Craig Gaines
@cbengaines.bsky.social
Copy chief at The Ringer. It’s cool to root for more than one baseball team.
Reposted by Craig Gaines
I wrote about Minneapolis and why that Orwell quote everyone's been sharing makes me nervous about what comes next
The Evidence of Our Eyes and Ears Is Under Attack
Extensive video footage is prevailing in debunking false accounts of Alex Pretti’s killing in Minneapolis. Next time, it may not be enough.
www.theringer.com
January 28, 2026 at 4:26 PM
I wrote about Minneapolis and why that Orwell quote everyone's been sharing makes me nervous about what comes next
My favorite writer talked to five Altadena writers about their lives and their practice a year after the fire.
www.latimes.com/entertainmen...
www.latimes.com/entertainmen...
A year after the fires, 5 Altadena writers reflect on loss and the creativity that survives
Writers Michelle Huneven, Bonnie S. Kaplan, Ashton Cynthia Clarke, Sakae Manning and Désirée Zamorano share stories of post-Eaton Fire displacement, resilience and creative forces.
www.latimes.com
January 26, 2026 at 6:33 PM
My favorite writer talked to five Altadena writers about their lives and their practice a year after the fire.
www.latimes.com/entertainmen...
www.latimes.com/entertainmen...
Reposted by Craig Gaines
January 24, 2026 at 9:37 PM
Happy new year! Here is some actually good kids music by an all-star cast of L.A. musicians.
open.spotify.com/album/3c4MSN...
open.spotify.com/album/3c4MSN...
Music Grows On Trees
open.spotify.com
January 1, 2026 at 6:20 PM
Happy new year! Here is some actually good kids music by an all-star cast of L.A. musicians.
open.spotify.com/album/3c4MSN...
open.spotify.com/album/3c4MSN...
My guy Pat over at Burning Marrow has been spinning great Christmas music all month. Here’s a fun list for today.
open.spotify.com/playlist/7Iy...
open.spotify.com/playlist/7Iy...
Burning Marrow Episode 42: Christmas Vol. 2
open.spotify.com
December 25, 2025 at 8:28 PM
My guy Pat over at Burning Marrow has been spinning great Christmas music all month. Here’s a fun list for today.
open.spotify.com/playlist/7Iy...
open.spotify.com/playlist/7Iy...
Did some hack film school work to remember the miracle that was the Pages catch. And then my colleagues tossed in 51 other wild moments from the year past. Fun stuff here.
www.theringer.com/2025/12/23/s...
www.theringer.com/2025/12/23/s...
The Ringer’s 52 Favorite Sports Moments of 2025
From Rory McIlroy’s triumph at the Masters to Miguel Rojas’s heroics in a World Series for the ages, these are the moments that defined our year
www.theringer.com
December 23, 2025 at 4:17 PM
Did some hack film school work to remember the miracle that was the Pages catch. And then my colleagues tossed in 51 other wild moments from the year past. Fun stuff here.
www.theringer.com/2025/12/23/s...
www.theringer.com/2025/12/23/s...
I had to miss the latest Ohtani Game last night. After I watched the condensed game, I immediately needed @benlindbergh.bsky.social to tell me how impossible that performance was. And here we go:
www.theringer.com/2025/10/18/m...
www.theringer.com/2025/10/18/m...
Words (and Stats) Struggle to Capture Shohei Ohtani’s GOAT Game
MLB’s two-way star cemented his playoff legend with a signature spectacle that showcased the upside of the Dodgers’ dominance
www.theringer.com
October 18, 2025 at 7:13 PM
I had to miss the latest Ohtani Game last night. After I watched the condensed game, I immediately needed @benlindbergh.bsky.social to tell me how impossible that performance was. And here we go:
www.theringer.com/2025/10/18/m...
www.theringer.com/2025/10/18/m...
