Failure

Success is the worst teacher there is.
You fail your way to success.
You have to get scarred up.
You have to go through it, so you can get where you want to go.
You learn through failure and being uncomfortable. That's where the real growth happens. @CoachVenables pic.twitter.com/FDJhVrRufE

— The Winning Difference (@thewinningdiff1) September 6, 2025

Organic Chemistry Professor von Doering told us, "the hardest problem to solve is the one you've already solved incorrectly." Do a crossword puzzle and it's a three-letter word for "household pet." Easy! CAT. Except it was DOG. Pilots make course corrections because tiny errors over a cross-country flight compound into wild misdirection. 

Failure is our mentor. "Love our losses" doesn't equate with "love to lose." As a high school basketball player, I witnessed an overtime loss to defending State Champion Lexington turn our season around. Coach Lane said, "the better team lost today. You lost because it said, "LEXINGTON" on their jerseys. We won't lose to them again." And we didn't. 

Some losses happen because the opponent was better. Get better at fundamentals - platform, footwork, armswing, decision-making. 

Some losses happen because the opponent was more athletic. Become more athletic with more strength, power, lateral quickness. 

Some losses happen because the opponent made better decisions. Make better decisions on where to serve, where to set, what type of attack.

Some losses happen because you get outplayed that day. Maybe that's what happened when Belmont beat Reading.  

No Melrose team has ever gone undefeated - not the State Champion or the ten sectional title teams. The MVB goal has always persisted, "win the next game." 

"Incredible achievements happen when no one cares who gets the credit."

Lagniappe. Optimizing attack. Find solutions.