T.J. Quinn

Uniquely literal.

🚨 Big news 🚨

We're launching a women's sports newsletter!

Sports Business Journal subscribers can find it in their inboxes every other Tuesday, starting May 13. I am beyond excited to spearhead this effort, but it's going to leverage the expertise across our newsroom.

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The women’s Olympic final in 2018 is still the most incredible event I ever covered

Congress escalates doping clash with WADA Outrage lingers on Capitol Hill over swimmers testing positive for banned substance before 2021 Olympics

“Members of Congress are pushing for a showdown with the World Anti-Doping Agency… (they) say WADA must choose: commit to greater transparency or say goodbye to U.S. dues payments.” @tjquinn.bsky.social
@mikerothstein.bsky.social @espntr.bsky.social

www.espn.com/olympics/sto...

Congress escalates doping clash with WADA Outrage lingers on Capitol Hill over swimmers testing positive for banned substance before 2021 Olympics

This might be the one issue where the U.S. Congress is united: a demand that the World Anti-Doping Agency show greater transparency if it ever wants to see another penny from the United States. With my colleague Mike Rothstein:

www.espn.com/olympics/sto...

Let's Have Another Cup Of Coffee / I Say It's Spinach by Michael Feinstein on Apple Music Song · 1987 · Duration 3:58

🎶 “Mr. Herbert Hoover says that now’s the time to buy, so let’s have another cup of coffee, and let’s have another piece of pie…”

music.apple.com/us/album/let...

Marc Fogel, detained in Russia, is now free. Is Marc Fogel’s release part of Trump’s Russia strategy? Hostage recovery is also a made-for-TV policy win.

For the crowd that followed Brittney Griner’s saga, here’s an exceptional piece by @danigilbert.bsky.social about what Marc Fogel’s recent release means for hostage diplomacy. It’s a significant shift. No one knows this topic better than Dani.

goodauthority.org/news/politic...

Congo asks leagues, teams to cut Rwanda ties The NBA, whose recent Africa expansion is centered in Rwanda, is the latest to receive a letter from Congo officials; soccer teams Arsenal, Bayern Munich and PSG and racing's F1 got similarly worded p...

The Democratic Republic of Congo making a moral appeal to the NBA to cut off its relationship with Rwanda. Really interesting from Mark Fainaru-Wada:

www.espn.com/nba/story/_/...

College sports still grappling with how to stop court storms The question as storms in football and basketball continue: How to let fans celebrate and keep everyone safe?

How do you stop court storming in college hoops? Vandy has a solution, sort of. My colleagues with a great piece on an unorthodox solution to a persistent problem:

www.espn.com/mens-college...

What Trump's executive order means for transgender girls and women in sports Trump's executive order raises questions about which athletes and organizations are impacted. Here's what we know.

Excellent primer on Trump’s transgender sports ban from colleague Paula Lavigne:

www.espn.com/college-spor...

The triumphant final days of the skaters killed in D.C. crash This is the story of a week of joy and hope for young skaters chasing their dreams -- before a tragic end.

Beautiful work by my colleagues to give voice to the members of the skating community lost in last week’s crash.

www.espn.com/olympics/sto...

But would AI T.J. really be any different?

I can only narrow it down to Broadway 120th 114th or Amsterdam, but I know I was more concerned with getting to Sandy in time.

So, note to self: keep taking the stairs whenever you can.

save your legs for the gym. Little tasks like a simple email are like taking the stairs; they’re extra work but they’re part of how my writer’s mind stays in shape. If I can get reps one dumb email at a time that help me fight off cliché or lazy thinking, it keeps me sharp. The little stuff matters.

Had training on a good AI tool yesterday and heard again how it can save brain energy and spare us from tasks like thinking about what to write in an email or a thank-you note or any other mundane bit of writing. What struck me is that, for a writer, that’s like saying take the elevator and…

If their name is on it, I’m reading it. From @sethwickersham.bsky.social and @dvnjr.bsky.social about Dan Snyder’s life in football exile.

So, they can just… hold onto my stuff until I’m ready to take it back?

I found a kazoo next to a wah pedal in the basement and I think my son might be a genius

Thinking about the time someone asked Bobby Valentine about Ichiro, who was still in Japan. He said, “he’s one of the five best outfielders in the world.”
I said, “as in Barry Bonds, Ken Griffey Jr…”
“Yes.”

My god it was fun to be around Uecker. When you went to Milwaukee (preferably in the old park), getting a brat and sitting with or near him meant listening to the greatest storyteller/comedian you ever heard. He was part of what made the game great.

Clark stalker held on bail after disruptive hearing The man who allegedly stalked Caitlin Clark, Michael Lewis, is being held on $50,000 bail and ordered not to have any contact with Clark after a disruptive hearing Tuesday in Indianapolis.

My colleague Katie Barnes is in Indy, writing about the man charged with stalking Caitlin Clark. What should have been a routine hearing wasn’t:

Alleged Caitlin Clark stalker held on $50K bail at hearing www.espn.com/wnba/story/_...

Sports, man. Right?

“Gannett & Reuters’ play here is for Wall Street to move in on & capture the less savory element of AP’s business — helping local news outlets paper over the loss of local reporters w/ filler journalism, ironically in many of the communities that armies of laid-off Gannett journalists used to serve”

Wall Street declares war on the Associated Press Gannett and Reuters come for one of the final corners for legacy media that had resisted the financialization of journalism.

I wrote about Gannett’s plan to kill off one of the last pieces of American legacy media to resist financialization: The Associated Press.

mattdpearce.substack.com/p/wall-stree...

I’ve argued for years that a Rock & Roll HOF is antithetical to rock & roll and serves only the money behind a lousy business. Here’s an excellent treatise:

Too bad our one thing didn’t work out

Great read from my colleague @danhajducky.bsky.social

(Never shared this before, but one player had a different take on his card-playing prowess. He said they caught him cheating on the team plane once and Rickey shouted them down, saying, “Ok, ok, y’all say I cheat, but I win, don’t I?”)