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<p>Staff Writer</p>
<p>Find me on Signal @DefectorChris.09</p>


Chris Thompson

Rafael Devers

Spare A Thought For Baseball’s Poor Flailing Bozos

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College Basketball

Dawn Staley’s Gamecocks Are Escape Artists

Willson Contreras On Eating Grip Tape: “It Was Disgusting. It Was A Bad Taste.”

Life Isn’t Fair. Why Should The Strike Zone Be?

Crosswords

The Crossword, March 31: Rules Lawyer (Themeless)

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<p>Vivian Blaxell grew up in rural Australia and co-founded Tiresias House, Australia’s first shelter and resource centre for and by trans people. Her essay &#8220;Nuclear Cats&#8221; was shortlisted for the 2021 Melbourne Prize for Literature. She lives in Naarm/Melbourne, VIC, Australia.</p>


Vivian Blaxell

Coke Sign at corner of William Street and Kings Cross, Sydney

GET THE FUCK OFF THIS CORNER

Book Excerpts That Don't Suck

“Get The Fuck Off This Corner. It’s Mine.”

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<div><span id="m_-2092141782617832424gmail-docs-internal-guid-bb27737d-7fff-3697-05d8-6ce69444e1e4">Mike Sielski is the author of four books, including Magic in the Air: The Myth, the Mystery, and the Soul of the Slam Dunk and The Rise: Kobe Bryant and the Pursuit of Immortality. He has been a sports columnist for The Philadelphia Inquirer and Inquirer.com since 2013 and was formerly a reporter at The Wall Street Journal.</span></div>
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Mike Sielski

David Lattin (42) and a Texas Western teammate compete for control of a rebound as Kentucky's Tommy Kron, left, and Pat Riley , right, look on during the 1966 NCAA Photos via Getty Images Championship. Texas Western defeated Kentucky 72-65 for the championship title and was the first team to have an.. all-.black starting five compete in the NCAA final

NCAA Photos Archive

How The Dunk Was Banned

Kelsey McKinney

An Adventure Story? Miss Betty Davis tries out her sales talk on the robot invented by Eark Kent, (left), of Carthage, Missouri, in the May Company Store in Los Angeles. The 21-year-old inventor claims that "John" walks, smokes cigarettes, spits fire, and gets generally "het up" when he doesn't receive attention.

Eark Kent and Robot

Gossiping With A Robot Is A Real Pain In The Ass

<p>Brad <span class="il">Balukjian</span>, PhD has chosen two careers—journalist and scientist—which converge on pursuit of the truth. He has been published in <i>Rolling Stone, Smithsonian, National Geographic,</i> and many others. His first book, <i>The Wax Pack: On the Open Road in Search of Baseball’s Afterlife</i>, hit #7 on the <i>LA Times</i> bestseller list and was named one of NPR’s Best Books of 2020. He is a Research Associate at the California Academy of Sciences, and he discovered 17 species of insects (green flash bugs) in Tahiti, one of which he named after Harrison Ford. He lives on the road, where he’s in an open relationship with his VCR.</p>


Brad Balukjian

An image of Tito Santana in the ring during his time in WWF, with the cover of Brad Balukjian's book "The Six Pack" visible at lower left.

Tito-Santana-book

Before He Became A Wrestling Legend, Tito Santana Needed A Name

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This is Defector, a new sports blog and media company. We made this place together, we own it together, we run it together. Without access, without favor, without discretion, and without interference.

Spare A Thought For Baseball’s Poor Flailing Bozos

Dawn Staley’s Gamecocks Are Escape Artists

Willson Contreras On Eating Grip Tape: “It Was Disgusting. It Was A Bad Taste.”

Life Isn’t Fair. Why Should The Strike Zone Be?

The Crossword, March 31: Rules Lawyer (Themeless)

Book Excerpts That Don't Suck

“Get The Fuck Off This Corner. It’s Mine.”

How The Dunk Was Banned

Gossiping With A Robot Is A Real Pain In The Ass

Before He Became A Wrestling Legend, Tito Santana Needed A Name

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