All opinions expressed are my own. Don't blame the City of Melrose, School Department, Athletic Department, Melrose High School, or Flip Wilson ("The devil made me do it.") And yes, Teddy Roosevelt said, "comparison is the thief of joy."
Objectivity wrestles with Herculean tasks for difficulty. What's the inverse? Bias.
Sometimes, we see players and teams through rose-colored glasses. "They have no weaknesses and they're a sure thing for the playoffs." And then it doesn't happen. Or we see a talent-limited team and dismiss them. And they win, maybe win a lot, or win a title.
We forget about random variation in performance, health and injury, and luck. In "Thinking in Bets," WSOP champion Annie Duke says that poker is 76 percent skill and 24 percent luck. She argues that "resulting," making judgments on results alone, oversimplifies the game.
There's "endowment bias," my guy, my team, my kid. Is Jayson Tatum better than Jokic, Embiid, Giannis? By what metric?
Stratifying players or teams into 'tiers' can decrease but not remove bias. Especially if we have a small 'tier' disputes will be irresolvable. For example, who belongs on the Mount Rushmore of the Red Sox? Ted Williams by acclamation. David Ortiz? I think so. That leaves two spots, with Carl Yastrzemski the clubhouse leader for one. Who gets the final spot? Roger Clemens or Pedro?
We're affected by recency bias. The top players seen recently stick in our consciousness. I 'anchor' on winning. Players that won a State Title earn more consideration, right? Winning depends on the supporting cast, too. The greatest player never to win a sectional championship at Melrose was Victoria Crovo.
And there's "analytics," the numbers. It's hard to ignore the Melrose All-Time single season and career leaders. But that doesn't mean I ignore the eyeball test either.
The tetrad of All-State selections, winning, numbers, and performance under the postseason spotlight impact my tiering. I exclude any players currently on the team. And inevitably, I'll omit someone deserving and people will take issue with the tiers. These aren't stone tablets. But if it gets people talking volleyball in the offseason, so much the better.
I'll give it a go for the top three tiers of Melrose players. It's imperfect and biased, and I recuse myself from including my daughters.
Tier One (alphabetically)
- Brooke Bell
- Hannah Brickley
- Jen Cain
- Victoria Crovo
- Lily Fitzgerald
- Jill MacInnes
- Sarah McGowan
- Emma Randolph
- Elena Soukos
- Gia Vlajkovic
Tier Two (alphabetically)
- Nicole Abbott
- Andrea Basteri
- Marisa Cataldo
- Amanda Commito
- Marianne Foley
- Colleen Hanscom
- Erin Hudd
- Emily Hudson
- Rachel Johnson
- Allie Nolan
- Autumn Whelan
- Athena Ziavras
Tier Three (alphabetically)
- Ruth Breen
- Jen Cohane
- Saoirse Connolly
- Kerry Dillon
- Chloe Gentile
- Eva Haralabatos
- Laura Irwin
- Amanda Labella
- Merri Lessing
Take a rotation from any of these groups and you'll win a lot.
Lagniappe. Learn from experts. Setting at the dining table?
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