后继有人

一所大学的橄榄球队比赛完乘坐飞机回家，结果遭遇不幸，全部遇难。有4个小伙子因故没能去比赛，所以幸存了下来。因为遭此变故，校长决定取消橄榄球队。本来橄榄球队是大家的荣耀，现在却成了所有人心中的痛。多么好的小伙子啊，当初助理教练去游说他们加入的时候，他答应他们的父母，一定会好好照顾他们。跟着他混，前途不可限量。现在如何再去忽悠别人来加入呢？实在过不了自己内心的那一道坎。
 
 
 
 
 
    在学生们的坚持斗争下，校长终于妥协了。但他现在也不知道该如何开始。那就先从找一个教练开始吧！年轻的橄榄球教练杰克·雷耶尔给大伙儿带来了希望。他来之后重新组队，带领球队从灰烬中，重新雄起！这次空难，的确给学校造成了巨大的伤害。但是就像那脱轨的列车一样，虽然当时也造成了巨大的伤痛，但现在列车不又继续在轨道上行驶了吗。人类探寻太空的奥妙，也牺牲了很多人，但是探险家不会止步！
 
 
 
 
 
    新队伍参加的第一次比赛，输的比较惨。第2次比赛将要对阵的对手实力也很强。我们知道这一点，对方也同样知道这一点。但是有一件事情是对方不知道的。那就是我们想要获得胜利的决心！想起前几天看的《滑铁卢》。战无不胜的法国拿破仑，他从未和英国惠灵顿交锋过，他相信惠灵顿不会在滑铁卢进行顽强抵抗。他期望一次进攻就能将惠灵顿赶下山脊，逼他后退。因此他根本没有料到会有一场大规模的战斗。他就错在不晓得惠灵顿想要夺取战役胜利的决心。没想到英军居然如此坚挺！

标题那句话不是我说的，而是美国电视台（忘了是cbs还是fox）一个影评节目的嘉宾说的。就凭这句话，我这两天到处找这片子。正当我准备放弃寻找之际，在一个小店的浩瀚D版碟里，我找到了这片子。第二天清早起来，做的第一件事就是看这片子。尽管剧情我早就大概知道，但还是被那些俗套的剧情所打动。原来，只要是真挚的情感，平凡的故事也会放出光芒。在Marshall球队经历如此重创之后，仍然有勇敢的人坚持下来，为重新组建一支队伍而奔劳。这份勇气和热情就已经让人钦佩。Many a valiant run may fail, but the valor of it builds the soul. 这是很久之前读过的一句话，配在这段评论里真的十分合适。在经历空难的二十多年之后，他们重登冠军宝座，坚持终于有了回报。这个以真人真事改编的电影的确是the strongest one in 2006, 最起码也算是one of the strongest movie.很庆幸自己仍然能被他们感动。因为这让我知道，我还有梦想的勇气。

宅家几天，看了六七部美国讲橄榄球的片子。除了一部 The Longest Yard，其他几部都是根据真实故事改编，很感叹橄榄球故事在美国的盛行——他们尊重过去、铭记过去那些或残酷或光辉的痕迹。

这部We Are Marshall的主角是马歇尔大学的橄榄球队，出场对阵的是Eagles，而Eagles是我看的另一部橄榄球电影Invincible的主角球队。

Marshalle这只球队位于西弗吉尼亚的Huntington，数据显示：2000年这里的人口才5万人。
我看的另一部片子 The Express的男主角在Elmira踢球，数据显示：Elmira到2000年才3万人。
而纪录片Undefeated中的主角是一所叫做 Manassas High School 的中学橄榄球队，学校全是黑人学生，家里的亲戚几乎都能找出吸过毒坐过牢的。那在这样的情况下，依旧有一只整编的、有完好装备的、跟各个学校打比赛的正牌球队。

