"Who Is Your Champion?"

For most young people, their parents are their champion. If your parents won't stand up for you, who will? One problem that arises is that parents act as or get labeled as, "helicopter parents" or "snowplow parents." 

At times, regardless of good intention, 'our champion' won't have enough "juice" to overcome a barrier or navigate tough situations. That's when "networking" or "connection" comes in.

In "The Courage to Be Disliked," the authors discuss the importance of community. They encourage horizontal rather than hierarchical (vertical) relationships. Vertical relationships emphasize authority and can deprioritize responsibility (it wasn't my decision). Horizontal relationships can encourage respect, encouragement, and teamwork. 

Coaches by nature have authority, yet seek balance. The best teams have "player-led" leadership where everyone has accountability to the well-being of the team. 

There is parallel alignment. Your coaches, you, and your families want you to succeed. The old saying goes, "You can only put six on the court at a time." "Always do your best" and stay ready for your opportunity. 

Who is your champion? It starts with you. 

Lagniappe. Float options. 

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"Food for Thought"

Food for thought: if you could only include 3-5 drills in your practices for the rest of the entire season, what drills would you choose?

Do them more often.

— Hoops Companion 🏀 Resources for Coaches (@Hoops_Companion) August 1, 2026

Coaching excellence develops and prepares players and puts them in the best position to succeed. 

"Do more of what works and less of what doesn't."

I couldn't name the five most vital volleyball drills. In basketball, great drills have offense, defense, decision-making, and competition. 

Rely on Coach Scott Celli and staff to put you in position to succeed. It's not the roster with the most talent, but the roster that is the best team that ultimately succeeds.  

The Perils of Alcohol and the Student-Athlete*

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

Image adapted by ChatGPT Plus from an older blog post

What keeps coaches awake at night? Coaches don't control what happens when players leave the gym. Chemical health is an oxymoron like "jumbo shrimp." 

My mother "offered" me alcohol when I was thirteen. I didn't know much then, but I could already see how it was affecting her. I declined. 

First, there is no "stay in your lane." As a physician who practiced for 44 years, I've seen the acute, chronic, and mixed effects of alcohol. I've seen dual diagnosis patients (mental health plus alcoholism) and patients commit suicide related to alcohol. I've seen alcohol-related cancers. I trained with a Navy doctor who had to have his ship's Captain "relieved for cause" because the CO came back to the ship intoxicated on multiple occasions. 

Every story was tragic and preventable. 

• Patients who showed up in acute liver failure and died in days
• Alcohol withdrawal - "DTs" - "shakes, horrors, and fits"
• Patients who had organ-specific toxicity (heart failure, pancreatitis, cirrhosis, dementia - "wet brain"). None of them started to drink thinking they'd end up with the "glass holding them" instead of the other way around.
• Secondary effects like "aspiration pneumonia"
• Patients with DUIs or vehicular homicides

I've heard again and again, "there's nothing else to do here."

I've seen a teammate show up intoxicated for a game - and play poorly. The coach said, "What's the matter with you today?" 

The simple answer is "alcohol impairs every thing about you." It degrades memory, concentration, strength, endurance, recovery, and sleep. 

Here's a list of prominent NBA players (AI can make mistakes) whose alcohol issues impacted their careers. 

In addition to alcohol health impairment, alcohol use or being at gatherings with alcohol could result in a four game suspension - twenty percent of your season. There's no DATU (doesn't apply to us) do-over. 

If being your best is your brand, alcohol is one way to destroy it.

Lagniappe. School ball is not 'club ball'. 

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Make Excellence Your Brand

Be that person today! pic.twitter.com/AUy7L5AAnP

— Jon Gordon (@JonGordon11) August 1, 2026

Model excellence at home, in school, and in your extracurricular activities.

At home:

How can I help?

In school:

How can I bring the best version of myself?

In volleyball:

How can I serve my teammates?

How can I make everyone around me better?

How can I "give the game what it needs?"

 

Make excellence your brand. 

Lagniappe. Hard balls, one-armed, and the "Magic Circle" 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Better

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Former Celtics' assistant coach Kevin Eastman told players, "You own your paycheck."

He meant that your commitment in terms of skill development, video study, strength and conditioning, and on-court effort determines your compensation. 

MVB is no different. "Professionalism" in attitude, choices, and effort (including academics) parallels improvement, playing time, results, and recognition. 

I don't know your parents well...or at all. I know their commitment to your personal development and happiness. None of them stand over you with a cattle prod warning, "If you don't do plyometrics, I'm lighting you up." 

