鲍勃·希兰一直在说部落橄榄球
鲍勃·希兰申请了杜克大学； 父亲皱起了眉头。
他曾经提到过弗吉尼亚大学； 父亲窃笑起来。
其他高等教育的堡垒偶尔会在谈话中出现，总是引起他父亲同样不赞成的反应。
“According to my dad, William & Mary was the university in Virginia,” Sheeran recalled recently. “我可以告诉你，我没有太多选择要去哪里。”
这是有道理的。 希兰家族在W&M留下了自己的遗产。
20世纪之交后不久，祖父乔·卡普斯离开彭戈和安妮公主县来到这所学院。 他是一名体育明星，1911年毕业。
Bob Sheeran, Sr., ’38, followed, playing football and baseball. Bert, ’38, a W&M tennis player, would become his wife.
Bob and Bert’s daughter, Marion, graduated from the College in 1960 following a career that included a role on the field hockey team.
所以小鲍勃当然进了学院。 1967年毕业。 后来又去了法学院，后来才想起来。
“There’s a whole lot of history there,” Sheeran says, “and it has been just a great experience.”
但希兰投入了他的祖父、父亲、母亲和妹妹所没有的东西。
他的生活。
It’s not hyperbole to say that anyone’s who has ever listened to a William & Mary football game on the radio knows Bob Sheeran; 好吧，至少他的声音。
The Tribe’s 30-20 victory over Delaware last Saturday was Sheeran’s 426th consecutive game on radio. It’s a Ripken-esque feat that Sheeran never pondered until Associate Director of 体育运动 for Media Pete Clawson asked recently. That’s when he began counting backward, continuing until he got to the 1970 season.
“We were so late realizing (that the game against Norfolk State was more magical milestone number 425) that I didn’t have time to reflect on the significance of any of it,” Sheeran said before playfully adding, “To me, it really tells you how old I am.
“But it really is special,” he continues, “especially my relationship with the student-athletes. William & Mary has such an incredible history of consistent, strong and proud student-athletes.”
这个赛季当然是这样。
Saturday's game between undefeated and fifth-ranked W&M (4-0) and second-ranked and 4-0 Villanova - the first Colonial Athletic Association game ever to be nationally televised - represents another exciting step along what Sheeran sees as a potentially landmark season for the Tribe.
"This team has the opportunity to be something we haven't seen around here in some time," he said. "When I looked at the players we had coming back on defense from last year, the speed they possessed, how hard they worked during the summer and the dedication they showed to the program, it was easy to conclude that they could be special. That's not to take away anything from the offense, but we know they'll do their share."
However, Sheeran is acutely aware that the Tribe's division, the CAA South, features top-ranked and defending national champion Richmond, second-ranked Villanova and seventh-ranked James Madison.
“你看看这个阵容，”他惊呼道，“你能说的只有，‘哇！’”
希兰对部落足球有着近乎百科全书式的了解； sure, he may be off by a year or so when he quotes a “fact” (something he always admits). But he’s almost certainly the only person alive who can tell you about the W&M fullback who never once was tackled behind the line of scrimmage during a long and distinguished career.
Much of that knowledge comes from Sheeran’s 16 years as the College’s sports information director. 他与那些他长期帮助宣传和记录的球员之间的深厚关系也产生了同样的效果。
“My two sons, their godfathers are (former) William & Mary football players,” he said. “It means more to me than anybody might ever imagine.”
Sheeran admits that he’s been lucky; 唯一一次他的连胜受到威胁是1976年的揭幕战，对手是弗吉尼亚军事学院。 But Bob’s son had the good timing (or sense) to be born after the Tribe’s 34-20 home victory. 希兰跳过了通常的赛后秀，赶到医院，及时从妻子手中接过了接班。
问Sheeran关于最令人难忘的游戏的明显问题，他的答案是一波接一波的。 There’s an overtime playoff victory over Delaware in which the Tribe trailed, 31-10, in the fourth quarter. 四分卫斯坦·亚吉罗在比赛结束前将一记触地得分传给杰夫·桑德斯，球队取得了另一场胜利。
但是记住不同游戏的原因是不同的。 In 1976, W&M was Ohio University’s homecoming opponent. 部落队没有扮演牺牲的羔羊，而是以20-0输掉了山猫队，他们的防守端在后场花的时间和俄亥俄州的四分卫一样多。
“After the game, someone asked the quarterback about our defensive ends and how they’d knocked him to the turf all day,” Sheeran recalls. “And he says, ‘You know what was really weird about that? One of them would say God bless you when he’d pick me up. 另一个会叫我去死。’ ”
然后在利海的一场比赛中，科利和希兰播放的电话线不知怎么地穿过了一个兄弟会的房子。 Midway through the game, a fraternity brother picked up the phone, heard something that didn’t sound like conversation, and wanted to know what was going on.
还在电话里，科利告诉他正在听W&M的橄榄球广播，让他挂断电话。 在那一刻，这名学生通知了他的兄弟会兄弟们，他们开始扯着嗓子尖叫，大多是脏话。
“We hung up, found the sports information director, who gave us another line,” Sheeran said. “We got back on the air in about 10 minutes and tried to recapture what had happened but that was certainly an embarrassing moment. We waved good-bye to that frat house when we left that day.”
听希兰讲话的人都知道他懂足球。 But Tribe coach Jimmye Laycock, a classmate of Sheeran’s, helps by allowing him unparalleled access to the team’s strategy.
“I go down on the field before the game starts and he tells me everything that’s going to be done, including the first play and tendencies they’re looking for. 有吉米·莱科克和我们一起唱，我们的声音好多了。 当谈到游戏呈现时，他是我们的礼物； he doesn’t make it easy, but easier, that’s for sure.”
根据事态的发展，部落队本赛季可能会打16场比赛。 这让黄老板有了很多自己的周末。
是吗？
“I usually go to William & Mary basketball games,” he said when asked what he does after football. “I follow William & Mary athletics, no question about that.”