所以特别感叹于橄榄球运动在美国的普及与狂热，就算几万人的城市，依旧组的好几十人的球队、专业的教练团队、死忠的球迷、八卦的传媒。知乎上有对于橄榄球运动为何在美国这么流行有专业的解析，从商业层面、制度架构、精神联合进行了深度讲解。

另一个感触是：美国运动的现代史也是黑人努力争取、崭露头角、红遍天下的历史。从一开始全白人运动；到后来某几个俱乐部战战兢兢雇佣一两名黑人，黑人忍受各种不平等待遇与威吓；到现在几乎美国流行的各类运动（NFL、MBL、NBA等）都是最重要的力量。
 The Longest Yard里面有一段对话很有意思，黑人囚犯对白人囚犯说：你们白人动不动就得什么抑郁症，真不懂你们有什么好抑郁的，你们可是白人啊！（意思是各种尊重、福利、机会）
同时你在看这些片子的时候，也会对于美国黑人的生活状况非常吃惊，作为一个相对民主、富裕、保障体系良好的国家，黑人区是如此的贫瘠、混乱、缺乏教育与秩序。你在黑人区长大，还不像说在中国一个贫困山区长大，因为在黑人区你会受到很糟糕的环境影响，几乎很大程度上会成为混混或帮派的一份子。中国的一些不发达地区的孩子，如果好好念书，相对单纯的环境还是可以补足一条出路给他们。

好莱坞与传媒已经深深的把橄榄球与美国信仰/精神连接在了一起，这很可怕（旁观者看来）也很必要（对于治国者来说）。
不止中国爱造梦，至少从美国电影看起来，这是一个异常爱造梦的国度，只是他们更善于罢了。

Finally got to see We are Marshall here in Huntington, WV, the very town this movie has as its setting. I like it a lot, but It is very difficult to see it as being just a movie, because the movies is so much about the town, the university, and even somebody you may know or meet here. You cannot maintain the distance that could be afforded to other movies when appreciating them. Yet this feeling is special.

The movie is emotionally charged most of the time, as it should be, given the fact that so many people died and a team rose from ashes. It oscillates between being poignant and funny. The pain part was very well captured by Mathew Fox, who plays Red Dawson, the assistant coach, who was tormented by the fact that he happened to have missed the disaster while the rest of his team died.

The other Mathew who played the head coach seemed to lack some emotional depth in the role he played. That might be natural, because the role he portrayed had had nothing to do with Marshall before accepting the role as head coach. Yet at other times, it is just Mathew the "star" coming out. That effect could be diminished if the coach is played by a less well-known guy. Or have I been way too saturated with all the coverage about Mathew the superstar that it is now impossible to scratch the actor to see the acted?

Even as someone who speaks English as a foreign language, I can tell that his language is somewhat banal as some critics have pointed out. It is too “movie-like”, so to speak. However, there are also bursts of freshness. For instance, when he gets President Dedmon to visit NCAA in person by asking Dedmon how he proposed to his wife.

But to be fair, Mattew did a good job showing the development of his character. Jack the head coack is actually the one transformed by the whole experience. When he makes that speech in the cemetery, one sees the transformation reach a climax.

My favorite is the character of Don Dedmon. He is portrayed into a rounded, developed, and rich character. In him you see the mixture of the somewhat clumsy academic, a really hard-working leader, and a converted Herd fan. The rise of the football team seemed to have had the greatest impact on him.

At the end of the movie, it is mentioned that the Young Thundering Herd lost more games in the 70s than any other football program in the nation. However, the glory comes in the 90s, when the team won championships and produced national football stars. That line has the potential of becoming something really great. But it was dismissed too quickly. There is really a good point in there: It takes time to actually make a program work. More importantly, it takes incubation, nurturing, and even patience in years and years of tireless work. Yet these are not materials for Hollywood. There is less drama in them. Instead, the movie turns to a spike of glory in those years that were not actually chracterized by winning games. The real thundering glory, I believe, is the laying of foundations in these early years in spite of pressures and losses. Hemmingway says courage is grace under pressure. So is glory.