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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

Emily Bice is a Brooklyn-based writer. Her work centers on explorations of how we navigate love and life in the 21st century. These investigations have taken her to a fishmonger, inspired meditations on dating, and even led to rollerblading a marathon. You can find more on her Substack, <a href="https://129waysto.substack.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://129waysto.substack.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1728739707762000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1SlDWyDATtJJ90_yxFN0B1">129 Ways to Get a Life</a>.

Emily Bice

a woman bowls into a time travel-like vortex

Life Lessons

Ten Frames Of Time Travel

Dave McKenna

Horse Racing

One Last Trip To Pimlico, A Dead And Damned Racetrack

Kathryn Xu

Marc Marquez of Spain and Ducati Lenovo Team, Alex Marquez of Spain and BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP during the 2025 MotoGP Michelin Grand Prix of France at Circuit Bugatti on May 11, 2025 in Le Mans, France.

Racing

Finding The Limit At Le Mans

Jasper Hutson is a lapsed journalist.

Jasper Hutson

Fitness

Any “Halfway Decent Person” Can Join And Own Ireland’s Oldest Gym

Lauren Theisen

Pro Wrestling

I Went To Japan To See One Building

Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin during player introductions at the 2017 skills competition

A Pittsburgh Pilgrimage

Heather Chen is a former Defector intern and the managing editor at the Columbia Daily Spectator. She loves hockey, photography, and the good ol’ state of Michigan.

Heather Wei-Xi Chen

DETROIT, MI - SEPTEMBER 14: A worker cleans a RAM truck at the 2022 North American International Auto Show on September 14, 2022 in Detroit, Michigan.The NAIAS opens to the public on September 17 and features the latest state of the art electric vehicles, vehicle rides, the world’s first battery-powered Monster Truck, an Air Mobility Experience featuring flight demonstrations of jet suits, hoverboards, and vertical take-off and landing aircraft, a Dinosaur Encounter featuring 80 life-like and life-size dinosaurs, and the world’s largest rubber duck. (Photo by Bill Pugliano/Getty Images)

Arts And Culture

The Detroit Auto Show Used To Be The Future

View of a wrestling ring during a tag team match at White Eagle Hall

Deadlock Pro-Wrestling Is As Fun As It Is Fragile

Kristin Merrilees is a writer based in New York covering technology and the internet.

Kristin Merrilees

A Timothee Chalamet lookalike in a Wonka costume showcases an empty briefcase

Life's Rich Pageant

We Went To The Timothée Chalamet Lookalike Contest And Didn’t See Timothée Chalamet

Music

The Dream Of The 1980s Is Alive And Unwell On Atlantic City Playlists

Emily skates in the final stretch of the marathon

The Great Outdoors

The View From The Way, Way Back Of The Berlin Inline Skating Marathon

Patrick Redford

OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA - SEPTEMBER 26: The Oakland Athletics mascot, Stomper, waves to the crowd after the Oakland Athletics beat the Texas Rangers at the Oakland Coliseum on September 26, 2024 in Oakland, California. Today will be the final Athletics game played at the Coliseum. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

The A’s Are Oakland’s No More

Giri Nathan

Tennis

After Beating The Case, Jannik Sinner Beat The Field

Michael Rosen is a transportation planner and author of the <a href="https://pitchplots.substack.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://pitchplots.substack.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1725119706246000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3LfT9S-qtmoiPwAXtsicWT">&#8220;Pitch Plots&#8221;</a> Substack. He lives in Los Angeles.

Michael Rosen

An umpire mediates between two people networking

Looking For Friends Among Baseball’s Most Passionate Nerds

Alex Shultz is a journalist based in Brooklyn. He&#8217;s a writer for <a href="https://www.hardresetmedia.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.hardresetmedia.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1763581679564000&amp;usg=AOvVaw07bi0TNndgTXDN2QH72s3J">Hard Reset,</a> a newsletter about tech, labor, and power.

Alex Shultz

The lobby of the Javits Center during Fanatics Fest

Capital

Three Days At Fanatics Fest, Michael Rubin’s Hollow Monument To Sports And Culture

A man looks at the oil painting "Beer Garden with A.K." (2009) by Nicole Eisenman

The Beauty Of The Ordinary Is There For The Painting

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

Owen Lewis

A packed crowd at the Melbourne Cricket Grounds awaits a fateful kick from Carlton's Mitch McGovern.

Australian Football

I Love Australian Rules Football More Than I Get It

I Don’t Ever Want My Favorite Things To Change

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

Simone Biles of Team United States competes in the Artistic Gymnastics Women's Floor Exercise Final on day ten of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Bercy Arena on August 05, 2024 in Paris, France. Her arms are up in the air, and she is smiling.

Olympics

Simone Biles’s Greatness Is About More Than Medals

Simone Biles holds up her gold medal in vault at the 2024 Olympics

Simone Biles Gets Another Olympic Gold With Her Historic Vault

American gymnast Stephen Nedoroscik surrounded by press with cameras at the Olympics in Paris.

Stephen Nedoroscik Pommeled That Horse

In Paris, Simone Biles Made Everyone Stand Up And Take Notice

Flaws Can Make A Wrestler Feel Real

A surfer in a blue wetsuit carries a light blue surfboard with him as he walks into the ocean. He is holding a Palestinian flag in his right hand and wearing a keffiyeh around his head.

Surfers Show Solidarity At A Paddle-Out For Palestine

Citi Field scoreboard with NHL Trade Alert graphic on it