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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

Enter Our Raffle To Win A Visit And Home-Cooked Meal From Drew Magary

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tip jar sweepstakes

<p>Nick Zarzycki is a Toronto-based writer whose work has appeared in the <i data-stringify-type="italic">Washington Post</i>, <i data-stringify-type="italic">Deadspin</i> and <i data-stringify-type="italic">Toronto Life</i>.</p>


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Nick Zarzycki

A wizard dressed in a suit looks upon a fortress on a hill as lightning bolts and dollar bills dot the sky

Games

The Creator Of ‘Magic: The Gathering’ Knows Exactly Where It All Went Wrong

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<div dir="auto">Corbin Smith is a writer and photographer from Vancouver, Washington. His work has appeared in Deadspin, The Daily Beast, and <em>Rolling Stone</em>. He is also the host of <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-pacific-northwest-insurance-corporation-moviefilm/id1712416222"><em>The Pacific Northwest Insurance Corporation Moviefilm Podcast</em></a> a podcast about movies.</div>
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Corbin Smith

Joe Montana attends the FanDuel Fantasy Golf Classic on July 11, 2017 in New York City.

FanDuel Fantasy Golf Classic

Gambling

Sports Is Betting It All On Gambling

<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

Drawing of cannabis industry people chasing after a football player.

NFL Weed

I Wish I’d Never Become The NFL Weed Guy

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Chris Thompson

George McCaskey

Bears’ New Stadium Proposal Includes A Lifetime Of Public Debt

<p>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 <em>Point B</em>. Handsomest man in the world.</p>


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Drew Magary

MADRID, SPAIN - APRIL 22: Tom Brady seen arriving at Palacio De Cibeles on April 22, 2024 in Madrid, Spain. (Photo by Alberto Gardin/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images)

2024 Laureus World Sport Awards Madrid

I Learned It By Watching You, Tom Brady

Atmosphere at the Nike Air Innovation Summit held at the Palais Brongniart on April 11, 2024 in Paris, France.

Nike Air Innovation Summit

Capital

The Fanatics Disaster Is Also A Nike Disaster

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Samer Kalaf

Caitlin Clark daps up Jake From State Farm, for some reason, at the WNBA Draft

caitlin-clark-jake-from-state-farm

This Is So Stupid

Send Jake To A Farm Upstate

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Patrick Redford

A man looks at a Tesla Cybertruck parked near the SpaceX Starship as it stands on the launch pad ahead of its third flight test from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas on March 12, 2024. Elon Musk's SpaceX announced it was eyeing March 14 as the earliest date for the next test launch of its giant Starship rocket, with which it hopes to one day colonize Mars. Two previous attempts have ended in spectacular explosions, though the company has adopted a rapid trial-and-error approach in order to accelerate development. (Photo by CHANDAN KHANNA / AFP)

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Cybertruck Deliveries Halted Due To Car Being A Big Piece Of Shit That Doesn’t Work

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David Roth

New York City Mayor Eric Adams smiles and gives a thumbs-up at an MTA event in January of 2023.

Mayor Eric Adams attends a joint press briefing with

Does It Matter That AI Doesn’t Work?

Normal Gossip: portraits

Alex Sujong Laughlin

A photo showing an ear bud resting on the screen of a smartphone showing the Spotify music app.

Music Apps Illustrations

If You Love Podcasts, Dump Spotify

<p>A Rockies fan by birth and a White Sox fan by geographic proximity, Annie Howard spends her non-suffering sports moments ardently rooting for the Nuggets and the Orioles.</p>


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Annie Howard

an aerial view of an empty Guaranteed Rate Field

Ballparks Remain Empty On What Would Have Been Baseball’s Opening Day

How To Fix Chicago’s White Sox–Shaped Black Hole

PHOENIX, AZ - MARCH 7: Mat Ishbia speaks during a press conference announcing Phoenix as the host of the NBA All-Star 2027 on March 7, 2024 at Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2024 NBAE (Photo by Jeff Haynes/NBAE via Getty Images)

2027 All-Star Announcement

Mat Ishbia Revealed To Be Familiar Kind Of Asshole

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Maitreyi Anantharaman

Kauffman Stadium is the home of the Kansas City Royals and beyond it is GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium which is the home of the Kansas City Chiefs.

Kansas-city-Stadiums

The Chiefs And Royals Got What They Deserved

Ted Leonsis talks into a Wizards-branded microphone.

Ted Leonsis

Ted Leonsis Finally Abandons Glenn Youngkin’s Doomed Virginia Gambit

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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

Attorney Peter Angelos talks about his law practice and his hopes about buying the Orioles.

Peter-Angelos

Peter Angelos Was The Ultimate Team Owner

Alex Rodriguez in shades.

Whew! A-Rod’s Ownership Team Finally Secured Someone Else’s Money To Buy The Timberwolves

Vice co-founders and executives Shane Smith and Suroosh Alvi looking kind of wet at the 20th Webby Awards in 2016.

The 20th Annual Webby Awards – Arrivals

The Coffee Machine That Explained Vice Media

A topiary of Goofy stands with the Spaceship Earth ball in the background.

EPCOT in Disney World

A Disney World Pervert’s Take On: The Existential War Of Investor Aggression

<p>I am an independent writer/journalist based in New Delhi, India. I mainly work on long-form reportage on conflict, gender, climate, culture, intersection of technology and human agency. Published with the Al Jazeera Journalism Review, Aljazeera Digital, Defector, C S Monitor.</p>


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Meher Qadri

Two divers jump into the foamy Yamuna River

Divers

Climate

The Yamuna River’s Treasure Divers Fight More Than Poverty To Survive

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Albert Burneko

G/O Media CEO Jim Spanfeller speaking at a conference with one of those microphones you wear on your ear.

Collision 2022 – Day Two

Jim Spanfeller Is A Third-Rate Parasite

Ted Leonsis’s Suburban Arena Scam Is Nearly Kaput

The rostrum of the U.S. House of Representatives, with the entire chamber empty.

House Of Representatives Allows Media Rare View Of House Chamber

Margin Of Error

My Fellow Americans


<p>Investigations Editor. You can reach her at diana@defector.com or, if you prefer protonmail, dfmoskovitz@protonmail.com. If security is a concern, download the Signal app and send her a text at 929-251-8187.</p>


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Diana Moskovitz

A VICE Media Group location is seen on February 23, 2024 in the Venice section of Los Angeles, California.

Vice Media Sign

“The Locusts Of The Newspaper World”: How Fortress Investment Group Decimated Newspapers Before Gutting Vice

A guest wears new Apple Vision Pro outside Bora Aksu during London Fashion Week February 2024 on February 16, 2024 in London, England.

Street Style – LFW February 2024

Podcasts

The Future Doesn’t Work, With Ed Zitron

<p>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>.</p>


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Hamilton Nolan

UAW members attend a rally in support of the labor union strike at the UAW Local 551 hall on Chicago’s South Side. UAW president Shawn Fain joined members in solidarity with the ongoing strike on October 7, 2023 in Chicago, Illinois.