發表評論-兒歌薈萃-萬維博客-萬維讀者網（電腦版）

March Madness is probably one of the craziest times of the year. The colleges are busy playing games in NCAA basketball, while the NBA professional teams are fully engaged in drafting players. In the meantime, the N-Penn is bustling with its own March Madness of the 5th graders only among 13 elementary schools in the district.

I was chosen as one of the eleven representatives of the Montgomery (MO) team from the volunteer pool unexpectedly. Boys and girls were mixed together. At the time, we had only two practices right before the games started, which were mainly focusing on shooting and doing lay-ups. I felt pretty confident. But some kids even had a hard time dribbling. The practices were short, so nobody improved. We just got a refresh to the mind of what basketball was.

Our first game was set against Bridle Path (BP), and we won easily. Their team had a boy who looked like a girl with long hair but definitely didn't play like a girl. "She" ran around the court as fast as a fly. We had to deal with "her" in order to get through the game. (MO45 vs. BP35)

The second game was waged against Gwyn Nor (GN) and went through easily although we weren't dominating. A tall kid about 5" and 7/1.73m in height named Adi always blocked our shots and was a huge pain when it came to rebounds. He also would get the ball from the air. Luckily, he moved so slowly that we didn't have any real danger. In the end, we were allowed to take shots from the half-court away from him! The other team had no whatsoever chance to defeat us. (MO39 vs. GN23)

So far, we advanced 2 to 0 and were about to face another undefeated team like ours, North Wales (NW). When we met each other, we left 10-14 behind in the first quarter. However, we pulled ahead later in the game. It seemed a little unfair because our team members were randomly selected and had little experience competing in the past. In contrast, everyone on the other team seemed to have a better knowledge of basketball. However, we were determined to play as a team and each of us worked hard to excel in the challenge. (MO34 vs. NW28)

Our final game against Knapp turned out less exciting than before it began. There were rumors flying around the grade that they were undefeated. But on the court, I really knew what was true. The opposing team cracked, snapped, and popped. In the beginning, they played decently and soon lost their cool. They continued to miss open lay-ups and easy shots. As the ref blew the whistle, I realized that we became undefeated in the North Penn March Madness of 2014. (MO40 vs. KN32)

I guess what people say "It's only a game" is true. But still, it's worth remembering.

【紅霞譯文】

“瘋狂三月”大概是一年中最瘋狂的時刻之一，全美每支大學生隊正熱火朝天酣戰高校體育協會籃球聯賽﹔美國國家籃球協會職業球隊緊鑼密鼓，在季後賽開始之前，各自為擴充實力而招兵買馬。北賓州學區同樣不甘寂寞，特意選擇這個節骨眼上瘋狂一把，在13所小學五年級學生範圍內大張旗鼓地舉行課外籃球比賽。

我入選蒙哥馬利小學“瘋狂三月”球隊純屬意外，十一名成員全部從自願報名的五年級學生中任意抓鬮組合而成，男女生參半共同奮戰。正式比賽之前，大家僅湊在一起練過兩次，主要集中在投籃和上籃方面，我倒自鳴得意，不過有的隊友連運球都成問題。練球時間有限，因此談不上提高什麼技藝，能增加點球感已然算不錯了。

首場比賽與馬徑小學相遇，我們旗開得勝。對方球隊中有一留着長發外表酷似女生的男孩格外引人注目，“她”像蒼蠅一樣竄得飛快。若想贏球，我們得首先設法與“她”周旋。比賽結果蒙哥馬利隊以45比35拿下馬徑隊。

第二場比賽對北格溫小學，儘管我們並非咄咄逼人，但最後還是輕而易舉地取得了勝利。北格溫小學有一位名叫阿迪的大個子隊員，身高足有五尺七／一米七三。他不光占據天時地利人和之優勢，而且很容易控制籃板球，甚至經常搶到空中傳球，令我們大傷腦筋。好在人高馬大的他動作比較遲緩，而我們則利用速度以快制勝。終場前，大伙兒揚長避短，中場遠距離投籃，徹底擺脫來自籃下的威脅﹗對方一點轍也沒有。比賽結果蒙哥馬利隊以39比23大勝北格溫隊。

到目前為止，我們以二比零的戰績處於領先地位，接下來馬上迎戰勢均力敵的北威爾士小學。第一節比賽結束時，我們以10比14落後四分，但很快便反敗為勝。乍看結果似乎對北威爾士隊有點不公，尤其包括我在內的本隊大部分球員都是半路出家，毫無經驗可言﹔而對方精兵強將，個個身手不凡。話說回來，我們贏就贏在齊心合力方面，人人努力為集體爭光。比賽結果蒙哥馬利隊34比28打敗北威爾士隊。

我們對奈普小學的最後一場比賽竟然沒有賽前期待的那麼激動人心。事先謠言四起，誇耀他們戰無不勝，一旦亮相球場，我才明白什麼叫紙老虎，遇到真槍實彈的時候不堪一擊。他們開場打得生氣勃勃，不久逐漸露出馬腳，並頻頻出現失誤，在無人防衛的情況下投籃三不沾。隨着裁判哨笛令下，我立刻喜出望外，本隊才是北賓州學區2014年度“瘋狂三月”常勝將軍。比賽結果蒙哥馬利隊40，奈普隊32。

人們常說“這不過是場遊戲”，我覺得一點沒錯兒。儘管如此，這種經歷還是挺值得記憶的。

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