In May of 2015, Vick Ballard became the first Remembered Guy, and a great many hours have been spent since doing the work of Remembering various Guys, sometimes on video and sometimes in blog form but also just in those moments when Remembering A Guy is what's called for. In the intervening decade since Vick Ballard sprung to mind, a great deal has happened. Much, but by no means all, of that stuff is just shockingly bad. On the positive side of that ledger, though, Defector came into existence and stayed there; we have continued to put up blogs, and will celebrate our fifth birthday next week. There's probably some other good stuff that happened between then and now but none of it springs immediately to mind. A new sandwich place opened in my neighborhood, I guess. So that's pretty good.
But through that period of turmoil and decline, the work of Remembering Guys has not just remained vital, but grown and even thrived. Immaculate Grid arrived online in the summer of 2023 and was purchased by Sports-Reference shortly thereafter, and earlier this week we introduced a partnership with them on Some Guys I Remember From The 21st Century, an open-ended, multi-sport version of Immaculate Grid that makes it easier to celebrate whatever 21st century players you feel like celebrating, for whatever reason you feel like celebrating them.
If you want your grid to be a barbershop poster of MLB Pitcher Facial Hair Grooming Decisions, you need only make that dream come true with a few keystrokes:
If you want it to be WNBA players who put up implausible and unsustainable numbers in the 2020 bubble mini-season, as Maitreyi did, it can be that.
If you want to remember NFL guys who went to high school in or near Sacramento, you are probably Patrick Redford, but you can also do that. (If that is a thing you want and you are not Patrick Redford, stop reading this post and consult your physician right away.)
This week, on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday afternoon, Defector staffers and friends of the site went on Twitch and did just that, working out both our various Grids and some but by no means all of the brain damage that made those Grids possible in streams that centered on baseball, football, and basketball, respectively. We were joined by members of the Sports-Reference team that helped make this Grid a reality on the first one, and by whatever buddies felt like stopping by and had the urge to Remember Some Guys on all of them. The result is nearly five cumulative hours of Guy Remembering footage, all of which we have put up on YouTube for posterity and embedded below for your convenience. If you missed any of the streams, or just miss that special feeling you got when it dawned on you why Drew had included former Jets offensive lineman Brandon Moore on his grid, you can get caught up below.
MLB Guys
NFL Guys
NBA Guys
The great work continues. Thank you for your continued support of Defector.
