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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.

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Defector

The Defector Crewneck Sweatshirt Is Back In Stock

back-in-stock-for-a-limited-time

Merch v3

John Saward

Clockwise from top: James Stewart, Donna Reed, Carol Coombs, Jimmy Hawkins, Larry Simms and Karolyn Grimes.

One of the Final Scenes from Frank Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life

Arts And Culture

How Can A Life Be Wonderful?

Mohammed Mhawish is a Palestinian journalist and writer from Gaza. He is currently a contributing writer for The Nation. Mohammed, a contributor to the book A Land With a People, has reported for Al Jazeera, The Economist, MSNBC, +972 Magazine, and more. Subscribe to his newsletter <a href="https://www.mohammedmhawish.com/">here</a>.

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Mohammed R. Mhawish

The rubble of the author's house in Gaza. A child's toy is visible.

mhawish-gaza-house

Stories

One Year Ago, Israel Buried Me Alive. I’m Still Clawing My Way Out.

Patrick Dubuque is a writer and editor at Baseball Prospectus.

Patrick Dubuque

American baseball pitcher Wilbur Wood, of the Chicago White Sox, demonstrates his 'knuckle ball' at the club's Comiskey Park stadium in Chicago, Illinois, 30th July 1973.

Wilbur Wood, American Baseball Pitcher

The Last Pitcher

Amos Barshad

People walk by a banner outside of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) for the IPO of Flutter Entertainment, the parent company of FanDuel, on January 29, 2024 in New York City. The company, which is already on the London Stock Exchange, will be listed under the “FLUT” symbol. Wall Street observers are watching to see if an upcoming Fed announcement on rate policy and the most recent violence in the Middle East will have any effect on the markets.

Markets Open As Concerns Grow Over Conflict Escalation In The Mideast After U.S. Troops Killed In Jordan

Gambling

The Gambling Industry’s Cynical Play For Your Vote

<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>.

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Neil deMause

A rendering of the future Willets Point soccer stadium.

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Capital

How NYC Gave Hundreds Of Millions To The Yankees And An Oil Baron Sheikh For The Willets Point Soccer Stadium—No Questions Asked

Tommy Craggs is an editor and writer, late of Game Theory With Bomani Jones on HBO, Mother Jones (no relation), HuffPost, Slate, Gawker Media, and Deadspin. He&#8217;s part of the Flaming Hydra cooperative of independent writers and artists. <a href="https://flaminghydra.com/#/portal/signup" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://flaminghydra.com/%23/portal/signup&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1720555755229000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0dYzV3TRg8TTAptAnFcs6h">Subscribe to the newsletter here</a>.

Tommy Craggs

Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) drives past New York Liberty forward Jonquel Jones (35) and goes in for two during a WNBA game between the New York Liberty and the Indiana Fever

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WNBA

Who Made Caitlin Clark A Good White Girl?

Brad Balukjian, PhD has chosen two careers—journalist and scientist—which converge on pursuit of the truth. He has been published in Rolling Stone, Smithsonian, National Geographic, and many others. His first book, The Wax Pack: On the Open Road in Search of Baseball’s Afterlife, hit #7 on the LA Times bestseller list and was named one of NPR’s Best Books of 2020. He is a Research Associate at the California Academy of Sciences, and he discovered 17 species of insects (green flash bugs) in Tahiti, one of which he named after Harrison Ford. He lives on the road, where he’s in an open relationship with his VCR.

Brad Balukjian author photo courtesy of author

Brad Balukjian

An image of Tito Santana in the ring during his time in WWF, with the cover of Brad Balukjian's book "The Six Pack" visible at lower left.

Tito-Santana-book

Book Excerpts That Don't Suck

Before He Became A Wrestling Legend, Tito Santana Needed A Name

charismatic megafauna (they/them)

Typing

Sabrina Imbler

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Defector Up All Night

It’s A Lovely Day In The Pleistocene And You Are A Horrible Giga-Goose

<div id=":g4.ma" class="Mu SP" title="January 26, 2021 at 2:34:42 PM UTC-5" data-tooltip="January 26, 2021 at 2:34:42 PM UTC-5"><a href="https://twitter.com/GoStevenGoldman">Steven Goldman</a> is a former BP editor-in-chief and current consulting editor. He is the author of the Casey Stengel biography <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Forging-Genius-Making-Casey-Stengel/dp/1574888749">Forging Genius</a> and host of the long-running <a href="https://www.baseballprospectus.com/show/the-infinite-inning/">Infinite Inning podcast</a>, which sits at the crossroads of baseball, history, politics, and culture. His most recent book, which has an introduction by David Roth, is <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Baseballs-Brief-Lives-Inspired-Infinite/dp/B0BBJTPGDF">Baseball&#8217;s Brief Lives: Player-Stories Inspired by the Infinite Inning</a>.</div>
<div id=":g5.ma" class="Mu SP" data-tooltip="January 26, 2021 at 2:34:45 PM UTC-5"></div>

Steven Goldman

A general view of the DraftKings Bet Live Now signage during the Major League Baseball game between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Washington Nationals on July 7, 2022.

MLB: JUL 07 Nationals at Phillies

Gambling For Life

Actress Tiffani Thiessen hosts the Grand Opening of Bowlero on March 12, 2016 in Woodland Hills, California.

Tiffani Thiessen Hosts Grand Opening Of Bowlero Woodland Hills

Bowling

The Rise Of Bowlero Has Put Bowling In The Jaws Of Private Equity

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Lauren Theisen

Godzilla standing and I guess yelling, as seen during the trailer to the film Godzilla Minus One.

republished