defector-orange-no-empty-space

lede_post_card_default

lede_post_card_stacked

lede_post_card_featured_post

lede_post_card_featured_posts_hero

lede_post_card_featured_posts_sidebar

lede_post_card_highlighted_post

lede_post_card_horizontal_a

lede_post_card_horizontal_c

lede_post_card_related_post

lede_post_card_square

lede_article_featured_16x9

lede_article_featured_3x2

lede_article_featured_1x1

lede_article_featured_flexible

lede_article_content

lede_article_content_wide_width

lede_article_content_full_width

lede_byline_avatar_post_card

lede_byline_avatar_highlight

lede_profile_coral_avatar

lede_logo

lede_logo_banner

lede_logo_footer_banner

lede_logo_simple_header

lede_sponsorship_logo

lede_sponsorship_logo_river_card

lede_sponsorship_homepage_card_logo

lede_sponsorship_homepage_card

Footer Legal

Header - Categories

Header Menu

The last good website.

Topics

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-no-empty-space

Defector

2019-01-01 00:15:14.989

Maitreyi Anantharaman

rachelle-hampton-headshot

Rachelle Hampton

IMG_5859

Giri Nathan

headshot1

Patrick Redford

VictorPortraitWClaw

David Roth

Firefighters wash up after fighting the O'Brien Creek fire. Lolo national Forest, Montana, August 21, 1940.

Firefighters Wash Up After Forest Fire

Defector Reads A Book

Racing With Mortality In Norman Maclean’s ‘Young Men And Fire’

cropped-defector-circle_avatar512.png

Defector Staff

An old timey drive-in, with an old-timey pickup truck in front of it. The front of the drive in says "DRIVE-IN THEATRE. SIT IN YOUR CAR. SEE AND HEAR TALKING PICTURES. ON THE WORLD'S LARGEST SCREEN. Californa's First." There's also a neon entrance sign. The photo is black and white. The Year in Review Defector graphic is at the bottom.

year-in-review-talking-pictures-best-things-we-saw

Year In Review

The Best Things We Saw In 2024

Image from iOS (36)

Luis Paez-Pumar

Mohamed Salah of Liverpool celebrates after scoring a goal to make it 1-4 during the Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur FC and Liverpool FC at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on December 22, 2024 in London, England.

Tottenham Hotspur FC v Liverpool FC – Premier League

Soccer

Liverpool Has The Premier League In A Stranglehold

Ruediger Grube, CEO of Deutsche Bahn AG and DB Mobility Logistics AG, travels by a Deutsche Bahn regional express train from Berlin to Potsdam

Profile: Ruediger Grube, Chairman of Deutsche Bahn

Crosswords

The Crossword, Dec. 23: Parting Ways

Owen Lewis is a former Defector intern and co-founded the website <a href="http://popcorntennis.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://popcorntennis.com&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1726234676777000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0PFWw6PL-FUqaCMME5TLqP">popcorntennis.com</a>. He wrote 63,000 words about the Novak Djokovic-Rafael Nadal rivalry that can be accessed for free at <a href="https://thegoldenrivalry.substack.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://thegoldenrivalry.substack.com&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1726234676777000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2OjAHpo4PVIhkx8Xd21lRJ">thegoldenrivalry.substack.com</a>.

baby owen

Owen Lewis

Tyson Fury (left) and Oleksandr Usyk during the WBA, WBC, WBO, IBO World Heavyweight championship contest at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Picture date: Saturday December 21, 2024. (Photo by Nick Potts/PA Images via Getty Images)

Oleksandr Usyk v Tyson Fury – Kingdom Arena – Riyadh

Boxing

Someone Got Inside Tyson Fury’s Head For A Change

A fan lands himself just foul in the upper level leftfield seats as he keeps cool and takes in the Dodger/Seattle interleague game, Sunday afternoon at Dodger Stadium.

year-in-review-interleague-game-best-sports-moment

Defector’s Favorite Sports Moments Of 2024

bh def prof pic

Billy Haisley

Jhon Duran of Aston Villa celebrates scoring his team's first goal during the Premier League match between Aston Villa FC and Manchester City FC at Villa Park on December 21, 2024 in Birmingham, England.

Aston Villa FC v Manchester City FC – Premier League

Jhon Durán Can’t Stop Putting Goals On Film

ratto-ray_400x400

Ray Ratto

A video message displayed in the stadium after Notre Dame Fighting Irish defeated the Indiana Hoosiers on December 20, 2024, during the CFP First Round playoff game at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL: DEC 20 CFP First-Round – Indiana at Notre Dame

College Football

The College Football Playoff’s Shitty First Weekend Did Its Job

Multiple exposure of Oakland Athletics Rickey Henderson (24) in action, stealing base vs San Francisco Giants. Game 1. Oakland, CA 10/14/1989

Oakland Athletics vs San Francisco Giants, 1989 World Series

Rickey Henderson Believed In Rickey Henderson

INGLEWOOD, CA - DECEMBER 19, 2024: Los Angeles Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh reacts after Los Angeles Chargers running back Hassan Haskins (28) scored on a 34 yard touchdown to ice the win over the Denver Broncos at So-Fi Stadium on December 19, 2024 in Inglewood, California. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

Chargers vs Denver in Inglewood, CA.

