My favorite day at Deadspin

Giri Nathan
Nov 4 · 2 min read

I get all misty when I think about 5/9/19, which was my point of no return, spiritually and professionally.

I spent an early chunk of 2019 assembling a profile of the YouTube auteur slash tennis genius Stefanos Tsitsipas. The 20-year-old bought lifelong rights to my attention the week he beat Roger Federer and told a rapt stadium, “Guys, if you haven’t subscribed, please subscribe.” I had to understand how one mind could do both. I pitched the piece, flew west, coped with the scheduling whims of a flighty and highly online young king, sat down with his nemesis, walked a holy hallway with Roger, and left the desert with all the notes I needed. Samer directed my reporting, Ley performed surgery on the draft, Megan snipped the stitches, art Cooked up the perfect gag, and around lunchtime on 5/9/19 I hauled it onto the site. It was my proudest moment as a writer and it was a labor I wanted everyone I loved to see.

A few hours later I conceived, defended, and burped up a blog titled Joel Embiid Has Diarrhea, then slunk out into Times Square without telling a soul.

They are both blogs. “Blog” is the great equalizer. And neither was any more or less of a Deadspin blog. That day it was as clear in my mind as it is today, and will be in 30 years: We’ll all wander onto pleasant pastures, but Home is where those two blogs may coexist in peace. Way out in the Doo Doo Valley, where the castle now stands empty.

Giri Nathan

Written by

girinathan24 at gmail dot com

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