儿童英语读物 The Basketball Mystery CHAPTER 5 Jessie’s Good Idea

That night Buzz 1 and Tipper finally sat down to one of Mrs. McGregor’s home-cooked meals. At last, no interviews. No banquets 2. No meetings or plans. Just a quiet evening with the Aldens.



A very quiet evening.



Mr. Alden did his best to cheer up the twins. “Mistakes happen,” he said when he noticed that they hadn’t said much during dinner. “You two have been on the go from the minute you arrived. It’s understandable that schedules and keys and such got mixed up. There’s still plenty of time to coach the Blazers and Fast Breakers before their games.”



Buzz pushed his cake around his plate without taking a bite. “We don’t have that many practices scheduled, Mr. Alden. And we got off to a poor start. Tipper and I shouldn’t have been running around so much. Then all these mix-ups wouldn’t have happened.”



“Did you call Frank 3 Fowler?” Mr. Alden asked. “After all, he’s the one who made up the schedules, right?”



“I called him when I got back this afternoon,” Buzz said. “He said he told me about the schedule change a couple of days ago. There was so much going on that day. Tipper and I had our pictures taken for the newspaper with some of our old high school teammates. There were so many people around, I guess I just didn’t focus on what Frank said.”



“Same with Courtney and the storage room key,” Tipper added. “That day was a blur 4 for me, too.”



Buzz put down his napkin. “I’ve got to figure out some way to make things up to the Blazers — extra practices or something.”



“Same here,” Tipper agreed. “Coaching isn’t just teaching 6 basketball skills. It’s pulling the team together. That’s what I learned 7 from my high school and college coaches. I want to be just like them.”



All this time, the Alden children sat and listened. Just because of a few mix-ups, their new friends weren’t having a very good time.



“I have an idea,” Jessie said. “Do you both have a whole day free in the next couple of days?”



“Saturday we’re free,” Buzz said. “For some reason, we’re not scheduled to be famous celebrities 8 that day. No picture-taking. No television.”



Jessie’s face brightened 9. “Good. What about organizing the first-ever Nettleton Basketball Clinic for Saturday? We could hold it right here in Grandfather’s backyard. You could schedule different drills for different times. I know we don’t have a whole court, but you could teach lots of skills like you did with us when you first got here.”



Buzz gave this some thought. “A clinic, hmmm?”



“Like a doctor clinic?” Soo Lee asked. “I don’t want to get a shot.”



This made everyone smile.



Tipper put her arm around the little girl. “You wouldn’t get a shot, Soo Lee. But you would make a lot of basketball shots, just like you did the other day. A basketball clinic helps players practice skills one at a time. No doctors, no shots. Just fun.”



Suddenly Buzz’s face brightened. “You know, I brought some training tapes from my college. We could show those as part of the clinic.”



“We can run an extension 10 cord 11 from the garage to the boxcar and hook 12 up Grandfather’s portable 13 television and playback machine out there,” Henry suggested.



The twins were all caught up in the Aldens’ plans now.



“We’ll mix up the teams,” Buzz said. “The Blazers and Fast Breakers can do the drills together with kids from other teams. A clinic just might help us make up the practice time our team missed. Good idea, Aldens!”



Tipper wondered about something. “Should we check with Courtney and Frank and Tom? I mean, a clinic isn’t really part of the plans they have scheduled.”



Buzz shook his head. “The clinic doesn’t have to be part of the plans. Let’s just call kids up and tell them about it. Anybody can come.”



By this time Buzz and Tipper had spread out some paper and pencils to write down their plans.



“If we run the drills in sets, kids can start whenever they arrive,” Tipper said. “We could probably fit in three sets of drills. That way it won’t get too crowded in the backyard.” Tipper put down her pencil. “Whoa, stop! We haven’t even asked Mr. Alden if it’s okay to fill his yard with all these basketball players.”



Mr. Alden put down his coffee cup. “I like seeing my yard filled with youngsters 14. Why, what’s the good of having a big yard if people don’t use it?”



Mr. Alden got his wish. By noon on Saturday, basketball players from all over Greenfield were in the backyard doing drills. In one part of the driveway, Buzz showed players how to dribble 15 the ball while running. Tipper showed some older children how to make shots from the foul 16 line. In the boxcar, Henry had set up Mr. Alden’s portable television and a playback machine. About half a dozen players were inside the boxcar watching training tapes from Buzz’s college. The clinic was a huge success.



“This is so much fun, I’m staying all day,” Patsy Cutter told Jessie. “I want to be the champ of the Fast Breakers.”



When Patsy went off to practice her foul shots, Jessie turned to Violet 17. “I was hoping Patsy would only stay for one set of drills. That’s what I told everyone. More kids showed up at the clinic than we expected. Some players haven’t had even one chance for Tipper to coach them.”



Henry joined the girls outside. “Whew, I can’t believe how many people are here. Buzz asked me to call up Courtney, Frank, and Tom. We definitely 18 need more coaches!”



Right after Henry phoned the other coaches, a cameraman and reporter arrived from the local television station. The Nettleton Basketball Clinic was big news in Greenfield!



The reporter looked a little rushed and out of breath. “At last! I finally caught up with you two,” she said to the twins. “My cameraman and I waited for you for about an hour at the sports center. When you didn’t show up, we started calling around. We tracked you down here.”



Tipper and Buzz looked confused.



“Why did you think we’d be at the sports center?” Buzz wanted to know.



“Didn’t you get my message?” the woman asked. “I told someone at the center that we would meet you there at ten o’clock today and to call me if you couldn’t make it.”



