The next afternoon, Trelane came home from school to find her father at his computer, shaking his head.
"What's the matter, dad?" she asked.
"I was just checking the sports news. A couple of college basketball coaches are in trouble. They've been caught cheating. And they were caught cheating a while ago, but they still haven't been fired by their universities. Then you wonder why some of these young college athletes get into so much trouble - they see their universities turning a blind eye to corruption of coaches...but if they steal so much as a laptop, out of school they go!"
"Stealing a laptop is a pretty big deal," Trelane said.
"Yes. I didn't mean to imply that it wasn't, kid. It's just that...the myth of sports has always been that it's supposed to instill "good" sportsmanship and a sense of fair play in its participants, but more often than not kids who go into sports just earn how to lie and cheat in order to win."
"And yet they're still admired more than someone who is lousy at sports but gets straight As in school."
"Very true, kid. Sad but true. So, how's your Science Club coming along?"
"Pretty good. I'm working on an article for our new webzine - I hope to have it finished tomorrow."
"Good. I'm so proud of you three girls. Most kids your age don't know what they want to be when they grow up. Hecks, lots of kids going to college don't know what they want to be."
"I've never understood that," Trelane said. "I've always known what I wanted to be. At least, for as long as I can remember, anyway."
"And I'm glad that you've got a bit of ambition. Now, as you grow older you might change your mind..."
"Ha!" said Trelane.
"Well, you might. I'm not saying you will. But I like the fact that you've got intellectual curiosity. Most kids go through life not caring how the world works, but you want to know things. That's going to carry you a long way."
Trelane smiled, pleased as ever when her dad praised her.
"Well, I'm going to work on my article," she said. "I'll let you get back to your sports."
"Only a few more days til spring training and baseball," he agreed. "I can hardly wait."
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