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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

Kathryn Xu

US Open, Ride Share pick up and drop off location with NY Pavilion and Queens theater in background, Flushing Meadows Corona Park, Queens, New York.

Transit

An Elegant Solution For Anyone Stuck Waiting On An Uber At The U.S. Open

Lauren Theisen

Emmanuel Rivera #26 of the Baltimore Orioles celebrates with teammates after walking off the Los Angeles Dodgers 4-3 at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on September 06, 2025 in Baltimore, Maryland

[Affecting A Maryland Accent] “Whoa! Go O’s!”

Aaron Timms

A view of the park from behind police barriers

Tennis

The U.S. Open Could Be More Than A Fortress For Capital

David Roth

Mikol Furneaux(L) waves two packages of Windows 95 software in the first store in Australia to sell the product at midnight 24 August. Microsoft hopes to sell between 20 and 30 million copies of the software world wide by the end of 1995. This photo has been edited to insert Defector "Remember Some Guys" baseball cards in the image

Announcements

Relive Our Week Of Remembering The Guys Of The 21st Century

Giri Nathan

Steve Ballmer Pleads Ignorance About Kawhi Leonard’s Outside Money

Ray Ratto

Daniel Levy, chairman of Tottenham Hotspur FC, looks on during the award ceremony following the UEFA Europa League final football match between Tottenham Hotspur FC and Manchester United FC in May of 2025.

Soccer

The End Finally Comes For Daniel Levy, The Man Tottenham Hotspur Fans Loved To Hate

Owen Lewis is a former Defector intern and has written for The Guardian, The Second Serve, The Athletic, and other publications.

Owen Lewis

Interviews

Lucas Schaefer Understands The Brutality, Absurdity, And Transcendence Of Boxing

Israel Daramola

Head coach Mike Gundy of the Oklahoma State Cowboys speaks with the media during the Big 12 Media Days at The Ford Center at The Star on July 09, 2025 in Frisco, Texas.

College Football

Mike Gundy Just Needs Some Attention

Samer Kalaf

Don’t Let The Shills Tell You The Commercial-Free Service Should Have Commercials

Jalen Hurts of the Philadelphia Eagles walks to the team huddle with his thumb up prior to an NFL football game against the Dallas Cowboys at Lincoln Financial Field on September 4, 2025.

Spit, Rain, Pomp: The NFL Is Back, Baby

Amanda Anisimova celebrates after winning the women's singles quarterfinal match between Amanda Anisimova of the United States and Iga Swiatek of Poland at the 2025 US Open tennis championships in New York, the United States, Sept. 3, 2025. (Photo by Li Rui/Xinhua via Getty Images)

Amanda Anisimova Gets Revenge For Her Wimbledon Bagels

Lamar Jackson of the Baltimore Ravens participates in warmups prior to the NFL Preseason 2025 game against the Dallas Cowboys.

Podcasts

The Fun Kind Of Bad Vs. The Boring Kind Of Good, With Mina Kimes

Albert Burneko

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. testifies before the Senate Finance Committee at the Dirksen Senate Office Building on September 04, 2025 in Washington, DC.

Politics

Setting Aside The Incorrect Claim About Herd Immunity

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.

Drew Magary

A general view of a light stand prior to the AFC Championship Game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Buffalo Bills at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium on January 26, 2025 in Kansas City, Missouri.

Jamboroo

There Is Always An After

Nicholas Russell is a writer from Las Vegas.

Nicholas Russell

Sphere lights up with an advertisement for "The Wizard of Oz at Sphere" ahead of the show's premiere

Arts And Culture

No Courage, No Heart, No Brain

Commuters wait on the platform as a Northbound Broad Street Line train arrives at SEPTA City Hall subway station.

It’s Mega-Fucked That SEPTA Has To Be Bailed Out By A Betting App

Kelsey McKinney

close up of president trump's face in the oval office

The Bleak Fantasy Of Donald Trump’s Death

Maitreyi Anantharaman

Skylar Diggins #4 of the Seattle Storm celebrates against the Minnesota Lynx in the fourth quarter at Target Center on August 28, 2025 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Storm defeated the Lynx 93-79.

WNBA

Skylar Diggins Is Queen Of The Productive Crashout

Philadelphia Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni speaks alongside U.S. President Donald Trump at an event welcoming the 2025 Super Bowl Champion Philadelphia Eagles on the South Lawn of the White House on April 28, 2025 in Washington, DC. President Trump honored the Eagles after their second Super Bowl victory, following their first win in 2018.

Why Your Team Sucks 2025: Philadelphia Eagles

Patrick Redford

BILBAO, SPAIN - SEPTEMBER 03: A group of fans protest against Team Israel - Premier Tech riders by displaying Palestinian flags at arrival during the La Vuelta - 80th Tour of Spain 2025, Stage 11 a 157.4km stage from Bilbao to Bilbao / #UCIWT / on September 03, 2025 in Bilbao, Spain. (Photo by Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)

Cycling

You Can Advertise The State Of Israel On Your Shirt Or Ride Undisrupted In La Vuelta, But Not Both

charismatic megafauna (they/them)

Sabrina Imbler

A CVS pharmacy store on February 28, 2025 in San Diego, California

Science

How Are You Supposed To Get The COVID Vaccine Now? An Explainer

Kawhi Leonard of the Los Angeles Clippers attends a press conference at the Jianyang Cultural and Sports Center Gymnasium during his 2025 Asia Tour on August 23, 2025.

Kawhi Leonard And Los Angeles Clippers Implicated In Low-Effort Tree-Planting Scheme

Dan McQuade was a founding member of Defector. He died in January 2026.

Dan McQuade

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA - FEBRUARY 09: Patrick Mahomes #15 of the Kansas City Chiefs is sacked by Jalen Carter #98 of the Philadelphia Eagles during Super Bowl LIX at Caesars Superdome on February 09, 2025 in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Eagles defeated the Chiefs 40-22.

Why Your Team Sucks

Why Your Team Sucks 2025: Kansas City Chiefs

Gamers sample an assortment of pinball machines

Video Games

Pinball Is Getting Too Fancy

Dan McQuade sits in a blue chair, which is big and fake leather-ish, and has big arms on it. He has his head resting on his left arm, which is on the left arm of the chair. He has long light brown hair, a beard cropped to his face, and I dunno I'd say he's pretty handsome, but I am biased as I am the subject of the photo. Dan is wearing a red shirt with a grey and white tabby cat's face on it, with a rose under (and patially covering) the cat. Under that it says DEFECTOR with the 4 degrees slant logo. He has on blue shorts or pants (they're shorts, I know they're shorts), they're not jeans but they're not sweats, like a sort of inbetween situation. There's a hospital admit bracelet on his left arm. His right arm is on the other arm of the couch.