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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

<p>Jen Ramos Eisen is a Central California- and Las Vegas-based baseball labor and economics reporter.</p>


Jen Ramos Eisen

A cartoon of an outfield wall with an encroaching shadow over the player standing looking at it. It feels dark and desolate. The baseball stadium is empty.

The Life Of An International Minor League Baseball Player Has Never Been Simple

<p>Aaron Gordon is a reporter covering transportation, infrastructure, and the environment. Most recently, he was a senior staff writer at Motherboard, VICE News’s tech and science website.</p>


Aaron Gordon

A general overall aerial view of Arrowhead Stadium on December 25, 2023 in Kansas City, Missouri.

Soccer

The Good, The Bad, And The Unreachable: A World Cup Transit Report Ranking

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<div class="p-rich_text_section">Tom Scocca is the editor of <a href="http://indignity.net">Indignity</a>, a subscription-supported newsletter of news, essays, and commentary.</div>
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Tom Scocca

In this photograph a group of townsfolk descend on a disciple after it was discovered that the ritual he participated in left a person dead during an Epoch Event in Toronto on August 6, 2011

Margin Of Error

Fantasy Convention

<p><span style="font-weight: 400">Dennis Young is the news editor at Front Office Sports.</span></p>


Dennis Young

Amy Cragg from Portland, Oregon, celebrates at the finish line after winning the US Women's Marathon Olympic Team Trials with a time of 2:28:27 in Los Angeles, California on February 13, 2016. Highlighted Joanna Zeiger behind her, who finished last, the image is a GIF and zooms into her

Olympics

At The Olympic Trials Marathon, DFL Means Pain Over Regret

<div>Nate Jackson is a former NFL tight end and author of <a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/slow-getting-up-a-story-of-nfl-survival-from-the-bottom-of-the-pile-nate-jackson/6430451?gclid=Cj0KCQjwpc-oBhCGARIsAH6ote9JzWMngZDpSjF2eoL1_JlyPm2QhDfkNgOzqvaB4n9ic0qqUNQ4iCwaAsasEALw_wcB"><em>Slow Getting Up</em></a>. He lives in Denver.</div>
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Nate Jackson

A football is being balanced on top of a syringe and vaccine vial.

My NFL Career Ended With A Needle And A Scam

Soraya Roberts

Madeleine Sami as Eddie Redcliffe in Deadloch

Arts And Culture

Australians Just Have More Fun (On TV)


<p>Richard Staff is a <a href="https://twitter.com/RichardStaff" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">weapons-grade Twitter goblin</a> and hostage of the Mets. That is his real name.</p>


Richard Staff

View from seats on the first-base side of Ebbets Field as the New York Giants and the Brooklyn Dodgers opened the 1939 baseball season, Brooklyn, New York, New York, 1939.

The Last Of The Brooklyn Dodgers

Jason England

Still image from the movie American Fiction.

Defector At The Movies

‘American Fiction’ And The Wet Eyes Of The Sentimentalist

<p>Sean T. Collins has written for The New York Times, Rolling Stone, Vulture, Decider, Pitchfork, and many others. He lives with his family on Long Island.</p>


Sean T. Collins

Here’s To Cecilia Gentili

Color-coded passages of text tracking James Somerton's plagiarism

It’s A Great Time To Be A Plagiarist

<p>Nicholas Russell is a writer from Las Vegas.</p>


Nicholas Russell

The Sphere on the Las Vegas Strip is seen displaying Super Bowl LVIII signage ahead of Super Bowl LVIII on February 08, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The Super Bowl Before The Crunch

"Industry Night" launch party at Prive Las Vegas inside the Planet Hollywood Resort &amp; Casino January 21, 2008 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The Darkness And The Lights Of Super Bowl Parties

CIUDAD JUAREZ, MEXICO - FEBRUARY 06: Migrants cross the border to USA through Gate 36 and to be received by elements of the Border Patrol and the Texas National Guard for the processing of their request to migrate, captured from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico on February 06, 2024.

