Sports Media Discussion (RIP ESPN) - Page 42 - Sporting Events and Fantasy Sports

i liked the nba/philippines article. didn't try to hard to be funny, didn't try to analyse a 7 minute instrumental, didn't talk about celebrities. it just told me a pretty cool sports story that had totally slipped me by. great job. and i really liked the monopoly line.

i read the first few paragraphs at work, and realized it was good enough to pay real attention to so I'm saving it for later.

I thought Simmons' Sox article was OK, though I can't stand his JD Drew hate (though it's justified this year).

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07-28-2011 , 08:42 PM

#1027

kidcolin

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Quote:

Originally Posted by TheNoodleMan

Millman got promoted, he's too busy for Simmons little ragtag operation now.

i'm not positive that being made editor of their magazine is a promotion at all.

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07-28-2011 , 09:07 PM

#1028

Bill Murphy

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Francis_MH

Colson Whitehead's article (about poker, kind of) on Grantland is really good.

I respectfully disagree in the strongest possible terms. Alvarez, Holden, McManus, Jesse May, King Of A Small World, Rounders, have all plowed this particular field to the bedrock long ago. The only thing left would be something about online play.

The 2nd article was the plus ultra of tl;dr. In the Summer of 2011, nobody reading an article on poker needs to have the rules of hold'em explained, esp on an ESPN site.

I wouldn't mind seeing some other things he's written but he's trying to reinvent the wheel by watching paint dry here.

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07-28-2011 , 09:11 PM

#1029

Bill Murphy

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Dids

That question suggests that the author has not seen the criminally underrated Alpha Dog. A movie that not only is a fine showcase for JT's talents, has one of the best random ninja fights ever but that has the good sense to realize that they got 7/8th of the way through and hadn't show Olivia Wilde's terts yet, and threw in a nearly pointless scene so they could.

(It really is a super entertaining, if not very flawed movie).

I would be a lot more inclined to read Grantland if I didn't think Simmons helming it basically speaks specifically against the intent of the site.

+1. I remember posting in the pre-Oscars thread that year that JT should get a SuppAct nom for Alpha Dog. The main problem with the film is the casting of the boss bad kid; just not a scary guy at all imo. Sopranos had the same problem for me with SVZ & Spider Imperioli.

The JT article was bad...but not as bad as the Jen Aniston one!

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07-28-2011 , 09:14 PM

#1030

CallMeIshmael

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Yeti

ugh god some of those podcasts actually look interesting, but i know they will just put me on raging life tilt if i attempt to listen to any

Seems like you're missing out on some serious value there champ

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07-28-2011 , 09:23 PM

#1031

Bill Murphy

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Dids

How can anybody care what Whitlock says. He's the worst combination of trolling and stupid. Mostly he doesn't mean what he says, but then sometimes it's even worse, 'cause he does.

Whitlock is pretty good at taking down the easy targets and low hanging fruit that are the NCAA et al, but then again so is Rick Reilly.

A lot of time Whitlock's strengths & weaknesses run 180 degrees away from Simmons, for fairly obv reasons, tho I don't think JW ever srsly claims to get all the names & dates right.

I like him, but he works best in small doses. As you say, he's joking a lot of the time. He def spotted an opening and carved out a niche.

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07-28-2011 , 09:26 PM

#1032

Bill Murphy

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Pwn_Master

Klosterman's new Breaking Bad column is pretty much the only thing of his that I read and didn't regret. Pretty good, imo.

I really liked the 5 On 3 article...

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07-28-2011 , 09:27 PM

#1033

Bill Murphy

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I thought the Fix The NBA column was about 80% wheat. He obv typed the "tourney" thing with one hand, but as convoluted as it was the pay for performance thing actually seemed fairly dead on.

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07-28-2011 , 09:50 PM

#1034

cobrakai111

Pooh-Bah

Join Date: Aug 2006 Posts: 3,947

Quote:

Originally Posted by kidcolin

I thought Simmons' Sox article was OK, though I can't stand his JD Drew hate (though it's justified this year).

This will probably make me sound like an old man and really nitty, but I don't really get the need for all the swearing. Just because you can, doesn't mean you have to. Just seems like a new method of lazy writing for him.

Quote:

This year, he got going right away. The past three years, he didn't. **** happens.

