There is always more to the story.
LanYAP Sports & Entertainment is an independent editorial platform for the part of the story that does not always make the headline.
The name comes from lagniappe—a New Orleans expression for a little something extra. For us, that extra is the perspective, question, memory, or human detail that makes a familiar person or moment feel newly understood.
LAGNIAPPE
noun
la·gniappe | ˈlan-ˌyap | lan-ˈyap
A little something extra;
something given or obtained gratuitously or by way of good measure
Sports and entertainment are where the conversation begins... not where it ends.
At LanYAP, human-interest storytelling comes first. We are interested in the work, the passion, the relationships, the questions, and the moments that live just beyond the public version of a person or event.
An athlete can be known for the game and still have a world of interests that says something larger about who they are. An artist can have a recognizable name and a story that has never been given the time or the right question. A community can gather around a moment in sports or entertainment because the moment means more than the score, the screen, or the stage.
LanYAP is here to follow those threads. We bring readers closer through reported features, thoughtful interviews, and conversations that make room for the details most people miss.
Meet
Maya A. Jones.
Maya A. Jones is an independent journalist and the founder of LanYAP. For 13 years, she worked across research, editing, and features writing at ESPN, including roles as a senior researcher, associate editor, and features writer. Her body of work has moved across sports and entertainment—from the NFL and NASCAR to celebrity features and television recaps—while staying rooted in the same instinct: look beyond the expected version of the story.
That experience is the foundation, not the finish line.
Through LanYAP, Maya is building an editorial home for the questions that do not fit neatly inside a quick interview or a single news cycle. Her work is guided by curiosity, close listening, and a belief that readers should leave with more than the version of the person or moment they thought they knew.
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Microhouse Films Taye Diggs and Troy Brookins Actors Taye Diggs and Troy Brookins, co-founders of Microhouse Films, sit down to talk about how the vertical
Meet Dr. Nikole Roebuck, Grambling State University’s first female director of bands
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Discover the journey of Dr. Nikole Roebuck, from a young girl watching from the sidelines to becoming the first female Director of Bands in Grambling State’s 100-year history.
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