Making the Improbable Play Every Day

All opinions expressed in the blog are solely my own. The blog is not an official publication of any City of Melrose organization.

Make the improbable possible. Be "dirt dogs." 

Make memories for yourselves and the community. 

Little girls fashion big stories. Stephanie Crovo (left) played on the 2012 State Title team. Liz Sheerin played on the 2005 State finalists. Dr. Victoria Crovo was one of the great competitors and leaders in MVB history. 

Why should the Melrose community be excited about MVB 26? "Dirt dogs" are everywhere. 

Excellence 

The sign in the UNC Women's Soccer locker room reads, "Excellence Is Our Only Agenda." 

Be your best at home, in school, and on the court. Live the 'Fourth Agreement', "Always do your best." 

Teamwork 

Alan Williams was a walk-on at Wake Forest. He had scored 51 points in a high school basketball game, but was an afterthought in Winston-Salem. All the player got a personalized gym bag, black and gold. He didn't. He returned to his locker later and found one - with the engraved number of the team's star player, who gifted his. He understood that "Teammates Matter," later the title of Williams' book. 

Culture 

"Fight for your culture every day." 

MIT graduates can buy a class ring with the "brass rat" (beaver) on it - the "hardest working in the animal kingdom." Your culture is your ecosystem, your support system, your ethos. 

Improvement  

A one percent daily improvement leads to a 37 fold improvement over a year, the power of exponential growth.

The Minnesota Twins released David Ortiz in 2002. Ortiz had "holes" in his swing. He closed them. 

Antifragility

Antifragile systems respond well to stress. Evolution is antifragile, making daughter organisms superior over time.

Here's an AI (Microsoft Copilot) take:

The three most important takeaways from Nassim Nicholas Taleb’s Antifragile are:

1. Antifragility: Systems that gain from disorder

The core idea is that some systems don’t just survive volatility — they benefit from it. Muscles grow from stress; evolution advances through random mutation; decentralized societies adapt faster than centralized ones. Taleb distinguishes three categories:

• Fragile — harmed by volatility

• Robust — resists volatility but doesn’t improve

• Antifragile — improves because of volatility

This framing pushes you to design your life, decisions, and systems so they have convexity — more upside than downside when randomness hits.

2. Via Negativa: Subtraction strengthens systems

Taleb argues that the fastest path to strength is removing sources of fragility, not adding new features or interventions. Examples include eliminating debt, cutting harmful habits, reducing over‑optimization, and avoiding unnecessary medical or bureaucratic meddling (“iatrogenics”). The principle: remove what makes you weak before adding what might make you strong.

3. Optionality & the Barbell Strategy: Asymmetric upside beats prediction

Taleb insists that you cannot reliably forecast rare, high‑impact events (“Black Swans”). Instead, you should position yourself to benefit from them.

Two tools make this possible:

• Optionality — small bets with limited downside and large upside

• Barbell strategy — keep most resources extremely safe while allocating a small portion to high‑risk, high‑reward opportunities

This structure protects you from ruin while exposing you to positive randomness.

MVB 26 has a shot at Antifragility through training and roster depth.

Leadership

Everyone can lead. Lead with punctuality and preparation. Lead by supporting others and never being a distraction.

Competitiveness

Compete. Win every day. Make competitiveness your personal and group brand. There used to be a term, "Gym Rats," describing players who were always in the gym, working on their game. Be a gym rat. 

Sportsmanship

Play the game the right way - play smart, play hard, play together, play fair. MVB 2004 won the MIAA Sportsmanship Award.  

Mentoring

"Mentoring is the only shortcut to excellence." Be welcoming, be helpful to all teammates. Remember the Silver Rule, "Do not do unto others as you would not have them do unto you."

Mudita

Playing with joy is a skill. Mudita comes from Sanskrit meaning "your joy is my joy." Be happy, not envious, for the success of others. 

Lagniappe. Play like J-Mac. You've heard of chicken and waffles...she served up chicken wings and pancakes.