Samer Kalaf

United States

Managing Editor and Co-Founder at Defector

🇵🇸 Managing editor/co-founder @defectormedia | [email protected]

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Articles

Christine Brennan Won't Rest Until Caitlin Clark's Muscle Strain Is Treated As A National Crisis

1 week ago | defector.com | Samer Kalaf

Credit where credit is due: USA Today sports columnist Christine Brennan has tried very hard to establish herself as the nation's foremost Caitlin Clark alarmist. Whenever something routine for a pro athlete happens to the Indiana Fever's star, Brennan's job is to turn it into a matter of existential concern for the WNBA, a league that has 12 other teams. This week's news provided another opportunity. Crisis alert: Caitlin Clark has strained her quad.
Bill Belichick Gives Proof Of Life, Stops By Another Morning Show

3 weeks ago | defector.com | Samer Kalaf

A second Bill Belichick interview has hit the morning-show circuit. On Friday's episode of ABC's Good Morning America, the North Carolina football coach returned to demonstrate that his disastrous CBS interview last month was an anomaly, and that he does know how to display emotion of a mildly jovial nature. The encore wasn't nearly as bad as his sitdown with Tony Dokoupil—this time, he wore a hole-free suit—but the results were still mixed.
The New York Times Really Asked Ms. Rachel If She's Paid By Hamas

3 weeks ago | defector.com | Samer Kalaf

The house style of the New York Times is severely outdated. Depending on the topic, the newspaper's purportedly impartial tone instead reads as smug, self-amused, and deeply lazy. The results are disastrous when applied to a recent article which sincerely considers the idea that Rachel Griffin-Accurso, the popular children's entertainer known as Ms. Rachel, might be financially compensated by Hamas.
Bill Belichick's Shit Isn't Flying Anymore

1 month ago | defector.com | Samer Kalaf

Because of the widely negative reaction to Bill Belichick's tense and awkward interview on CBS Sunday Morning, he and Jordon Hudson, his girlfriend and managerial-type figure, have attempted to take back control of the narrative. The strategy so far: more open contempt. Let's see how this goes for them.
The Nationals Know What Goes Great Together: Dogs And Fireworks

1 month ago | defector.com | Samer Kalaf

Bark at the Park is always a fun promotion. While a dog might not fully appreciate the crack of the bat, the pop of the mitt or James Wood's opposite-field power, they can perhaps enjoy a day outside and a little piece of sausage that fell on the ground. And if there's anything a dog loves more than floor food, it's a barrage of extremely loud, booming noises. The Washington Nationals were happy to accommodate. Fireworks Night is another fun promotion.
Jeff Ulbrich's Dreadful Son Was Behind The Shedeur Sanders Prank Call

1 month ago | defector.com | Samer Kalaf

It was a bad weekend for football coaches' zoomer sons. During the early stages of Shedeur Sanders's unexpectedly protracted draft experience, he was faked out by a phone call on Friday from someone pretending to be New Orleans Saints general manager Mickey Loomis. "We're going to take you with our next pick right here, man," the caller said. "But you're going to have to wait a little bit longer, man.
Bill Belichick Brings His Trademark Charm To Excruciating CBS Interview

1 month ago | defector.com | Samer Kalaf

Former New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick isn't one for non-mandatory media appearances, but those with a book to sell don't really have a choice. The North Carolina football coach sat down with Tony Dokoupil for a CBS Sunday Morning conversation that started out as routine and then turned agonizing when the interviewer began to ask questions that might actually interest the public. You can sense when the temperature in the room drops.
Aaron Gordon Bails Out Nuggets With Buzzer-Beating Dunk

1 month ago | defector.com | Samer Kalaf

Nikola Jokic knew his shot wasn't going in. After the conclusion of Game 4 on Saturday, he shared his thoughts while the ball traveled through the air: "This is gonna be bad." He was correct. But out of nowhere, his teammate Aaron Gordon arrived to turn an airball into a buzzer-beating dunk, allowing the Denver Nuggets to escape with a 101-99 win that guaranteed at least two more games in an incredible series against the Los Angeles Clippers.
Shedeur Sanders's Weekend Of Humiliation Ends With Him Going To The Browns

1 month ago | defector.com | Samer Kalaf

Hours before the NFL Draft began on Thursday, Shedeur Sanders expressed his readiness. "I’m built for whatever today may bring," the quarterback prospect tweeted. After the first round ended without a team picking Sanders, the gag wrote itself: What about tomorrow? When nobody selected him in the second or third rounds on Friday, and a prank caller interrupted his live-streamed draft party to deliver false hope, it all became a bit sad. In one word, Shedeur Sanders's draft experience was mortifying.
Seal Up The Pit That Contains Fox Sports 1

1 month ago | defector.com | Samer Kalaf

Even by the standards of Fox Corp, Fox Sports 1 seems like a pretty sinister place for an employee. Over the past few months, enough lawsuits, complaints, and allegations have emerged to suggest that the workplace environment is so rotten and sinister that it might be best to raze it and start over. The big story this week is former FS1 and for-now ESPN talking head Shannon Sharpe, who is being accused of rape in a lawsuit filed by a Nevada woman.