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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

Barry Petchesky

Music

Ozzy Osbourne Was The Frontman Of The Future

John Saward

Outfielder Dave Parker #39 of the Pittsburgh Pirates swings and watches the flight of his ball against the Chicago Cubs during a circa 1970's Major League Baseball game at Wrigley Field in Chicago, Illinois. Parker played for the Pirates from 1973-83.

Dave Parker’s Great Bounty

UNITED STATES - OCTOBER 26: Baseball: World Series, Chicago White Sox A,J, Pierzynski (12) and Bobby Jenks (45) victorious after winning Game 4 and series vs Houston Astros, Houston, TX 10/26/2005 (Photo by John Biever/Sports Illustrated via Getty Images) (SetNumber: X74496 TK4)

Bobby Jenks Made The Most Of A Short Time

Staff Writer
Find me on Signal @DefectorChris.19

Chris Thompson

Journalismism

Each William Langewiesche Disaster Story Was An Event In Itself

Lauren Theisen

Brian Wilson, along with the Beach Boys perform at the Oakland Coliseum in Oakland, California on January 1, 1987 .

Brian Wilson Was The Sound Of Something Just Out Of Reach

Dave McKenna

LOS ANGELES - 1966: Singer and mastermind Brian Wilson of the rock and roll band "The Beach Boys" directs from the control room while recording the album "Pet Sounds" in 1966 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

Brian Wilson Was A Sad Genius Who Brought Joy To The World

Rick Derringer performs at Oakland Stadium in Oakland, California - July 23, 1977

Arts And Culture

Rick Derringer Made Rock And Roll Fun

Muhammad Ali smashes a right to the head of George Foreman.

The Fights

George Foreman Got As Good As He Gave

College Basketball

John Feinstein Never Stopped Doing Everything

George Lowe Had To Be Brilliant To Make Space Ghost That Stupid

Israel Daramola

David Lynch Was The Artist of Our Time

Ray Ratto

Bob Uecker walks onto the field to throw out the ceremonial first pitch before Game 1 of the NLCS between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park.

Bob Uecker Was Just The Best

LAGRANGE, GA - JUNE 10: Former US President Jimmy Carter and former First Lady Rosalyn Carter attach siding to the front of a Habitat for Humanity home being built June 10, 2003 in LaGrange, Georgia. More than 90 homes are being built in LaGrange; Valdosta, Georgia; and Anniston, Alabama by volunteers as part of Habitat for Humanity International's Jimmy Carter Work Project 2003.

Politics

Jimmy Carter Was The Iron Man Of Hospice

Dan McQuade was a founding member of Defector. He died in January 2026.

Dan McQuade

During an interview with sportscaster Greg Gumbel (right), American disc jockey (from WLUP radio, 'The Loop') Steve Dahl breaks a disco record over his head prior to hosting an anti-disco promotion at Comiskey Park, Chicago, Illinois, July 12, 1979. The event, held between games of a doubleheader between the Chicago White Sox and the Detroit Tigers, allowed fans to attend the games for 98 cents along with an unwanted record and, following the detonation of those records, eventually resulted in the White Sox forfeiture of the second game due to unsafe playing conditions when fans stormed the field causing serious damage to the venue and playing surface.

Greg Gumbel Kept It All In Perspective

Multiple exposure of Oakland Athletics Rickey Henderson (24) in action, stealing base vs San Francisco Giants. Game 1. Oakland, CA 10/14/1989

Rickey Henderson Believed In Rickey Henderson

Quincy Jones on stage at The Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz and The Recording Academy Los Angeles chapter honoring Herbie Hancock all star tribute concert at the Kodak Theatre

Quincy Jones Was Greater Than Any One Era

LANDOVER, MD - CIRCA 1992: Jerrod Mustaf #0 of the Phoenix Suns warms up prior to playing the Washington Bullets in an NBA basketball game circa 1992 at the Capital Centre in Landover, Maryland. Mustaf played for the Suns from 1991-94.

Sadly, Jerrod Mustaf Was More Than A Basketball Player

Pete Rose of the Cincinnati Reds dives head first into home plate during a game against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field during the early 1970s in Chicago

Pete Rose, All-American

Defector Staff

James Earl Jones smiling into the camera, 1978

Defector At The Movies

Defector’s Favorite James Earl Jones Performances

Rich Homie Quan performs onstage at The Aretha Franklin Amphitheatre on September 01, 2023 in Detroit, Michigan.

Rich Homie Quan Got To The Top Of The Mountain

charismatic megafauna (they/them)

Sabrina Imbler

two penguins stand in front of an inflatable rainbow arch in a penguin enclosure

Creaturefector

Sphen The Gay Penguin Broke The Ice

Gena Rowlands in A Woman Under The Influence

Gena Rowlands Played Pathetic Better Than Anyone

A round stingray (Urolophus halleri) I photographed in shallow water at Bolsa Chica wetlands (Southern California). The clouds of sand around the eyes and and body were formed as the stingray flapped and positioned deeper in the sand, expelling water. You can see the spiracles behind the eyes.

Charlotte, The Stingray At The Heart Of Scandal, Has Died

Willie Mays walking across the outfield at the Polo Grounds as a member of the San Francisco Giants during a 1962 game against the New York Mets.

Willie Mays Was Baseball

Owen Lewis is a former Defector intern and has written for The Guardian, The Second Serve, The Athletic, n+1, Texas Monthly, Air Mail, and other publications.