The Crisis Keeps Migrating

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<p>Mike Tanier has covered the NFL for 20 years for Football Outsiders, the New York Times, The Messenger, Bleacher Report, Sports on Earth, and other ancient empires. He&#8217;s a co-author of Aaron Schatz&#8217;s FTN Football Almanac and the author of the Y/A novel for grownups <i>Long Snapper&#8217;s Blues. </i>He lives off Exit 3 of the New Jersey Turnpike with his long-suffering wife, two sons and a 70-pound American Bully named Frank the Tank. <span style="font-weight: 400">His newsletter, <a href="https://too-deep-zone.ghost.io/">Too Deep Zone</a>, has officially launched.</span></p>
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Mike Tanier

STILL LIFE OF SKELETON WRITING IN LARGE BOOK WITH QUILL PEN (Photo by H. Armstrong Roberts/ClassicStock/Getty Images)

Journalismism

Three Newsrooms Imploded Around Me In Under A Year

Marathon running holding a Palestinian flag

How Four Marathoners Organized A Ceasefire Protest From Across The Country


<p><i>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 </i><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"><i>La Barça Soc Supporter</i></a><i> and appears regularly on </i><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"><i>The Barcelona Podcast</i></a><i>. His work has previously featured at outlets including The Blizzard, </i><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_"><i>Urban Pitch</i></a><i>, The Squall, Barça Blaugranes, and </i><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"><i>Sports Collectors Daily</i></a><i>.</i></p>
<p><i>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, </i><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"><i>Hardwood Hype</i></a><i>.</i></p>


Emile Avanessian

Jonatan Giraldez, Head Coach of FC Barcelona, gestures during the UEFA Women's Champions League group stage match between FC Barcelona and Eintracht Frankfurt at Estadi Johan Cruyff on January 25, 2024 in Barcelona, Spain.

Jonatan Giráldez Is Trading A Golden Past For An Uncertain Future

A runner (2nd R) looks at his watch as he stands at the start line during the 2015 Shanghai International Marathon in Shanghai on November 8, 2015. Shanghai marathon kicked off in the morning of November 8, with 35,000 runners starting their race from the Bund, local media reported.

Negative Splits

Embrace The Second-Dumbest Running Watch You Can Find

The main character giving a speech in Origin

‘Origin’ Fails As Both Homework And Entertainment

A childhood photo of the author during ballet class next to a current photo of her wearing her ballet clothes

Elder Wisdom

Ballet Brought Me Back To My Body

A male blue jay, perched on a branch with green foliage in the fore- and background.

The Omens Are Bad

The Harvard Book Store in Cambridge, MA on October 25, 2021.

Politics

What Comes After The Post-Crisis Reading List?

CHERRY HILLS VILLAGE, CO - OCTOBER 13: Former Denver Broncos head coach Mike Shanahan poses for a portrait at his home on Wednesday, October 13, 2021. Shanahan, who won back to back Super Bowls as Denver’s head coach in the 1990s, will be inducted into the team’s ring of fame during the Broncos’ matchup with the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post)

In Search Of The Shanahan Offense


<p>Corey Atad is a freelancer writer based in Toronto with an unhealthy Air Bud obsession.</p>


Corey Atad

Nathan Fielder and Emma Stone in The Curse

‘The Curse’ Showed Just Enough To Unsettle

A garden party scene from The Zone Of Interest

‘The Zone Of Interest’ Is About Cognitive Harmony

<p>A. Andrews is a thirty-something disabled queer/trans writer and illustrator. They spent the majority of their young life sketching in hospitals and experienced their first heartbreak at age 8 during Game 6 of the &#8217;96 NBA championships. When they aren’t writing and drawing their guts out, they’re hanging with their dog, George, and drinking too many coffees. They will probably never tell you “what’s <em>wrong</em> with [them]” and you shouldn’t ask! They were named one of <em>The Advocate</em>&#8216;s 2021 People of the Year, are a 2020 Tin House Summer Workshop scholar, and their debut graphic novel, <em>A Quick and Easy Guide to Sex &amp; Disability</em> topped 2020 lists for the NYPL best books for teens, and YALSA&#8217;s best books for teens, and is available anywhere books are sold. You can find more of their work at <em>Washington Post</em>, <em>Esquire</em>, the Nib, and other fun corners of the internet.</p>


A. Andrews

Art of a person seen from behind wearing a hoodie and shorts, with tattoos on their legs, in the process of lifting a barbell

fl