CULTURE

Footer Column 2

Footer Legal

Footer Main

Nav Bar

OTHER

SPORTS

Subscribe, at any level, to play

Thanks for your interest in Defector Crosswords!

Become a subscriber today to get unlimited access

Thanks for reading!

Plans start at $8/month.

Subscribers enjoy unlimited, ad-free browsing.

Register to continue

Or click here to subscribe for unlimited, ad-free access!

Our gift to you: This year's post is unlocked. Register your email to get even more free articles.

Welcome to the 2025 Hater's Guide!

Just register your email:

This blog is free to read.

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

<div id="1695913206.579009" class="c-virtual_list__item c-virtual_list__item--initial-activeitem" role="listitem" data-qa="virtual-list-item" data-item-key="1695913206.579009">
<div class="c-message_kit__background c-message_kit__background--hovered p-message_pane_message__message c-message_kit__message" role="presentation" data-qa="message_container" data-qa-unprocessed="false" data-qa-placeholder="false">
<div class="c-message_kit__hover c-message_kit__hover--hovered" role="document" data-qa-hover="true">
<div class="c-message_kit__actions c-message_kit__actions--above">
<div class="c-message_kit__gutter c-message_kit__gutter--compact">
<div class="c-message_kit__gutter__right" role="presentation" data-qa="message_content">
<div class="c-message_kit__indent">
<div class="c-message_kit__blocks c-message_kit__blocks--rich_text c-message_kit__blocks--inline">
<div class="c-message__message_blocks c-message__message_blocks--rich_text c-message__message_blocks--inline" data-qa="message-text">
<div class="p-block_kit_renderer p-block_kit_renderer--inline" data-qa="block-kit-renderer">
<div class="p-block_kit_renderer__block_wrapper p-block_kit_renderer__block_wrapper--first">
<div class="p-rich_text_block p-rich_text_block--inline" dir="auto">
<div class="p-rich_text_section">Tom Scocca is the editor of <a href="http://indignity.net">Indignity</a>, a subscription-supported newsletter of news, essays, and commentary.</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div id="1695913224.677889" class="c-virtual_list__item" role="listitem" data-qa="virtual-list-item" data-item-key="1695913224.677889">
<div class="c-message_kit__background p-message_pane_message__message c-message_kit__message" role="presentation" data-qa="message_container" data-qa-unprocessed="false" data-qa-placeholder="false">
<div class="c-message_kit__hover" role="document" data-qa-hover="true">
<div class="c-message_kit__actions c-message_kit__actions--above">
<div class="c-message_kit__gutter c-message_kit__gutter--compact">
<div class="c-message_kit__gutter__left" role="presentation"></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>


Tom Scocca

A big outdoor sign reading USC University of Southern California, with a student riding a skateboard in the background.

Margin Of Error

The Speech-Free Campus

Israel Daramola

Organized Noize members, Raymond Murray (L), Rico Wade (C), and Sleepy Brown (R)

Arts And Culture

Rico Wade And Organized Noize Were The Architects Of Southern Rap

David Roth

Nikola Jokic #15 of the Denver Nuggets looks on during the first half against the Utah Jazz at Delta Center on April 9, 2024. I put the little Distraction logo at upper right so it looks like he's glowering at it.

Podcasts

We’re All Lifelong Nuggets Fans Here, With Patrick Redford

Patrick Redford

New York Times Managing Editor Joseph Kahn gives the keynote speech at the Andrew Olle lecture 2017 at ICC darling Harbour on October 27, 2017 in Sydney, Australia.

Journalismism

The New York Times Ignores Reality In Pursuit Of Objectivity

<div dir="ltr">
<div>Victoria Zeller is a trans writer born and raised in Buffalo, New York, where she still proudly resides. Her debut novel, <i><a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/one-of-the-boys-victoria-zeller/21775251" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://bookshop.org/p/books/one-of-the-boys-victoria-zeller/21775251&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1735306610555000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0sXpgNMmxpIwmIZOFd-Pnw">One of the Boys</a></i>, is out now. Her personal website can be found <a href="http://victoria.monster/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://victoria.monster&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1735306610555000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0PrZ7PkO1IykxAodWoMLI_">here</a>.</div>
<div></div>
</div>
<div class="yj6qo ajU"></div>


Victoria Zeller

Stefon Diggs #14 of the Buffalo Bills warms up prior to a game against the Las Vegas Raiders at Highmark Stadium on September 17, 2023 in Orchard Park, New York.

Stefon Diggs Fixed Buffalo Before We Could Fix Him

Billy Haisley

Kylian Mbappé of PSG react during the UEFA Champions League quarter-final second leg match between FC Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain at Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys on April 16, 2024 in Barcelona, Spain.

