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

Keith Paradise is a freelance writer who somehow won a Keystone Press Award during his 
decade spent as a newspaper reporter in Pennsylvania, where he covered sports, education, and 
the murder of a neighborhood turkey. Originally from Pittsburgh, he is a senior writer for 
Billiards Digest magazine and his name has appeared twice in the notable section of The Year’s 
Best Sports Writing anthology—including in 2024 for his Defector article on the rise and fall of 
sports clothing icon Starter.

Keith Paradise

A rack of Starter jackets, satin and pullover and polyester. Colorado Rockies is in the front.

Arts And Culture

The Rise And Fall Of Starter, The Coolest Company On Earth

david beckerman