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#201 |
Coordinator
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Land O Lakes FL
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It seems so. We shall find out by next week.
__________________
"The blind soldier fought for me in this war. The least I can do now is fight for him. I have eyes. He hasn’t. I have a voice on the radio, he hasn’t. I was born a white man. And until a colored man is a full citizen, like me, I haven’t the leisure to enjoy the freedom that colored man risked his life to maintain for me. I don’t own what I have until he owns an equal share of it. Until somebody beats me and blinds me, I am in his debt."- Orson Welles August 11, 1946 |
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#202 |
Head Coach
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: NYC
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Listening to the first Simmons podcast with Cousin Sal now. Already a small shot at Chris Berman at the 2 minute mark.
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#203 |
Grey Dog Software
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Phoenix, AZ by way of Belleville, IL
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If you can handle the extreme Patriot fanboyism, Bill is actually fairly entertaining and I'm glad he's back on podcasts. Releasing him from the ESPN "shackles" should also make for some interesting comments this fall.
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#204 | |
Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: St. Louis
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Quote:
Yes the guess the lines podcast is probably my favorite sports podcast. I also enjoy most of his non-NBA stuff. I would add his over the top defense of Tony Kornheiser/MNF to his negatives. I love him on PTI but his Monday Night Football announcing was disastrous and cringe worthy. Are most things at ESPN likely influenced by company politics? Absolutely. Was him being let go of Monday Night Football? Highly unlikely, he just sucked in that format. |
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#205 |
Coordinator
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Land O Lakes FL
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Jason Whitlock lashes out over his end days at ESPN - The Washington Post
Missouri folks: I vaguely remember the first Explanation. Was this when he killed Joe Posnanski and other writers at the KC Star? The Simmons-Whitlock podcast will be awesome.
__________________
"The blind soldier fought for me in this war. The least I can do now is fight for him. I have eyes. He hasn’t. I have a voice on the radio, he hasn’t. I was born a white man. And until a colored man is a full citizen, like me, I haven’t the leisure to enjoy the freedom that colored man risked his life to maintain for me. I don’t own what I have until he owns an equal share of it. Until somebody beats me and blinds me, I am in his debt."- Orson Welles August 11, 1946 |
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#206 |
Grey Dog Software
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Phoenix, AZ by way of Belleville, IL
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ESPN is certainly shedding some talent lately. Cowherd, Simmons, Whitlock, Olbermann, the men in blazers (soccer guys from grantland now with NBC) and even Wesley Morris announced he is leaving Grantland for the NY Times. Having Simmons and Whitlock specifically off their ESPN shackles should make for some interesting water cooler talk over the next few months.
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#207 |
Pro Starter
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Lisboa, ME
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Men in Blazers is just the best.
__________________
Come On You Irons! West Ham United | Philadelphia Flyers | Cincinnati Bengals | Kansas City Royals FOFC Greatest Band Draft Runner Up FOFC Movie Remake Draft Winner FOFC Movie Comedy Draft Winner |
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#208 | |
Grey Dog Software
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Phoenix, AZ by way of Belleville, IL
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Seems like more is coming out on Grantland and people leaving. According to SI, Sean Fennessey, Juliet Litman, Mallory Rubin and Chris Ryan are leaving Grantland to join up with Simmons in some capacity:
How local MLB announcers handle the national spotlight - More Sports - SI.com Also, it appears Dan Fierman (senior Grantland Exec) has left Grantland as well. Here's how SI is reporting it: Quote:
Last edited by Arles : 10-12-2015 at 12:29 PM. |
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#209 |
Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: the yo'
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RIP Food News.
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#210 |
Pro Rookie
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Raleigh, NC
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There ought to be a 30 for 30 on the rise and fall of Grantland just to create an ironic coda.
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#211 |
Head Coach
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Seven miles up
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Alright, so I've totally missed this whole Grantland thing. Can anyone give me the TL;DR version?
__________________
He's just like if Snow White was competitive, horny, and capable of beating the shit out of anyone that called her Pops. Like Steam? Join the FOFC Steam group here: http://steamcommunity.com/groups/FOFConSteam |
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#212 |
Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: the yo'
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Basically Simmons claimed ESPN wasn't doing enough to promote the site, somewhere along the line they suspended him as he was entering the last year of the contract. He wasn't fined immediately, ESPN did decide to dock him pay right before xmas. Then eventually they announced he wouldn't be offered a new deal, and he left. Now other people are following course.
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#213 |
Head Coach
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: North Carolina
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I really like Mayes, Barnwell, and Lowe. It will be a shame if there isn't enough of a market for those guys for them to remain on the ESPN platform.
Seems like ESPN might be trying to wind down its "smart talk" guys. |
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#214 |
Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: St. Louis
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Simmons...
