Defector.com

[rass]

Had opened that earlier this morning but lost my tabs before I read it and probably wouldn't have bothered without the recommendation. Thanks.

[Pruitt]

The March Of The American Kooks

Just love when a writer can sum up something I feel in a short burst of words:

Without social media, Trump himself is a spent force, just another podgy golf asshole griping in a country club. But also he is airborne, now.

He is alive in all the Americans who are not just blinkered and baffled and vain enough to consider wearing a mask into a supermarket somehow the same thing as dying in the Holocaust, but who also believe that their confrontations with the tyranny of The Door Guy At Trader Joe’s must be streamed someplace where people can throw it some hearts, or likes, or fuming devil faces, or money.

[brian]

Which teams are most vulnerable to climate change?

I admit thinking about this myself. If I had kids and/or grandkids I would be investing in real estate in south central Michigan where it's currently cheap as hell and soon (well, 40 to 50 years from now) to be the home to be a lot of climate refugees along that Chicago to Detroit corridor.

[L-Jam3]

I'm envious of you guys in Northern California who had the opportunity to read Ray Ratto for all these years. He's fantastic.

[DaveInSeattle]

I don't think I've ever read anything that makes me feel older then today's deep dive on the Blaseball thing.

[sancarlos]

How much does a subscription cost? Are there deals to be had?

[brian]

How much does a subscription cost? Are there deals to be had?

They’ve not really resorted to promo codes that I’ve seen but I think it’s about $10/mo or maybe $99/yr if go that route.

[tennbengal]

I don't think I've ever read anything that makes me feel older then today's deep dive on the Blaseball thing.

Between this and Top Shots it has been a tough week for me.

[A_B]

I couldn’t even finish blaseball. I appreciate what they are doing but there are a lot of misses for me lately.

But I may pay the price just to read magary to be honest and everything else is gravy. Rat to pretty great too. David Roth As well. I like thiesen. So I’ll just shut up.

[brian]

And Pechesky

[DSafetyGuy]

Not everything there is for everyone. I don't read the soccer stuff because I have no interest and some of the other stuff (tokamak!) just loses me.

No shame is closing the window if it's not for you.

[tennbengal]

Defector has totally been what i hoped it would be when they came back. Worth the subscription. They’ve hit their stride .

[DSafetyGuy]

Defector has totally been what i hoped it would be when they came back. Worth the subscription. They’ve hit their stride .

The site has been great. I started listening to the Distraction when it re-launched, as well. I also listened to most of the new podcasts they are testing out for launch and enjoyed most of them, as well.

[DaveInSeattle]

I couldn’t even finish blaseball. I appreciate what they are doing but there are a lot of misses for me lately.

I did like the hat though.

[DaveInSeattle]

I feel asleep listening to the Distraction podcast last night, and had a crazy dream that I was a guest on the podcast but I couldn't unmute my microphone, and I couldn't add anything to the conversation.

[EnochRoot]

I feel asleep listening to the Distraction podcast last night, and had a crazy dream that I was a guest on the podcast but I couldn't unmute my microphone, and I couldn't add anything to the conversation.

You just described life in the grays.

[mister d]

Does Your Region Have Its Own Pizza Style? (No.)

[brian]

Does Your Region Have Its Own Pizza Style? (No.)

One of the worst pieces Defector has published so far.

[brian]

I will not stand for any slander of Detroit-style pizza.

[GoodKarma]

I will not stand for any slander of Detroit-style pizza.

I will join you for that crusade. Hands down the best pizza style in existence.

[DaveInSeattle]

I will not stand for any slander of Detroit-style pizza.

I will join you for that crusade. Hands down the best pizza style in existence.

New Haven pizza is pretty good.

[sancarlos]

I will not stand for any slander of Detroit-style pizza.

I will join you for that crusade. Hands down the best pizza style in existence.

New Haven pizza is pretty good.

I agree on New Haven style

[brian]

Great David Roth piece on (and about) a team you never think about...the Colorado Rockies.

[rass]

[tennbengal]

Can you all read this? Read this. The writing. It's so good.

https://defector.com/parenting-lessons- ... bleachers/

[mister d]

That was really good.

[rass]

piling on

[DaveInSeattle]

The 'Senator's Week' is either completely bonkers, or totally awesome and I can't decide which.

But the artwork is fantastic.

[mister d]

I've mostly enjoyed it all.

[tennbengal]

The piece on the Washington Senators owner was about as good as it gets.

[DaveInSeattle]

The story about Rand Paul getting the crap beat out of him made me laugh.

[brian]

The story about Rand Paul getting the crap beat out of him made me laugh.

