WatcherOnTheWall

@VinnysCorner1 I am over 40 and live in Massachusetts… we are blessed

True or False: you’ve seen at least 5 championships between your favorite NHL, NFL, MLB and NBA franchises

@rshorter1 @TrevorHass @JumboHart Football is back on the climb back. Youth program numbers have doubled pre COVID numbers in many places

@mac_ridley @TrevorHass @JumboHart Girl Basketball is nearly dead in this state incl Wellesley - all time low participation. I'm a boys coach.

In 2021, 65 student-athletes tried out for the Wellesley girls’ lacrosse program. Five years later, just 25 players tried out, and the Raiders have 21 in their program. Wellesley’s situation illuminates a larger trend, in which MIAA girls’ lacrosse participation is significantly declining and JV teams are disappearing. A total of 7,757 athletes played in 2022, 7,529 in 2024, and 7,261 in 2025. Why is this happening? Wellesley coach Steve Balter believes it boils down to three main factors, among others: influx to private schools, club sports impacting availability, and inequities regarding middle school participation: bostonglobe.com/2026/03/31/spo… @GlobeSchools @WellesleyATR @RaiderGLax

@rshorter1 @TrevorHass @JumboHart I assume you are speaking about girls athletics. Basketball feels like a pretty strong pull for athletes.

@TrevorHass @JumboHart 1. Soccer is King in Mass Youth Sports - they will attract the most athletic players 90% of the time 2. Year round Club participation is required to maintain A Team status and skills, when the others play all yr 3. Lacrosse is only played by kids whose parents played in college

@Andy_Villamarzo CM has that option now but decline the option to play up in D1. 🐓💩

Answer: Bring an Open Division to the MIAA. Schools like Xaverian Brothers, St. John’s Prep, Catholic Memorial and a handful of others can compete in an elite bracket, according to a ranking system of state’s choosing, to place the MIAA’s top 4 to 8 teams against on another for a chance to win a state championship. That would help open up opportunities for public schools within the MIAA to win a Division 1 or Division 2 title. Everything else regarding players transferring to prep and private schools is an entirely separate topic that essentially every state around the country deals with. Answer to that is really find a way to fairly regulate all of your rules or make school choice a thing for student-athletes, but have a rule in place to have a sit out period if they do it more than once within the confines of the association. End of the day, families are going to do what they want and will find a way to do it and if that’s leave your school, it’ll happen one way or another.

@newftbj @DuganRyan8 Would love big and small Catholics and then 5 divisions of public schools. 1 less division and feels very equitable. However, less playoff games means less gate for MIAA. Also would love to see Tabor play X or CM but that isn’t happening either.

@DuganRyan8 The MIAA has to want that and the Catholic Schools have to agree to it. Neither has given any indication they would entertain it. You see how hard it is to get anything through the TMC let alone something like this.

First off. Hat tip to Alex for the work he put into doing this. It is great that we are having the conversation. However, we have been having it for years and nothing has changed or is going to change. The only fix is to separate Public, Catholic and Private schools completely. The NEPSAC is separate but the Catholic Schools will never leave the MIAA, nor will the MIAA ask them to leave. I am not advocating for them to leave but if we’re going to “fix” the issue, that is really the only solution. We are really the only region in the country that has this dynamic. The rest of the country doesn’t have elite boarding schools and the number of Catholic Schools that we have. Public schools are caught in a vice. And I wholeheartedly disagree with Alex on the recruiting piece. NEPSAC schools need to recruit to operate and they target public schools. That hurts public school programs. Same with the Catholic Schools. They need to recruit kids to exist. How they recruit is a whole other conversation. This is all about Public Schools being at a disadvantage. You can take the Catholic Schools out of the MIAA and it will help in terms of winning championships but the bigger issue will remain. Talent distribution. The recruiting issue will still be a problem. One that won’t be fixed because ultimately, we live in a free country and parents and athletes can attend whatever schools they want. Believe me. Public Schools need to be better too. Some of them aren’t exactly enticing athletes to want to stay either. Bottom line. The system isn’t broken. It never existed.

@newftbj The constant transferring of schools doesn’t help. Similar to the NCAA transfer portal issues you have kids playing for 3 or more programs in a HS career. Not sure how it can be fixed because of the NEPSAC layer but maybe it’s more of a culture problem around youth sports

@HCBrianSmith @paul_reitano @AlexAgrellaRB Coach how long have you been at Lynn? Interested in your thoughts of the public vs private debate given that Lynn always has great youth football but never seem to be able translate that to the high school level. Are the privates the driving force there or is it circumstantial?

@paul_reitano @AlexAgrellaRB Also keep in mind going by population alone is not a good metric it should be athletic participation population as some states have older populations and some have a huge part of population that do not play athletics

Im putting my career on the line but it’s time for change in Massachusetts. This isn’t just about Publics vs Privates anymore. It’s about the playoff format and what the data from 2013 to today actually shows. No opinions. Just the cold hard facts. You won’t want to miss this: youtu.be/vl7i8brbmyk?si…

@paul_reitano @AlexAgrellaRB Do not forget one the MIAA muppets was recently making public comments crying poor because their tournament revenue is down. They have to figure out a new way to milk more money out of their grift!

