Take a listen as we welcome Bill Simmons back to the sports writing world through our discussion of Grantland, its future, and its overall success thus far. And of course, the run of the mill Game 6 discussion.
Sunday, June 12, 2011
7 comments BotB Podcast #19
Take a listen as we welcome Bill Simmons back to the sports writing world through our discussion of Grantland, its future, and its overall success thus far. And of course, the run of the mill Game 6 discussion.
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7 comments:
I'm actually really excited about more pop culture articles. I don't especially like when they're merged into one like things Bill Simmons often does(Why Kobe Bryant is like Teen Wolf), but so far on Grantland, the article about typecast HBO actors and Chuck Klosterman's about watching TV live (which I guess is sports related) were two of my favorites. Even the article about LA Noire, a game I've never played and probably never will, was pretty interesting to me, because of the writing.
I really like Chuck Klosterman and Malcolm Gladwell though, so I suppose that helps a lot.
I think Grantland is going to be one of those sites where people will start reading the writers they like, and skipping the ones they don't like (I don't plan on reading much about Alec Baldwin's twitter for example). Since they have such a wide variety of writers, I think that's going to be part of what will make Grantland so great.
Mconstant42, I think that is what will make the site successful, that a person can read the site for specific authors and ignore other authors. The best part is each author won't just be talking about sports or something like that.
I can handle some pop culture references but they do need to be fresh and not forced like much of what Simmons has seemed to do lately (i.e. Make a list of Wire quotes for the NBA playoffs). Some pop culture mixed in is very welcome. So in that realm, I think the site will be successful, especially being paired up with Simmons and ESPN.
I like Gladwell slightly better than Klosterman, so I will probably check in on both of them to see if my opinion on them has changed at all.
I think maybe 10 years ago a site containing a bunch of different topics may have had trouble surviving, but I don't think that is a problem today as long as the writers who are writing about the topics are quality.
I know this is late, but I just noticed that I forgot to fade out the music in the intro. Whoops.
I've actually really enjoyed the first "week" of Grantland. Lots of good writers, writing outside the sports journalism box, but still writing about sports. Really enjoyed Klosterman's free association thought piece on the Half Court Rule.
Martin, I've enjoyed the site so far as well. Though I see with Simmons retro-diary he hasn't changed his writing style or thought of any more creative ideas.
I am probably the only one who doesn't like Klosterman I guess. It may be because when I look at his picture I think of what a faux-hipster douchebag he looks like and then I can't get past that when reading his writing.
hehe I'm not a big fan of Chuck's either, but I did like the Half Court article, because when you think about it, it really is an absurd rule.
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