Episódio 35: Ice Hockey (Hóquei no gelo)

Duolingo English for Portuguese Speakers Podcast

Era o terceiro tempo, ou period, da semifinal de hóquei nos Jogos Olímpicos de Inverno de 1980, e o coração de John Harrington batia mais rápido que o normal.

Faltavam só 10 minutos pro fim da partida, e seu time, a seleção dos Estados Unidos, tava empatado em 3 a 3 com a União Soviética.

The Soviets were the best! They were the top team in the world, and they showed their talent over and over during big competitions like the World Championship and the Olympics.

But our coach told us to be confident.

He reminded us that playing in the semi-finals was an amazing opportunity, and that we could win.

John sabia que independentemente do resultado a vida dele ia mudar pra sempre naqueles próximos minutos — e seria algo de importância mundial.

Era plena Guerra Fria e pra muita gente esse confronto esportivo entre os Estados Unidos e a União Soviética simbolizava muito mais que um simples jogo de hóquei.

We were trying to pay attention to the game, but the audience was so loud.

It was amazing! Everyone was standing and cheering.

The whole crowd was so excited.

John sentia que o país inteiro tava olhando pra ele — e tava mesmo!

I was so nervous.

I felt like there were butterflies in my stomach.

But that’s what I love about sports.

They’re exciting and stressful.

Welcome to “Histórias em Inglês com Duolingo”.

Eu sou Helena Fruet.

Nesse podcast, você vai poder praticar inglês no seu ritmo, ouvindo histórias reais e emocionantes.

Os protagonistas falam um inglês simples e fácil de entender — perfeito pra quem tá aprendendo.

No episódio de hoje, trazemos duas histórias de pessoas que viveram intensamente as dores e glórias do hóquei.

John cresceu no estado de Minnesota, onde o hóquei é parte da cultura local.

In northern Minnesota, everyone played hockey.

And so, I fell in love with the game at a really young age.

My hero was a hockey player from my hometown.

My friends and I wanted to be like him.

He was so good that he played with the 1976 Olympic hockey team.

And that’s when I started thinking that I wanted to do the same thing one day.

John jogou hóquei no ensino médio e na faculdade.

E um ano antes de se formar, ele realizou o sonho da vida dele: participar dos testes pra equipe olímpica de hóquei.

I knew that I had to work hard and be prepared.

I wasn’t sure I was good enough to be on the Olympic team — and that motivated me.

It made me work harder.

My coach at the time helped me a lot — he made me a better skater.

No dia do teste, ou tryout, John já tava nervoso só de pisar no gelo.

Tinha 80 jogadores treinando e só 20 vagas de titular.

Some players at the tryouts were really good.

Everyone knew who they were.

And I knew they were definitely going to be on the team.

Other players, like me, needed to play really well during tryouts to make the team.

I knew I could play well enough, but… was I going to? I didn’t know.

Quando saiu a lista dos selecionados, o nome de John tava lá.

Ele mal podia acreditar! Ele ia competir nos Jogos Olímpicos!

I was so excited to be on the team, but I also knew we had a lot of work to do before the Olympics.

We didn’t have a lot of experience.

Most players on the team were around 22 years old.

Everyone said, “This team is too young.

They are kids, and the guys on the other teams are men.” We were trying to be optimistic, but we had to be realistic too.

No one expected us to win the gold medal.

Na época da Olimpíada de 1980, fazia 20 anos que o time de hóquei dos Estados Unidos não ganhava uma medalha de ouro.

E a União Soviética tinha ficado em primeiro em todos os Jogos Olímpicos desde 1964.

Eram os favoritos.

E na semana antes dos jogos, o time dos Estados Unidos tinha perdido de 10 a 3 num amistoso contra os soviéticos.

We lost that game so quickly.

The Soviets were such an amazing team.

They weren’t just good at playing hockey — they were great athletes.

They were the best!

Aquele amistoso teria desanimado muita gente, mas John encarou o jogo como um aquecimento.

We knew we were going to play against the Soviets in the Olympics.

So that game was actually really good for us.

Because we learned a lot about the Soviet team.

Os Jogos Olímpicos de Inverno de 1980 aconteceram numa pequena cidade chamada Lake Placid, no estado de Nova York.

Assim que chegou na cerimônia de abertura, John parou de se preocupar tanto com a vitória.

Ele já tava emocionado só de estar ali.

I saw all of the flags and the fans, and it was exactly how I imagined it.

The opening ceremonies were so exciting, and I was proud to wear a USA uniform.

When our team walked out, the crowd started cheering and going crazy.

No primeiro jogo depois da cerimônia de abertura, o time dos Estados Unidos enfrentou a Tchecoslováquia.

A Tchecoslováquia era um dos melhores times do mundo, então era meio que esperado que os Estados Unidos perdessem.

Everyone was standing and cheering during the whole game.

It was so loud, and it felt good to have the support of the fans.

