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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.

Defector

David Roth

Podcasts

Art, Commerce, And Frankly Irresponsible Apple Consumption, With Kathryn Xu

Lauren Theisen

Lauren's spatula, with its shaft bent at an angle

Chefector

The Cooking Implement Of The Day Is The Bent Spatula

Kathryn Xu

GLENDALE, ARIZONA - FEBRUARY 21: Dylan Cease #84 of the Chicago White Sox looks on during a spring training workout at Camelback Ranch on February 21, 2024 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

Dylan Ceases Toiling For The White Sox

Barry Petchesky

Anybody Need 18,000 Jaromir Jagr Bobbleheads?

The Colorado Avalanche celebrate their overtime winner

Who’s Afraid Of The Vancouver Canucks?

Ray Ratto

CP3 Hands Out A CPT

Albert Burneko

Eastern carpenter bee (Xylocopa virginica) collects pollen from a flowering goldenrod plant in Markham, Ontario, Canada, on September 03, 2023.

Animals

Damn Us Both To Hell, The Carpenter Bees Are Back

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - JULY 27: &lt;&gt; during the ninth inning at Dodger Stadium on July 27, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Michael Owens/Getty Images)

The Dodgers Can’t Buy A Natural Shortstop … Yet


<p>charismatic megafauna (they/them)</p>


Sabrina Imbler

A saltwater fish called a cero looking concerned

Creaturefector

This Parasite Has Become A Full-Time Booger

<p>Columnist. Author of many <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Drew-Magary/e/B001JS8R52/ref=dp_byline_cont_pop_book_1">fine works of literature</a>, including <em>Point B</em>. Handsomest man in the world.</p>


Drew Magary

Scott Van Pelt watches Maryland basketball

Death To The NCAA

Scott Van Pelt, And Every Other Shithead, Is Missing The Point About Paying College Athletes

Giri Nathan

Patrick Redford

Jannik Sinner smiles; an inset photo of Patrick Redford pointing

This Is So Stupid

Point/Counterpoint: I Am Not Jannik Sinner

a deep-sea Malacosarcus sp., or prickelfish. Seen at a depth of nearly 5,900 meters (3.7 miles)

The Twilight Chorus That Can Be Heard 18,000 Feet Under The Sea

Israel Daramola

Minnesota Timberwolves player Rudy Gobert reacts to a ref giving him a technical foul during a game against the Cleveland Cavaliers on March 8.

Gambling

What If Rudy Gobert Wasn’t Wrong, Just Early?

Jonathan Marchessault #81 of the Vegas Golden Knights celebrates his game-tying goal with Shea Theodore

Nobody Puts On A Show Like Vegas

<p>I am an independent writer/journalist based in New Delhi, India. I mainly work on long-form reportage on conflict, gender, climate, culture, intersection of technology and human agency. Published with the Al Jazeera Journalism Review, Aljazeera Digital, Defector, C S Monitor.</p>


Meher Qadri

Two divers jump into the foamy Yamuna River

Climate

The Yamuna River’s Treasure Divers Fight More Than Poverty To Survive

Science

I Think I Found The Problem Here: The Rocket Blew Up

Derrick Henry #22 of the Tennessee Titans stretches toward the end zone for a touchdown

Derrick Henry Is Here To Remind The Ravens To Run The Fucking Ball

Tom Ley

Aaron Rodgers #8 of the New York Jets looks at a Microsoft Surface tablet during the second half against the Cleveland Browns at Cleveland Browns Stadium on December 28, 2023 in Cleveland, Ohio.

Report: Aaron Rodgers Being Considered For Dream Job As Attention-Getting Loser

Luis Paez-Pumar

Arsenal's Spanish goalkeeper #22 David Raya, Arsenal's Norwegian midfielder #08 Martin Odegaard, Arsenal's English midfielder #07 Bukayo Saka, Arsenal's English defender #04 Ben White and Arsenal's English midfielder #41 Declan Rice celebrate after winning the penalty shoot-out session the UEFA Champions League last 16 second leg football match between Arsenal and Porto FC at the Arsenal Stadium in north London, on March 12, 2024

Soccer

Don’t Forget About Arsenal

J.D. Davis #7 of the San Francisco Giants singles in the fifth inning against the Colorado Rockies.

The Giants Used A Loophole To Screw Over J.D. Davis

INDIAN WELLS, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 11: Luca Nardi of Italy is congratulated by Novak Djokovic of Serbia after their match during the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells Tennis Garden on March 11, 2024 in Indian Wells, California. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)

Tennis

Defector Tennis Bureau Indian Wells Dispatch Day 1: Novak Djokovic Put To The Sword By Italian Hotshot

a Kakapo named Sirocco exhibited at the Orokonui Ecosanctuary in Dunedin, New Zealand

Honey, They Yassified A Kākāpō!

TUNIS, TUNISIA - JULY 26 : A man reads a newspaper with the death of Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi (92) on the headline in the country in Tunis, Tunisia on July 26, 2019. (Photo by Yassine Gaidi/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Funbag

I Have To Know Why You Died!

Singer Kim Gordon performing a song on stage at a concert at the Astra in Berlin, Germany in 2002

Arts And Culture

Kim Gordon Rides The Thin Line Between Hip And Gimmick With ‘The Collective’

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<div><a href="https://www.bystefanfatsis.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.bystefanfatsis.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1759235100786000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1mlCW5_XUY56jklGr11a_z">Stefan Fatsis</a> is the author of four books: <a href="https://groveatlantic.com/book/unabridged/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://groveatlantic.com/book/unabridged/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1759235100786000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0jbw5ZscOBp6w-1um3R6yu"><i>Unabridged</i></a>, <a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/a-few-seconds-of-panic-a-sportswriter-plays-in-the-nfl-stefan-fatsis/7891278" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://bookshop.org/p/books/a-few-seconds-of-panic-a-sportswriter-plays-in-the-nfl-stefan-fatsis/7891278&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1759235100786000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0MpNNngIOKaj-715hSNVZD"><i>A Few Seconds of Panic</i></a>, <a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/word-freak-heartbreak-triumph-genius-and-obsession-in-the-world-of-competitive-scrabblep-layers-stefan-fatsis/11648962" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://bookshop.org/p/books/word-freak-heartbreak-triumph-genius-and-obsession-in-the-world-of-competitive-scrabblep-layers-stefan-fatsis/11648962&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1759235100786000&amp;usg=AOvVaw02LL51Wrka0A0lLkwOxYUj"><i>Word Freak</i></a>, and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Wild-Outside-Renegade-Baseball-Heartland/dp/0802712975" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.amazon.com/Wild-Outside-Renegade-Baseball-Heartland/dp/0802712975&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1759235100786000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1YzbrZGW2KCbIttDDLhkPn"><i>Wild and Outside</i></a>. He&#8217;s also a former cohost of “Hang Up and Listen,” commentator on NPR&#8217;s &#8220;All Things Considered,&#8221; and reporter for <i>The Wall Street Journal</i>. Subscribe to his newsletter, <a href="https://stefanfatsis.substack.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://stefanfatsis.substack.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1786480936396000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0fRpxgEOhbgbpR79WFcozC">Unabridged</a>.</div>
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Stefan Fatsis

Scrabble World Champion Nigel Richards holds up a trophy and shows the final winning board in London in 2018