Grantland so far

An old editor of mine liked asking odd questions at job interviews. My buddy was No. 2 in features and was up for the top spot. The first question asked: "If the features department was a car, what type would it be. And what kind of car do you want to turn it into."

Buddy was flabbergasted, mumbled some stupid answer, didn't get the job.

The same editor asked me in an interview a question about another friend of mine who, at the time, was a copy editor but had long been a kick-ass reporter at a different paper.

So he asked me, "If Mike was a dog, what kind of dog would he be as a reporter?"

I held my buddy's future in my hands. He wanted to get back to reporting. But here I could have ended his dream by simply saying, "Poodle."

I stammered and said, "Um, something like a pit bull but not as mean."

"A bulldog?"

"Yes, a bulldog."

My buddy got the reporter's job like a week later.

 

Grantland is like Trader Joe's if Trader Joe's was owned by WalMart

 

Nah, Trader Joe's aims for some regular folk too. Grantland would have to be Whole Foods.

 

Alma, I think your use of the word tepid is a little unfair.

Why do we tend to hyper criticize things that are taking a genuine try at quality?

 

You've visited this site before, haven't you?

 

No, first time, long time.

 

This is not some quaint ma/pa start up. I think the expectations were a little higher for a faster start up.

Maybe it's just here at SJ that the expectations were higher based on what was written on the first few pages of this thread.

I was under the impression that the long form was making a comeback at Grantland.

 

Oh, I dunno about that. I get the sense most people here, on whole, think it's pretty darn good. People here would, though. The writing, like I said, is decent to good. I'm sure, at the end of the year, it'll have 2-3 pieces in BASW, a few essays in some pop culture compilation, etc.

 

The bar is set very low for feature writing on the major websites.

 

Maybe Simmons can PM some of his critics and offer them a swing at the plate and a spot under the microscope?

 

How big is Grantland's staff? I get the impression that it's not too big.

 

Well, we're a journalism site about journalism, so one could be forgiven for being compassionate about the trade. And at the level of Grantland, one shouldn't give orange slices and team Cokes for effort.