Greg Howard butt hurt

[JackReacher]

I smell Storytime With Recovering Journalist.....

 

[Brian]

I really appreciate Alma's thoughts. Is this thought unfair?: Grantland is good at what ESPN.com should be good at and stinks at what Grantland.com set out to be. I really enjoy Barnwell, Lowe and Keri. They produce the kind of content I think ESPN should be producing. The longform — what the site seemingly exists to produce — is aimless.

But I think there's something to be said for someone trying to create middlebrow content. It's something we used to take for granted but now is dying. It often seems like we have a choice between the New Yorker/ The Atlantic and a snarky two paragraph take/listicle and nothing in between.

 

[JackReacher]

Everything Lowe writes is longform. Or at least long.

 

[Alma]

I really appreciate Alma's thoughts. Is this thought unfair?: Grantland is good at what ESPN.com should be good at and stinks at what Grantland.com set out to be. I really enjoy Barnwell, Lowe and Keri. They produce the kind of content I think ESPN should be producing. The longform — what the site seemingly exists to produce — is aimless.

But I think there's something to be said for someone trying to create middlebrow content. It's something we used to take for granted but now is dying. It often seems like we have a choice between the New Yorker/ The Atlantic and a snarky two paragraph take/listicle and nothing in between.

Simmons is middlebrow. So is the 30/30 series.

I can't pretend to know exactly what happened with Grantland staffing at the very beginning - I suspect Eggers had some hand in recruiting a bunch of novelists and essayists - but the site has improved. It is better, more analytical, more substantial. There's too much going on and I don't really think a lot of the analysis is that substantial, but it has improved.

But read the NBA stuff - where Grantland clearly has the best access and the most feedback on content from players, coaches and GMs - and some of the rest of the stuff. You'll notice the pieces are flatter and more objective, in part because, all of the sudden, Grantland has some sense of stewardship of the NBA. That's what happens when you become a reporter instead of a faceless, domineering commentator; you have to start investing in the people you cover and inevitably that means you don't take every shot, make every criticism, lob every grenade. There's a big gulf in tone in terms of covering the NFL and the NBA.

 

[Double Down]

The longform — what the site seemingly exists to produce — is aimless.

Whether it's aimless or not, it's not for me to say. But as far as I know, Grantland has never declared itself to be any kind of incubator for longform. That seems like a label people assigned the website, not one it ever laid claim to. An amalgam of sports and pop culture? Sure, it definitely said that was part of its mission statement.

And whatever you think of Grantland, the fact that it's given Brian Phillips wide exposure, when he's one of the best sports writers to come along in a long time, is a great thing.

 

[RecoveringJournalist]

What I like about Grantland is that there is always something there that surprises and interests me.

 

[Brian]

Whether it's aimless or not, it's not for me to say. But as far as I know, Grantland has never declared itself to be any kind of incubator for longform. That seems like a label people assigned the website, not one it ever laid claim to. An amalgam of sports and pop culture? Sure, it definitely said that was part of its mission statement.

And whatever you think of Grantland, the fact that it's given Brian Phillips wide exposure, when he's one of the best sports writers to come along in a long time, is a great thing.

I really like Phillips. Thanks for your thoughts. I probably shouldn't be criticizing the site. It produces stuff way past anything of my abilities and I really enjoy a lot of its content and perspectives, including what Andy Greenwakd and Brian Koppelman bring/brought to their podcasts. And the perspective guys like Alma and you have are really interesting, instructive.

 

[Double Down]

I have no issues with criticism of the site. Good criticism makes for good journalism/writing. Just don't think it's supposed to be a tentpole for longform.

 

[Alma]

Whether it's aimless or not, it's not for me to say. But as far as I know, Grantland has never declared itself to be any kind of incubator for longform. That seems like a label people assigned the website, not one it ever laid claim to.

I agree that whatever it was...longform as we think of it wasn't the aim. Nor does it matter than much now. The site has changed for the better.

 

[BDC99]

Not. Even. Close.

I figured I'd get some argument. But he sounds like he would be horrific to work for, unless you were in tight with him.

 

[HappyCurmudgeon]

Whitlock appears to be every bit of the insecure clown he comes off as. Shocked he didn't suggest the site be called "Jason Whitlock presents 'The Undefeated'."

 

[BDC99]

Whitlock appears to be every bit of the insecure clown he comes off as. Shocked he didn't suggest the site be called "Jason Whitlock presents 'The Undefeated'."

How do you know he didn't? In fact, I'd lay down money that he did.