It was like they were part of the team.

In the end, we beat the Czech team.

The score was seven to two.

Then we realized that we might actually be able to win a medal.

Mas pra ganhar uma medalha olímpica, o time dos Estados Unidos teria que ganhar dos soviéticos, e John não sabia se aquilo era possível.

A maioria dos jogadores soviéticos era atleta profissional, enquanto John e o resto do time dele eram um bando de jovens recém-formados!

Our coach really motivated us.

He was confident, and that made us confident too.

Before the game, he told us, “They’re an older team.

We’re younger.

We’ve got better legs, and we can win.” He reminded us that we had an amazing opportunity.

It was so exciting for us! I loved the challenge of competing against a better team — that’s why I wanted to play.

No dia do jogo, John quis chegar bem cedo na pista de gelo.

I was always the first player out on the ice.

I was just so excited — probably too excited! But I was ready.

Desde o começo, o jogo tava bem equilibrado.

Os soviéticos marcaram primeiro, mas o time dos Estados Unidos logo empatou, ou tied.

O hóquei tem três tempos, e no fim do primeiro, o placar tava 2 a 2.

It was amazing that the game was tied, but then the Soviets scored a goal, and the score was three to two.

Later, in the second period, I tried to score a goal, but I missed.

That was a really hard moment for me.

I was really disappointed in myself.

John queria desesperadamente compensar o gol perdido.

Faltando 10 minutos pro fim do jogo, os times tavam empatados em 3 a 3.

We really felt like we could win.

We just needed an opportunity to score.

There was so much pressure in that moment.

Aí John percebeu que um dos seus companheiros poderia marcar um gol.

Então ele passou o disco.

Seu colega saiu correndo… e marcou! O placar agora tava 4 a 3, com os Estados Unidos na frente.

During the last ten minutes of the game, I tried not to look at the clock because it felt like time stopped.

But we believed that we could win.

And our coach kept saying, “Play your game.

Don’t change the way you’re playing because of the time or the score.”

Nos últimos segundos do jogo, a torcida americana tava enlouquecida.

Ninguém tinha imaginado que o time poderia ser favorito.

Mas lá estavam eles, prestes a vencer o melhor time do mundo, num momento histórico — em plena Guerra Fria entre Estados Unidos e União Soviética.

We won the game! It was incredible.

The crowd was going crazy.

Our team couldn’t believe it.

We beat the Soviets! It was amazing.

I didn’t want to go to sleep that night because I was scared that it was all a dream.

Mas o torneio ainda não tinha acabado.

Os Estados Unidos ainda precisavam vencer a Finlândia pra ganhar o ouro.

If we didn’t win the game against Finland, we might not win a gold medal.

So, even though we had beat the best team in the world, we were still very nervous.

Mas John e seu time ganharam de novo! A medalha dos Jogos Olímpicos de 1980 foi o ouro mais recente da seleção masculina de hóquei dos Estados Unidos até hoje.

Many years later, I’m still so proud of our team.

It was an amazing thing.

It was a miracle, because no one expected us to win.

No hóquei, assim como na maioria dos esportes, os jogadores costumam receber toda a atenção.

Seus nomes estampam as camisas e seus rostos aparecem em cartazes.

Mas o jogo não seria possível sem outras pessoas que também ficam no gelo: os árbitros, ou referees.

Dan Sepe sabe que ser árbitro na pista de gelo não é nada glamouroso, mas é importante.

Ele cresceu na província de Ontário, no Canadá, onde o hóquei é o esporte de inverno mais popular.

Ele começou a jogar quando tinha só 5 anos.

When I was a kid, hockey was really important to my family.

We didn’t watch basketball or football on TV — just hockey.

There was no other option.

Everyone in my neighborhood loved hockey too.

We played on the ice in the winter, and in the summer we played on the road, or even on tennis courts.

O hóquei é tão popular no Canadá que às vezes é até difícil encontrar horário disponível nas pistas pra treinar.

Então, Dan geralmente tinha que ir de manhã bem cedinho nos fins de semana.

Mas mesmo assim, ele ficava feliz quando jogava.

Ele adorava a sensação de fazer parte de um time.

When we were kids, each neighborhood had their own hockey team, and each team had their own leather jackets.

So, people knew which team you played for just by looking at your jacket.

Desde criança, Dan sonhava em ser jogador de hóquei profissional.

Mas quando tinha 16 anos, ele percebeu que não era bom o suficiente pra estar nos times de elite.

Na mesma época, o pai dele disse que ele precisava arrumar um emprego.

Então, ele resolveu fazer um curso pra aprender a ser árbitro.

After I finished my training, I started to referee local games for five and six-year-old kids.

I didn’t know what to expect, but I really enjoyed it.

Each game was an hour long, and I did nine or ten games each week.

Os jogos infantis eram divertidos, mas não eram tão sérios.

