When I was a kid, I was a die-hard St. Louis Cardinals fan. My mom was from St. Louis and I was born in Columbia, so that was fairly automatic. But even as a Cardinals fan, I admired the heritage of the Yankees. I remember the day in 7th grade when a friend of mine handed me his sports almanac. I looked...

From the beginning, Vampire Weekend have seemed to live a charmed existence. They were shot for the cover of Spin magazine before their debut album even came out (the only time in Spin’s history this has happened); they appeared on Saturday Night Live just six weeks after the eponymous record was released;...