Nothing Gets Jim Harbaugh’s Motor Running Like An Obscure Rule

image0 (5)

Israel Daramola

BG_09848-Enhanced-5-V2

Arts And Culture

‘Babygirl’ Wants To Know Your Fantasy

charismatic megafauna (they/them)

Typing

Sabrina Imbler

A photo of a brown armored catfish that has been named the blob-headed catfish for its extremely sizable blob-shaped face/schnoz region

Creaturefector

Blob-Headed Fish Sets New Standard Of Fishy Blobbiness

Two reflective gold wine glasses emblazoned with "Love is Blind" are held up against the sky.

Love Is Blind Cast Celebrates Netflix’s First Live Reunion With The Iconic Pods In Los Angeles

Could Unionizing Protect Contestants From The Reality Of Reality TV?

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 Point B. Handsomest man in the world.

drewkid-1-e1599592436888

Drew Magary

The 2024 Williams Sonoma Haters Guide title graphic, featuring a man in a blue apron holding a baking dish with Williams Sonoma digitally written on it. 'Embroidered' on the apron it says 2024 Williams Sonoma Haters Guide. He's in front of a marble background.

tucci-half-person-haters-guide-sonoma-title-defector

Hater's Guide

The 2024 Hater’s Guide To The Williams-Sonoma Catalog

Malcolm Gladwell and Carlos Watson speak onstage during OZY Fest 2018 at Rumsey Playfield, Central Park on July 22, 2018 in New York City.

OZY FEST 2018 Presented By OZY.com – Day 2

Podcasts

Feeling Like Ozymandias, With Susie Banikarim

Woody Johnson (center) and his sons attend the Super Bowl LVIII Pregame at Allegiant Stadium on February 11, 2024 in Las Vegas.

Super Bowl LVIII Pregame

Report: New York Jets Plagued By Woody Johnson’s Meddlesome Teen Sons

image

Kathryn Xu

Liam Lawson of New Zealand and Visa Cash App RB prepares to drive in the garage during practice.

liamLawsonRedBull

Racing

Liam Lawson Enters The Red Bull Second-Seat Gantlet

Automobile in a winter landscape with a man coming from Christmas shopping trip with packages, Christmas Tree, etc. Undated photograph circa 1911.

Man Returning from Christmas Shopping

Jamboroo

I’ll Be Home For Christmas

shams-2

Presenting The 2024 Shams Charania Award For Excellence In Divulging Of Information Through Syntax Comprehended By Many

headshot

Barry Petchesky

ST LOUIS, MISSOURI - DECEMBER 15: Filip Chytil #72 of the New York Rangers reacts after losing to the St. Louis Blues 3-2 at Enterprise Center on December 15, 2024 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)

New York Rangers v St Louis Blues

What Is Up With The Rangers?

Julie Kliegman is a writer and editor in Queens, New York. They wrote <a href="https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781538168066/Mind-Game-An-Inside-Look-at-the-Mental-Health-Playbook-of-Elite-Athletes">Mind Game: An Inside Look at the Mental Health Playbook of Elite Athletes</a> and are at work on a biography of Renée Richards. Their work has also appeared in outlets including The New York Times, Sports Illustrated, The Washington Post, Bookforum, Slate, The Ringer, Texas Monthly, Vulture, BuzzFeed News, and The Verge.

Julie_Kliegman_FLAT_B9996164 2

Julie Kliegman

a female golfer floats in space, looking down on a giant moon-like golf ball

LPGA_a41eb6

Golf

Hailey Davidson Loves Golf, And Golf Wants To Get Rid Of Her

Gottlieb_presser

College Basketball

Doug Gottlieb Humbled By Michigan Tech, Life

Kirk Cousins #18 of the Atlanta Falcons warms up prior to the game against the Las Vegas Raiders at Allegiant Stadium on December 16, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Atlanta Falcons v Las Vegas Raiders

Falcons Choose Buyer’s Remorse Over Kirk Cousins

A still from a video capturing a red male cardinal staring menacingly at his reflection in the side-view mirror of a white car

Screenshot 2024-12-18 at 10.22.25 AM

Birdfector

It’s So Confusing Sometimes To Be A Bird

Normal Gossip: portraits

Alex Sujong Laughlin

Carlos Watson caught mid-speech in a press conference.

Ozy Media’s Carlos Watson Sentenced In Fraud Trial

Media Meltdowns

Carlos Watson Played The Wrong Game And Lost

All Articles