You know that Monty Python pro-reading advert where John Cleese goes EXCITEMENT! DRAMA! ACTION! VIOLENCE! FRESH FRUIT! PASSION! THRILLS! SPILLS! ROMANCE! ADVENTURE! All the things YOU can read about...IN A BOOK! ?
Well, Rocco gets the humor of that, AND the message behind it.
I suppose if your dad's a college professor, and your big sister (a college student) treats you like a peer, it tends to rub off on you.

Rocco's a jock who, needless to say, doesn't quite fit in with the other jocks.
He got into sports for the right reasons. Because it was fun being active and working towards a common goal with a bunch of peers who had your back and feeling elated for days after a good game, win or lose. He could even tell you what "endorphins" are, and how they figured in the resultant good feeling.
Too bad he's at that age where he's beginning to realize not all of his fellow jocks are on the same page.
Especially when it comes to things like appreciation of art and nature and science and all kinds of other things that interest him.

Did I mention that he can use words like "desensitized" in an essay and actually use them in the proper context? Well, he can.~

And here's his best friend: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/8750215/