That was the best so far.

[A_B]

Are the images screwed up for anyone else? Looks like some changes were made to the comments, too.

[EnochRoot]

The email of the week is freakin awesome.

[+] spoiler

Email of the week!

Michael:

My grandpa (Popsie) was a genuine cowboy. Too young for WWI, and too old for WWII, he channeled all that latent masculine energy into being the manliest man I ever knew. In the 30’s he was was hired by a film producer because he was the only person they could find who knew how to handle a 14-horse hitch and they needed him to drive a team in their film about the Oklahoma Land Rush. I lived with him in the early 80’s. His cowboy days were long behind him, but he still ate bacon and eggs for breakfast every day and steak and potatoes for dinner every night. Taught me how to cheat at poker at the age of five.

But this story is about the day he actually became a grandpa. He raised his family in Arizona, way out in the boonies. He was blessed with five daughters (“a constant source of stress until they were all properly married and not my problem” as he would later tell me). His oldest daughter, Peggie, was married to another cowboy. He (the son-in-law) headed out on a cattle drive when his wife was 35 weeks pregnant. He was due back in two weeks, but unfortunately she started going into labor about three days before he was back. My Popsie (not yet a grandfather) gathered her up, and all my aunts and my grandma and put them all in the car and headed to nearest hospital, about two hours drive through the southern Arizona desert.

About an hour into the drive, a hawk slammed through the windshield. No safety glass then, so both Popsie and Grandma in the front seat had cuts all over their face from the glass. The bird, obviously wounded and dying, latched on to the nearest thing it could find: my Popsie’s right arm. It buried its talons deep, and blood squirted all over the front seat. My traumatized mother (the youngest, age six), and her in-labor sister, and her three other screaming sisters, aged 7-15, all started screaming hysterically.

My grandpa yelled at all of them to SHUT UP, then proceeded to repeatedly beat the hawk to death against the dashboard. It took a few minutes, but the raptor finally succumbed to its injuries. The death grip on Popsie’s arm remained. Everyone was silent. A dead bird latched to his arm, no windshield, covered in cuts and razor-sharp glass, Popsie proceeded to drive the remaining hour to the hospital. Nobody said a word the rest of the way, outside of the occasional grunt from my Aunt Peggie, who was far along in her delivery.

Upon arrival, he helped my aunt into the ER. The nurses and doctors rushed to take care of the obviously wounded man, covered with blood, bleeding from numerous cuts and with an ENTIRE DEAD HAWK embedded in his right arm. He bellowed “Not me, you idiots! She’s having the baby!” and refused any treatment. They finally took my aunt back, and while they were distracted he went back out to the car, pulled a set of pliers from the trunk, and one-by-one pulled the talons the dead hawk from his arm. He wrapped a dirty towel around his wounds and left the hawk lying in the parking lot.

As he was pulling the hawk’s talons from his arm, he unknowingly became a grandpa, as my aunt delivered within five minutes of arriving at the hospital. He came in to the hospital, again refused treatment, took a single look at my eldest cousin and said, “He’ll do.” Then got back in the car and drove two hours back to the ranch, then saddled a horse and rode for 10 hours to find his son-in-law and tell him he was a dad. Took over the cattle drive while my uncle rode back and drove to meet his son. I only heard this story second-hand from my mom and aunts. I had seen the scars on Popsie’s arm, but when I asked how he got them, the only thing he would say is “Oh, something stupid I reckon.

[Giff]

I will not stand for any slander of Detroit-style pizza.

I will join you for that crusade. Hands down the best pizza style in existence.

There are two very popular restaurants here run by Greeks from Michigan - one called Pappa Gyros that sells Faygo and Better Made Chips. They just converted their amazing Sapore Italian to Sapore Detroit Pizzeria, and we're having it for the first time tonight. To say I'm excited my cholesterol is under control and I won't feel too guilty about this is an understatement.

[DSafetyGuy]

Alex Caruso, whose principal job used to be looking like Saturn from the neck up.

[tennbengal]

This, from Dave McKenna, on my boss since 2010, is as good a piece of writing as it gets.

https://defector.com/peter-angelos-coul ... o-forever/

[A_B]

This, from Dave McKenna, on my boss since 2010, is as good a piece of writing as it gets.

https://defector.com/peter-angelos-coul ... o-forever/

It was so comprehsive.

[DSafetyGuy]

Bengal out here, cheatin' on the Swamp by commenting on another website.

[tennbengal]

Her piece was so good. If you know cursed fandom you recognize when someone gets it.

Also, they’ve discovered the Grizzlies!

https://defector.com/the-grizzlies-are-here-to-party/