The_Admiral Posted November 4, 2015 Share Posted November 4, 2015 From The New Republic: Grantland made its readers better fans — its coverage explained often esoteric concepts in ways that made them immediately understandable. To watch sports at a bar in 2015 — especially a bar populated by educated, relatively well-off, younger people — is to hear Grantland articles endlessly parroted back to you, with or without attribution. Jesus Christ, watching sports at a bar with devoted Grantland readers/regurgitators, file that one under "Concepts of Hell," huh. I'm sorry, but being a Smart Sports Fan is wearing my ass out like a high-powered belt sander. I don't need to read about how Phil Emery is a genius because he talks about "a process" a lot or which Beyonce lyrics match up to which NBA point guards. What does it mean that the Seattle Seahawks won the Super Bowl? No, not for the NFL, but for America? Being a sports elitist is roughly akin to being a hot dog elitist; maybe it's fun to quibble over little things like ketchup usage or whether the Washington Redskins should be called the Washington Redskins, but ultimately, none of this crap really has anything to do with "the elite," anyway. And of course, whether Grantland articles ever said anything trenchant, profound, or novel, which they usually didn't, was immaterial: it was all about assuring you, the reader, that you're one of the smart ones and that all these other people are the stupid ones, even as you get the feeling that word for word, there's now as much sportswriting à la Bill Simmons in the universe as there is sportswriting à la Bill Plaschke. There's no voice in the wilderness here; we've built condominiums over the wilderness. I, for one, celebrate the death of this purveyor of middlebrow social signaling and half-baked movie reviews. Let's make stupid the new "smart." The Royals already are! ♫ oh yeah, board goes on, long after the thrill of postin' is gone ♫ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CubsFanBudMan Posted November 4, 2015 Share Posted November 4, 2015 Unpopular opinion: I always thought Grantland was overrated. Ain't nobody got time for all that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DEAD! Posted November 4, 2015 Share Posted November 4, 2015 I did like Grantland a lot, and I think it became a launching pad for some great writers, but you can find pretty good articles any where. I was more upset that ESPN shut down Page 2. I saw, I came, I left. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Six Posted November 4, 2015 Share Posted November 4, 2015 it was all about assuring you, the reader, that you're one of the smart ones and that all these other people are the stupid onesThis is pure nonsense. So Jonah Keri and Zach Lowe's ultimate goal was to write columns that enforce some elitist principle in order to make the reader think they're smarter than the others? What drivel.The theory doesn't even match up. Your basic "Simmonsy" article written by some Grantland underling about Beyonce lyrics and point guards isn't high row at all. They tried to write about sports from a different perspective and bridge the perceived gap between sports and pop culture. I usually interpreted those articles as tongue-in-cheek. Whether they succeeded at that, or whether that's even your cup of tea or not is up in the air. But forcing some underlying manipulative intent on the website is an intellectually dishonest attempt to jusitfy your distaste for their style. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gothamite Posted November 4, 2015 Share Posted November 4, 2015 I'm forced to agree. Simmons did more to lower the tone than raise it.I didn't have much time for Grantland, but it wasn't because the articles were too highbrow or too interested in showing me how much better I was than anyone else. Quite the opposite, actually. The Green Bay Packers Uniform Database! Now in a handy blog. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kramerica Industries Posted November 4, 2015 Share Posted November 4, 2015 I don't really think that quoted description really does Grantland justice. Being an "informed" sports fan is something that should come about naturally; you shouldn't "force" yourself to become one. Let nature take its course on that. There were a few writers on GL that were regular reads for me - Barnwell and DGB moreso than anyone else - but, as with everything, I read for complementary information, not for supplementary information. I never read Simmons at any point after, like, 2008, so I can't really comment on what his writing style has (d)evolved into. In any case, the idea of GL being a bastion of elite sports writing for elite sports fans sounds like a perception for some that I never received when I read columns there; it's entirely possible that I just didn't read the columns that may have been like that.In any case, at least I can be safe from the fear of ever dealing with a bar full of Grantland readers because sports bars are about the last place I ever want to consume sports in. Not that I can ever imagine a g-ddamn sports bar, of any kind or franchise, being the kind of place where "informed" people are going to drop in at in the first place. People go to sports bars to hang out with buddies and get wasted...or something like that. Not to start discussing with one another "hey, that 18 foot jump shot is real gosh darn inefficient, you know?". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DG_ThenNowForever Posted November 4, 2015 Share Posted November 4, 2015 Two things:1. After all my time with Grantland and associated podcasts, I can't tell you what DVOA means. Pace and space makes sense though.2. This is rich critique coming from the Grantland of message boarding. 1 hour ago, ShutUpLutz! said: and the drunken doodoobags jumping off the tops of SUV's/vans/RV's onto tables because, oh yeah, they are drunken drug abusing doodoobags Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sport Posted November 4, 2015 Share Posted November 4, 2015 Two more things1. Simmons was one of the weakest writers on that staff. I think that's one of the reasons he wrote less and less as time went on (in addition to getting busy with his podcast and NBA TV coverage). Bill Barnwell (though I disagree with his assertion that momentum isn’t real), Jonah Keri, and whoever that guy was that covered NBA were weekly reading. I don't even like basketball and I read the NBA articles. Down Goes Brown was okay with the NHL. He had about a 500 shooting percentage with me. I think his best work was in the historical context, but covering current events wasn’t his strong suit. 2. I loved the Mad Men recaps. When Mad Men ended a big reason for me visiting Grantland ended with it. Also, never much cared for Andy Greenwald. I found his writing style pretentious and his penchant for over-inflating the importance of certain TV shows was annoying (See: Breaking Bad). edit: 3. We live in a world where Skip Bayless is a thing (Admiral thread reference intentional) and Stephen A Smith is yelling about "Kobe Bryantt and the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association quite frankly DO NOT HAVE IT." every hour of the day. Before grantland it felt like we were taking a step back as sports discussion. It was good to see stuff that aimed higher. On the flip side, most of the time I find articles about advanced analytics dreadfully boring (see: FiveThirtyEight), but when approached by the grantland writers it was different. edit: 4. I like Chuck Klosterman. I don’t know what that makes me, but I think I’m supposed to be sorry about that. edit: 5. Not all of it was good, but it was definitely born out of reaction to the "Hot Takes" world that is sports coverage today. I liked it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
infrared41 Posted November 4, 2015 Share Posted November 4, 2015 Grantland had some stuff I really liked and some stuff that bored the out of me. Wish I could be more eloquent on the matter, but Grantland never did enough to make me care all that much one way or the other. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CS85 Posted November 4, 2015 Share Posted November 4, 2015 Grading the quality of journalism is very difficult, but distinguishing the difference between journalism and entertainment is becoming less so. ESPN is by it's very name an entertainment network, and Grantland is not contributing to the ESPN name or brand in ways that reflect the spirit of the network.Is there a genuine need for quality sports reporting, investigate journalism, and unique writing styles that reflect on the world and sports place in it? Absolutely, but such a thing is not easily harnessed, and for a company that is quite tender about how it is perceived, Grantland was a dangerous commodity to keep around. Especially without it's creator no longer under their employ.Will I miss Grantland? Not really. They'll find work and at some point another interesting writers haven will emerge. Quote "You are nothing more than a small cancer on this message board. You are not entertaining, you are a complete joke." twitter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leopard88 Posted November 4, 2015 Share Posted November 4, 2015 edit: 3. We live in a world where Skip Bayless is a thing (Admiral thread reference intentional) and Stephen A Smith is yelling about "Kobe Bryantt and the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association quite frankly DO NOT HAVE IT." every hour