The MVB blog isn't a cattle prod either. Nobody knows if you're reading it. The goal is sharing information, asking questions, and providing learning opportunities. 

Lagniappe. Becoming a better blocker is one avenue to earning more time. "You don't want to block the ball; you block the hitter." 

Agendas and Perspective

Excellence Is Our Only Agenda - UNC Women's Soccer locker room 

Strong organizations "keep their eyes on the ball," understanding that the main thing is the main thing. 

What is the main thing? Director Ron Howard says, "The director is the keeper of the story." The director has to tell the story, to keep it on track to a successful conclusion. The story is process. 

Once in the Navy there was a Department of Medicine meeting. A senior Captain made a public suggestion. The Chief of Medicine answered, "Captain, if I want your opinion, I'll ask for it." That shut down comments from the hundred or so department members. 

I don't remember the initial suggestion, but I'll never forget the response.

The questioner wasn't skipping the Chain of Command (as the Chief was his immediate supervisor) but sometimes decisions are "carved in stone," regardless of merit.

Multiple perspectives could be drawn:

1. The comment insulted or questioned the authority of the Chief or failed to recognize the gravity of the issue.

2. The questioner chose a bold initiative that was iconoclastic. 

3. The meeting was informational and not open to public "debate."

The boss isn't obligated to explain the "why" to subordinates. However, sometimes a logical explanation builds support for policy. 

There's a scene in "Misaeng" where a junior executive asks a senior manager in another department to reconsider a decision. The manager assigns her to write two position papers (overnight):  

• Factors under consideration for the decision 
• Factors explaining why the manager's department rejected the proposal

The audience might consider the assignment "punitive" or "educational." This could also be, "cognitive dissonance," the struggle to hold two opposing ideas at the same time. 

"The Director is the keeper of the story." 

Lagniappe. "Chop Wood, Carry Water." Be faithful in the small things. 

#Eagles HC Nick Sirianni with a speech in front of the team that has a lesson that applies to any line of work:

(📽️ @Eagles)pic.twitter.com/KI3q8PpyOn

— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) July 30, 2026

 

"More Than Meets the Eye"

What we say and how we say it can change everything. The K-drama "Misaeng" shares how we are all 'incomplete'. Incomplete doesn't mean worthless. 

Accept the challenge of seeing and adding value when are where they may not be obvious. 

This conversation discusses how a low authority, low power employee (Geu-Rae) changes a business. 

PROMPT: In Misaeng, season 1, episode 6, Geu-Rae accompanies Mr. Park on a problem-solving meeting to another business that has served their company poorly with delays. 

Geu-Rae points out two things to his senior, "I can learn a lot from you" and "you're good with clients." This emboldens a timid, indecisive Park. Later, back at HQ, Park is magnanimous and accepts responsibility for the problem...asking the company to continue the client relationship. Geu-Rae feels powerless despite having helped the senior.

AI RESPONSE: Yes - and I think that sequence is one of Misaeng's early statements about what contribution actually looks like. Geu-rae misunderstands his own importance because he's still measuring contribution by authority.

Geu-rae has almost no positional power. He's a temporary employee, inexperienced, poorly credentialed, and accompanying a senior employee to a meeting. From the organizational chart, he's nearly irrelevant.

Yet he does something rather sophisticated.

He sees something valuable in Mr. Park that Mr. Park doesn't see in himself.

“I can learn a lot from you” isn't empty praise. Neither is “you're good with clients.” Geu-rae has observed him and identified an actual competence. That's why the words work. He gives Mr. Park evidence that contradicts Mr. Park's own diminished view of himself.

There's an interesting connection to what we were just discussing from The Courage to Be Disliked: encouragement creates agency.

Geu-rae doesn't tell Park what to do. He doesn't resolve the business problem. He doesn't give him a motivational speech.

He essentially says:

I see something in you that is useful.

And Park starts behaving like the person Geu-rae sees.

Then comes the wonderful reversal

At the management meeting, Park finally demonstrates leadership. He stops protecting himself, accepts responsibility and asks One International to continue working with the client.

That's important because magnanimity requires strength. The earlier Park was too frightened and indecisive to assume responsibility. Once he recovers some confidence, he can afford to say, in effect:

This happened on my watch. Don't punish everyone else for it.

Geu-rae helped create the conditions for that act.

And then Geu-rae walks away feeling powerless.

That's the irony.

He's using the wrong scoreboard.

