评论
打印
If I asked you to imagine a soccer ball, what would it look like?
如果我让你想象一个足球的模样，你的答案会是什么样子呢？
This is starting to look a little bit like Mr.Potato Head.
我怎么感觉我画成了土豆先生了啊喂。
This is like asking a bro to draw his favorite drag queens. I'm kinda guessing at this point.
感觉就像让人画他最喜欢的变装大佬似的，我准备跟着感觉走了。
The most iconic ball, the one with black and white panels stitched together...
最具标志性的足球，就是一块儿黑一块儿白的那种……
It’s known as the Telstar.
被称为“电视之星”（Telstar）。
And it got its start because of broadcast television.
故事还要从广播电视开始说起。
The 1966 World Cup was a turning point in soccer history.
1966年那届世界杯可谓足球史上的一个转折点。
The games that year were held in England, home to the BBC, which, aside from the US, had the biggest television operation at the time.
那年的比赛是在英格兰举行的，也就是BBC的大本营，而BBC，除了美国之外，堪称当时最大的电视运营机构。
The television broadcast became a huge part of the World Cup.
电视转播成了世界杯的一个重要组成部分。
And, as The Times reported, four hundred million fans were watching across five continents.
正如《泰晤士报》报道的那样，收看世界杯的观众多大四亿人，遍布五大洲。
But notice the ball.
但我们注意一下当时用的足球。
If you’re having a hard time following it, it’s not just you.
如果你觉得很难看清，你不是一个人。
The ball used in the 1966 World Cup was reddish-brown.
1966年世界杯上使用的足球是红棕色的。
And its solid color made it hard to spot on TV.
它单一的颜色让人很难从电视上分辨出来。
Like the soccer balls that came before it, this one was made of rectangular strips.
和之前出现的足球一样，这个球也是由矩形条构成的。
It actually looked more like a modern volleyball.
其实它看着更像是一个现代排球。
But by the 1970 World Cup, the soccer ball had changed.
但到了1970年的世界杯，足球已经发生了变化。
Compared to the ball used four years prior,
与四年前使用的球相比，
the black and white checkered design made the ball stand out and made it easier to follow for viewers at home.
黑白格子的设计让球变得格外显眼，在家观看的电视观众也能轻松跟踪到。
And that was especially true on black and white TV sets, which most people had at the time.
对于当时大多数人拥有的黑白电视来说尤其如此。
Players on the field had reason to celebrate too.
球场上的球员也有理由庆祝这一改变。
The 32 panels of the Telstar brought it closer to an actual sphere,
电视之星足球上的32块拼接面料使它形状更接近实际的球体，
giving the ball a more predictable path through the air and on the ground.
球在空中和地面上运动的轨迹因此变得更加容易预测了。
A version of the black and white Telstar design stuck around for over two decades before being replaced with other models.
黑白拼接的电视之星设计持续了二十多年才在被其他型号所替代。
But by then the Telstar had become the archetype of soccer balls, synonymous with the sport.
但到那时，电视之星足球已经成了足球的原型，甚至是这项运动的代名词。
And if you catch the World Cup this year, you might recognize a familiar pattern.
如果你看了本届世界杯，那你应该在本届世界杯用的足球的设计中看到了一种熟悉的模式。
The ball being used in Russia is called the Telstar 18, a nod back to the iconic Telstar.
俄罗斯世界杯所用的足球被称为“电视之星18”，是对第一代电视之星足球的致敬。
It uses just six propellor-shaped pieces, making the ball even more spherical.
它只用了六块螺旋桨形状的面料，使球更加接近球形。
But that black and white design is back — and, almost five decades later it’s still what people think of when they think of soccer.
但曾经的黑白设计又回来了 - 尽管已经过了将近五十年，它还是曾经的模样。