Nos sete anos seguintes, Dan foi abrindo caminho na carreira, fez mais cursos e começou a apitar jogos mais competitivos.

When I started refereeing, I didn’t want to work in professional hockey.

But I met a lot of people during those first seven years.

They became some of my best friends in life, and they motivated me to go farther in my career.

Em setembro de 2012, Dan teve a chance de se desafiar como árbitro da Liga de Hóquei de Ontário, ou OHL, como é conhecida na sigla em inglês.

É uma liga muito competitiva.

Muitos jogadores passam dela pra Liga Nacional de Hóquei, no Canadá e nos Estados Unidos.

Pros árbitros, entrar na Liga de Hóquei de Ontário é uma grande oportunidade.

I wasn’t nervous the night before the tryout, and I slept well that night.

But the next morning, I was anxious.

The game started at 7:00 pm, so I started getting ready at 4:00 pm.

While I was packing, I got really nervous.

I always pack my bag the same way for good luck.

I put my skates in first, at the bottom of the bag.

Then I put in everything else.

It’s a small thing, but it helps me feel calm.

As preliminares eram num estádio, ou arena, que ficava numa pequena cidade chamada Barrie.

Dan era um dos quatro árbitros.

When I first arrived, it was very surreal.

It felt different than a game at a local arena.

There were thousands of seats.

Everything sounded different, too.

In a kids’ game, the building is small, so all you hear is the hockey game.

But in an OHL arena, it’s so big and there’s so much noise from people talking, cheering, and ordering food — and there’s always kids jumping around.

Antes do jogo, Dan se juntou aos jogadores e outros árbitros na pista de gelo pro aquecimento, ou warm up.

I was nervous because it was all new to me, and I didn’t know what to expect.

Then I thought to myself, “Wow, if this is how I feel during the warm up, how will I feel during the game?”

Dan já tinha apitado muitas partidas de hóquei, mas se sentia deslocado naquele estádio tão grande.

Além disso, era nítido que ele era principiante, porque não tava usando um capacete, ou helmet, com patrocínios, como todos os outros.

One coach said, “Hey, are you supposed to be here? Why are you wearing that helmet?” Then I noticed that everyone was wearing a special type of helmet.

I didn’t feel like I was part of the group.

Mas mesmo se sentindo meio fora de lugar, Dan sabia que tinha que fazer bem seu trabalho.

Então quando começou o jogo, ele focou em não fazer nenhuma marcação, ou call, errada.

Hockey referees have to move around on the ice a lot.

You try to predict what will happen in the game.

You need to know where to be, how to get there, and you have to make sure that you see everything clearly.

If you aren’t in the right place at the right time, you’ll probably make the wrong call.

Mas Dan logo descobriu que na Liga de Hóquei de Ontário o jogo passa muito rápido.

Tão rápido quanto o disco, ou puck.

The players are fast, and they don’t stop to think.

They know where to go, and they pass the puck quickly.

Even if you’re a really fast skater, you’re not faster than a moving puck.

That’s why referees have to predict what the players will do next, and I needed to show that I could do that.

Um dos momentos mais angustiantes pra Dan foi quando ele teve que deixar o disco cair durante algo que se chama the faceoff, ou um “cara a cara”.

No intervalo ou depois que alguém marca um gol, o árbitro deixa o disco cair entre dois jogadores dos times rivais pra reiniciar a partida.

The players are looking at the puck, and they’re waiting for the referee’s hand to move.

As soon as it moves, the players are immediately ready to take the puck.

I started to worry that I wasn’t holding the puck in the right place.

I just wanted to make sure that it was fair for both teams.

That’s the job of the referee.

Em todos os intervalos, Dan conversava com um dos outros árbitros pra saber se ele tava fazendo algo errado.

He said I was doing everything right, and he told me to relax and stop worrying.

He was very experienced, and he knew what he was doing, so I started to feel more confident.

Quando o jogo acabou, Dan não conseguia acreditar que tinha feito tudo certo.

I had to make a few difficult calls, but it was a pretty calm game.

Nothing crazy happened.

Dan sentia que tinha feito um bom trabalho, mas ainda não tava seguro.

Será que iam oferecer um lugar fixo pra ele na Liga de Hóquei de Ontário?

When I stepped off the ice, the official who helped me took a puck from the game and wrote “First OHL Game” on it.

He gave it to me and said, “Congratulations!” I got the job! It felt amazing.

It’s a moment that I’ll always remember.

Dan foi árbitro da OHL por seis anos.

Ele ainda guarda o disco do primeiro jogo dele na Liga.

Nosso primeiro narrador, John Harrington, voltou a jogar na seleção dos Estados Unidos nos Jogos Olímpicos de 1984.

Hoje, ele é o técnico do hóquei feminino da Universidade do Estado de Minnesota.

Esse episódio foi produzido por Amanda Cupido, uma produtora de podcasts que mora em Toronto.

Eu sou Helena Fruet.

Thank you for listening!