Love his sense of humor and the guess the lines podcast but man on man is he not only a huge homer that won't get over the Brady thing but his vitriol aimed at ESPN is insane. How exactly does he think he got his exposure? Why was he able to rub elbows with all these athletes? Definitely a case of both sides thinking they are more important than they really are. |
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#215 |
Head Coach
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: NYC
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I get Simmons' complaints about publicizing the site but from what others have written, Grantland staff and writers were paid well above industry norms and had large travel/expense budgets. I'm guessing ESPN quickly realized that they weren't going to generate the type of traffic to warrant all the overhead and they threw in the towel pretty early.
I think combining sports and pop culture makes plenty of sense but in hindsight, maybe they should have gone with either the smart writers on their own (or combined them with Silver's site) or taken a more traditional, but fun sports writing approach still mixed with pop culture. Basically a staff of mini-Simmonses. He loved guys like Barnwell, Lowe and Keri but none of them wrote anything like him. |
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#216 | |
Head Coach
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: North Carolina
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Quote:
I think that Simmons would easily be one of the most annoying and insufferable celebrities to know in real life. Love his stuff with Klosterman. Love guess the lines. But you would think after 15 or so years, he would not need to keep pointing out that he hangs out with famous people. And the Brady stuff has gotten almost weird. Of course Simmons is a homer; that's always been part of his package. But at some point over the last few months, Brady became the greatest QB of all time, and a federal judge saying that the NFL did not follow the CBA guidelines in imposing punishment meant that all of the substantive findings regarding the deflation had been invalidated. Personally, I am of the I-wouldn't-trust-the-NFL-to-say-if-water-is-wet camp, so I have no idea what really happened with the balls. But it has gotten to the point where I hope that tomorrow some undisputed smoking gun comes out proving that Brady deflated balls while taking steroids and paying off refs, just so that Simmons will stop talking about him. |
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#217 |
Grey Dog Software
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Phoenix, AZ by way of Belleville, IL
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In order to enjoy Simmons, you have to get past the New England homer-ism. I've been able to do that, so I enjoy most of his stuff now. I like their sports coverage and enjoy reading/listening to Mays, Barnwell, Lowe and Jonah. I've also enjoyed Greenwald and Ryan on TV/pop culture. I think their problem is they tried to do too much with established people. Bringing in guys like Wesley Morris (who I enjoy), Connelly, Klosterman (also enjoy), Alex Pappademas and a few other well established guys who ended up being 3rd/4th in the pecking order for their area seemed a little wasteful. Bring in a few stars (Greenwald, Simmons, Jonah Keri, Jalen Rose) to give credibility - but then fill the rest in with young, somewhat unestablished talent like Rembert, Barnwell, Lowe, and Mays to do the heaving lifting. They signed too many high-priced guys to come off the bench and gave everyone the site too much of a budget (while not fully marketing it).
It's a shame this site will probably end up failing over the next two years given the quality it provided at its apex. Hopefully Simmons can restart it with a better vision and somewhat leaner staff/budget. |
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#218 |
Head Coach
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: NYC
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I'm with you there...a couple years back I just learned to enjoy and laugh at all his annoying things. It's all entertainment.
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#219 | |
Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: St. Louis
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Quote:
I definitely enjoy him. The guess the lines is must listen to radio for me every week. His suspension really left a void last year and the beginning of this year. I just think the ESPN "corporate monster" angle is pretty tired already and is only going to get worse. Berman held people down, I get it. My guess is Simmons is unaware but likely played politics and screwed some people over as well. |
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#220 |
Grey Dog Software
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Phoenix, AZ by way of Belleville, IL
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Yeah, I do agree that it's hard for Simmons to play the "disenfranchised little guy" angle here. They help build him into a media mogul and decided to bail when he was getting too big/expensive. The landscape is littered with guys like that (Howard Stern, Dan Patrick, Glenn Beck, and even Cowherd is close to that situation). It happens, get over it. He will land on his feet, make a ton of money and have a new challenge now - which is often what the big names constantly say they want.
I think the truth of the situation is part of his shtick is to rip other commentators/sports people. And, for 10 years, he had to hold his tongue on all the ESPN guys. Now that restriction has been lifted and its open season on ESPN talent from his perspective. I don't see him being too hard on the powers that be at ESPN as time passes, but I can see a lot of shots coming the way of Berman, Mike and Mike, the first take guys and so forth. Last edited by Arles : 10-13-2015 at 12:23 PM. |
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#221 |
Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Behind Enemy Lines in Athens, GA
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__________________
"I lit another cigarette. Unless I specifically inform you to the contrary, I am always lighting another cigarette." - from a novel by Martin Amis |
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#222 |
Grey Dog Software
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Phoenix, AZ by way of Belleville, IL
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Wow, that is a great find and very appropriate.