He thinks:

I couldn't fix the problem.
I couldn't make the decision.
I couldn't protect Mr. Park.
I have no authority.
Therefore, I contributed little.

But we saw something different:

Geu-rae → recognizes Park's strength → Park gains confidence → Park acts decisively → Park accepts responsibility → relationship may be preserved.

Geu-rae didn't make the final move.

He changed the board.

That's wonderfully consistent with the Go metaphor running through Misaeng. A stone doesn't have to capture another stone to matter. Its placement can alter what becomes possible several moves later.

There's a terrific coaching lesson here

Young players often make Geu-rae's mistake.

They equate contribution with the visible outcome.

I didn't score.
I didn't start.
I didn't get the kill.
I wasn't on the court at match point.

Therefore:

I didn't matter.

But contribution has second-order effects.

A teammate encourages another player. Someone communicates an opponent's tendency from the bench. A reserve pushes a starter in practice. A setter restores an struggling hitter's confidence. Someone covers the hitter and allows the rally to continue.

None necessarily appears prominently in the box score.

Yet each changes what happens next.

And I particularly like the distinction between what Geu-rae does and conventional praise. He doesn't say:

“You're great, Mr. Park.”

He identifies specific evidence of competence:

“You're good with clients.”

That's almost exactly the distinction we made earlier between “Great block” and “You read that early and closed before the hitter committed.”

One evaluates. The other gives the person information she can use.

Perhaps the deeper lesson

Geu-rae believes his lack of power prevents him from leading.

Misaeng is beginning to teach him—and us—that leadership and authority aren't synonymous.

Park had authority and initially couldn't lead.

Geu-rae had virtually no authority and influenced Park.

Then Park used his recovered confidence to exercise genuine leadership by taking responsibility.

That's a lovely little chain:

Observation → Encouragement → Confidence → Courage → Accountability.

And Geu-rae stands at the end thinking he accomplished nothing.

That's one of the reasons Misaeng works so well. The audience can see Geu-rae becoming valuable before Geu-rae can.

For coaching, I might reduce the entire scene to one line:

You don't need authority to add value.

Especially as a young player, you may feel 'unseen' and 'unheard'. Invisible. You are not. Your attitude, interaction, and effort impact the entire team - for better and rarely for worse. Do not underestimate how a single stone can "change the board" or incite meaningful ripples. Precious few of Melrose's elite players knew they made a difference as youngsters. 

 

A Critical Skill - Resetting

pic.twitter.com/wkGa5wKccY

— Mindful Maven (@mindfulmaven_) July 29, 2026

Play present without overhang from the previous play. 

- If an opponent aces the serve...think "hit it to me." In David Ortiz-speak, "You hang it, we bang it."

- If your attack goes long, think "the next one is going down." 

- If you've had a shanked ball or an overpass, think "the next one gets it done." 

In a game of momentum, maintain yours and disrupt theirs. Reset with positive self-talk. 

The Wisdom of Ages

All opinions within are solely my own. The blog is not an official publication of any City of Melrose institution. 

When you have half an hour to enjoy wisdom and humor, watch this commencement address. Much wisdom gets shared at graduations. 

Charlie Munger’s 1998 Harvard speech is the ultimate cheat code for life.

He compressed 74 years of billionaire wisdom into just 30 minutes.

Most people spend 4 years in college and learn less than what’s in this video.

Save this video, you will come back to this. pic.twitter.com/3steYoekOV

— Documenting Saylor (@saylordocs) February 28, 2026

 "Wisdom acquisition is a moral duty." 

Stepwise Thinking - Process

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 "Never multiply things beyond necessity." 

The Process

What do we have to do to become successful? 

Are we willing to do that (mental, physical, emotional)?

Commit daily to follow that process. 

Examples

"Chefs cook to nurture people." - Study cooking, assemble ingredients, optimize preparation, time, and temperature

Students - "Success is a choice." Learn how to learn. Pomodoro technique 25 minutes on, 5 minutes off. Spaced repetition - learn over time, not by cramming. Self-testing. What are the key lessons from this chapter, author, course? 

Athletes - What do I have to do to improve my overall skillset (technique, tactics, physicality, resilience)? How specifically do I make the players around me better? How do my contributions impact winning? 

Opportunity Abounds

Impact blockers will earn front row playing time. 

Dynamic servers who can defend will get serve rotations.

Versatile attackers who can read blockers and execute will get more time in the middle or the pins. 

Ask yourself, "What is my MVB skill?" 

