Sports On Earth goes live

For all intents and purposes, the new NBC Sports site is another startup. Do they have any above-the-marquee names writing over there? Columns? Features? Or is Mr. Posnanski the first?

 

I love some of what Posnanski produces and I hate some of what he produces.

My take - and I don't know the guy personally at all, exchanged pleasantries a couple times at events - is that he's an outstanding writer who hasn't precisely found a perfect fit for his talents. S.L. Price is clearly where he belongs. Chris Jones and Tom Junod are clearly where they belong. Michael Specter and David Remnick are clearly where they belong. Bill Simmons is clearly where he belongs. James Fallows is clearly where he belongs. Think of a prestige publication, and there are writers who seem like they were born to work there.

Joe Posnanski? Not sure where he was born to work. Neither is he, which is not a criticism.

 

I'd say that about most things Leitch writes. He made a nice career out of being the original Deadspin shit-stirrer who successfully backtracked into some kind of Bob Costas, aw-shucks, vanilla slinger. His columns and articles for NY Mag and elsewhere are immediately forgettable.

 

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He already worked there, is the thing.

 

KC?

 

Since we're already indirectly on the topic, let me throw out three questions. Would like to hear your informed, critical opinions:

1. What do you think Sports on Earth has done well so far?

2. What do you think Sports on Earth -- and, more generally, an online startup of its ilk -- needs to do different or better?

3. You're in charge of Sports on Earth. Poz just walked. What do you do going forward in terms of staffing/freelance/reallocating the resources you were devoting to him?

Obvious disclaimer, I write for the site fairly regularly and I have a pretty keen interest in your answers. But I'm genuinely curious. There's not much of a preexisting playbook for this kind of site or the Poz situation.

 

How much resource are we talking about?

* I'm in charge and there is more of what the NYT did: http://www.nytimes.com/projects/2012/snow-fall/#/?part=tunnel-creek

* Perhaps "Sports on Earth TV" with constant programming (live and taped) optimized for phones/tablets.

On the flip side, there is *so* much of the high-end production from ESPN to SI to Yahoo to Grantland to ... whatever. How many more of these sites do we need? At some point are we going to get sports'd out?

 

Most certainly a defensible view. A top-of-the-line paper back when they were numerous. A town that loved him and accepted him as he was. A crackling duality with Whitlock. Just because other jobs paid more does not mean that the Star job wasn't the dream job...for him.

 

But it's a newspaper, and there are no "dream jobs" at newspapers these days. That's a place you're looking to leave, even if you have what you would otherwise consider a "dream job." Because there's a really good chance it won't last forever. Or even very long. I don't blame him at all for wanting to move on to something else.

 

Maybe I'm projecting, but I would think that a gig at a place like KC - even with all the positives that Dooley mentioned - might have felt limiting because of geography. I'm sure Posnanski could occasionally delve into some national issues, but ultimately, his bread and butter was Kansas and Missouri sports. No NBA team. No NHL team. But even if there were, I think working for a metro that caters to a single market would feel constricting as far as subject matter goes.

 

You misunderstood me. I was saying he's had his dream job, and anything from here is just keeping on keeping on. He'd be nuts to go back to the decimated Star now.

 

1. I have enjoyed SoE's ability to provide different perspectives, different angles than what the mainstream media has produced. And the writers are willing to take gambles with their writing.

2. There doesn't seem to be any immediacy to how quickly posts go up. There are too many lists columns for a site dedicated to superior writing. There doesn't seem to be any consistency (covering three NCAAFB games one Saturday, covering just one the next). I'd like to see more columns, like what Yahoo! Sports does.

3. I'd try to hire a Dan Wetzel-ish guy, someone who can produce columns about seemingly every topic. It's amazing how broad he can go and still produce depth. It might also be nice to break news so people know to come to your site. Otherwise, I don't think they'd go to SoE just for good writing. ESPN, SI and Yahoo all produce good writing.