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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

Hamilton Nolan is a journalist based in New York City. Subscribe to his work at <a href="https://www.hamiltonnolan.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.hamiltonnolan.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1687350200913000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0naFbUVOe-5ZgtPDtIM3gz">HamiltonNolan.com</a>.

Hamilton Nolan

The Jaguars celebrate after a fumble returned for a touchdown

Jaguars Junction: Week 18

Emile is a freelance writer, originally from the U.S., now living in Barcelona. He writes about Spanish soccer, namely FC Barcelona and Barça Femeni, on Substack, at <a href="https://barcafemeni.substack.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://barcafemeni.substack.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1699026753084000&amp;usg=AOvVaw14bYDiXeApFrdtb0hLPnFE">La Barça Soc Supporter</a> and appears regularly on <a href="https://twitter.com/TheBarcelonaPod" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://twitter.com/TheBarcelonaPod&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1699026753084000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3pyv2PojdPBZ1Gkv3_aN-S">The Barcelona Podcast</a>. His work has previously featured at outlets including The Blizzard, <a href="https://urbanpitch.com/author/eavanessian/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://urbanpitch.com/author/eavanessian/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1699026753084000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0I4zygG7AmIDTzwXlPE2u_">Urban Pitch</a>, The Squall, Barça Blaugranes, and <a href="https://www.sportscollectorsdaily.com/author/emile-avanessian/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.sportscollectorsdaily.com/author/emile-avanessian/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1699026753084000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3g0kv0jxafpvL520xVCsVU">Sports Collectors Daily</a>.
Emile also writes about the NBA, at his new outpost League Pass in L’Eixample. His previous work can be found at Forum Blue and Gold and his own site, a living relic of the basketblog era, <a href="https://hardwoodhype.com/the-work" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://hardwoodhype.com/the-work&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1699026753085000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2U949Uf-KXcPwkDPCbW129">Hardwood Hype</a>.

Emile Avanessian

Soccer

Alexia Putellas’s Documentary Finds Truth In Disaster

You can follow Will on Twitter (<a href="https://twitter.com/Senn_Spud" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">@Senn_Spud</a>), Instagram (<a href="https://www.instagram.com/will_sennett/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">@will_sennett</a>), and TikTok (<a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@will_sennett" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">@will_sennett</a>). You can listen to his podcast, <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a-closer-look-podcast/id1561306479" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">A Closer Look</a>, wherever you get your podcasts.

Will Sennett

Jamboroo

Hell Is Marvin Lewis: An Open Letter To Zac Taylor

Lam Thuy Vo is a journalist who marries data analysis with on-the-ground reporting to examine how systems and policies affect individuals. She is currently a <a href="https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/grants/soros-justice-fellowships" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Soros Justice Fellow</a>, a <a href="https://www.typeinvestigations.org/blog/2021/06/14/announcing-the-2021-ida-b-wells-fellows/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Type Investigations Ida B. Wells Fellow</a>, and a <a href="https://www.journalism.cuny.edu/2021/03/lam-thuy-vo-named-to-new-role-to-strengthen-data-journalism-curriculum/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">data-journalist-in-residence at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism</a>. Previously, she worked for BuzzFeed News, The Wall Street Journal, Al Jazeera America and NPR&#8217;s Planet Money.

Lam Thuy Vo

A copy of Yaa Gyasi's Homegoing at the Brooklyn Public Library. Access to Gyasi's book was recently restricted at a high school in Nixa, Missouri.

Politics

When Adults Banned Their Books, These Teens Fought Back By Organizing

Ashley Feinberg

Funbag

Trump Vs. DeSantis: Who Ya Got?!

Two boxing gloves on a red floor background, with deep shadows. The gloves are black, and laid at the wrists atop each other. The left glove has 1-2 on it. The right glove has 2-4 on it. This is painted on with stencils in red ink.

The Fights

On Punches

A founding member of the Billings, Montana-to-Brooklyn sportswriting pipeline, Patrick Sauer has written for many large digital publications you’ve heard of and even more smaller ones that no longer exist. Check out his work at <a href="http://patricksauer.contently.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://patricksauer.contently.com&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1782568830003000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2lJRPIa8YxoLI3taZ9zsro">patricksauer.contently.com</a> or follow him on Bluesky <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/pjsauer.bsky.social" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://bsky.app/profile/pjsauer.bsky.social&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1782568830003000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1pDFKunGJ4lkfhBy4EMrEt">@pjsauer.bsky.social</a>.

Patrick Sauer

Music

The Legend Of Run-DMC’s Immortal “Christmas In Hollis,” As Remembered By The People Who Made It

Nicholas Russell is a writer from Las Vegas.

