welcome to the sharks/willmack world!!! 🩵🦈

(and to the accidental psychoanalysis of rick celebrini...)

yes, mack's relationship with his dad is certainly one of the harder things to figure out when first starting out in this fandom, especially with how he's portrayed in fics!

there is a definite, sort of truth, behind the way rick is characterised in most fics and it primarily stems from his dual role as both mack's father and his performance coach.

rick celebrini is currently the director of sports medicine and performance for the golden state warriors (working with athletes like steph curry etc.) and has previously worked with the vancouver canucks.

one can assume because of the level of position he’s in, that rick is very good at what he does. also, with rick in the positions he was in whilst mack was growing up, mack was exposed to many great athletes and absorbed their work ethics ‘almost like an osmosis’, according to rick.

in this video, it's very clear that rick raised his children to be high-performing athletes (seriously, mack is like 6? and doing resistence training here...) mack's brother aiden says, 'we always had to make it our priority to get better everyday'.

rick says he has, 'at different points, challenged [his kids] - 'if you really love this, and you have a passion for it, let me help you get to the pinnacle of that sport'.'

rick would ask them, 'what's your plan today?' 'what are you doing to get better today?' and mack has said that 'some off-days i don't feel comfortable not doing anything' (which probably isn't the healthiest mindset in the world, AND why will being on the sharks is good for him -> forced downtime, yay!!)

some golden state warriors guy says 'no doubt, he treats his kids just like he treats his players' and says he suggests to rick he lets the kids take the day off for once and 'go and see a movie' or something. (jeez).

there's a clear blurring of lines here, and it doesn't help that mack is certainly a daddy's boy. his mom says he 'hangs on to rick's every word.' (mack: 'i'm lucky to have him. we're all lucky to have him.') mack still calls his dad before games and obviously values his guidence even now that he's living away from home.

mack always loves to tell the story about 'the hill', which him and his dad recount in this article, (the article for celebrini family dynamics imo), where rick was frustrated from work and had mack and aiden do hill runs for 30mins as opposed to the usual 5mins.

firstly, bringing work stress home and taking it out on your kids? youch. but at the end of the hill runs mack said “Now we’re fucked." which resulted in his dad giving a speech that boiled down to, "If you want to be a pro, you gotta be able to handle this stuff and suck it up.'”...

rick then speaks to mack's character even as a kid after 'the hill' at dinner:

This was one of those moments where dad expected the tension from the hill to make it to the dinner table. But Macklin, instead, wrapped his arms around his seated father from behind. The son squeezed tight enough to convey a love they don’t often declare. “And he gives me a kiss on the cheek,” Rick said. “And he’s like, ‘Thanks, da-da.’”

(...yes mack apparantly calls rick, 'da-da'... that's a whole seperate box to unpack at another time...)

so, even though rick is tough on him, mack has said that he 'likes it' and 'responds well to it', so it's not like rick forces him or anything... maybe just mildly indoctrinated it into him a little from a young age, which again isn't great.

of course, mack’s perspective is skewed. that’s his DAD who helped him achieve his ultimate DREAM after all. it also means that his dad's criticism is probably what hurts him the most, which is what's often played on in fics, i feel.

on the sharks' dads trip, there's this classic gif of rick looking unimpressed watching the game (whilst will's dad is clapping, to add insult to injury) as well as this gifset too, which fuelled a lot of the fanfic narrative as well...

even mack's mom recognises the intensity of rick's training:

“I sometimes, privately, remind him, like, ‘OK, you’re taking that a little too far.’” “And he’s really open to that. … But he’s always put his relationship with the kids first. It’s just he’s so passionate. He can be pretty tough.”

SO saying this, i do genuinely believe that rick wants what's best for his kids, and that this is the way he thinks he can give it to them; through sports, his job. the way he knows best. the way he knows works.