英语博客：Spectating at sporting events.

　　Grab¹ your baseball hat or something else that will keep the sun out of your eyes, your sunglasses, a blanket, and a chair that isn't too hard. It's time to be a spectator². It's the season. You'll see these people, parking in the parking lot of a baseball or soccer field, opening up the back of their cars, and getting all kinds of equipment, blankets, coolers full of food and drinks, hats, gloves, newspapers. They've thought of everything. Spectating is a serious business. When a family member is involved in the sport that you watch, you don't want anything to distract³ you; you want to keep your eyes on the game, keep score, and not miss a thing. I made the mistake of taking my laptop to my son's game the other day; I had to do my podcast, and, I thought, while he was in the dugout (or not playing) that I could get some work done. Big mistake! I had all kinds of dirty looks coming in my direction. It is not the done thing, not kosher; it's breaking an unwritten rule. So, I won't do that again. It's interesting, you know, watching all the other spectators⁴. Most of them sit quietly and occasionally cheer someone on, but some of them really stand out. You have the ones who are particularly loud, and yell⁵ instructions at the players, even though the coach is quite capable of doing that. You have the ones who have practically set up camp, who pass out food, chat through the whole game, and spend a lot of time setting up and packing up. And then there is always a scattering⁶ of people who have just got off work in time to see a son or daughter play; they rush to the field, coffee in hand, baseball cap firmly on their heads, nodding and saying "hi" to people here and there. It's generally a positive place, and friendly too. Everyone is enjoying themselves, even when their team is losing. I suppose it is a shared experience: the sport, the parenting; we are all in the same boat. How could I possibly think that a laptop would fit in here? I've had some good conversations with people at the ball park, and a good laugh too. It's one place in the U.S. where people can leave the rush of work, and sit and enjoy a sense of community.
Grammar notes.
Related vocabulary: a cooler, serious business, the dugout, to be capable.
1. A cooler is an insulated⁷ container that keeps food cool; you generally half fill it with ice and add the food.
2. Coin collecting is serious business for my nephew.
3. The dugout is the sheltered area where the baseball players rest when they are not playing.
4. My mother is good at fixing things; she is capable of fixing her car or anyone else's.

1 grab   

vt./n.攫取，抓取；vi.攫取，抓住(at)

参考例句：

• It is rude to grab a seat.抢占座位是不礼貌的。
• The thief made a grab at my bag but I pushed him away.贼想抢我的手提包，但被我推开了。

2 spectator   

n.观众，目击者，旁观者

参考例句：

• A spectator threw the ball back to the players.一个观众把球掷回给球员。
• He was content to stand by as an impassive spectator.他满足于站在旁边做一个冷漠的旁观者。

3 distract   

vt.分散注意力，转移注意力，使分心

参考例句：

• Don't distract my attention.不要分散我的注意力。
• It was all a ploy to distract attention from his real aims.那纯粹是障眼法,用以分散人们对他真正意图的注意力。

4 spectators   

n.观众，旁观者( spectator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The spectators were wilting visibly in the hot sun. 看得出观众在炎热的阳光下快支撑不住了。
• The policemen asked the spectators to stand well back. 警察要求旁观者靠后站。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 yell   

vi./n.号叫，叫喊

参考例句：

• This gave them a chance to yell.这给了他们大声喊叫的机会。
• When his schoolmate made the last goal,the boy gave out with an untrammeled yell.那个男孩在他的同学踢进最后一球时不禁纵声欢呼。

6 scattering   

n.[物]散射；散乱，分散；在媒介质中的散播adj.散乱的；分散在不同范围的；广泛扩散的；（选票）数量分散的v.散射(scatter的ing形式)；散布；驱散

参考例句：

• The child felle into a rage and began scattering its toys about. 这孩子突发狂怒，把玩具扔得满地都是。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The farmers are scattering seed. 农夫们在播种。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 insulated   

绝缘的，隔热的

参考例句：

• This room is insulated against noise. 这个房间隔音。
• The wires must be insulated from touching each other, with a rubber covering. 这些金属线一定要用橡胶皮包起来，以免相互接触。