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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

Sarah Borus

France Europe French Paris 7th arrondissement Muse Rodin Museum art sculpture hands

Arts And Culture

You’ve Got To Hand It To Rodin

Life's Rich Pageant

America’s Birthday, Brought To You By Gas Station Hoagies

Kelsey McKinney

two van gogh paintings on a dark background

Misery And Memory In Two Van Goghs

Ray Ratto

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - CIRCA 1990: The Rocky statue stands atop the Philadelphia Museum of Art steps in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1990. The statue of fictional character Rocky Balboa, as portrayed by actor Sylvester Stallone, was created for and used in the Rocky III movie. It was later located outside the Spectrum at the South Philadelphia Sports Complex. In 1990, it was temporarily moved to the top of the museum steps, which feature prominently in the original Rocky film, for the filming of Rocky V. In 2006, the statue was moved to a grassy area at street level on museum grounds. (Photo by James Drake/Getty Images)

Philadelphia Continues To Innovate In The Field Of Losing

John Semley is a writer and researcher based in Philadelphia.

John Semley

The merch table at the Rob Schneider comedy show

A Rob Schneider Comedy Show May Be Long And Expensive, But At Least It’s Boring

Columnist. Author of many <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Drew-Magary/e/B001JS8R52/ref=dp_byline_cont_pop_book_1">fine works of literature</a>, including Point B. Handsomest man in the world.

Drew Magary

A Wawa kisok displaying The Saquon sandwich

Jamboroo

Wawa: The Defector Review

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

Dan McQuade

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - CIRCA 1975: Goalie Bernie Parent #1 of the Philadelphia Flyers guards the net during a game against the New York Rangers circa 1975 at the Spectrum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Parent helped the Flyers to two Stanley Cup Championships in 1974 and 1975.

You Couldn’t Drag Bernie Parent Out Of Philadelphia

Maitreyi Anantharaman

WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert talks to the crowd before the game between the Washington Mystics and the Minnesota Lynx at Carefirst Arena on June 24, 2025 in Washington, DC.

WNBA

The WNBA And Its Expansion Fees Are Getting Bigger

<div>Jen Kinney is a journalist and audio producer with a troubling fixation on debris, detritus, and discard.</div>

Jen Kinney

Capital

Seven Days At The Bin Store

Politics

What Is My Senator Good For?

Kathryn Xu

Luis Paez-Pumar

Eagles flag flying above a crowd of people that includes someone in a robot costume

Scenes From Broad Street And Beyond

An Eagles fan yells at Packers fans at the game

A Thorough Analysis Of This Latest Philly Sports Fan Bullshit

The Philadelphia 76ers' home arena in South Philly.

76ers Not Moving Across Town After All

Washington Crossing the Delaware but it's Joe Paterno

College Football

Becoming A Penn State Fan Again Means Remembering How To Hate Notre Dame

Shoppers walk past an MLB store during the National Day Golden Week holiday at Raffles City Chongqing on October 5, 2024, in Chongqing, China.

In Search Of A Phillies Hat In Chinese MLB Stores

<a class="sc-1out364-0 hMndXN sc-145m8ut-0 kGbjEv js_link" href="http://demause.net/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-ga="[[&quot;Embedded Url&quot;,&quot;External link&quot;,&quot;http://demause.net/&quot;,{&quot;metric25&quot;:1}]]">Neil deMause</a> has covered sports economics for more publications than even he can shake a stick at. He’s co-author of the book <a class="sc-1out364-0 hMndXN sc-145m8ut-0 kGbjEv js_link" href="https://www.amazon.com/Field-Schemes-Stadium-Swindle-Private/dp/1567511384?ascsubtag=c9dca64cfbbd6c35085d286f4423ee39b8350b2f&amp;rawdata=%5Br%7Chttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F%5Bks%7Cgoogle%5Bt%7Clink%5Bp%7C1800657108%5Ba%7C1567511384%5Bau%7C5722120546910826704%5Bb%7Cdeadspinascsubtag%3D4eba2da0f6cc83fe1f221e8d8ca5894cd93bf2a7ascsubtag%3D33f4f2a16c1eda72859c34ee8aa577410b04a0d8&amp;tag=deadspinamzn-20" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-ga="[[&quot;Commerce&quot;,&quot;deadspin - Baseball Doesn't Need Collusion To Turn Off The Hot Stove&quot;,&quot;1567511384&quot;]]" data-amazonasin="1567511384" data-amazontag="deadspinamzn-20" data-amazonsubtag="[r|https://www.google.com/[ks|google[t|link[p|1831644811[a|1567511384[au|5722120546910826704[b|deadspin[lt|text" data-commerceready="true">Field of Schemes: How the Great Stadium Swindle Turns Public Money Into Private Profit</a>, and runs <a class="sc-1out364-0 hMndXN sc-145m8ut-0 kGbjEv js_link" href="http://fieldofschemes.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-ga="[[&quot;Embedded Url&quot;,&quot;External link&quot;,&quot;http://fieldofschemes.com/&quot;,{&quot;metric25&quot;:1}]]">the website of the same name</a>.

Neil deMause

Philadelphia skyline with white puffy clouds focusing on William Penn Statue Broad Street area, Pennsylvania. (Photo by: Visions of America/Joseph Sohm/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Philadelphia Has A Lot To Lose On The New 76ers Arena

A picture of youtiao, or fried dough sticks, in a tray.

Food

No Breakfast But A Chinese Breakfast

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

Welterweight contender Jaron Ennis trains during a media workout for his upcoming fight against Custio Clayton at Churchill Boxing Club on May 11, 2022 in Santa Monica, California.

The Fights

Philly Has A Hero Named Boots

This Is NOT A Damn Bell!!

<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopher-kelly-180886217/">Christopher “Kit” Kelly</a> is a professor of criminal justice at Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia.

Kit Kelly

<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/ray-spraggins-49638227b/">Ray Spraggins</a> graduated in 2024 from Saint Joseph’s University with a Bachelor of Science degree in criminal justice.

Ray Spraggins

Lady Justice, wearing an Eagles helmet and weighing a football and some alcohol.