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#223 |
Coordinator
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Keene, NH
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really miss The National
__________________
Mile High Hockey |
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#224 | |
Pro Rookie
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Raleigh, NC
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Quote:
Yep. Remembered reading that, which is what inspired my thinking about the irony of doing a 30 for 30 about Grantland as an epilogue of its own creator's relationship with the media giant that gave him all the resources to not only have his own column, but a team of columnists under his banner and a documentary series that he helped produce. |
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#225 |
Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: the yo'
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That national piece was my first thought as well but I was too lazy to dig it up
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#226 |
College Starter
Join Date: Oct 2004
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ESPN to Lay Off 300 Workers, Reacting to Shifts in Sports Viewing
ESPN plans to lay off about 300 employees as it reacts to the shifting ways that sports are consumed and as it devises new ways to market and distribute its vast array of sports programming. “The demand for sports remains undiminished,” John Skipper, ESPN’s president, wrote in a letter to employees on Wednesday, “though the landscape we operate in has never been more complex.” He added, “No matter how many times we’ve adjusted course to lead the industry over the years, the decisions affecting our employees are never made lightly.” Last edited by bob : 10-22-2015 at 10:41 AM. |
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#227 | |
Coordinator
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Keene, NH
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Quote:
I assume it won't be any of the blowhard idiots they have in front of the camera *cough* Stephen A Smith *cough* that make ESPN largely unwatchable
__________________
Mile High Hockey Last edited by Draft Dodger : 10-22-2015 at 11:05 AM. |
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#228 | |
Coordinator
Join Date: Nov 2003
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Quote:
If he wasn't in front of a camera bringing us the hottest takes every day, the NBA would cease to exist, didn't you hear? ![]() |
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#229 | |
Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Behind Enemy Lines in Athens, GA
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Quote:
USA Today columnist says hi ![]() Stop complaining about Stephen A. Smith, Skip Bayless and ‘First Take’ | For The Win *only shared that 'cause that column actually appeared yesterday afternoon, hours apart from your comment.
__________________
"I lit another cigarette. Unless I specifically inform you to the contrary, I am always lighting another cigarette." - from a novel by Martin Amis |
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#230 | |
Coordinator
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Concord, MA/UMass
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Quote:
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#231 | |
Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Behind Enemy Lines in Athens, GA
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Quote:
Amen to that.
__________________
"I lit another cigarette. Unless I specifically inform you to the contrary, I am always lighting another cigarette." - from a novel by Martin Amis |
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#232 |
Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Where Hip Hop lives
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Don't get me started haha.
__________________
. . I would rather be wrong...Than live in the shadows of your song...My mind is open wide...And now I'm ready to start...You're not sure...You open the door...And step out into the dark...Now I'm ready. |
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#233 |
Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Stuck in Yinzerville, PA
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Hopefully Maple Leafs isn't one of the people who loses their job.
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#234 |
Hockey Boy
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Royal Oak, MI
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I'm usually pretty forgiving when it comes to website re-designs, but the new ESPN one is really awful. It just made everything harder to find and more unwieldy. It sucks.
Other than live sports - college football and MNF - or when I'm at the gym or a hotel, I never watch ESPN. Then again, I don't watch Fox Sports One either. If anything, for sports news and/or highlights, I may watch the NHL Network, but that's pretty much it. I still miss NFL Primetime.
__________________
Steve Yzerman: 1,755 points in 1,514 regular season games. 185 points in 196 postseason games. A First-Team All-Star, Conn Smythe Trophy winner, Selke Trophy winner, Masterton Trophy winner, member of the Hockey Hall of Fame, Olympic gold medallist, and a three-time Stanley Cup Champion. Longest serving captain of one team in the history of the NHL (19 seasons). |
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#235 | |
Coordinator
Join Date: Nov 2003
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Quote:
I don't think I've watched more than a minute of first take in my life, but when Stephen A. Smith is the second item on sportscenter talking about how he is more important for the game than Kevin Durant and how Durant should be worshipping the ground he walks on, I think I'm perfectly justified in wanting him to go die in a fire |
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#236 | |
Coordinator
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Land O Lakes FL
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Quote:
I thought it was just me when it comes to FOX Sports One. I have tried to watch their sports highlight shows a few times and it is just horrible IMO.
__________________
"The blind soldier fought for me in this war. The least I can do now is fight for him. I have eyes. He hasn’t. I have a voice on the radio, he hasn’t. I was born a white man. And until a colored man is a full citizen, like me, I haven’t the leisure to enjoy the freedom that colored man risked his life to maintain for me. I don’t own what I have until he owns an equal share of it. Until somebody beats me and blinds me, I am in his debt."- Orson Welles August 11, 1946 |
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#237 |
Coordinator
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Concord, MA/UMass
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I assume you read the story going around about how they rushed it and farmed it out to the Heat? Some of those fan ones were actually really cool too - save your million and just buy the design of the 2-3 best for 100k then touch them up a little.
