Grantland

Grantland was shut down today by ESPN. This was a move you could see coming a mile away yet the Internet was abuzz today with the gnashing of metaphorical teeth. This opinion may be unpopular but I won't miss Grantland. Yes I feel awful for the writers, editors and others who lost their jobs today but I'm guessing Disney is handling out pretty generous separation packages.

ESPN's first foray into smart sports writing was 15-years ago with Page 2. They fielded an all-star line-up of Ralph Wiley, Hunter S. Thompson, David Halberstam and a young Bill Simmons. Ralph Wiley and Hunter S. Thompson passed away. David Halberstam lost his enthusiasm for writing about sports after 9/11. That left just Simmons.

He was a hot property and he felt ESPN did a poor job with Page 2 so he leveraged his contract negotiations with the World-Wide Leader to let him create Grantland. His vision was to create a place where young hot writers could write what they wanted about sports and culture. He brought in and nurtured some very talented writers - that cannot be denied. But the problem was too much hipsterism. In many cases these hot young writers seemed to be writing to impress each other (and Simmons) instead of the general sports-loving public. The page views for Grantland just weren't there. The site wasn't close to being as successful as Deadspin or The Big Lead - but that was OK with the Grantland staff because they looked down their noses at those base sites that catered to the unwashed masses.

I was a regular at Grantland for a while but mostly for articles by Simmons or Charlie Pierce. Once Simmons was let go - I basically just read Pierce's brain droppings at the site (and I'm guessing Charlie will be just fine after today). Sure I gave many other Grantland writers a chance but to be honest I found most of their articles pretentious. Sorry - that's just my honest opinion.

Today many people are comparing the closing of Grantland to the similar fate of The National. No offense but this is like comparing the 27 Yankees to the 1987 Pawtucket Red Sox. Ironically Grantland did a great job of chronicling "The Greatest Paper that Ever Died".

Bill Simmons' hands are not clean with today's closing either. His understandable wish to get some measure of revenge on ESPN played a part in today's shuttering of Grantland (a situation Deadspin did a nice job of describing).

So Grantland has closed it's doors today. But it honestly won't be missed by me.

Ask ESPN.com's Page 2

Have a problem you just can't find a solution to? We've all been there, but why worry about it when all you need do to solve all your problems is Ask ESPN.com's Page 2?

Take a read as the sage wisdom flows from the collective wit and wisdom of the guys ESPN.com hired but really don't want people reading:

Dear Page 2:

When Page 2 first started it was great. You had Hunter S. Thompson, Bill Simmons and David Halberstam. Now its Bill Simmons and a bunch of guys who I've never heard of and who have never been in my kitchen. I guess my question is how did you guys manage to go from so good to so bad in such a short time period?
-- You Guys Really Suck

You Guys Really Suck

We have to disagree with your premise. Page 2 has simply evolved over the years. Sure we used to have big names in the past and lots of daily traffic but now its not uncommon for some of our stuff to have no byline. A collective effort if you will. We think that the quantity of writers on Page 2 more than makes up for the quality.
-- Page 2


Dear Page 2:

Talentless hacks with no sense of humor say what?
-- Flaming Page of Poo

Flaming Page of Poo

What?
-- Page 2
Dear Page 2;

I absolutely love your ongoing faux tribute to the great Andy Kaufman with your Jim Caple stunt. Andy used to go on stage and do really strange stuff that made no sense. He did it as his own private joke. At first I thought Jim Caple's writing was incredibly bad and that his humor was non-existent. Then I realized that he had to be doing this on purpose. I mean nobody could be that tone deaf to humor. Now you've staged Caple's disappearance (just like people think Andy staged his own death). Kudos for the "inside" joke.
-- Singing the Mighty Mouse Theme in Athens

Singing the Mighty Mouse Theme in Athens

We don't know what you are talking about. Jim Caple is a fine writer and he continues to write for us. In fact we consider his type of sense of humor the measuring stick for which all new hires are measured.
-- Page 2

Dear Page 2;

Why don't you guys keep Bill Simmons, fire everyone else and then use the money you save to buy Deadspin? I mean at least then you'll be relevant again.
-- Page 2 is So Unfunny

Page 2;

We really would prefer not to think about that idea.
-- Page 2

(The idea for this post came from this no by-line piece of crap I read this morning. Every time I read something from page 2 I get upset with myself for wasting that time which I'll never get back.)