You end up with someone like Salty, who stunk up the first six weeks before improbably morphing into … (I mean, I hate to jinx it … but ****, I can't help it …)

If you disagree, feel free to e-mail me at simmonsisa****ingshamelesshomer@aol.com

Ortiz striding to home plate a little bit later, then muttering something to the ump that was undoubtedly something like, "I'm sorry about Pedey, that's one crazy mother****r, we can't even control him," laughing and diffusing the whole thing.

It allowed Sox fans to complain about Theo Epstein, a guy who only brought us two World Series titles. Red Sox fans would complain about a blow job.

and said to themselves, "Holy ****! We might turn into Fredo!!! We need to do something!"

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07-28-2011 , 09:59 PM

#1035

T-God

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Join Date: May 2004 Posts: 11,738

Lombardi on the possibility of Revis/Asomugha on the Jets: "It would be like having 3 quarterbacks on your team all making 10 million/year"

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07-28-2011 , 10:00 PM

#1036

40-80

journeyman

Join Date: Mar 2010 Posts: 361

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yeti

ugh god some of those podcasts actually look interesting, but i know they will just put me on raging life tilt if i attempt to listen to any

If you have a chance, listen to podcast where Millman talks to the guy who won the Hilton NFL Pick'em Challenge last year. Great story.

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07-29-2011 , 11:26 AM

#1037

Bad Beat Bill

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"We might turn into Fredo!" uggggh Simmons you're 40, teenagers don't even talk like that anymore

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07-29-2011 , 03:49 PM

#1038

Yeti

Abominable

Join Date: Jun 2004 Posts: 23,208

is this 4 part WSOP behemoth worth reading?

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/6809214/part-1-4

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07-29-2011 , 03:55 PM

#1039

Bad Beat Bill

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it wasn't bad but it's not really written for poker players. I disliked it at first but by the last couple of parts it got interesting. Just expect a ton of asides/metaphors that only somewhat make sense.

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07-30-2011 , 12:20 AM

#1040

kidcolin

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poker article I found pretty interesting. Dude's a good writer.

Best part is he didn't use any footnotes.

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08-02-2011 , 07:30 PM

#1041

loosekanen

USA#1, Oh Yeah!

Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 27,836

I'm gonna swallow my pride and just come out and say it. Get it over with quickly. Band-aid style. I really enjoyed the Katie Baker best of July NYT Wedding score sheet and analysis. I guess maybe if you've grown up around people like that then it doesn't hit you, but I'm a midwest guy and can't even fathom that **** like that exists in sincerity. Read the whole thing. Laughed many times.

I realize this makes me a terrible 2+2er

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08-02-2011 , 07:54 PM

#1042

AtThe Aquarium

banned

Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 5,602

Yeah it was a very good study in coastal types' lacking self-consciousness.

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08-08-2011 , 09:50 AM

#1043

VayaConDios

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http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/...-golf-disaster

Some slappy trashing Creamer and making a serious run at Molly Lambert's title of worst writer on Grantland

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08-08-2011 , 10:53 AM

#1044

Dudd

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That guy is not to be trusted, who the **** takes most of the frosting off of a cupcake before eating it?

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08-08-2011 , 12:23 PM

#1045

Chilltown

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Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 40,179

Can you people who read the articles tell us why they are so bad?

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08-08-2011 , 12:29 PM

#1046

VayaConDios

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Guy is arguing that this outfit is bad for women's sports

And that this outfit is good for women's sports

It's not even some "women shouldn't feel compelled to wear pink and look girly" argument it's just about fashion

Last edited by VayaConDios; 08-08-2011 at 12:30 PM. Reason: yeah I know chilltown is probably (even if inadvertantly) just setting up a trolling opportunity

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08-08-2011 , 12:36 PM

#1047

Dudd

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Every terrible Grantland article follows the same format: it's a topic that no one cares about, it's about twice as long as it has to be, and it takes itself way too seriously.

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08-08-2011 , 12:58 PM

#1048

Bad Beat Bill

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Also, a bunch of forced metaphors. It's like everyone is trying to be some kind of Bill Simmons replica even though pretty much any given Deadspin writer could mock up a fake Simmons article and have it be indistinguishable from the real thing. Jonah Keri's articles are definitely good though. I'm glad Simmons is going to do more mailbags, since they're really the only entertaining thing he's done lately. Though the idea of a sports writer referencing Jersey Shore and writing two paragraphs on Pippa Middleton (who the hell cares??) is a total dud.