Jack Donaghy had an unhappy and impoverished childhood in South Boston[1] and the fictional Sadchester, Massachusetts.[2] When he was two, his father lured him to the edge of a swimming pool with a puppy and pushed him in the pool,[3] and later abandoned his family. His mother Colleen Murphy Donaghy has nagged him his whole life,[4] even blaming him for John F. Kennedy's death[5] and for his father leaving. However, she was also devoted to her children. For example, it was noted that she had traded sexual favors with F. A. O. Schwarz for Christmas presents for Jack and his siblings.[5] Young Jack took to calling his collie "Pop" until the dog was accidentally run over by the mailman and left to die in the street by his mother. The dog had earlier been neutered, causing Jack to charge his mother with "cutting off Pop's balls." His mother even tried to send him to Vietnam when he was 12 to make a man out of him. He also played hockey, the piano and the flute as a child, prompting his mother to embarrass him by having him play "The Star-Spangled Banner" on said flute in front of his team. He was also the captain of the diving team.