Pete Croatto
@petecroatto.bsky.social
Nothing but blues and Elvis and somebody else's favorite song. Sportswriter, mostly. Articles in NYT, Andscape, GQ, Poynter, Philly Mag, etc. Author of FROM HANG TIME TO PRIME TIME. He/him. Tips or inquiries: pscroatto@gmail.com.
Reposted by Pete Croatto
Happiest of pub days to @lukeepplin.bsky.social, a terrific writer, who was kind enough to send me a copy of his new book. I cannot wait to tear into this one.
February 10, 2026 at 9:18 PM
Happiest of pub days to @lukeepplin.bsky.social, a terrific writer, who was kind enough to send me a copy of his new book. I cannot wait to tear into this one.
What do you expect? He's a biathlete. Shooters shoot.
new most bizarre moment of the Olympics just dropped
Norwegian biathlete wins bronze medal, then, totally unprompted, reveal he cheated on his GF, she left him, and he wants to apologize publicly hoping she takes him back
www.vg.no/sport/i/vr5g...
Norwegian biathlete wins bronze medal, then, totally unprompted, reveal he cheated on his GF, she left him, and he wants to apologize publicly hoping she takes him back
www.vg.no/sport/i/vr5g...
February 10, 2026 at 7:25 PM
What do you expect? He's a biathlete. Shooters shoot.
Reposted by Pete Croatto
Hey Freelancers! This Thursday’s @essesmag.com newsletter will be some advice on how to pitch us, but mainly just lessons I’ve learned from a decade of freelancing.
Subscribe to get the newsletter and follow along on Substack where I’ll be answering questions on our Chat…
essesmag.substack.com
Subscribe to get the newsletter and follow along on Substack where I’ll be answering questions on our Chat…
essesmag.substack.com
Esses | Esses Magazine | Substack
High-quality storytelling, design, and community that goes beyond the track. Click to read Esses, by Esses Magazine, a Substack publication with tens of thousands of subscribers.
essesmag.substack.com
February 10, 2026 at 5:22 PM
Hey Freelancers! This Thursday’s @essesmag.com newsletter will be some advice on how to pitch us, but mainly just lessons I’ve learned from a decade of freelancing.
Subscribe to get the newsletter and follow along on Substack where I’ll be answering questions on our Chat…
essesmag.substack.com
Subscribe to get the newsletter and follow along on Substack where I’ll be answering questions on our Chat…
essesmag.substack.com
Reposted by Pete Croatto
This is literally what CURRENT LAW requires. It’s in the Constitution! www.politico.com/news/2026/02...
February 10, 2026 at 3:18 AM
This is literally what CURRENT LAW requires. It’s in the Constitution! www.politico.com/news/2026/02...
The one moment from BROKE that has stayed with me is Jalen Rose saying that the second contact is the big one, because athletes typically blow through the money in the first contract.
Was perusing to make some ill-advised Super Bowl merch purposes, and I get that life happens etc., but man, it's hard to think of a scenario in which a ring from the 2013 Super Bowl team ending up in a pawn shop isn't a real bummer
February 10, 2026 at 1:49 AM
The one moment from BROKE that has stayed with me is Jalen Rose saying that the second contact is the big one, because athletes typically blow through the money in the first contract.
Not the best time to have decimated your arts section and neutered your opinion page.
Analysis: Weeks before he set foot on the stage, Bad Bunny’s halftime performance had already become a media event.
But if you were looking for political commentary, the closest that you got was when he said “God bless America” in English.
But if you were looking for political commentary, the closest that you got was when he said “God bless America” in English.
Analysis | Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime show was expected to provoke. Did it?
The Bad Bunny Super Bowl show nodded to injustices in Puerto Rico but mostly evoked wholesome family values that meshed with the more sentimental commercials.
www.washingtonpost.com
February 10, 2026 at 12:50 AM
Not the best time to have decimated your arts section and neutered your opinion page.
Looking back, NBC really got a bargain.
February 10, 2026 at 12:34 AM
Looking back, NBC really got a bargain.
Reposted by Pete Croatto
Sports reporter with NBC News reporting that the couple in Bad Bunny’s halftime show got married for real
February 9, 2026 at 2:14 AM
Sports reporter with NBC News reporting that the couple in Bad Bunny’s halftime show got married for real
Post a banger that isn't in English.
February 9, 2026 at 9:22 PM
Post a banger that isn't in English.
Reposted by Pete Croatto
I used to make ads during the era of fun ad making and it was always a sign of a bad ad if you saw a celebrity in it because that meant the creative team couldn't write a good spot and the only hope of selling it was a familiar face. How many ads had celebrities in them tonight?
i worry that a 5-year stretch of nothing but ads for NFTs, bitcoin, and AI is a long enough gap that this nation's once-great advertising industry will forget how to sell a product people actually want
February 9, 2026 at 1:13 AM
I used to make ads during the era of fun ad making and it was always a sign of a bad ad if you saw a celebrity in it because that meant the creative team couldn't write a good spot and the only hope of selling it was a familiar face. How many ads had celebrities in them tonight?
Credit where credit is due, it is hard to move in jorts.
February 9, 2026 at 4:14 PM
Credit where credit is due, it is hard to move in jorts.
Reposted by Pete Croatto
Bad Bunny’s performance began in the plantation, featured broken electric poles, and ended by centering a hemispheric understanding of “América”—among many other things—and some Anglo journalists are like “his performance wasn’t political.”
This is why we need to be telling our stories.
This is why we need to be telling our stories.
