I’m not going to write a whole Round Up Intro this month, except to ask you, dear reader, a favor: As Twitter has cracked down on links from Substack, I’m looking for other ways to grow this newsletter. One way that I would appreciate is you would consider sharing any pieces you’ve enjoyed, or encouraging someone you know to become a subscriber. Undrafted is free, so you really have nothing to lose.
Anyway, here’s what April was like in the newsletter, if you’re looking for a recent piece to share:
Would Socialism Fix Tanking?
The NBA is supposedly investigating the Dallas Mavericks for their blatant tank job this weekend, when they sat Kyrie Irving for the whole game, and Luka Doncic for three quarters of it, even though they were still mathematically in contention for this year’s play-in tournament. But nothing is likely to come from this investigation — as
The Mavs ended up getting a slap on the wrist for this, but the tanking problem persists, and not just in the NBA…
LeBron James Reinvents Utopian Socialism
Last month Justin Tinsley wrote a piece about the I Promise School, the Akron public school that LeBron James opened with his LeBron James Family Foundation back in 2018. Specifically the piece is about all the other wraparound services the Foundation and the school have opened since then, to support the students and their families. Reading al…
Was this one too in the weeds? Maybe, but who doesn’t love a good deep dive into 19th century political philosophy?
The Snyder Files, Part Six
I know I said I was done writing about Daniel Snyder, and God knows I’ve spent enough time on him over the last few months, but I felt like I couldn’t let his impending sale of the Washington Commanders go by without addressing it. There are, of course, socialist implications.
Just when I thought I was out….
Of Course the Public Should Pay For Stadiums
Last week’s announcement that the Oakland Athletics have a deal in place for a new stadium in Las Vegas marked the end of a long, sad, familiar story. The rich owner of a professional sports team wanted a new stadium, but didn’t want to pay for it himself, so he dangled the team as bait and waited for different cities to bid on it, before ultimately goi…
The problem isn’t public stadiums — it’s private ownership.
Flip the Draft
Drafts are bad. When I first started this newsletter, I planned to write a whole long thing about why they are bad – and maybe one day I still will – but it always proved deceptively hard to write. For one, it just seems so self-evident that any argument becomes silly. Obviously there’s a reason people don’t get hired this way in any other world besides…
Drafts are bad…