The Real Ambassadors — A Jazz Opera for Louis Armstrong by Dave & Iola Brubeck
open.spotify.com
September 18, 2025 at 7:35 AM
When you're the kind of writer whom everyone turns to during a specific event, you are facing all kinds of pressure. But no surprise that my colleague (and former office mate) @davidshoemaker.bsky.social delivered on the passing of Hulk Hogan. Listen and read here:
www.theringer.com/podcasts/the...
www.theringer.com/podcasts/the...
Remembering Hulk Hogan, Dead at 71 - The Ringer
David and Brian react to the death of Hulk Hogan at the age of 71 (0:00). Then they answer the COLD OPEN QUESTION OF THE WEEK: If you could go back in time to throw a…
www.theringer.com
July 25, 2025 at 4:34 PM
When you're the kind of writer whom everyone turns to during a specific event, you are facing all kinds of pressure. But no surprise that my colleague (and former office mate) @davidshoemaker.bsky.social delivered on the passing of Hulk Hogan. Listen and read here:
www.theringer.com/podcasts/the...
www.theringer.com/podcasts/the...
Fantastic humanity from @joelanderson.bsky.social and @bryancurtis.bsky.social today on the Texas floods. Listen and read here.
www.theringer.com/podcasts/the...
www.theringer.com/podcasts/the...
The Floods in Texas - The Ringer
Bryan and Joel discuss the Texas flash floods, how the story hits them as parents and Texans, the slow trickle of information, defensive posturing from Texas leadership, misinformation gaining tractio...
www.theringer.com
July 11, 2025 at 3:44 AM
Fantastic humanity from @joelanderson.bsky.social and @bryancurtis.bsky.social today on the Texas floods. Listen and read here.
www.theringer.com/podcasts/the...
www.theringer.com/podcasts/the...
Don’t screw yourself. Read the entire thing. Makes me rethink my own very cynical take on fandom. Root like Tyler.
June 23, 2025 at 11:05 PM
Don’t screw yourself. Read the entire thing. Makes me rethink my own very cynical take on fandom. Root like Tyler.
“Game after game, moment after moment throughout this season, the Pacers have reanimated themselves in the nick of time, leaving just enough room for a miracle to be cultivated.”
@dannychau.bsky.social on a magical G1.
www.theringer.com/2025/06/06/n...
@dannychau.bsky.social on a magical G1.
www.theringer.com/2025/06/06/n...
Somehow, the Indiana Pacers Just Keep Outdoing Themselves
Indiana’s magical postseason run continues in the NBA Finals, where Tyrese Haliburton’s game-winning jumper propelled the Pacers to an early series lead over the Thunder
www.theringer.com
June 6, 2025 at 5:46 AM
“Game after game, moment after moment throughout this season, the Pacers have reanimated themselves in the nick of time, leaving just enough room for a miracle to be cultivated.”
@dannychau.bsky.social on a magical G1.
www.theringer.com/2025/06/06/n...
@dannychau.bsky.social on a magical G1.
www.theringer.com/2025/06/06/n...
I just miss the cut for being a millennial but I voted in our Millennial Canon Bracket anyway. IS THAT VOTER FRAUD? Check out the bracket and decide whether to report me to the authorities. (Also student loan debt vs. ‘Glee.’)
www.theringer.com/2025/05/05/p...
www.theringer.com/2025/05/05/p...
The Millennial Canon Bracket
Twenty-five years into the 21st century, the millennials’ heyday is in the books. Now it’s time to determine which person, place, event, or even behavioral tic best encapsulates the generation.
www.theringer.com
May 5, 2025 at 8:03 PM
I just miss the cut for being a millennial but I voted in our Millennial Canon Bracket anyway. IS THAT VOTER FRAUD? Check out the bracket and decide whether to report me to the authorities. (Also student loan debt vs. ‘Glee.’)
www.theringer.com/2025/05/05/p...
www.theringer.com/2025/05/05/p...
Lovely afternoon in Hollywood/Los Feliz.
April 5, 2025 at 9:19 PM
Lovely afternoon in Hollywood/Los Feliz.
