FeedCity: Defector

Defector
22 Jan 20:30 • Lauren Theisen

Dylan Larkin Overtime Winners Are Sweeter Than Ever Before

My favorite goal that I've ever seen live: Jan. 4, 2019, the woeful Detroit Red Wings hosting a really good Nashville Predators squad. The Wings went into it having lost 10 of their last 11, and they started the game by surrendering the first two goals. But from 0-2 down, th...

Defector
22 Jan 20:09 • James Webster

Elisa Shua Dusapin Is The Real Deal

Every so often, an obvious talent will suddenly appear from nowhere. The initial instinct, among critics, is to indicate this event as an event via a rush of comparisons. One such case was that of Elisa Shua Dusapin, 24 at the time of her debut novel, and 29 when her work re...

Defector
22 Jan 19:03 • Albert Burneko

Gavin Newsom Has Nothing To Offer

In California, a proposed law drafted by organized labor would impose a one-time tax on all the state's billionaires, equal to some portion of their total worth. Those whose net worth exceeds $1.1 billion would pay around five percent; five percent of $1.1 billion is $55 mil...

Defector
22 Jan 19:03 • Ray Ratto

Manchester United Wants To Get Into The Docuseries Business

Two noteworthy developments in British entertainment were announced yesterday. One was about a much discussed cooking show, and the other about a much discussed soccer team, and so by definition infinitely more tedious. The cooking show is The Great British Bake Off, t...

Defector
22 Jan 18:12 • Drew Magary

Terry Pegula Is A Big Disgrace And An Even Bigger Fucking Loser

Drew Magary’s Thursday Afternoon NFL Dick Joke Jamboroo runs every Thursday at Defector during the NFL season. Got something you wanna contribute? Email the Roo. You can also read Drew over at SFGATE, and buy Drew’s books while you’re at it. It’s typical of the Buffalo...

Defector
22 Jan 17:24 • Samer Kalaf

NFL Sends Mixed Signals In Its Stance On Genocide

After a 30-6 playoff win over the Pittsburgh Steelers, Houston Texans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair appeared in an ESPN postgame interview and drew national attention for the message written on his eye black: "Stop the Genocide." He had expected a fine for the customized access...

Defector
22 Jan 16:49 • Patrick Redford

Learner Tien Is The Brightest Pupil

You will notice the announcer of the following highlight reel continually returns to one word to describe Learner Tien's performance against Alexander Shevchenko in the second round of the Australian Open: control. The 20-year-old American tidily dispatched Shevchenko in two...

Defector
22 Jan 15:39 • Sabrina Imbler

Veronika The Cow’s Record Scratch

Veronika was 4 years old when she picked up her first tool: a tree branch, found in her pasture in the town of Nötsch im Gailtal in the Austrian alps. Veronika lives with Witgar Wiegele, an organic farmer and baker who keeps the Braunvieh cow as a pet. Veronika's meadow is d...

Defector
22 Jan 15:12 • Barry Petchesky

I Award Garnet Hathaway 4 Patrik Stefans Out Of 10

A spunky start to the season for the young Flyers has curdled somewhat in the new year, with a six-game losing streak mostly highlighted by an inability to prevent goals—opponents scored 31 over the stretch—before taking a nice win over Vegas earlier this week. Garnet Hathaw...

Defector
22 Jan 15:12 • Tom Ley

NCAA Learns The Legal Consequences Of Making Shit Up As You Go Along

The NCAA at this point is an organization whose sole purpose is to lose in court. Wednesday brought another defeat, when an Alabama state judge granted temporary eligibility to Charles Bediako, a 23-year-old center who is seeking to rejoin the Alabama men's basketball team d...

Defector
21 Jan 19:06 • Giri Nathan

The Tennis Ball’s Biggest Critic Thinks “They’re Getting Better”

Around this time last year, I wrote about why so many men's tennis players hated the tennis balls used on tour. Chief among those critics was Daniil Medvedev, who said that the allegedly inferior balls moved slower through the air, thus undermining his counterpunching style ...