Nicholas Russell

Hey It's That Guy

Sean Harris Leans Into The Pain Of Being A Creep

<a href="https://twitter.com/petesegall?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Pete Segall</a> lives in Chicago. His fiction has appeared in The Bennington Review, Conjunctions, The Drift, and elsewhere.

Pete Segall

The eponymous hospital in Lars Von Trier's supernatural soap "Kingdom"

Arts And Culture

After Two Decades Of Chaos, Lars Von Trier’s Supernatural Soap Opera ‘Kingdom’ Returns

Soraya Roberts

Defector At The Movies

Please Remove Me From This List

Still image from the movie Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead.

Don’t Tell Mom The Babysitter’s Dead, Or That Christina Applegate Is Now Older Than Her

Matt Ufford is the head of video and audio at Yahoo Sports.

Matt Ufford

Birdfector

A Bird Idiot’s Guide To Winter Birding

Michael is a writer who has worked with The Atlantic, The New Yorker, WIRED, Vox, The New York Times, and other publications. His first book, The Other Olympians, which uncovers the stories of several European athletes who transitioned gender in the 1930s, is now available for purchase.

Michael Waters

TOLEDO, OH - JULY 01: Columbus Clippers player's ball caps are seen on the dugout bench during a regular season game between the Columbus Clippers and the Toledo Mud Hens on July 1, 2019 at Fifth Third Field in Toledo, Ohio.

Capital

The Columbus Clippers Made Public Sports Ownership Work. Can Anyone Else?

Canadian singer Bryan Adams posing in front of a brick wall. Taken in 1984, in Paris.

Why Is Bryan Adams’s “Summer Of ’69” The Only Song On My Radio?

Amos Barshad

Harry Kane of England walks around the pitch after being substituted during the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Group B match between England and IR Iran at Khalifa International Stadium on November 21, 2022 in Doha, Qatar.

How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love Harry Kane

Shamira Ibrahim is a Brooklyn-based culture writer by way of Harlem, Canada, and East Africa,&nbsp;who explores identity, cultural production and technology.

Shamira Ibrahim

Where Does Ye Go From Here?

Leander Schaerlaeckens is a long-time soccer writer, currently contributing to The Guardian and elsewhere. He is the author of <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/722130/the-long-game-by-leander-schaerlaeckens/">The Long Game: U.S. Men&#8217;s Soccer and its Savage, Four-Decade Journey to the Top, or Thereabouts</a>. He teaches journalism and sports communication at Marist University. He will cover his fourth World Cup in 2026.

A photo of the author Leander Schaerlaeckens taken by Asha Fuller.

Leander Schaerlaeckens

The handwritten notes of Dick Cramer, back when he was coming up with a stat that would change baseball forever during his spare time.

The Forgotten Men Behind The Ideas That Changed Baseball

Jaguars Junction: Week 10

Video Games

Sometimes It’s Fun To Be A Weird Guy With A Hand For A Head

Jay Willis is a writer who covers law and democracy. His work has appeared in GQ, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, Slate, and more. He is the editor-in-chief at Balls &amp; Strikes, an outlet for progressive commentary on the legal system.

Jay Willis

Supreme Court Justice and Philadelphia Phillies fan Samuel Alito seen at the July 2019 swearing-in of Mark Esper as Secretary of Defense.

Spare A Thought For Samuel Alito, America’s Worst Phillies Fan

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<div>Casey Taylor is a writer living and working in Pittsburgh. He is currently writing a book for St. Martin&#8217;s Press about cannabis religions, Haile Selassie I, and the Cold War in the Caribbean. He also writes a free newsletter called <a href="https://weedchurch.substack.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://weedchurch.substack.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1709306863919000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1mVH2xiID6S0zvlyj6yHco">Weed Church</a> covering foolish spiritual things that occur to him. His work has appeared in The New Republic, WIRED, New York Magazine, and a sports blog he can’t currently recall the name of. You can <a href="mailto:caseyt7@gmail.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">email</a> him if you’d like.</div>
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Casey Taylor

HUNTINGTON BEACH CA - FEBRUARY 4 : A SWAT team member enacts defense against school violence . SWAT teams from many Police forces throughout America and Canada participate in a realistic training exercises at various High Schools throughout America to help combat the rise in shooting and violence on Campus. April 19, 2001 Huntington Beach High School, Huntington Beach California (Photo By Paul Harris/Getty Images)

Dadfector

How To Train A Lamb For The Slaughter

Leo Baudhuin is a freelance journalist covering the Thorns and the NWSL. He&#8217;s also a known fan of soup, octopuses, and astrology.

Leo Baudhuin

Crystal Dunn And The Portland Thorns Just Need One More Moment

Keith David Is Somewhere In Your Head

Annie Rauwerda is a writer and comedian from Michigan. She loves Wikipedia, digital archives, and her cat.