Mayfield Memorandum 11: A Case in Point

The plot of the Cleveland Browns’ season thickened with revelations surrounding their 17-14 victory over the Denver Broncos at FirstEnergy Stadium. Some of the revelations occurred on the field. One could be observed stalking the sideline. And the most important may...

Mayfield Memorandum 10: Super Bowl ‘Average’

When I began the Mayfield Memorandum project this season, it seemed as if there would be countless opportunities to expand the focus from Baker Mayfield himself to those who made significant contributions to his and the Cleveland Brown’s success. And why not? The team...
Some Memories Come with a Street Guide

Some Memories Come with a Street Guide

When I wrote Football, Fast Friends, and Small Towns: A Memoir Straight from a Broken Oklahoma Heart, I omitted a word from the title—journalism. I wasn’t trying to deceive readers but in these days of deep distrust and even hatred for the news media, it seemed the...

Mayfield Memorandum 9: Friends and Foes

The idiom goes like this: Two’s Company, Three’s a Crowd. In some circumstances—a ménage à trois, for instance—three is the perfect number. Other times, even two can be a crowd. It could have been the latter in the 2016 University of Oklahoma quarterback room that...

Mayfield Memorandum 8: Defaming/Reclaiming

In his previous game against the Minnesota Vikings, Cleveland quarterback Baker Mayfield could do little right—and the Browns won. The contrite blame-placing Mayfield called a sow’s-ear performance a sow’s ear, only he used the term “piss poor.” Sows everywhere...
Act or Your Cremains Could End Up in a Car Trunk

Act or Your Cremains Could End Up in a Car Trunk

Hiram College photo Bonney Castle, Hiram College’s English home, is perfect for Kirsten Parkinson’s cremains   It can be difficult to write an essay that has universal appeal. Trying to do so can cause a cerebral hemorrhaging. Or, at least a bad...