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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.

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Defector

The Defector Crewneck Sweatshirt Is Back In Stock

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Merch v3

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David Roth

New York City Mayor Eric Adams smiles and gives a thumbs-up at an MTA event in January of 2023.

Mayor Eric Adams attends a joint press briefing with

Capital

Does It Matter That AI Doesn’t Work?

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<p>Charles P. Pierce is a writer at <em>Esquire</em> and the author of four books, most recently <em>Idiot America</em>, and has been a working journalist since 1976. He lives near Boston with his wife but no longer his three children.</p>
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Charles P. Pierce

College Basketball: NCAA Final Four, North Carolina State David Thompson (44) victorious with net after winning game vs UCLA, Greensboro, NC 3/24/1974

North Carolina State David Thompson, 1974 NCAA Semifinals

College Basketball

50 Years Later, My First Final Four Is Still The Best

<p>Kevin Koczwara is a writer, reporter and dad in beautiful Worcester, Mass.</p>


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Kevin Koczwara

Pianist Vikingur Olafsson performs at a concert in 2018.

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Arts And Culture

Víkingur Ólafsson Plays The Familiar And Makes It His Own

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Kathryn Xu

A screenshot of an ESPN broadcast, featuring a live win probability graphic displaying a 35-percent Dodgers win probability, and Chris Taylor making a beaver face.

chrisTaylorWinProbability2

ESPN’s Win Probability Graphic Wants To Give You Gambling Brain

<p>Dan Gentile is a writer, editor, and DJ based in San Francisco by way of Austin, TX. He works as the culture editor at SFGATE and has freelanced for publications like The Ringer, Rolling Stone, Texas Monthly, Wax Poetics, and more. Find more of his work at <a href="http://dangentile.net/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://dangentile.net&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1711040620694000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3XTZa73tUKo0JIWhdqylUa">dangentile.net</a> and on that <a href="https://twitter.com/Dannosphere" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://twitter.com/Dannosphere&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1711040620694000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3jvqFxajyG27FDs81Ssg-S">terrible social media site</a>.</p>


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Dan Gentile

sixstringsoldiers

Partying With The U.S. Army At South By Southwest

<p>Sam Eagan is a freelance reporter and documentary producer based out of Brooklyn, by way of the high plains of Wyoming. He was a Division I wrestler for the University of Wyoming.</p>


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Sam Eagan

Wrestlers warm up on the mat during the 2017 NCAA Wrestling Championships in St. Louis.

2017-ncaa-wrestling-championships

College Wrestling

The Blood Round Is Where College Wrestlers With Nothing To Lose Have Something To Win

Dave McKenna

An illustration showing a figure run into and out of the frame.

Didnt Die

Stories

When The Night You Didn’t Die Never Ends

<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>


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Meher Qadri

Two divers jump into the foamy Yamuna River

Divers

Climate

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

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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>.</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

World Scrabble Championship

Games

From TED To PERNOCTATED, Scrabble’s Best Player Knows No Limits

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Albert Burneko

Sen. Kyrtsen Sinema (D-AZ) speaks at a news conference after the Senate passed the Respect for Marriage Act at the Capitol Building on November 29, 2022.

Senate Votes On Respect for Marriage Act

Politics

Point/Counterpoint: Senator Kyrsten Sinema Retires

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Patrick Redford

SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 04: Malik Monk #0 of the Sacramento Kings passes the ball around Alex Caruso #6 and Jevon Carter #5 of the Chicago Bulls in the second half at Golden 1 Center on March 04, 2024 in Sacramento, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

Chicago Bulls v Sacramento Kings

We Tracked A Night’s Worth Of NBA Assists, And Many Of Them Are Baloney

<p>Jen Ramos Eisen is a Central California-based minor league baseball writer.</p>


Jen Ramos Eisen

A cartoon of an outfield wall with an encroaching shadow over the player standing looking at it. It feels dark and desolate. The baseball stadium is empty.

Minors

The Life Of An International Minor League Baseball Player Has Never Been Simple

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Barry Petchesky

Flaco

Birdfector

Flaco Never Escaped

<p><span style="font-weight: 400">Dennis Young is the news editor at Front Office Sports.</span></p>


Dennis Young

Amy Cragg from Portland, Oregon, celebrates at the finish line after winning the US Women's Marathon Olympic Team Trials with a time of 2:28:27 in Los Angeles, California on February 13, 2016. Highlighted Joanna Zeiger behind her, who finished last, the image is a GIF and zooms into her

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Olympics

At The Olympic Trials Marathon, DFL Means Pain Over Regret

<div>Nate Jackson is a former NFL tight end and author of <a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/slow-getting-up-a-story-of-nfl-survival-from-the-bottom-of-the-pile-nate-jackson/6430451?gclid=Cj0KCQjwpc-oBhCGARIsAH6ote9JzWMngZDpSjF2eoL1_JlyPm2QhDfkNgOzqvaB4n9ic0qqUNQ4iCwaAsasEALw_wcB"><em>Slow Getting Up</em></a>. He lives in Denver.</div>
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Nate Jackson

A football is being balanced on top of a syringe and vaccine vial.

