經典英語美文:NBA各球隊名字的由來

Two weeks ago, I discussed the meaning of the team names in the National Basketball Association"s Eastern Conference. This week we move on to the Western Conference.

TheMemphisGrizzlies: Giant "grizzly bears" range the Rocky Mountains in the US and Canada. They do not live anywhere near the city of Memphis, which is on the Mississippi. Then why the name "Grizzlies"? The reason is that the Grizzlies were originally based in Vancouver, British Columbia, on Canada"s Pacific coast, where grizzly bears do live.

TheMinnesotaTimberwolves: Minnesota, like Memphis, takes its team name from wildlife, but the Timberwolves" name actually makes sense. Minnesota, which is located on the border with Canada, contains large expanses of forested wilderness where timberwolves make their home.

TheSanAntonioSpurs: The mythology of the "cowboy", solitary, tough and self-reliant, has long been an important part of the American national identity, particularly in Texas, where San Antonio is located. While the average Texan today is far more likely to work in an office than on a horse, the cowboy remains an important cultural symbol in Texas. Spurs are sharp metal devices attached to a cowboy"s boots. By jabbing a horse"s flanks with the spurs, the cowboy can encourage his mount to run faster. The Spurs" team logo includes a picture of a spur.

TheDallasMavericks: The name of the Dallas team also reflects Texas" cowboy past. A "maverick" is a rebellious person who refuses to obey social norms. The word is derived from the name of Samuel Maverick (1803-1870), a Texas rancher who refused to brand his cattle.

TheHoustonRockets: The NASA Mission Control Center is located in Houston; hence the name "Rockets". Ironically, no actual rockets are ever launched into space from Houston -- launches take place at a separate facility in Florida.

TheUtahJazz: Jazz is a uniquely American musical style invented by African-Americans in the South. Utah is a deeply conservative Rocky Mountain state with few African-Americans and no connection to jazz music. The reason for the name? The team started in New Orleans, one of the birthplaces of jazz, and subsequently moved to Utah.

TheDenverNuggets: The city of Denver, Colorado, arose during a gold rush in 1859. Searching for nuggets of gold and silver was important in a Rocky Mountain state where even today mining plays a significant role in the economy.

TheLosAngelesLakers: A look at a map of the Los Angeles area shows that there are virtually no lakes in the metropolitan area. Why then the name "Lakers"? The name only makes sense if you know where the team was originally located -- Minneapolis, Minnesota. Minnesota is known as the "Land of 10,000 Lakes" thanks to the abundance of small lakes within its boundaries. Minnesota is also on the world"s largest freshwater lake, Lake Superior.

The Lakers" move from Minneapolis to Los Angeles parallels a general demographic trend in America over the last several decades: the nation"s South and West have boomed, while the population in the North has grown relatively slowly. In fact, all of California"s NBA teams (the Lakers, the Clippers, the Warriors and the Kings) originally played in Northern cities and then moved to California.

ThePortlandTrailblazers: During the 1800s, the United States expanded westward to the Pacific. As the pioneers traveled west, they blazed trails for others to follow. One of the most famous of these trails was the Oregon Trail, which led from the state of Missouri in the center of the country to the state of Oregon in its northwestern corner. Today Portland is the largest city in the state of Oregon. The name of its NBA team honors the pioneers who traveled on the Oregon Trail.

TheSeattleSupersonics: As a result of its association with Boeing, Seattle has long been a center of the airplane manufacturing industry. Although Boeing recently moved its corporate headquarters from Seattle to Chicago, it maintains a large manufacturing presence in Washington State. The Boeing 747 and other jetliners are built in Seattle. The name "Supersonics" honors Seattle"s contribution to the jet age.

TheLosAngelesClippers: During the mid-1800s, fast sailing ships known as clippers transported goods and passengers across the oceans. Before the building of transcontinental railroads, California too relied on such ships for much of its trade. The clipper ship era ended with the advent of steamships, but their memory lives on in the name of one of Los Angeles" two NBA teams. The Clippers first acquired the name when they played in the oceanside city of San Diego. The team later moved up the coast a bit to LA, but kept the name.

ThePhoenixSuns: The natural environment of Phoenix is a torrid desert. For its existence as a big city, Phoenix depends on the air conditioner and imported water. The team"s name recognizes Phoenix"s hot, sunny climate.