of the day. Before grantland it felt like we were taking a step back as sports discussion. It was good to see stuff that aimed higher. On the flip side, most of the time I find articles about advanced analytics dreadfully boring (see: FiveThirtyEight), but when approached by the grantland writers it was different. Grantland had some stuff I really liked and some stuff that bored the out of me. Wish I could be more eloquent on the matter, but Grantland never did enough to make me care all that much one way or the other. Agreed and agreed. I'll miss some of the content, assuming it doesn't show up elsewhere on the ESPN website. However, that content doesn't have to be on the Grantland platform. Most Liked Content of the Day -- February 15, 2017, August 21, 2017, August 22, 2017 ///// Proud Winner of the CCSLC Post of the Day Award -- April 8, 2008 Originator of the Upside Down Sarcasm Smilie -- November 1, 2005 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DG_ThenNowForever Posted November 4, 2015 Share Posted November 4, 2015 I actually think you do need something like Grantland if you want that content. It wasn't just that Grantland had good writing and good content. It was also that it was presented in a very non-ESPN way. There were no scrolling score bars. No autoload video. No BREAKING NEWS. Grantland was very much a magazine-style sports and culture website that knew what it was and kept to its mission. There's nothing else like it. Deadspin is interesting but full of over-the-top snark. SI doesn't know what it is. SB Nation is Deadspin but earnest. Who knows what Bleacher Report is. Grantland was pompous, sure, but it was also generally very good. 1 hour ago, ShutUpLutz! said: and the drunken doodoobags jumping off the tops of SUV's/vans/RV's onto tables because, oh yeah, they are drunken drug abusing doodoobags Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gothamite Posted November 5, 2015 Share Posted November 5, 2015 That's a good point. We have lost a format that doesn't seem to exist anymore. The Green Bay Packers Uniform Database! Now in a handy blog. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jake3roo Posted November 5, 2015 Share Posted November 5, 2015 I personally just scrolled past it to FiveThirtyEight... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2001mark Posted November 5, 2015 Share Posted November 5, 2015 ESPN is the most overrated thing ever. @2001mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nash61 Posted November 5, 2015 Share Posted November 5, 2015 I wonder if this is in part due to the success of The Players' Tribune. If people are going to read long-form stories, then why not from the players themselves? On September 20, 2012 at 0:50 AM, 'CS85 said: It's like watching the hellish undead creakily shuffling their way out of the flames of a liposuction clinic dumpster fire. On February 19, 2012 at 9:30 AM, 'pianoknight said: Story B: Red Wings go undefeated and score 100 goals in every game. They also beat a team comprised of Godzilla, the ghost of Abraham Lincoln, 2 Power Rangers and Betty White. Oh, and they played in the middle of Iraq on a military base. In the sand. With no ice. Santa gave them special sand-skates that allowed them to play in shorts and t-shirts in 115 degree weather. Jesus, Zeus and Buddha watched from the sidelines and ate cotton candy. POTD 5/24/12, POTD 2/26/17 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Admiral Posted November 5, 2015 Author Share Posted November 5, 2015 then why not from the players themselves?Aww, you're cute. ♫ oh yeah, board goes on, long after the thrill of postin' is gone ♫ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leopard88 Posted November 5, 2015 Share Posted November 5, 2015 I actually think you do need something like Grantland if you want that content.It wasn't just that Grantland had good writing and good content. It was also that it was presented in a very non-ESPN way. There were no scrolling score bars. No autoload video. No BREAKING NEWS.Grantland was very much a magazine-style sports and culture website that knew what it was and kept to its mission.There's nothing else like it. Deadspin is interesting but full of over-the-top snark. SI doesn't know what it is. SB Nation is Deadspin but earnest. Who knows what Bleacher Report is.Grantland was pompous, sure, but it was also generally very good.I agree with Gothamite. This is a good point. Most Liked Content of the Day -- February 15, 2017, August 21, 2017, August 22, 2017 ///// Proud Winner of the CCSLC Post of the Day Award -- April 8, 2008 Originator of the Upside Down Sarcasm Smilie -- November 1, 2005 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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