Defector
21 Jan 17:48 • Ray Ratto

Major League Baseball Is Determined To Rain On Its Own Parade

Carlos Beltran and Andruw Jones are not in and of themselves exemplary Hall of Famers, but as of Tuesday evening they are duly elected Hall of Famers and are being celebrated as such. They may also end up being the last two Hall of Famers to be elected to applause and admira...

Defector
21 Jan 17:48 • Patrick Redford

The Good Team Always Wins, With Jeremy Gordon

This week on Nothing But Respect, we were thrilled to be joined by Jeremy Gordon, writer, editor, and author of last year's See Friendship. Topics discussed include: Rich Paul and Max Kellerman's unsavory podcast situation, intergenerational warfare vis-à-vis Jeremy's formative experiences watching Michael Jordan, Angel Reese's cameo in Kathryn Bigelow's latest, and, finally, Jeremy's polarizing unified theory of basketball.

You can find Nothing But Respect in Apple Podcasts or whatever podcast app you use. Thanks for listening!

Defector
21 Jan 17:48 • Tom Ley

Michele Tafoya Won’t Rest Until She Finds A Bigger And Better Way To Annoy Everyone

Minnesota is in turmoil, thanks to masked federal agents who spend all day driving around the Twin Cities terrorizing whoever the hell they want. This is a time that calls for strong leadership. Can I interest you in a senate bid from a lady you vaguely remember mumbling questions on NFL sidelines a decade ago?

That's right, former NFL sideline reporter Michele Tafoya announced today that she wants to be the next Republican senator from Minnesota. She unveiled her candidacy this morning with a campaign ad that wastes no time getting to her qualifications: "For years, I covered the biggest football games in America."

https://www.instagram.com/p/DTxZ8WEES2-/?hl=en

Defector
21 Jan 16:51 • Jae Towle Vieira

The Bride’s Last Bribery Fund

There comes a time in everyone woman's life when she must decide if she is getting on the party bus or not. In this case, the party bus is a metaphor for the whole concept of bachelorette parties and all the nonsense and spiraling costs that are associated with the whole tradition. The party bus is also, in fact, a party bus, because how could you get the girls together for the Bride's Last Ride without an intermediate size bus loaded down with booze?

Calling all Omega Theta Pi’s and hot librarians—who’s ready for a trip to Nashville? Today’s episode is the recording from our September 2025 live show in Seattle!

Defector
21 Jan 16:00 • Danny Funt

How Bill Simmons Went All In

The following is excerpted from a chapter of Everybody Loses: The Tumultuous Rise of American Sports Gambling, by Danny Funt. The book is available for purchase now. Bill Simmons never seemed like the type to bite his tongue. In many ways, he earned the nic...

Defector
21 Jan 14:27 • Zach Gozlan

Are ‘Jeopardy!’ Contestants Really That Bad At Questions About Sports?

There’s a stereotype about Jeopardy! contestants: They can name the stars of 18th-century operas, but not the starting quarterback for the Buffalo Bills. It comes up again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and...

Defector
20 Jan 21:03 • Giri Nathan

The Knicks Are Exuding Toilet Aromas

The New York Knicks, beautiful NBA Cup champions of December, have drifted toward the toilet. After winning the midseason trophy amid a 23-9 start, they have gone 2-9 in the weeks since. Monday night at Madison Square Garden, a severely undermanned Dallas Mavericks squad rac...

Defector
20 Jan 19:18 • Drew Magary

Who Wants To Be A Hero?

Time for your weekly edition of the Defector Funbag. Got something on your mind? Email the Funbag. You can also read Drew over at SFGATE, and buy Drew’s books while you’re at it. Today, we're talking about music, Caleb Williams, dishwasher mishaps, best foods to throw up, and more.

Your letters:

Adrian:

Defector
20 Jan 18:09 • Luis Paez-Pumar

No, Carson Beck, No! What Are You Doing?! NOOOOOOO!!!!

