2026-04-15 04:14:25
NFL reporter Dianna Russini resigned from The Athletic on Tuesday, a week after the New York Post published photos of her and New England Patriots coach Mike Vrabel lounging and holding hands (with interlocked fingers!) at a lovely Sedona resort. Russini denied that there was anything romantic going on between her and Vrabel, who are both married to people who aren't each other, but the conflict of interest between a reporter and a source made her position untenable nonetheless—despite an initially vocal defense from The Athletic.
Russini did not admit to anything in her resignation letter, sent to Athletic Executive Editor Steven Ginsberg but no doubt meant to be released publicly. Rob Maaddi of the Associated Press obtained and published it:
"I have covered the NFL with professionalism and dedication throughout my career, and I stand behind every story I have ever published. When the Page Six item first appeared, The Athletic supported me unequivocally, expressed confidence in my work and pride in my journalism. For that I am grateful. In the days that followed, unfortunately, commentators in various media have engaged in self-feeding speculation that is simply unmoored from the facts.
"Moreover, this media frenzy is hurtling forward without regard for the review process The Athletic is trying to complete. It continues to escalate, fueled by repeated leaks, and I have no interest in submitting to a public inquiry that has already caused far more damage than I am willing to accept. Rather than allowing this to continue, I have decided to step aside now — before my current contract expires on June 30. I do so not because I accept the narrative that has been constructed around this episode, but because I refuse to lend it further oxygen or to let it define me or my career."
2026-04-15 02:28:18
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 AI, Heather Cox Richardson, knives, and more.
Your letters:
Bryan:
2026-04-15 01:25:14
When I survey energy markets—that is, when I gaze through binoculars at the gas station sign I can read from my home as long as there isn’t a big truck in the intersection—I see the disruptive effects of supply shocks. Pain at the pump follows from mismanaged supply chain risk. A parallel trend exists in…
2026-04-15 00:47:09
With just under two months until the start of the 2026 World Cup, it seems that FIFA executives have finally looked up at the horizon, seen the looming shitstorm, and are now scrambling to head it off. The Athletic reported on Tuesday that top FIFA heads have sought to convince Gianni Infantino to make a "president-to-president" appeal to Donald Trump and ask if he can find it in his heart of hearts to give his ICE jackboots a summer vacation.
Specifically, the idea FIFA wants Infantino to run by Trump is that there be a full moratorium on ICE activities in the United States for the 39-day duration of the World Cup. From The Athletic's report:
"The Athletic has been told Infantino informed senior FIFA management he was receptive to this idea and he would seek to make a president-to-president ask of Trump to reduce ICE’s role during the tournament. [...] It is not known at this stage whether Infantino has yet made the request, or if he will follow through on it, or indeed whether the White House would be prepared to countenance such a request regarding domestic policy in the United States from FIFA."
2026-04-15 00:29:42
With the eighth pick of the WNBA Draft on Monday, the Golden State Valkyries took a big, fun swing by selecting LSU guard Flau'jae Johnson. Though she was inconsistent in her senior campaign at LSU, Johnson preceded that with three standout seasons for the Tigers, and she has the sort of game-breaking athleticism that could comfortably translate to the physical demands of the bigger, faster W. Preliminary reaction among Valkyries fans was enthusiastic though short-lived, because the team traded her to the Seattle Storm within an hour of making the pick.
The deal made by Valkyries general manager Ohemaa Nyanin is difficult to rationally explain. In exchange for Johnson, Golden State received the first pick of the 2026 second round, which they used on TCU's Marta Suarez, and the Storm's 2028 second-rounder. Whatever you think of Johnson and Suarez as prospects, the eighth pick is worth more than two second-rounders. Usually when teams make trades like this on draft night, it's the team moving up that overspends for the right to take a player it's fixated on, not the team moving down. This is also out of character for Nyanin, who impressed in her first season by building an expansion roster that made it to the playoffs. It would've been great to hear her explain the trade, but she declined to do so after the draft.
The first question of the presser was obviously about the trade, and this was Nyanin's answer in full:
2026-04-15 00:13:37
Time began tormenting me in March of last year. I had been traveling for weeks to promote my book about gossip, a kind of capstone to the fastest-paced era of my life. All of it—the podcast we made, the fervent response it received, the life of deadlines, and the pressure and joy it created—flew by. I felt as if I had not really sat down or slept or relaxed in four years. Then suddenly, by my own choosing, it was over. For the first time since 2021, I did not know what the next six months held for me. My weeks were not scheduled down to the minute. The urgency of responsibility and expectations left me, and time stretched out before me like a wide, open plain: infinite and terrifying.
During these weeks of travel, I carried around On the Calculation of Volume (Book I) by Solvej Balle in my bag, with the hope that I might choose to open it and read instead of responding to emails or looking at my phone. The Danish novel—the first of seven in a series, four of which have now been translated into English—follows Tara Stelter, an antiquarian bookseller, who is trapped inside a time loop. Every night, she goes to bed on November 18th, and every morning, she wakes up and it is November 18th again. There is no big bang, no huge mistake, no life-altering decision in Tara’s life. One night, she has dinner with some friends in Paris on a work trip. The only really remarkable thing about the day was that she touched a hot lamp and got a mild burn, but the burn isn’t even really that bad, and Tara feels certain that it will heal fine. The next morning, she goes to eat breakfast at the hotel, and as she watches the same piece of bread float to the ground, just like it did the day before, she knows in her gut that this is more than deja vu. “The moment I saw this hesitant action I knew that I was witnessing a repetition,” she writes. “I knew that something was wrong.”
One of the first things Tara learns about her new life is that not everything can or will enter the time loop in which she exists. Though her bank account automatically resets every day, so she has plenty of money, the things she buys do not necessarily remain. Some evaporate into the loop without warning. Some, like an antique coin she bought for her husband, disappear and then reappear again. The only way to try and keep an object in the loop is to keep it with her: to carry it about on her day, sleep with it in her bed and worry over it. In this way, my relationship with the first volume of Balle’s series followed the rules of Tara’s world. I carried the book around with me, accidentally slept with it in my bed, until it stuck, and one day it could no longer leave me. I opened the first volume on a cold March night in Chicago, and I began my own journey into the 18th of November just as Tara did: waking up in a hotel room in a city that is not my own, and knowing that my future would be different.