Soccer

PSG And Barcelona Turned A Champions League Feast Into A Soggy Appetizer

<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

Animals

I Have Become A Crazy Dog Person

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


Sabrina Imbler

a tiny gall midge pollinating a tiny orchid

Creaturefector

The Secret Life Of A Tiny Flower

Lauren Theisen

Arizona Coyotes arena in 1996, with a big coyote inflatable

Let’s Look Back On The Great Moments In Arizona Coyotes History

Luis Paez-Pumar

Nicolas Batum #40 of the Philadelphia 76ers smiles during the game against the Miami Heat during the 2024 NBA Play-In Tournament on April 17, 2024 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Nicolas Batum Ruined My Night

Maitreyi Anantharaman

Cathy Engelbert and the draftees pose for a photo during the 2024 WNBA Draft on April 14, 2024 at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in Brooklyn, New York.

WNBA

Caitlin Clark And The Two-Way Street

Ray Ratto

Jontay Porter Is The NBA’s Collateral Damage

Dortmund's players celebrate scoring their forth goal 4:2 during the UEFA Champions League quarter-final second leg football match between Borussia Dortmund and Atletico Madrid in Dortmund, western Germany on April 16, 2024.

Borussia Dortmund Broke Atlético Madrid’s Spirit

<div>
<div dir="ltr">
<div>Casey Taylor is a writer living and working in Pittsburgh. He is currently writing a book for St. Martin&#8217;s Press about cannabis religions, Haile Selassie I, and the Cold War in the Caribbean. He also writes a free newsletter called <a href="https://weedchurch.substack.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://weedchurch.substack.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1709306863919000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1mVH2xiID6S0zvlyj6yHco">Weed Church</a> covering foolish spiritual things that occur to him. His work has appeared in The New Republic, WIRED, New York Magazine, and a sports blog he can’t currently recall the name of. You can <a href="mailto:caseyt7@gmail.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">email</a> him if you’d like.</div>
</div>
<div class="yj6qo ajU"></div>
</div>
<div></div>


Casey Taylor

Having escaped a raging war at home, Sudanese refugees in Ethiopia face more conflict and insecurity as the border region of Amhara is plagued by unrest and clashes that sees the Ethiopian National Defense Force battling an ethnic Amhara militia known as 'Fano'. According to United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) over 100,000 people have crossed into Ethiopia from Sudan since April 2023. Sudanese and other refugees in the border camps in Amhara lament a lack of security, difficult communication with the outside world - the Ethiopian government has disrupted access to mobile internet in the region since August 2023 - and a general sense of abandonment, raising the question if they fled a dire situation to end up in similar one. (Photo by )

How Do You Get Americans To Care About A War?

Alex Ovechkin leaves the ice after warmups

There’s Not Always Next Year

Justin Ellis

Normal Gossip logo with cartoon characters gossiping

The Passion Of The Familiar Stranger

The scoreboard at Martin Stadium prior to the start between the Oregon State Beavers and the Washington State Cougars

College Football

The College Football “Super League” Salesmen Bring You The Past Disguised As The Future

Cole Palmer of Chelsea celebrates scoring his team's third goal, his hat-trick, during the Premier League match between Chelsea FC and Everton FC at Stamford Bridge on April 15, 2024 in London, England.

Cole Palmer Is Right Where He Needs To Be

Klay Thompson reacts after missing a shot

Kings, Inevitable Passing Of Time End The Warriors

several of Toshiko Takaezu's moon-shaped ceramics on black sand

The Forbidden Worlds Of Toshiko Takaezu

A photographer of author James Baldwin smoking a cigarette.

Defector Reads A Book

Defector Reads A Book Returns With ‘The Fire Next Time’

CHICAGO, IL - APRIL 12: A general view of Guaranteed Rate Field during the MLB game between the Cincinnati Reds and the Chicago White Sox on April 12, 2024, at Guaranteed Rate Field in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Joseph Weiser/Icon Sportswire)

The White Sox Have A Historical Stink

View of cooks as they prepare a barbecue meal at President Lyndon Johnson's ranch, Johnson City, Texas, December 1963. Visible at right are members of the press corps who wait to be served during the event, a reception for West German Chancellor Ludwig Erhard. (Photo by Yoichi Okamoto/White House Photo Collection/PhotoQuest/Getty Images)

Funbag

Until We Meat Again: A Smokeboy Hangs Up His Apron

Tom Ley

Caitlin Clark poses with WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert after being selected first overall pick by the Indiana Fever during the 2024 WNBA Draft at Brooklyn Academy of Music on April 15, 2024 in New York City.

Wokeness Run Amok: WNBA’s Pro-Trans Agenda Prevents Dolt From Understanding Calendar

Samer Kalaf

Caitlin Clark daps up Jake From State Farm, for some reason, at the WNBA Draft