Vaccine balancing football

My NFL Career Ended With A Needle And A Scam

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Giri Nathan

Life Lessons

On Moving Out


<p>Richard Staff is a <a href="https://twitter.com/RichardStaff" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">weapons-grade Twitter goblin</a> and hostage of the Mets. That is his real name.</p>


Richard Staff

View from seats on the first-base side of Ebbets Field as the New York Giants and the Brooklyn Dodgers opened the 1939 baseball season, Brooklyn, New York, New York, 1939.

Ebbets Field Opening Day

The Last Of The Brooklyn Dodgers

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<p>Mike Tanier has covered the NFL for 20 years for Football Outsiders, the New York Times, The Messenger, Bleacher Report, Sports on Earth, and other ancient empires. He&#8217;s a co-author of Aaron Schatz&#8217;s FTN Football Almanac and the author of the Y/A novel for grownups <i>Long Snapper&#8217;s Blues. </i>He lives off Exit 3 of the New Jersey Turnpike with his long-suffering wife, two sons and a 70-pound American Bully named Frank the Tank. <span style="font-weight: 400">His new Substack, <a href="https://miketanier.substack.com/">Too Deep Zone</a>, has officially launched.</span></p>
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Mike Tanier

STILL LIFE OF SKELETON WRITING IN LARGE BOOK WITH QUILL PEN (Photo by H. Armstrong Roberts/ClassicStock/Getty Images)

STILL LIFE OF SKELETON…

Journalismism

Three Newsrooms Imploded Around Me In Under A Year

Boeing CEO David Calhoun speaks during a joint press event with United Airlines at the Boeing manufacturing facility in North Charleston, on December 13, 2022.

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How Will The Golden Age Of “Making It Worse” End?

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Lauren Theisen

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Defector At The Movies

Stuck In The One-Woman Myth

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Justin Ellis

Illustration of a father looking surprised at a baby on a changing table, surrounded by a pile of laundry and a vacuum cleaner.

Dadfector

No One Can Tell You How To Dad

ROCKINGHAM COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE - JANUARY 17: Republican presidential candidate, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks to supporters at LaBelle Winery on January 17, 2024 in Rockingham County, New Hampshire. DeSantis, who finished second behind frontrunner, former U.S. President Donald Trump in this week's Iowa caucuses, is campaigning in New Hampshire ahead of that state's primary on January 23 before moving on to South Carolina on Friday. (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

GOP Presidential Candidate Ron DeSantis Campaigns In New Hampshire

Nation Rejects Sweaty Pig

CHERRY HILLS VILLAGE, CO - OCTOBER 13: Former Denver Broncos head coach Mike Shanahan poses for a portrait at his home on Wednesday, October 13, 2021. Shanahan, who won back to back Super Bowls as Denver’s head coach in the 1990s, will be inducted into the team’s ring of fame during the Broncos’ matchup with the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post)

FORMER DENVER BRONCOS COACH MIKE SHANAHAN

In Search Of The Shanahan Offense

<p>A. Andrews is a thirty-something disabled queer/trans writer and illustrator. They spent the majority of their young life sketching in hospitals and experienced their first heartbreak at age 8 during Game 6 of the &#8217;96 NBA championships. When they aren’t writing and drawing their guts out, they’re hanging with their dog, George, and drinking too many coffees. They will probably never tell you “what’s <em>wrong</em> with [them]” and you shouldn’t ask! They were named one of <em>The Advocate</em>&#8216;s 2021 People of the Year, are a 2020 Tin House Summer Workshop scholar, and their debut graphic novel, <em>A Quick and Easy Guide to Sex &amp; Disability</em> topped 2020 lists for the NYPL best books for teens, and YALSA&#8217;s best books for teens, and is available anywhere books are sold. You can find more of their work at <em>Washington Post</em>, <em>Esquire</em>, the Nib, and other fun corners of the internet.</p>


A. Andrews

Art of a person seen from behind wearing a hoodie and shorts, with tattoos on their legs, in the process of lifting a barbell

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Lost And Found At The Weight Machines

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Maitreyi Anantharaman

A view of the first period of the PWHL game between Minnesota and Boston at Tsongas Center on January 03, 2024 in Lowell, Massachusetts.

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Women's Hockey

The First CBA In Women’s Hockey Is A Picture Of The Future, And A Story Of The Past

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