@paul_reitano @AlexAgrellaRB Sir, you forget the MIAA has cushy pension plans and benefit packages to fund for their bloated staff. All those football playoff games pay for their “retreats”, car and cell phone allowance and free healthcare in retirement in addition to their inflated salaries.

@CurCarry @MorePerfectUS I bet you believe strippers when they tell you how much they like talking to you and want you to get a private dance so she can get to know you better.

The Red Sox are a horrible example for this point. They are top tier contenders in the AL this year with the highest payroll in franchise history. Infinite spending is not possible. Devers and Betts were not “sell a player and pocket the money” moves, they were defensible, arguably necessary moves made to allocate funds in a more balanced way. FSG prioritizes sustained contention over emotional overspending. That is how you win long-term without lighting money on fire. (I will admit mookie trade was horrible but I don’t think it really cements the thesis in any way here) Video comes across as either populist slop without a nuanced understanding of MLB roster building… or a wholly incorrect, idealistic conclusion wherein all teams should go all in every single year.

NEW: It's now more lucrative to have a losing sports team than a championship team. We examined the Boston Red Sox to see how private equity and cost cutting invaded sports. In this era, teams want to sell good players for profit more than they want to have a good season.

@OnlyNaaman @Simon_Ingari Bringing in HR is not a recipe for success the will not only side with management, they will advise management to strip any potential leverage from you

How to survive in any workplace: – Document everything (emails, meetings, policies) – Follow what’s written, not what people suddenly say – Stay calm and professional (it protects you) – Bring in HR when needed – Know your rights or join a union And real talk: Having access to a lawyer isn’t extreme, it’s protection. You don’t need one for everything. But knowing you can call one if things go left changes the game. Because the truth is: Hard work alone won’t save you. Proof and leverage will. Managers can change their mind. They can’t ignore rules forever. Stay smart, not emotional, that’s how you stay safe.

Manager: Why is your camera off? Employee: What do you mean? It’s always off. Manager: No, we need you to turn it on for this meeting. I’m asking you to turn it on. Employee: Okay, I’m just confused why you’re coming at me when everyone’s cameras are off. Manager: That’s because we don’t trust that you’re working from home. Employee: You don’t trust me, but you trust everyone else in these meetings? Manager: Yes. Employee: This feels a bit unprofessional, especially doing this in front of the whole team. Manager: Well, I asked you nicely and you’re not turning it on, so I have to escalate the situation. Employee: Okay, I’m just confused because the work-from-home contract says we don’t have to keep cameras on. It’s the same contract everyone else has, and their cameras are off too. I literally have the meeting record where you said it was fine. Manager: Okay, but as your manager, I can change my mind. If I ask you to turn your camera on, it’s not for no reason. You don’t need to worry about everyone else—I asked you. Employee: I just feel like I’m being targeted. This is crazy. Why me? It feels like you’re singling me out in front of everyone. Manager: I’m not attacking you. I simply asked you to turn your camera on and you’re not doing it. If you don’t want to turn it on when I ask, I can remove your work-from-home arrangement and have you work from the office. Employee: I’m following the work-from-home policy, so you can try that, but it’s not going to work. Manager: As your manager, trust me—I can do what I want.

@JackMac As a fellow fatty that’s entirely in this guy. You gotta be careful when choosing places to step/sit.

Unbelievable video from LA. 500 pound man fell into a hole on a construction site. Unclear how, but he has been saved.

@Top25PublicHSFB @ScitFootball I mean I would argue Foxboro could be ahead of them as they have been to the final 4 every year and 3 straight title games with 1 victory but I am biased. Foxboro also has a winning record against North Attleboro in that time frame.

@mac_ridley @ScitFootball Thanks, idk how I missed that, they should probably be bumped to #5.

@OttoFrinta @Georgebabs__ Bots don’t have kids

It is not easy being a girls dad 🥺

@Picks4Sale @queen__valerie_ Renee Portnoy is an all time ride or die. That was some thot he was hooking up with after separation. This is the kinda thing that leads to people believing the Patriots taped the Rams walk through.

@queen__valerie_ She fucked the soul cycle employee behind his back lol

Two adults can get divorced and still respect each other…imagine that…

@bsp_13 It is “The Gem of Norfolk County”…

alec????? trey????? may i interest you in foxboro, massachusetts?

@PaceNSpace2 Understanding the greatness of the trap block is what separates the casuals from those that did work in the A Gap.

Legend

@KenHeLive Guy was a multiple mvp. Always well respected in the locker room any guy that has the respect of their teammates to that level has gotta have a side like this to them otherwise dudes wouldn’t want to play for/with him

Never seen him show any type personality while winning MVPs but he turned into Timberlake for Rooks. Lmao

@Newsforce Wish they would do the same over in America and restore some integrity to our healthcare system

MAFIA ALLEGEDLY RAN HOSPITAL SIDE HUSTLES Italian police arrested 4 people accused of letting the Camorra crime network profit from a public hospital in Naples. They did it by controlling the cafeteria, coffee bar, and vending machines. Not the ER. Prosecutors also claim the group staged fake car crashes for insurance payouts and moved corpses on stretchers with oxygen masks to bill private ambulance transfers. More charges, more money. Officials say intimidation and reputation kept people quiet, showing how modern organized crime can operate without firing a shot.