For most of my adult life, I dreaded the day I woke up and saw my mother in the mirror. It never happened. But, I had grown into my father. I shouldn't have been surprised. Everyone always said I was the son he never had. Jane Leavy adultdaydread share on social
Naming is a privilege of reason and the province of bullies. We name to tame and to maim; to honor the great, the dead, and ourselves. Jane Leavy bullydeadgreat Change image and share on social
In 1927, my father descended the heights and took his place as the newly appointed water boy for his beloved New York football Giants. Jane Leavy appointbelovedboy Change image and share on social
Trauma is not the sole province of victims. If that were true, soldiers returning from Afghanistan wouldn't suffer from PTSD. Jane Leavy afghanistanprovinceptsd Change image and share on social
There is no free speech in football. Information is parsed by monosyllabic head coaches, who dictate who gets to speak to whom and when. Jane Leavy coachdictatefootball Change image and share on social
Mantle didn't want to stick out, but he did. He didn't wish to be treated as special, but he was. He was uncomfortable being the center of attention, but he was the centerfielder for the most famous franchise in sports. Jane Leavy attentioncentercenterfielder share on social
The world is not kind to whistleblowers - a term of art with particular resonance in football, the most hierarchical and repressive of organized sports, a world of 'systems' and 'programs' and scripted plays, where reading a medical report requires a security clearance, and practice fields are patrolled like Guantanamo Bay. Jane Leavy artbayclearance share on social
Some scholars attribute the decline in nicknaming to the evolutionary process that turned folk heroes into entrepreneurs. The truth is: George Herman Ruth, the namely-est guy ever, exhausted our supply of hyperbole. Jane Leavy attributedeclineentrepreneur share on social
Claire Hodgson, born Clara Mae Merritt, was the daughter of a prominent Georgia attorney who had once represented Ty Cobb. She was still a teenager when she married Frank Hodgson, a gentleman caller nearly twice her age. Jane Leavy ageattorneybear share on social