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

Capital

Climate

Margin Of Error

Policing

The Machines

Politics

Albert Burneko

What The Boring Company Does

Laura Wagner

Media Meltdowns

Newspaper Owner Slaps Union Organizer With Burger Bag At Ohio Rest Stop Amid Labor Strike

Starbucks workers on strike in Austin, Texas.

The Starbucks Strike Is Working

Colin Deppen is a reporter with Spotlight PA.

Colin Deppen

Barnstormers' Jake Hoover (20) slides into second base after hitting a two run double against the York Revolution during first inning action of the home opener at Clipper Magazine Stadium in Lancaster Friday April 29, 2022.

Why These Teams Got Left Out Of The Minor League Baseball Union

Kelsey McKinney

It Shouldn’t Be This Hard To Buy Concert Tickets

David Roth

Twitter CEO Elon Musk carries a sink into Twitter headquarters as part of a typically epic jape.

Everything Is Silicon Valley Now

Patrick Redford

MIAMI, FLORIDA - OCTOBER 21: An exterior view of FTX Arena prior to a game between the Boston Celtics and Miami Heat at FTX Arena on October 21, 2022 in Miami, Florida. 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 Megan Briggs/Getty Images)

So Much For FTX Arena

Samer Kalaf

Elon Musk's Twitter account displayed on a laptop screen is seen in this illustration photo taken in Krakow, Poland on November 1, 2022. (Photo by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Life's Rich Pageant

Beware The Blue Checks

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JUNE 23: Sam Bankman-Fried speaks onstage during the first annual Moonlight Gala benefitting CARE - Children With Special Needs - hosted by Michael Cayre, Roy Nachum and MegaMoon Museum at Casa Cipriani on June 23, 2022 in New York City. (Photo by Craig Barritt/Getty Images for CARE For Special Children )

Crypto Is Running Out Of Dominoes

AUSTIN, TEXAS - MARCH 15: Mark Zuckerberg, via video, speaks at Into the Metaverse: Creators, Commerce and Connection during the 2022 SXSW Conference and Festivals at Austin Convention Center on March 15, 2022 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Samantha Burkardt/Getty Images for SXSW)

Meta Will Continue Burning Billions Of Dollars Until Something Happens

Journalismism

Semafor Is The Problem

Life Lessons

I Just Ate $28 Worth Of Taco Bell Because Some Dingus On TV Claimed He Did

Mark Zuckerberg on a laptop screen with Meta logo

More Like Megaworse

<a href="https://twitter.com/PeteCroatto" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://twitter.com/PeteCroatto&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1664986664225000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1IOCSnf8b8k47CXUQY8Wml">Pete Croatto </a>is the author of <a href="https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/From-Hang-Time-to-Prime-Time/Pete-Croatto/9781982103958" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/From-Hang-Time-to-Prime-Time/Pete-Croatto/9781982103958&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1664986664225000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0qtPVCYdWjoWnj-HRERk_r">From Hang Time to Prime Time: Business, Entertainment, and the Birth of the Modern-day NBA</a>. His sportswriting has appeared in many outlets, including The New York Times, The Athletic, The Toronto Star, Andscape, Shondaland, and SLAM.

Pete Croatto

<a href="https://twitter.com/DaveCroatto" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Dave Croatto</a> has written for The Onion, The New Yorker’s Daily Shouts, MAD Magazine and Random House’s Little Golden Books. Once, in a diner, he saw a woman take a spoonful of complimentary mints from a bowl by the cash register, put the spoon directly into her mouth, and then place the spoon back in the bowl. The experience haunts him to this day.

Dave Croatto

An illustration of a hand holding a straight flush of Donruss Diamond Kings.

The Brief, Memorable Reign Of The Diamond King, Baseball Cards’ Most Iconic Subset

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

Dan McQuade

Feds: Publicly Traded Deli Worth $100 Million A Massive Fraud After All

Tom Ley

Brett Favre Wanted Inmates To Help Build His Fraudulent Volleyball Stadium

Malcolm Harris is the author of Kids These Days: Human Capital And The Making Of Millennials, Shit Is Fucked Up And Bullshit: History Since The End Of History, and the forthcoming Palo Alto: A History Of California, Capitalism, And The World.

Malcolm Harris

Growth For What: The Shaky Promise Of Green Capitalism

Diana Moskovitz is Defector&#8217;s investigations editor. You can contact her at diana@defector.com or dfmoskovitz@protonmail.com. She&#8217;s also on Signal @dmoskovitz.99

Diana Moskovitz

A Defector racecar with various Defector logos done in the style of somecorporate logos

Which Strategic Acquisitions Should Defector Make?

The MLBPA Wants To Unionize Minor League Baseball

NEW YORK, NY - MAY 16: Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau meets with WeWork Co-Founder and CEO Adam Neuman on May 16, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Kevin Hagen/Getty Images)

Barefoot Man Prepares To Set Another Massive Pile Of Money On Fire

A GateHouse Media owned Palm Beach Post and the Gannett Co. owned USA Today are seen for sale at a newsstand on August 05, 2019 in Palm Beach, Florida. The Post now is also owned by Gannett

With Newspaper Owners Like Gannett, Who Needs Enemies?

Arts And Culture

The Money Is In All The Wrong Places

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

Inside Hollywood’s Visual Effects Crisis

WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 28: CEO of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg appears on a monitor as he testifies remotely during the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee hearing 'Does Section 230's Sweeping Immunity Enable Big Tech Bad Behavior?', on Capitol Hill, October 28, 2020 in Washington, DC. CEO of Twitter Jack Dorsey; CEO of Alphabet Inc. and its subsidiary Google LLC, Sundar Pichai; and CEO of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg all testified virtually at the hearing. Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act guarantees that tech companies can not be sued for content on their platforms, but the Justice Department has suggested limiting this legislation. (Photo by Michael Reynolds-Pool/Getty Images)

Meta Is Desperate

February 1939: View of rows of newspapers from various American cities sitting in the racks of a newsstand, Times Square, New York City.