老外直言：NBA籃球球隊名字的由來

(本文作者是一名美國律師，是密爾沃基雄鹿隊的球迷，現住威斯康星州)

在兩週前的文章中，我解釋了NBA(全美籃球協會)東部球聯球隊的名字，本文將轉到西部球聯。

孟菲斯灰熊隊身體碩大的灰熊分佈在美國與加拿大境內的洛基山脈，在孟菲斯市(位於密西西比河岸邊)附近的任何地方都不是它們的棲息地，那為什麼孟菲斯隊以灰熊命名呢?因為該隊最初是在加拿大的温哥華市打球，温哥華地處不列顛哥倫比亞省，在加拿大西部的太平洋海岸，而那裏是灰熊的家。

明尼蘇達森林狼隊像孟菲斯一樣，明尼蘇達也用野獸作為該州球隊的名字，但是森林狼這個名字的確有意義，與加拿大接壤的明尼蘇達州擁有大片森林，荒無人煙，森林狼在那裏安了家。

聖安東尼奧馬刺隊有關獨闖天下、吃苦耐勞、自強自立的牛仔的故事一直是美國特徵的重要組成部分，而對於聖安東尼奧市所在的得州來説尤為如此。雖説如今得州人多是在辦公室而不是在馬背上工作了，但牛仔還是得州重要的文化象徵。馬刺是附在牛仔靴子上的尖尖的金屬物，牛仔用馬刺戳馬的脅部，就可以讓馬跑得更快。馬刺隊的隊標上就有一個馬刺。

達拉斯小牛隊達拉斯(位於得州)的隊名也反映出得州的牛仔歷史。maverick是指拒絕遵守社會規範的反叛之人，該詞來源於一個叫Samuel Maverick的人的姓。他是得州的一個牧場主，拒絕按照通則給他的牛打烙印。(中國將達拉斯隊的名字譯成小牛隊有悖原意，譯為特立獨行者隊則更為準確，雖説maverick也可代表沒打烙印的離羣之牛。)

休斯頓火箭隊美國宇航局控制中心位於休斯頓，因此取名火箭隊。有意思的是，其實沒有一枚火箭是從休斯頓發射的，火箭發射是在佛羅里達州的另一個基地。

猶他爵士隊爵士樂是美國南部黑人所發明的一種獨特的美國音樂流派，而猶他州是極為保守的洛基山區的州，幾乎沒有黑人居住，與爵士樂也毫無聯繫，那麼用這個名字的原因何在呢?該隊最初在新奧爾良打球，而新奧爾良是爵士樂的發源地之一，後來該隊搬到了猶他州。

丹佛掘金者隊位於科羅拉多州的丹佛市，是在1859年的淘金熱中崛起的.。在這個洛基山區的州中，對天然金礦銀礦的尋找曾經非常重要，即使是在今天，礦業仍在該州的經濟中起着重要作用。

洛杉磯湖人隊如果打開洛杉磯一帶的地圖，在都市地區簡直就沒有湖，為什麼他們有湖人隊這個名字呢?這個名字只有在你知道該隊最初所在地———明尼蘇達州的明尼阿波利斯市———才有意義，明尼蘇達州號稱“萬湖之地”，這是因為該州擁有大量的小湖，並位於世界上最大的淡水湖蘇必利爾湖邊上。

湖人隊從明尼蘇達搬到洛杉磯與美國過去幾十年人口統計所反映的趨勢是一致的：美國南部和西部人口飛速增長，而北方人口增長則比較慢。實際上，加州的NBA球隊(湖人隊、快船隊、勇士隊和國王隊)最初都是在北部城市打球，後來才遷往加州的。

波特蘭開拓者隊美國在19世紀向西部太平洋沿岸擴展。當先行者們向西行進時會為後面的人沿路做下記號。這些西行之路中最著名的一條就是俄勒岡之路，這條路引導着位於美國中部密蘇里州的人們來到西北角的俄勒岡州。今天，波特蘭是俄勒岡州最大的城市，它的NBA球隊的名字是紀念當年沿着俄勒岡之路行進的開拓者。

西雅圖超音速隊由於波音公司地處西雅圖，西雅圖一直是飛機制造業的中心。雖然最近波音將總部搬到了芝加哥，但大部分製造廠還留在了華盛頓州(注意，不是華盛頓市)，波音747和其他噴氣式飛機都是在西雅圖造出來的。超音速這個名字是為了紀念西雅圖對噴氣式飛機時代的貢獻。

洛杉磯快船隊在19世紀中葉，航速很快的帆船帶着貨物和乘客漂洋過海。在修建貫穿美洲大陸的鐵路之前，加州的大量貿易也依靠這種快帆船進行。快帆船時代的結束是在輪船出現之後，但對它們的記憶還留在洛杉磯兩支NBA球隊之一的名字上。“快船隊”第一次獲得此名是他們在海濱城市聖迭戈打球的時候，後來這個隊沿海岸北上了一點，來到了洛杉磯，但原來的名字還保留着。

鳳凰城太陽隊鳳凰城所處的自然環境是熱帶沙漠。它作為一個大城市能夠得以存在，靠的是空調和從外面運來的水。該隊的名字道出了鳳凰城驕陽似火的天氣。