OT: The Ringer is live
I know many on this board (myself included) really liked aspects of Grantland. Think what you will about Simmons and shark-jumping, but that website produced a lot of really good reads on sports and other stuff (and yes, it produced some crap). I thought it was great that so many younger writers were given free reign and did well. I never thought I'd be reading MTVNews, but so many former Grantlanders whose work I enjoy eneded up there.
Simmons didn't get the whole band back together, but his new website https://theringer.com/ is now live. It looks like most of the content isn't sports related yet (EDIT: The current main article is politics related, FYI), but it'll be intersting to see where this goes.
He has a new show on HBO that im actually looking forward to watching
I was sold with the line "I believe billionaires should pay for their own fucking stadiums."
Nope, DH suxx man. I have new respect for Simmons, especially considering he's an AL guy
I know, right? It's super-awesome watching pitchers try to hit. AND THE DOUBLE SWITCH STRATEGERY!!
What a bold take. That Bill Simmons, speaking truth to power. Boy, how many times did he mention Boston? /s
Would you rather have Simmons stating the (what should be) obvious, or Skip Bayless?
He's excellent at editing and collecting writing talent but his own writings/TV is complete crap. He's an idiot who just name drops endlessly. He's not a journalist, he's a fat kid who wants to be friends with athletes.
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you sound mad
There isn't an original thought regarding publically funded stadiums. They are a shitty deal for the funding entity and it's not much of an argument. The point, for me, was more that he isn't going to be nuetered by HBO and I don't think there will be much off limits for him similar to Bill Maher. Actually, that's a perfect comparison. He was run off network TV because he said some things and Simmons was run off becase he said some things.
Your last paragraph is false. Have you read "The Book of Basketball?" It's a good read and I'm not even someone who would be considered an NBA fan. He's a better writter than 99% of the journalists out there right now and that's the reason he knows talent like Mark Titus when he sees it. I know that his fanboy attitude turns people away but for me it's kind of nice to see someone who doesn't apologize for being a fan when it seems like the whole industry just wants to run away from any sort of allegience to a team or program. He's also the guy that brought us 30 for 30, so to sit there and say his products are crap is wrong.
He was the idea behind 30 for 30, but it's not like he had a hand in any of those films
Yeah, Pope - Autocracy just put the pin in the balloon of your argument....pfffffffffffttt
Ha, can't tell if serious, but I wasn't trying to be a jerk. I'm just saying that we know the problems with financing new stadiums and the poor ROI, and that's why a line like Simmons', telling billionaires to pay for their own fucking stadiums, resonates with a lot of people.
And I'm just agreeing with you, Autocracy. I'm a major SF Giants fan, and they built that beauty of a ballpark with their own money. It was a risk they were willing to take, and it's worth a billion now...
Whatever your point may have been in your mind, what you wrote was that you didn't care who paid for the stadiums...I disagree with that.
Aalthough many of your rationales are spot on. And as for whether new stadia are necessary or good, I submit the Giants move from Candlestick to Pac Bell/AT&T... it was both necessary and good. The Lions move to Ford was good, and would have been necessary when that monstrosity the SilverDome collapsed eventually.
Sometimes new facilities are needed - but the taxpayer should never pay for more than site remediation and access/egress issues - things that would need to be done no matter what enterprise took over the site.
It's like people who have a face for radio.
He needs to be involved in our weekly thread on GoT. Very good read.
Ask the Maester is always good. The rest of their pop culture stuff is meh at best. It seems like the only show they cover is Game of thrones. I like the show a ton, but there are other shows that are justas good if not better than it on tv.
That is good guys, I used to enjoy reading Bill lots, he became a little much towards the end of his time at the mothership. But the talent of the other writers he brought into grantland was awesome. Hopefully his site ends up better than grantland.
Bill Simmons' writing (personally I like it alot), but the man is a great evaluator of talent and a good interviewer.
I click the link and the very first article is one about politics. I'll pass.
Made a note of that in the OP
An open-minded approach
"Open Minded" like that first political article I saw when I clicked the link? Again, I'll pass on your style of "open mindedness"
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Grantland was my favorite longform website back in the day, and I'm in the camp that thinks that Simmons is a great writer and evaluator of talent. I also understand those that are annoyed by his unbridled love for Boston sports, but given my unbridled love of Michigan and Detroit professional sports, I can't really hate on him for that.
Per Simmons, other names got consideration before settling on The Ringer:
“The Intrepid”? (Sounds like a boat.) “Rational Confidence”? (Sounds like a failed college band.) “The Rafters”? (Sounds like a sports bar.) “Upper Echelon”? (Sounds like a hedge fund.) “Barnstorm”? (Sounds like a horse that would be favored to win the Kentucky Derby.) “Side Two”? (Too insider.) “Grantworld”? (Too ludicrous.) “Fuck Off, ESPN”? (Too easy.)
fuck off espn has a nice ring to it.
I used to read him a lot at ESPN, but didn't follow him to Grantland. From what I see around this board, I missed some good stuff... Oh well, water under the bridge. I'll give him a try at the new site. I don't really care about his Boston-centric schtick, as I think 'journalists' come across as non-geniune, and thus unbelievable and not trust-worthy, when they try to say they have no favorites. Bullshit. You don't grow up playing/watching sports, then writing about sports for a living, without having favorites. You just don't.
I actually can't stand Bill Simmons (though I did like when he and Jalen had that basketball show. Was a good contrast with Boston and Detroit homers). But I love the people he surrounds himself with. Bringing Zach Lowe to the forefront of bball analysis, the pop culture writers, soccer guys....fantastic lineup of talent.
I had wondered where some of the Grantland refugees had landed - nice to see a few back together in a different place.
For those worried about the political article, the Game Of Thrones piece is a bit more relevant to the blog's interests certainly. The one that is up which outlines the Phillies' rebuilding process is pretty interesting too (reading that one now, in fact). I shall keep this one bookmarked.
Since this site starts with a ponderous political piece (that wasn't particularly informative, insightful, or well-written), a Game of Thrones thing (which I just can't bring myself to care about), a defense of Joe Buck (HAHAHAHA), and some dumb pop culture BS, I am having my doubts that I'll visit this site very often.
I am probably jumping the gun, but I am already primed to believe what I feared: Grantland was lightning in a bottle.
But sadly it appears to be empty. No word yet on the location of the whites.
Using Medium.com. Interesting.
There isn't really anything I'm looking forward to on the site itself but I am curious about the HBO show