After almost two weeks of hearing about how Miami would get crushed by Indiana, I was pleasantly surprised by how well the Hurricanes played in Monday night's national championship game. Miami's defense was brutal in the good way throughout, putting Heisman winner Fernando M...

Defector
20 Jan 17:45 • Chris Thompson

Jimmy Butler’s Injury Thrusts Steve Kerr And Jonathan Kuminga Once More Into The Hell Of Working Together

Jimmy Butler's season is over. His painful-looking collapse in the third quarter of Golden State's win Monday night over the visiting Miami Heat was caused by the sudden kerplosion of his right ACL, a crisis that will require surgery and then many months of recovery. This st...

Defector
20 Jan 17:00 • Barry Petchesky

I Am Not Immune To The Charms Of A Really Big Moon Rocket

I am occasionally high-minded about space exploration. The quest for knowledge, the nobility of the human spirit, the inexorable call of the great void, blah blah blah. But then there are other times when I admit to myself that a sizable part of my interest is a simple, prim...

Defector
20 Jan 16:24 • Ray Ratto

There’s No Such Thing As A Secure NFL Coaching Job

The thing about "unprecedented events" is that they rarely are. Something weird or unusual that you just saw has almost certainly happened before, usually within about four years, and in pretty much the same form. This isn't to say that strange and new-seeming things aren't ...

Defector
20 Jan 15:39 • Lauren Theisen

Fernando Mendoza Was Unstoppable

Indiana—yes, Indiana—won a national title in college football on Monday night because they made every single play that they needed to. This was true all year, since Indiana—yes, yes, Indiana!—went undefeated through 16 games. But after a pair of blowouts to get them to the c...

Defector
20 Jan 15:39 • Ray Ratto

It Will Never Get Better Than This

You are a supporter of the University of Miami, and that taste of fireplace ash that coats your mouth has not yet gone away. You spent what could have been one of the best nights of your life watching your Cinderella get her arse kicked by a better Cinderella, which in and o...

Defector
20 Jan 15:39 • Israel Daramola

Indiana Is A Champion For College Football’s New Era

Indiana vs. Miami for a national championship was the story of two magical runs colliding. The kind of thing that feels engineered by some mysterious "they" in order to sell the value of this sport to its shareholders and potential Saudi buyers. But it really happened, and i...

Defector
20 Jan 15:39 • Barry Petchesky

2026 Is For Fighting

The new year is not yet three weeks old, but it is already rife with signs. Signs and portents. I have examined the flights of birds. I have consulted with the Pythia at Delphi (she says hello). I have completed a correspondence course and trained my newly certified haruspe...

Defector
19 Jan 17:48 • Samer Kalaf

Sean McDermott Stood Up For Buffalo, And Now He’ll Get Out

For a year without many new and exciting head coaching candidates, there sure are a lot of head coaches getting canned. The Buffalo Bills announced Monday morning that they had fired HC Sean McDermott, two days after the team lost to the Denver Broncos in overtime. It'll be ...

Defector
19 Jan 16:45 • Lauren Theisen

Broncos Fans Have Six Days To Talk Themselves Into Jarrett Stidham

Jarrett Stidham and I have thrown the same number of passes in the NFL over the last two years. With that lived experience in common, I feel comfortable assuming that we shared the same thought as we separately watched the Patriots beat the Texans on Sunday: Well, this is al...

Defector
19 Jan 16:09 • Maitreyi Anantharaman

The Crossword, Jan. 19: Sole Cycle

Why not take our Monday crossword out for a spin? This week's puzzle was constructed by Hanh Huynh and edited by Hoang-Kim Vu. Hanh is a bankruptcy attorney who lives in Brooklyn, N.Y. with his wife and two kids.

Defector crosswords, launched in partnership with our friends at AVCX, run every Monday. If you’re interested in submitting a puzzle to us, you can read our guidelines HERE.