Maybe it's my adblocker settings but the absolute worst part of the ESPN redesign is that top bar. If I try to read an article and hot spacebar for page down I have to scroll back up 2 lines that get blocked out by the dumb bar. I think that might be the reason I still go to Grantland first, even as it does become more pop culture centric than I'd prefer. That layout is just so clean and easy to read whether on a computer or a phone. |
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#238 |
Head Coach
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Hometown of Canada
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So it seems like Grantland's YoutTube channel's content is all gone. I don't know what ESPN is doing, but I only really visit the Grantland site and enjoyed at least some of the YouTube vids. I rarely go on ESPN.com, especially since it seems like all my fantasy sports leagues have moved to Yahoo and other sites.
Does it make any sense to anyone here why they would delete all content on their YouTube channel?? |
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#239 |
Head Coach
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: North Carolina
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Seems like, for whatever reason, they are killing Grantland. Barnwell and Mayes have not had their podcast for a week and a half now. Apparently the Youtube content is now gone. Death by 1,000 cuts.
My guess is that there are high-up people at ESPN who have never liked Grantland, and now they have the power to pull the plug. My uninformed guess is that most of the staff will be let go, and the ones who remain will be folded into 538 and other ESPN properties. |
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#240 |
College Starter
Join Date: Oct 2004
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Can't remember where I saw it, but supposedly the Grantland / YouTube stuff has something to do with YouTube Red, not the immediate death of Grantland.
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#241 |
Head Coach
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Maryland
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__________________
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#242 | |
Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Behind Enemy Lines in Athens, GA
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Quote:
ESPN had YouTube channels? (No, I'm not being purely sarcastic. I had no idea such a thing existed, Grantland or otherwise)
__________________
"I lit another cigarette. Unless I specifically inform you to the contrary, I am always lighting another cigarette." - from a novel by Martin Amis |
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#243 |
Grey Dog Software
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Phoenix, AZ by way of Belleville, IL
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Looks like they are targeting 6-figure earning producers/editors/behind the scenes people. The "on-air talent" has contracts so they can't be laid off.
http://thebiglead.com/2015/10/20/esp...igure-earners/ |
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#244 |
Torchbearer
Join Date: Sep 2001
Location: On Lake Harriet
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The Richard Deitsch SI Media Podcast with Jim Miller is pretty informative on the Grantland/ESPN issues. Interesting listen.
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#245 |
College Prospect
Join Date: Dec 2003
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#246 |
College Prospect
Join Date: Dec 2003
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I love Simmons because his approach is so different from the everyday mundane content most sports media gives us.
His Boston homerism doesn't bother me either, because essentially we are all homers for our teams. I am a SF guy, but I get him being so myopic about his teams because I am about mine. I think his podcasts are usually entertaining, but it was his columns I liked best. I never really thought his TV work was that good because his style didn't fit the give us a 30 second "take" that the medium required. He was much better in a 10,000 word column. I also thought Grantland was outstanding and I give Simmons a lot of credit for introducing me to alot of people I follow now like Chuck Klosterman, Zach Lowe and Jalen Rose. as for ESPN in general it went from a daily need to something I avoid for the most part. I am a huge fan of Dan Patrick, I loved the new Keith Olberman show and I thought most of what grantland did was excellent despise the running into the ground every Farve, Teebow, Manziel... story. ESPN has just turned into TMZ Sports at this point. |
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#247 |
Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: the yo'
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#248 |
Coordinator
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Land O Lakes FL
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__________________
"The blind soldier fought for me in this war. The least I can do now is fight for him. I have eyes. He hasn’t. I have a voice on the radio, he hasn’t. I was born a white man. And until a colored man is a full citizen, like me, I haven’t the leisure to enjoy the freedom that colored man risked his life to maintain for me. I don’t own what I have until he owns an equal share of it. Until somebody beats me and blinds me, I am in his debt."- Orson Welles August 11, 1946 |
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#249 |
Banned
Join Date: Oct 2003
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Well here's a nice Friday news dump from ESPN oh by the way Grantland is dead. ESPN Statement Regarding Grantland
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#250 |
lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: sans pants
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__________________
Superman was flying around and saw Wonder Woman getting a tan in the nude on her balcony. Superman said I going to hit that real fast. So he flys down toward Wonder Woman to hit it and their is a loud scream. The Invincible Man scream what just hit me in the ass!!!!! I do shit, I take pictures, I write about it: chrisshue.com |
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