 

 

Armswing Dissected

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Coach Donnie breaks down the attack armswing:

You might use an mnemonic - 

A - archer (he calls it Nike position)

C - core engagement with high elbow

E - extension to elevate contact point 

No volleyball positions grow on trees. Learn the fundamentals and continually practice proper mechanics. Competence, execution, and confidence grow your game. 

NEX

Mindset

"Control what you can control." What does that mean for you?

Are you "on the team" or "for the team?" Players and families make incredible sacrifices in time and money for uncertain results. Make the experience special. 

Meyer's Wisdom

Legendary coach Don Meyer shared a lot of profound wisdom on his website and through his life. 

"Would you rather have two better players or two better plays?" 

"Most parents would rather have their son be All-State than have the team win States." 

Nothing Cheaper than Free Advice

Savor the MVB experience. Be a great teammate and make friends for life.

Every season ends in tears - tears of joy or tears of sadness. 

"Always do your best." That leaves the least regret. 

We make our habits and our habits make us. 

We can't control most of what happens to us, but we can control how we respond. Don't feel the pain of that 'second arrow'. 

Lagniappe. Resist temptation (like Growth Mindset cards?). The ads are out there. 

Lagniappe 2. A few more Don Meyer quotes:

"Complacency is the forerunner of mediocrity.  You can never work too hard on attitudes, effort and technique." ~ Don Meyer

"Recognize and reward players who put the team first, not just the gifted ones." ~ Don Meyer

"Positioning, anticipation and technique create quickness. Therefore, you can always get quicker" ~ Don Meyer

"Emergency" Cinnamon Rolls - Probably a Repost

It's a great day to bake. Every day is a great day for "min-min" rolls as the grandkids say.

The recipe reminds me of Nana Murphy's "triangle roll-ups" from left over pie crust (in the 1960's).

1. Start "mise en place" - gather ingredients and prep tools (I find a pastry scraper/cutter is helpful) 

2. Substitute? For the dough, instead of milk, half-and-half (richer) or oat milk?

3. Get underway.

The recipe: 

Why this works

• No yeast

• No rise time

• Soft, biscuit-like texture

• Cinnamon!

Ingredients

Dough

• 2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 tbsp baking powder

• ½ tsp salt

• ¾ cup milk

• ¼ cup melted butter

Filling

• ½ cup brown sugar

• 2 tbsp cinnamon (don’t be shy)

• 2 tbsp softened butter

Optional glaze

• 1 cup powdered sugar

• 1–2 tbsp milk

• Splash of vanilla

Steps (15 minutes prep)

1. Heat oven to 375°F.

2. Mix dry dough ingredients, stir in milk + butter.

3. Roll into a rectangle.

4. Spread butter, sprinkle brown sugar + cinnamon.

5. Roll tight, slice.

6. Bake 20–25 min.

7. Glaze warm.

 As we say in our family, "Don't Waste It." 

Who Let the Dogs Out?

John Calipari during Arkansas’ practice:

“If you’re not a dog on this team, you won’t play. I feel bad for you; no one got promised anything. I’m playing the dogs, because if I put a bunch of dogs out there, we’re not losing.”

(🎥 @RazorbackMBB) | #WPS pic.twitter.com/YFDUAOvdLu

— Grayson Pierce (@GraysonPierce4) July 27, 2026

When coaches say, "she's a dog," that's praise. The dog gets after it and does not quit.

You may know the expression, "That dog don't hunt." That's not what you seek. 

And if you want maximum respect, "Be a dawg." 

Lagniappe. The "DiRaffaele" 

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MVB Culture Is a Choice

Your culture isn't something that's written on the walls. Your culture is what your people experience daily.

— Allistair McCaw (@AllistairMcCaw) July 28, 2026

MVB culture isn't "new" or "improved." It has existed for decades.

• Values hard work 
• Makes learning a priority
• Practices both the Golden Rule and the Silver Rule (the Silver Rule is "do not treat others as you would not want to be treated.") 
• Welcomes younger players
• Shares - older players teach younger players
• Encourages - reserve players are "in" the game

"Culture eats strategy for breakfast."

"You get the culture that you accept." 

"Fight for your culture every day." 

This is a quintessential example, a "signature play" in MVB history:

The 2022 team showed maximum resilience during a postseason match with Billerica. 

Set 4, Melrose leads 2-1, 23-22. Ruth Breen slows an attack, Emma Desmond makes a running one-handed save going out of bounds, and Chloe Gentile gets a kill with an athletic adjustment. Watch the bench.