在线收听：
　　
　　(点击右键“另存为”可下载音频)

It is not whether you win or lose

—Chen and Pang Na discuss match-play and other subjects

By Geoff Lemon

　　Chen: Hi Pang Na. Hey, isn’t it great that Italy came out on top in their match with France? They are just the greatest football side, don’t you think so?

　　Pang Na:Oh, I watched most of the matches and you’re right, this World Cup has been very exciting. But there is something that bothers me about some of those players.

　　Chen: What do you mean? Do you think that some of them are too arrogant?

　　Pang Na:No, no—I am not concerned about their private lives. What worries me is the manner in which they behave on the field.

　　Chen: But these guys are professionals; they have to pursue the game as aggressively as possible.

　　Pang Na:Sure, they have to be aggressive toward the game—not toward the other players !

　　Chen: But...

　　Pang Na:Oh, o excuses! The standard of play in some of those matches was appalling. Firstly you have those comedians who made unjustified appeals to the referee, claiming to have been pushed or unfairly tackled—just so that they could win a Free Kick. This is all done by false pretenses.

　　Chen: Come on...you know the saying... “All’s fair in love and war.”

　　Pang Na:I don’t buy that Chen. If we are going to make sporting heroes out of our elite athletes we have to be sure that they are worthy of public adulation. There is no way that I am going to idolize a cheat! Anyway it shows our own rising stars exactly the wrong form of behaviour. It’s showing people that you don’t have to have talent to win.

　　Chen: I take your point, but I think you are going too far.

　　Pang Na:Too far? Have you become blind to the violence that we are seeing in these matches? Have you forgotten that terrible head-butting incident in the last game?

　　Chen: Well, of course I saw that. It was a bit of a shock— especially coming from the French Captain. But it is quite likely that he was justified—after whatever the other player had said to him. Anyway soccer has a history of violence.

　　Pang Na:Well if you know anything about history you will understand the game that we call “Federation Football,” is a tamed version of a pretty wild game that once had no rules.

　　Chen: Oh, I know that a number of English Kings and Queens really hated it and considered it vulgar and ungentlemanly. They tried to ban it a number of times, you know.

　　Pang Na:That’s right. But it was so popular that people risked breaking the law just to play it. So it really only became “civilized” after the creation of the Football Federation and the publication of rules.

　　Chen：So what is your point?

　　Pang Na：My point is this. Our public figures — especially sporting figures, must behave according to their elite status. They have no right to be given public exposure and receive the adulation of the masses if they have achieved their fame for the wrong reasons.

　　Chen: But people expect a bit of excitement.

　　Pang Na:Chen, you are my friend and I know you love the game, but you should think this through a little more. If the people whom society holds in high regard are nothing more than cheats, liars and thugs, what does that say about the society we live in? We should be demanding that our children have the finest behavior to look up to.

　　Chen: Pang Na, don’t get so serious ... it’s just a game ... so what if somebody breaks a couple of rules and gets away with it.

　　Pang Na:But where do you draw the line? If we say that it is OK to break the rules in sport — and we continue to reward people for doing it, then where will it end? If our sporting heroes are “showing society,” the way everybody will adopt these same attitudes as normal.

　　Chen: Ahh...people break the rules all the time. Just look at traffic on the freeway.

　　Pang Na:Exactly! You’ve got two kinds of wrongdoers: those who don’t know what they are doing is wrong, and those who do know, but don’t care. The first case requires education and the second case requires some strong negative reinforcement. They should be fined andfined hard, whenever they break the road-laws, and these incidents should receive wide public attention in the media.

　　Chen: Are you nuts? Why would the media want to report the number of people who ran a red light or failed to give way at a pedestrian crossing?

　　Pang Na: Because it brings these matters to the public’s mind. Anyway, if it is receiving constant public attention, then bad drivers will be reluctant to misbehave, and won’t be able to use the excuse thatthey didn’t know.

　　Chen: Heck, we started talking about soccer and now you want to clean up the roads!

　　Pang Na: Well, as I see it these things are quite related. You see it is all a question of public behavior. We like to think that our road system is so crowded and that we suffer from SO many cars. Poppycock! The road system is much more densely populated in many foreign countries — because there is a far higher rate of car ownership — and they drive a lot fasterwhat’s more.

　　Chen: So what’s the difference?

　　Pang Na:The difference is that they drive according to the rules, using good sense, while showing courtesy to other road users. And there is adequate punishment for those who don’t obey the rules.

　　Chen: So why are you getting so frustrated by what you see as a “behavior” problem?

　　Pang Na: Simple. You’ve got to start somewhere! We have the Olympic Games just around the corner, in 2008. We’re going to expect that our athletes are not using performance-enhancing drugs and will demonstrate the finest examples of good sportsmanship. You know, the greatest sportsmen act with chivalry. I guess it is an extension of the exhibition matches that knights and warriors would give in front of their ruler and the public. The best sporting traditions expected that you would show respect for your opponent, and act according to the highest standards.

　　Chen: Of course, we expect that in Olympic competition.

　　Pang Na:Yes and there is no reason why we should not expect every spectator to behave in the same way.

　　Chen: But you know that we all want China to win every game.

　　Pang Na:But think about it. China is very lucky to have the opportunity to stage the Games, and to show the rest of the world what we are really like. So we must strive to show them that we are fair-minded people, who respect the art and achievement of all the elite athletes, from every country. Because, whether it is in sport or any other walk of life — it doesn’t matter if you win or lose ... it’s how you play the game that counts!