212 replies to this topic

[brvheart]

This is going to need it's own thread.Bill Simmons launched his own site today. The opening story about him quitting his job at ESPN to go write for Jimmy Kimmel is fantastic.

[Dubey]

this is a really good story too: http://www.grantland...ack-belly-beasthmm, this website could be seriously awesome.

[Skeleton Jelly]

Dubey, on Wednesday, June 8th, 2011, 12:56 PM, said:

this is a really good story too: http://www.grantland...ack-belly-beasthmm, this website could be seriously awesome.

A lot of great little stories in there.I thought Simmons' column was good too. Haven't read any others yet.

[Voldemort]

I enjoyed this one.The HBO Recycling Program

[Voldemort]

LeBron down Part IIhttp://www.grantland...rondown-part-ii

[Mercury69]

I thought this might be about that Grant dude from Survivor and the residual hurt he continues to experience over Rob's heartless and soulless betrayal of this gentle ex-NFL'er...

[vbnautilus]

Why is it called grantland?edit:guess its a tribute to this guyhttp://en.wikipedia..../Grantland_Rice

[Poppy_Hillis]

Klosterman and Gladwell will make the site for me.

[brvheart]

Poppy_Hillis, on Thursday, June 9th, 2011, 4:44 AM, said:

Klosterman and Gladwell will make the site for me.

I really liked Klosterman's first article.

[Dubey]

I found today's Klosterman article to be a bit boring overall, but this paragraph, is fantastic:

Quote

If I record Thursday's Mavs-Heat game and wait until Friday morning to watch it, will I be able to avoid discovering that Miami won in overtime? Probably. I could probably avoid hearing the score or knowing that it was an especially thrilling game. But could I avoid hearing that LeBron James scored 85 points? Could I avoid hearing that Dirk had 51 at halftime? Could I keep from learning that the roof of American Airlines Center tragically collapsed? What if Miami never missed a single field goal for the entire second half? What if Mark Cuban grabbed the PA microphone seconds before tip-off and publicly announced he was gay? What if a bear broke into the stadium and started attacking players on the court, forcing Shawn Marion to tackle the bear and break its neck? Is there any chance I could avoid hearing that news before pressing "play" on the DVR remote? No. No way. There's no possible way I could avoid hearing about any of those situations. And — sure — those scenarios are preposterous and implausible. But so was the possibility of an earthquake happening during a World Series game. So was the likelihood of an NBA title game being interrupted by the LAPD slowly chasing a Hall of Fame tailback down the freeway to arrest him for double homicide. So was Monica Seles getting stabbed at the French Open, Reggie Miller scoring eight points in less than nine seconds, and the conclusion of the 1982 Cal-Stanford game. It's difficult to project fictional scenarios that are more oblique and unexpected than the craziest moments from reality. We all understand this. And that understanding is at the core of the human attraction to liveness. We don't crave live sporting events because we need immediacy; we crave them because they represent those (increasingly rare) circumstances in which the entire spectrum of possibility is in play. They're the last scraps of mass society that are totally unfixed.

[digitalmonkey]

Poppy_Hillis, on Thursday, June 9th, 2011, 4:44 AM, said:

Klosterman and Gladwell will make the site for me.

As in Malcolm Gladwell? Where does it say he is part of this?nm I see he's a consulting editor. I was looking for him under Columnists.

[eYank]

Am I the only one who doesn't like the layout of the site? It looks like it was made on a free template. But I really like the articles so far

[brvheart]

Dubey, on Thursday, June 9th, 2011, 9:52 AM, said:

I found today's Klosterman article to be a bit boring overall, but this paragraph, is fantastic:

You didn't read his first article, which is what I was referring to. You are quoting his new article that was just posted last night with Michael Phelps' picture.Look to the right of the main page under "Staring Rotation" to find Klosterman's first article.Also, I need to still get used to the footnotes being on the right hand side of the article. I like it alot, but I need to get used to it.

[Dubey]

brvheart, on Thursday, June 9th, 2011, 10:28 AM, said:

You didn't read his first article, which is what I was referring to. You are quoting his new article that was just posted last night with Michael Phelps' picture.Look to the right of the main page under "Staring Rotation" to find Klosterman's first article.Also, I need to still get used to the footnotes being on the right hand side of the article. I like it alot, but I need to get used to it.

Yeah, I knew that, My post wasn't a direct reply to yours, more an observation in the same topic (Klosterman). That why I specififed "Today's article".I liked his first article too. In fact, I liked both, I just didn't find the second one as captivating.

[Skeleton Jelly]

eYank, on Thursday, June 9th, 2011, 11:24 AM, said:

Am I the only one who doesn't like the layout of the site? It looks like it was made on a free template. But I really like the articles so far

I like the layout. I hate websites that have too much going on. I'm really enjoying all the articles too. This website seems to adhere to Bill Simmons' philosophy on the 30 for 30 series. Get good people and let them do their thing.Grantland is Doomed Even Before LaunchThis guy doesn't make any sense to me.

[digitalmonkey]

Skeleton Jelly, on Thursday, June 9th, 2011, 3:18 PM, said:

I like the layout. I hate websites that have too much going on. I'm really enjoying all the articles too. This website seems to adhere to Bill Simmons' philosophy on the 30 for 30 series. Get good people and let them do their thing.Grantland is Doomed Even Before LaunchThis guy doesn't make any sense to me.

I don't know why he assumes they are getting paid well. Perhaps they all view it as slum-happy fun.

[Dubey]

digitalmonkey, on Thursday, June 9th, 2011, 12:47 PM, said:

I don't know why he assumes they are getting paid well. Perhaps they all view it as slum-happy fun.

I'm sure they are being paid very well. I think this guy's mistake is in assuming that ESPN and Simmons don't have a solid business plan in place that takes into account things such as, oh, I don't know, operating expenses, including Staff salaries. This isn't some half baked idea that was thrown together overnight. "Ok, we are up and running, so uhhh, anyone want to do some math and figure out if the advertising revenue is going to cover all of our Salaries?" I'm sure Subway and Klondike are paying a tremendous amount to have a large Ad plastered across the screen of, I'm assuming, millions of viewers, daily; Or, hundreds of thousands, at the very least.The only thing that is going to determine the success, or failure of this site, is the readership numbers. Those numbers are going to be a direct result, in the long run, of the quality of the writing. ESPN and Bill Simmonds will get people to the site initially, but it's his team of writers that will keep them coming back. Ironically, the 3 reasons that the site will fail, According to this guy, (ESPN, Bill Simmonds, and his expensive writers), are actually the 3 reasons it will probably succeed.

[brvheart]

I had already read that article before JJJ posted it, and the only thing it mentioned that I took notice of was that Simmons didn't want to name it Grandland. That made me sad.

[Dubey]

Another great story today:http://www.grantland...mories-national

[Dubey]

an Incredible story. I feel like I just read a fantastic 30-for-30 episode. Also, an incredibly fitting story to launch the new website with.http://www.grantland...paper-ever-died