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この記事をプリントする
最後まで観たいのに
最後まで観たいのに
日本でテレビの野球中継を観ていると
試合の途中でコマーシャルが入って
途中経過が観られなかったり
いよいよ試合の決着がつくという時に
時間オーバーで中継が終わってしまうことがある。
野球が時間内に終わらない競技であることは
十分承知しているつもりだが…。
Where'S the Fat Lady?
By SCOTT T. HARDS
It's autumn, and that means baseball championships! Both the United States and Japan are currently caught up in
"series fever," with the top teams trying to claim the crown after a long summer of baseball.
Baseball is an interesting sport. One of its many unique points is the use of innings instead of a clock to govern
the length of a game. Because of this, it is theoretically possible for any team, no matter how badly it is losing, to
come from behind and win a game in the ninth, or last, inning.
Related to this, there's a saying in English that's frequently used regarding baseball: "It ain't over till the fat
lady sings." The phrase originally refers to opera. Many operas feature a female soloist at the end, and many women
opera singers tend to be a bit on the heavy side.
So "the fat lady singing" is one way to judge whether an opera is over, sometimes a difficult task if the
performers are not singing in your native tongue. In modern usage, this expression means, "You never know what is
going to happen until things actu
ally end."
However, as a baseball fan living in Japan, I have a major complaint. Very often, the television stations here never
show the fat lady singing! In other words, they frequently end their baseball broadcasts before the game is over!
Can you imagine a broadcast of a movie where they don't show the final climax? Of course not! But through some
convoluted logic, many of Japan's major television networks will chop off a broadcast of a baseball game that's still
in progress.
I was watching a Giants game last month with a tie score in the ninth inning and runners in scoring position. The
next pitch could literally decide the entire game. But still: "We're sorry, but we've run out of broadcast time.
Watch our 11 p.m. news broadcast to learn who won the game." In the next instant, I was throwing things at the screen
and yelling.
That's about the most inconsiderate thing any television station could do to its viewers and something you never
see happen in the United States. TV stations no doubt would offer as their excuse the indeterminate amount of time a
baseball game takes. They cannot know exactly when it's going to end.
But somehow, U.S. stations manage to cope with this same difficulty without cutting off their broadcasts. And in this day of computer-controlled broadcast equipment, it is not a major undertaking for a station to quickly reprogram its
machines to start later shows at different times, in order to adjust to the flow of the game.
The same goes for commercial breaks. Very often, the game restarts before the commercial ends, and you miss part of
the action. As in the United States, broadcasters here should coordinate with stadium officials and umpires to delay
the restart of play until the commercials are over.
Thousands of times more people watch games on TV than at the stadium. TV stations earn billions of yen from baseball
broadcasts. Is it too much to ask for them to adjust a bit more to our needs? I want to see the fat lady sing!
It's autumn, and that means baseball championships! Both the United States and Japan are currently caught up in
"series fever," with the top teams trying to claim the crown after a long summer of baseball.
Baseball is an interesting sport. One of its many unique points is the use of innings instead of a clock to govern
the length of a game. Because of this, it is theoretically possible for any team, no matter how badly it is losing, to
come from behind and win a game in the ninth, or last, inning.
Related to this, there's a saying in English that's frequently used regarding baseball: "It ain't over till the fat
lady sings." The phrase originally refers to opera. Many operas feature a female soloist at the end, and many women
opera singers tend to be a bit on the heavy side.
So "the fat lady singing" is one way to judge whether an opera is over, sometimes a difficult task if the
performers are not singing in your native tongue. In modern usage, this expression means, "You never know what is
going to happen until things actu
ally end."
However, as a baseball fan living in Japan, I have a major complaint. Very often, the television stations here never
show the fat lady singing! In other words, they frequently end their baseball broadcasts before the game is over!
Can you imagine a broadcast of a movie where they don't show the final climax? Of course not! But through some
convoluted logic, many of Japan's major television networks will chop off a broadcast of a baseball game that's still
in progress.
I was watching a Giants game last month with a tie score in the ninth inning and runners in scoring position. The
next pitch could literally decide the entire game. But still: "We're sorry, but we've run out of broadcast time.
Watch our 11 p.m. news broadcast to learn who won the game." In the next instant, I was throwing things at the screen
and yelling.
That's about the most inconsiderate thing any television station could do to its viewers and something you never
see happen in the United States. TV stations no doubt would offer as their excuse the indeterminate amount of time a
baseball game takes. They cannot know exactly when it's going to end.
But somehow, U.S. stations manage to cope with this same difficulty without cutting off their broadcasts. And in this day of computer-controlled broadcast equipment, it is not a major undertaking for a station to quickly reprogram its
machines to start later shows at different times, in order to adjust to the flow of the game.
The same goes for commercial breaks. Very often, the game restarts before the commercial ends, and you miss part of
the action. As in the United States, broadcasters here should coordinate with stadium officials and umpires to delay
the restart of play until the commercials are over.
Thousands of times more people watch games on TV than at the stadium. TV stations earn billions of yen from baseball
broadcasts. Is it too much to ask for them to adjust a bit more to our needs? I want to see the fat lady sing!
Shukan ST: Oct. 29, 1999
(C) All rights reserved
- (are)caught up in 〜
- 〜 に夢中になっている
- claim the crown
- チャンピオンのタイトルを獲得する
- innings
- 回(例えば the first half of the seventh inning は7回の表)
- govern
- 決める
- theoretically
- 理論上は
- come from behind and win 〜
- 〜 に逆転勝ちする
- saying
- 言い回し
- regarding 〜
- 〜 に関して
- refers to 〜
- 〜 のことを言う
- feature
- 出演させる
- soloist
- 独唱者
- a bit on on the heavy side
- 比較的太っている
- judge
- 判断する
- is over
- 終わった
- difficult task
- 難しいこと
- native tongue
- 母国語
- modern usage
- 現在の使い方
- expression
- 言い回し
- major complaint
- 大いなる苦情
- broadcasts
- 放映
- convoluted logic
- 複雑な論理
- chop off
- 中断する
- tie score
- 同点
- in scoring position
- ヒット1本で得点できる可能性が高い二、三塁のこと
- pitch
- 投球
- literally
- まさに
- (have)run out of 〜
- 〜 がなくなってしまった
- In the next instant
- 次の瞬間には
- That's about the most inconsiderate thing 〜 could do to 〜
- 〜 が 〜 に対してそんなことをするなんて、本当に思いやりがない
- viewers
- 視聴者
- no doubt
- おそらく
- excuse
- 弁解
- indeterminate amount of time 〜 takes
- 〜 の所要時間が不確定なこと
- manage to cope with 〜
- なんとか 〜 に対処する
- in this day of computer-controlled broadcast equipment
- コンピューター制御で放映されている今の時代に
- it is not a major undertaking
- それほど大したことではない
- reprogram
- プログラムを作り変える
- adjust to 〜
- 〜 に合わせる
- flow
- 流れ
- The same goes for 〜
- 〜 についても同じことが言える
- commercial breaks
- コマーシャルによる中断
- stadium officials
- 野球場の関係者
- umpires
- 審判
- billions of yen
- 数十億円