February 9, 2026 at 2:00 PM
Bad Bunny’s performance began in the plantation, featured broken electric poles, and ended by centering a hemispheric understanding of “América”—among many other things—and some Anglo journalists are like “his performance wasn’t political.”
This is why we need to be telling our stories.
This is why we need to be telling our stories.
I think a big part of the outrage over Bad Bunny's performance was that (gasp!) people were going to be exposed to a part of American culture that doesn't have a cultural, widely acceptable shorthand. In other words, it wasn't white enough.
First shot: sugarcane
The backbone of Puerto Rico's agricultural economy since colonial times
Still used to make rum of course!
The backbone of Puerto Rico's agricultural economy since colonial times
Still used to make rum of course!
February 9, 2026 at 3:19 PM
I think a big part of the outrage over Bad Bunny's performance was that (gasp!) people were going to be exposed to a part of American culture that doesn't have a cultural, widely acceptable shorthand. In other words, it wasn't white enough.
Oh, here we go.
I downloaded scans of every Rolling Stone issue published between its inception in 1967 and the end of 2007
Which means I can FINALLY share the greatest celebrity profile I've ever read: Jod Kaftan's "The Oddfather," a look at late-stage Marlon Brando that isn't available online
Join me!
🧵
Which means I can FINALLY share the greatest celebrity profile I've ever read: Jod Kaftan's "The Oddfather," a look at late-stage Marlon Brando that isn't available online
Join me!
🧵
February 9, 2026 at 2:10 PM
Oh, here we go.
So, in conclusion, if you have a time machine, go to journalism school.
I was a journalism major. I found it beneficial because a.) it was a small department and I had lots of one-on-one time with instructors and b.) I graduated in 2000 from an in-state school with significant help from scholarships and my parents.
It's really hard to recommend it now.
It's really hard to recommend it now.
under no circumstances should you pay $60k for j school. do the paper at your college or whatever but no extra money!!!
February 9, 2026 at 12:16 PM
So, in conclusion, if you have a time machine, go to journalism school.
Reposted by Pete Croatto
This is like a Where’s Waldo? spread.
February 9, 2026 at 3:30 AM
This is like a Where’s Waldo? spread.
$180?! Does it perform heart surgery after the game?
A Super Bowl treat - the LX Hammer Burger. Serves 4. $180.
A cheeseburger, bone-in braised beef shank, roasted mirepoix demi-glaze, bleu cheese fondue on a brioche bun.
A cheeseburger, bone-in braised beef shank, roasted mirepoix demi-glaze, bleu cheese fondue on a brioche bun.
February 8, 2026 at 11:45 PM
$180?! Does it perform heart surgery after the game?
Reposted by Pete Croatto
Investing my Trump Account directly into Draft Kings
February 8, 2026 at 11:32 PM
Investing my Trump Account directly into Draft Kings
Ethan Hawke
Dorothy Parker
Classical music
Cooking
Mike Tirico
Dorothy Parker
Classical music
Cooking
Mike Tirico
OK, now let's play
PEOPLE OR THINGS IT TOOK YOU FAR TOO LONG TO APPRECIATE
If I may begin:
• Kim Novak
• Natalie Wood
• Moonstruck
• Richard Strauss
• Barbara Stanwyck
OK, you're up.
PEOPLE OR THINGS IT TOOK YOU FAR TOO LONG TO APPRECIATE
If I may begin:
• Kim Novak
• Natalie Wood
• Moonstruck
• Richard Strauss
• Barbara Stanwyck
OK, you're up.
February 8, 2026 at 11:40 PM
Ethan Hawke
Dorothy Parker
Classical music
Cooking
Mike Tirico
Dorothy Parker
Classical music
Cooking
Mike Tirico
Reposted by Pete Croatto
“250 years of freedom…”
a man wearing a blue shirt that says pressed van
ALT: a man wearing a blue shirt that says pressed van
media.tenor.com
February 8, 2026 at 11:24 PM
“250 years of freedom…”
Reposted by Pete Croatto
I have yet to see any evidence that there is a market for AI-generated books outside of people being tricked into thinking they are not AI-generated books. AKA, it is a project of scamming and deceiving people, and really should be treated as fraud
February 8, 2026 at 6:55 PM
I have yet to see any evidence that there is a market for AI-generated books outside of people being tricked into thinking they are not AI-generated books. AKA, it is a project of scamming and deceiving people, and really should be treated as fraud
I was a journalism major. I found it beneficial because a.) it was a small department and I had lots of one-on-one time with instructors and b.) I graduated in 2000 from an in-state school with significant help from scholarships and my parents.
It's really hard to recommend it now.
It's really hard to recommend it now.
under no circumstances should you pay $60k for j school. do the paper at your college or whatever but no extra money!!!
February 8, 2026 at 6:43 PM
I was a journalism major. I found it beneficial because a.) it was a small department and I had lots of one-on-one time with instructors and b.) I graduated in 2000 from an in-state school with significant help from scholarships and my parents.
It's really hard to recommend it now.
It's really hard to recommend it now.
The two things gambling and gamblers don’t need are ease of use and accessibility.
Mobile sports betting apps’ frictionless designs, personalized notifications and 24/7 availability have many gambling addiction experts worried
How ‘Dark Patterns’ in Sports Betting Apps Keep Users Gambling
Mobile sports betting apps’ frictionless designs, personalized notifications and 24/7 availability have many gambling addiction experts worried
www.scientificamerican.com
February 8, 2026 at 1:07 PM
The two things gambling and gamblers don’t need are ease of use and accessibility.