. 修剪

3. admiral [??dm?r?l] n. 海軍上將

4. medicine ball： 健身實(shí)心球；醫(yī)療健身球

5. cabinet [?k?b?n?t] n. 內(nèi)閣endprint