Buzz shook his head. “We didn’t hear a thing about this. We’re in the middle of running a clinic. We really can’t do an interview right now.”



“Why not?” the reporter asked. “Your basketball clinic makes an even better story. After all, you did come to Greenfield to help out with the sports center. This clinic will give it even more attention.”



“I guess we don’t have a choice,” Buzz told Tipper.



“Okay. First we want to film Tipper with her Most Valuable Player trophy 19,” the reporter said. “Is it around?”



Tipper didn’t move. “Can’t you just show the two of us helping 20 the kids? After all, isn’t that the whole point of your coming here?”



“Sure,” the reporter said. “But you’re the first Greenfield player to get the MVP award. That is big news!”



“I’ll go get it,” Patsy Cutter offered when she overheard 21 the reporter.



“You know where it is?” Tipper asked, surprised to hear this.



“Well, I saw it when Jessie and I were in her room,” Patsy answered. “When I borrowed a pair of shorts from her.”



“Good. Bring it down here,” the reporter told Patsy.



When Patsy returned, the cameraman was taping Buzz showing several players how to dribble.



Patsy handed the trophy to Tipper. “Here it is.”



Seeing this, the cameraman stopped filming Buzz and aimed his camera at Tipper instead.



“There,” the cameraman told Tipper. “Just hold it like that while I get more tape rolling.”



Buzz tried to get his players back to playing basketball. No luck. They all wanted to be on television. While the cameraman taped, several children stood near Tipper and waved or made funny faces at the camera. They were going to be on television, too!



“Buzz looks upset,” Violet whispered to Jessie when they came over to see what was going on. “It’s just like the day when we kept asking about Tipper’s award.”



Buzz wasn’t the only person upset about Tipper’s award. By this time, Courtney Post and Frank Fowler had arrived to help with the clinic. But there was no coaching, no practicing, and no drills going when Courtney and Frank showed up. Instead everyone was watching the television crew filming Tipper and her award. Finally the cameraman waved Buzz into the picture, too.



The reporter faced the camera. “And it looks as if the Nettleton twins are headed for victory again — not as Most Valuable Players, but as Most Valuable Coaches in Greenfield.”



“Oh, no,” Henry whispered to Jessie. “Frank and Courtney won’t like that.” Henry went over to them before any more damage was done. “Thanks for showing up on such short notice. We really need your help. We didn’t expect so many kids to come.”



Jessie tried to explain what happened. “The television people heard about the clinic when they went to the sports center. Then they came here. Buzz and Tipper didn’t invite them. All they wanted to do was make up for the practices they missed. When so many kids showed up, they thought you might want to help out.”



“Great timing,” Courtney said. “We show up just in time to be in the audience for two coaches who don’t even live in Greenfield anymore. I’ve got better ways to spend my Saturdays.”



“Me, too,” Frank said.



At last the television people left. The children flocked 22 around Tipper to get a close look at her famous trophy.



“It’s real silver,” one girl from the Clipper team said.



“Of course it’s real silver,” Patsy Cutter told the girl.



“You should keep it in a safe place like a bank or something, with guards,” another girl said, touching 23 the tall, heavy trophy.



Buzz blew his whistle. “The interview is over. Everybody who wants to do some drills, line up near the backboard.”



“Right,” Tipper said, sticking the trophy inside the boxcar. “Let’s play basketball. That’s what we’re all here for.”



“Anybody who wants to learn how to do championship layups should go with Coach Fowler,” Buzz said. “He’s the best layup player Greenfield ever had.”



“Except for Courtney Post,” Tipper said to the players who were trying to decide what to do next. “Her layups are amazing. Maybe Frank and Courtney can take over all the layup drills.”



When they heard this, Frank Fowler and Courtney Post finally stopped looking so upset. Buzz and Tipper were famous for being famous. But Courtney and Frank were famous for their layups.



Buzz and Tipper moved out of the way of the two coaches. For the next hour they stayed in the boxcar, showing some of the kids training tapes. They wanted to give Frank and Courtney a chance to be the star coaches now.



By three o’clock, everyone was worn-out.



“What a day!” Henry said. “We had more people than at the sports center — almost, anyway.”



“Thanks for coming,” Tipper told Frank and Courtney. “We couldn’t have done it without you. Especially after those television people showed up. That was the last thing we needed. From now until the sports center opens, all I want to do is coach basketball.”



“Me, too,” Buzz said.



“Mind if we take a look at the training tapes before we leave?” Courtney asked Buzz. “Frank and I want to see how your coach teaches defense 24 positions.”



“Sure, the tapes are on a shelf in the boxcar,” Buzz said. “Just pop them into the machine.”



“See you Monday,” Frank told everyone. “We’ll turn off the television after we’re done.”



“So things worked out after all,” Henry said after the Aldens went inside the house. “The clinic was a good idea, Jessie.”



“Not a good idea — a great idea,” Buzz said. “Except for all those TV people showing up, we taught everybody a whole lot of basketball.”



The clinic had been a hit. The Aldens and the Nettleton twins decided 25 to sit down and plan another one. They were so busy talking about what they would do next time, nobody paid any mind to Watch. He was barking and barking at the kitchen window.



“It’s only Patsy out there, still practicing,” Jessie said. “She’s probably hoping you’ll come out and coach her some more, Tipper.”



Tipper yawned 26. “I’m all coached out. All I can think of is a hot shower and a nap 5. I’m afraid Patsy’s on her own.”