美国国家公共电台 NPR 'Last Chance U': Netflix Docuseries Follows Troubled Community College Football Stars

 

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

The second season of "Last Chance U" begins tomorrow. It's a documentary series on Netflix that follows the football team at East Mississippi Community College. It's one of the most successful junior college programs in the nation. But last year, "Last Chance U" showed the team derailed by suspensions after a bench-clearing brawl¹. NPR TV critic Eric Deggans says the new season depicts² the team fighting to live down the reputation it got both on the field and on the screen.

ERIC DEGGANS, BYLINE³: I'll be honest - I don't particularly watch sports on TV. But I love "Last Chance U."

(SOUNDBITE OF DOCUMENTARY, "LAST CHANCE U")

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #1: OK, go. Ten, nine...

DEGGANS: The show's second season begins with a football squad⁴ acutely aware of how bad they looked last time around. And the team, with its mercurial⁵, explosive coach, is determined⁶ to put on its best face for Netflix's cameras this time, at least at first.

(SOUNDBITE OF DOCUMENTARY, "LAST CHANCE U")

BUDDY⁷ STEPHENS: You know, I sat back and I watched it, and I go, I just don't like that guy.

DEGGANS: That's Buddy Stephens, the coach of East Mississippi Community College's football team, the Lions. They dominated their division last season until the team was suspended after a bench-clearing brawl during a game. Stephens, known for his volcanic⁸ anger and profanity, screamed at the players once the fight ended.

(SOUNDBITE OF DOCUMENTARY, "LAST CHANCE U")

STEPHENS: We talked about having more pride, but you didn't want to. You want to be damn street thugs. So I tell you what - go find another damn school to go to.

DEGGANS: And the Lions, whose players are mostly black, didn't appreciate Coach Stephens, who is white, calling them thugs.

(SOUNDBITE OF DOCUMENTARY, "LAST CHANCE U")

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #2: That's the white man, bro. Welcome to the real world. That's the white man. Welcome to the real world.

DEGGANS: Especially since the coach had been suspended at a previous game for getting into a fist fight with a referee⁹. As the second season of "Last Chance U" unfolds, Stephens is trying to change. He's doing pushups any time he curses in practice and encouraging his athletes.

(SOUNDBITE OF DOCUMENTARY, "LAST CHANCE U")

STEPHENS: I need happy eyes. I need wide eyes. I need having fun because that's what's going to happen next Thursday. We're going to have fun. You are dadgum great athletes, and we're going to move the ball against them, OK?

DEGGANS: But don't take bets on how long Buddy's Mr.-Nice-Guy routine is going to last because "Last Chance U" is what reality TV is supposed to be, filming its subjects intimately and at length until their pretenses¹⁰ fall away and the truth is revealed. The show's title comes from the nickname for East Mississippi Community College, a school with a powerhouse football team in the tiny town of Scooba, Miss. The best players land at EMCC from bigger schools when they make a mistake, from a quarterback let go by Florida State University for punching a woman in a bar to a defensive¹¹ lineman ejected by the University of Georgia after his third arrest for marijuana possession.

The real star here is academic adviser¹² Brittany Wagner, a small scrappy lady pushing her players to choose the right classes, show up regularly and get grades good enough to move on.

(SOUNDBITE OF DOCUMENTARY, "LAST CHANCE U")

BRITTANY WAGNER: I just think it's going to be a stressful semester. And I've got to figure out a way to be like, look, are you going to ruin your whole future for two seconds of camera time? Or are you going to focus on what you're supposed to be doing?

DEGGANS: As the season progresses, Coach Stephens backslides. He and his staff cut off their wireless¹³ microphones at sensitive times. Later, he pushes and kicks at cameras. The second time around, he knows how badly he's coming off. Still, director Greg Whiteley seems to catch everything, from Wagner's growing frustration¹⁴ with the coach's approach to the divide between players and local residents over Donald Trump's election as president.

He also brings you inside the team's games with incisive¹⁵ shots that turn every contest into a story of its own, feeding into the bigger question - which of these kids and which coaches will succeed and why? Netflix's "Last Chance U" digs deep to tell a complex, revealing story about what it really takes to succeed at EMCC and whether that success is truly worth the cost. I'm Eric Deggans.

(SOUNDBITE OF CUMBIAS INSTRUMENTALES CON BANDA SONG, "MAMBO LUPITA")

1 brawl   

n.大声争吵，喧嚷；v.吵架，对骂

参考例句：

• They had nothing better to do than brawl in the street.他们除了在街上斗殴做不出什么好事。
• I don't want to see our two neighbours engaged in a brawl.我不希望我们两家吵架吵得不可开交。

2 depicts   

描绘，描画( depict的第三人称单数 )； 描述

参考例句：

• The book vividly depicts French society of the 1930s. 这本书生动地描绘了20 世纪30 年代的法国社会。
• He depicts the sordid and vulgar sides of life exclusively. 他只描写人生肮脏和庸俗的一面。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 squad   

n.班，小队，小团体；vt.把…编成班或小组

参考例句：

• The squad leader ordered the men to mark time.班长命令战士们原地踏步。
• A squad is the smallest unit in an army.班是军队的最小构成单位。

5 mercurial   

adj.善变的，活泼的

参考例句：

• He was of a mercurial temperament and therefore unpredictable.他是个反复无常的人，因此对他的行为无法预言。
• Our desires and aversions are mercurial rulers.我们的欲望与嫌恶是变化无常的统治者。

6 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

7 buddy   

n.（美口）密友，伙伴

参考例句：

• Calm down,buddy.What's the trouble?压压气，老兄。有什么麻烦吗？
• Get out of my way,buddy!别挡道了，你这家伙！

8 volcanic   

adj.火山的；象火山的；由火山引起的

参考例句：

• There have been several volcanic eruptions this year.今年火山爆发了好几次。
• Volcanic activity has created thermal springs and boiling mud pools.火山活动产生了温泉和沸腾的泥浆池。

9 referee   

n.裁判员．仲裁人，代表人，鉴定人

参考例句：

• The team was left raging at the referee's decision.队员们对裁判员的裁决感到非常气愤。
• The referee blew a whistle at the end of the game.裁判在比赛结束时吹响了哨子。

10 pretenses   

n.借口（pretense的复数形式）

参考例句：

• They obtained money under the false pretenses of patriotism. 他们以虚伪的爱国主义为借口获得金钱。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He obtained money from her under false pretenses. 他巧立名目从她那儿骗钱。 来自辞典例句

11 defensive   

adj.防御的；防卫的；防守的

参考例句：

• Their questions about the money put her on the defensive.他们问到钱的问题，使她警觉起来。
• The Government hastily organized defensive measures against the raids.政府急忙布置了防卫措施抵御空袭。

12 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

13 wireless   

adj.无线的；n.无线电

参考例句：

• There are a lot of wireless links in a radio.收音机里有许多无线电线路。
• Wireless messages tell us that the ship was sinking.无线电报告知我们那艘船正在下沉。

14 frustration   

n.挫折，失败，失效，落空

参考例句：

• He had to fight back tears of frustration.他不得不强忍住失意的泪水。
• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration.他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。

15 incisive   

adj.敏锐的，机敏的，锋利的，切入的

参考例句：

• His incisive remarks made us see the problems in our plans.他的话切中要害，使我们看到了计划中的一些问题。
• He combined curious qualities of naivety with incisive wit and worldly sophistication.他集天真质朴的好奇、锐利的机智和老练的世故于一体。