Only at The Ringer could I write about George W. Bush and Freddie Freeman for the same package. Helluva thing my colleagues built here.
www.theringer.com/project/100-...
www.theringer.com/project/100-...
The 100 Best Sports Moments of the Quarter Century - The Ringer
Since the calendar turned from 1999 to 2000 and none of us succumbed to the great machine uprising of Y2K, there have been 60,096 games played in Major League Baseball, 32,579 in the NBA, 31,377 in the NHL, 6,758 in the NFL, and 5,884 in the WNBA. That is a lot of sports in 25-plus years, a total of 136,694 games, which doesn’t even take into account college sports, all of the Olympics, the tennis matches, the rounds of golf, and the myriad other ways to behold athletic competition. You’d be forgiven if it all blended together.
www.theringer.com
March 10, 2025 at 8:03 PM
Only at The Ringer could I write about George W. Bush and Freddie Freeman for the same package. Helluva thing my colleagues built here.
www.theringer.com/project/100-...
www.theringer.com/project/100-...
Reposted by Craig Gaines
In light of everything happening, I wrote about how the KKK in the 1920s felt unstoppable, about the people that fought against them anyway, and about how fascism always fails. dansinker.com/posts/202…
February 24, 2025 at 1:07 AM
In light of everything happening, I wrote about how the KKK in the 1920s felt unstoppable, about the people that fought against them anyway, and about how fascism always fails. dansinker.com/posts/202…
Reposted by Craig Gaines
The perfect day (alas) to read this, by @benehrenreich.bsky.social at @flaminghydra.com
"'When the crimes pile up, they become invisible.' Bertolt Brecht wrote that in Germany in the 1930s. Oh, it has been Germany in the 1930s for so long!" flaminghydra.com/stand-by-for...
Stand By for News
So it begins. The news blasts out from the newsrooms—or wherever it is they make news these days—like a hurricane. Like a city-consuming firestorm. Like the seventeenth once-in-a-century-weather-event...
flaminghydra.com
February 2, 2025 at 3:50 PM
The perfect day (alas) to read this, by @benehrenreich.bsky.social at @flaminghydra.com
“Altadena has a longstanding Black community with roots in the 19th century and is one of the very few cohesive Black communities left in a county that has seen its Black populations shrink significantly in the last couple of decades.”
redcanarycollective.org/magazine/alt...
redcanarycollective.org/magazine/alt...
The Ashes of History
The Eaton Fire imperils Altadena — a special place for Black Los Angeles. Written by journalist Erin Aubry Kaplan.
redcanarycollective.org
January 14, 2025 at 5:11 AM
“Altadena has a longstanding Black community with roots in the 19th century and is one of the very few cohesive Black communities left in a county that has seen its Black populations shrink significantly in the last couple of decades.”
redcanarycollective.org/magazine/alt...
redcanarycollective.org/magazine/alt...
Yuca’s was the first iconic Los Angeles food I ate when I moved here 20 years ago. The images are crystalline in my head: the sign, the communal table, the afternoon sun slanting in through the hut, and Mama’s looping cursive on a brown paper bag.
January 5, 2025 at 10:20 PM
Yuca’s was the first iconic Los Angeles food I ate when I moved here 20 years ago. The images are crystalline in my head: the sign, the communal table, the afternoon sun slanting in through the hut, and Mama’s looping cursive on a brown paper bag.
Reposted by Craig Gaines
for my first piece at @the-ringer.bsky.social, i wondered why in the hell bill belichick would do this? then i started reading and watching old tape, just like he would've probably. theringer.com/2024/12/12/c...
How History Led Bill Belichick to North Carolina
The greatest coach in NFL history is going back to school. Why did he take the UNC job?
theringer.com
December 12, 2024 at 11:21 PM
for my first piece at @the-ringer.bsky.social, i wondered why in the hell bill belichick would do this? then i started reading and watching old tape, just like he would've probably. theringer.com/2024/12/12/c...