Grantland

[bball831]

Kirk Goldsberry does some really good stuff with his shot charts and NBA writing.  Today's piece on Durant was great -- perfect mix of using stats and interviews/observations to convey the message. 
 
http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/8919214/kevin-durant-having-one-greatest-offensive-seasons-nba-history

 

[mandro ramtinez]

This Rembert Browne breakdown of Thuzio was way too funny.  He does a great job bringing out the bizarreness of paying athletes to call or interact with regular people and the last four or five items are hilarious.
 
http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/8930154/tiki-barber-thuzio-service-connects-fans-their-favorite-athletes-price

 

[NatetheGreat]

I'm a big community fan so I was psyched for the Dan Harmon piece, but I sort of left it even more convinced that Dan Harmon is gonna kill himself one day. The guy is a fucking mess.

 

[The Social Chair]

Rembert on Teen Jeopardy!'s Leonard Cooper is pretty amusing.
 
http://www.grantland.com/blog/the-triangle/post/_/id/50788/the-jeopardy-teen-tournament-just-got-real

 

[mandro ramtinez]

Rembert on Teen Jeopardy!'s Leonard Cooper is pretty amusing.
 
http://www.grantland.com/blog/the-triangle/post/_/id/50788/the-jeopardy-teen-tournament-just-got-real

Rembert is on a serious hot streak.

 

[DJnVa]

 

[Fishercat]

Some factual miscues in there but it was very funny. Olive green long-T!

 

[Bergs]

Rembert is on a serious hot streak.

 
 
You can say that again. He's GL's new Editor in Chief according to Simmons' new column.

 

[SoFloSoxFan]

You can say that again. He's GL's new Editor in Chief according to Simmons' new column.

Simmons suggests that Rembert Browne could Ewing Theory Bill Simmons IF Simmons was fired and Browne became Editor in Chief.

 

[Bergs]

Simmons suggests that Rembert Browne could Ewing Theory Bill Simmons IF Simmons was fired and Browne became Editor in Chief.

 
ARE YOU IMPLYING I'M A MORON, SIR?????

 

[SoFloSoxFan]

Are you implying I'm worthy of being addressed as "sir", moron?

 

[JimBoSox9]

I hereby dub thee "Ser Moron". Arise.

 

[Bergs]

Are you implying I'm worthy of being addressed as "sir", moron?

 
 
If there was a "like" button on this site, I would have clicked it.

 

[mpx42]

Rembert is flat out balling right now.
 
http://www.grantland.com/blog/the-triangle/post/_/id/51482/an-open-letter-to-andrew-bynum

 

[Skeesix]

Bump!
 
This article on Don King is great
 
http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/9123674/don-king-faces-end-career

 

[NatetheGreat]

Really enjoyed this Zach Lowe piece on the evolution of NBA basketball
http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/9149381/packing-paint-nba-defensive-strategy-forcing-coaches-rethink-their-offense

 

[Orel Miraculous]

This isn't a particularly excellent piece or anything, but Robert Weintraub's article about an arena football player who died on the field in 2005 was worth the read for me just because of the simple, shocking fact that I had never heard about this before.

 

[The Social Chair]

I haven't read it yet, but the design work on the Iditarod piece is fantastic.

 

[CreightonGubanich]

I haven't read it yet, but the design work on the Iditarod piece is fantastic.

 
The whole thing was fantastic. I'm not sure there's a subject that Brian Phillips could write about that I wouldn't find riveting.

 

[JBill]

Link:  http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/9175394/out-great-alone
 
Beautiful piece.

 

[allstonite]

Finally got around to sitting down and reading that Brian Phillips piece and it is just incredible. 
 
Anybody know the story with Wesley Morris? He won a Pulitzer last year while with the Globe but I never really read him there. I have read some of his stuff and I just don't get it. He seems a competent enough a writer but I don't see anything special. I come away from a lot of his movie review not fully understanding whether he actually enjoyed the movie or not. They come across more as "look at how much I know" than anything else. Maybe it's just not my style but I don't think he's in my top 10 best writers on the site.
 
Contrast that with Alex Pappademas who is quickly becoming a must read. He is clearly very smart but is less condescending and has a much better sense of humor. His Kardashian recaps were hilarious even though I would never watch the show. He also writes about more interesting and diverse topics so maybe that has something to do with it. 

 

[The Social Chair]

His Globe reviews were great (check out his Django or Fast 5 review). I think having less words with the Globe helped his writing be more concise. I agree 100% about Pappademas. His podcast on Grantland with Morris is a fun listen too.

 

[MyDaughterLovesTomGordon]

Pappademas got his start with the Phoenix doing music reviews under Matt Ashare, I'm pretty sure. Cool to see him doing so well.

 

[jmcc5400]

Zach Lowe, again.  http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/9272912/the-evolution-mike-conley-jr-memphis-grizzlies-point-guard
 
Tremendous analysis.  I think it's just a matter of time before he's working for an NBA team. 
 
Unrelatedly, love the "NBA shootaround" each morning, usually featuring gifs from the previous night. 

 

[Just a bit outside]

Great article about the importance of framing pitches by Ben Lindbergh of Baseball Prospectus.  His first article for Grantland.
 
http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/9275754/studying-art-pitch-framing-catchers-such-francisco-cervelli-chris-stewart-jose-molina-others

 

[DJnVa]

That's a really interesting article.  Not sure how I feel about what he talked about.  It paints framing as a huge (undervalued?) skill-set.
 
Jose Molina saving .50 runs per 100 pitches and mentioning Barry Bonds was .78 runs/game above average from 2001-2004? 

 

[MentalDisabldLst]

Nice collected-interviews piece from Jon Abrams, who interviewed a bunch of oldschool NBA greats about what it was like to travel back in the early days of pro basketball.  There's a great story about how the 1960 Lakers almost literally went down in flames in a Minnesota cornfield.  Some awesome stories about Red Auerbach, who gets his own section.  My favorite bit:
 
 

Tommy Heinsohn (Boston Celtics, 1956-65): You couldn't get to Fort Wayne from Rochester back then. If you were going to play one night in Rochester and you tried to play in Fort Wayne, you couldn't get there. There was no train that would stop in Fort Wayne. There was no plane that would get you there through connections. The only way that you could get there was to take a train, but it stopped about 20 miles short of Fort Wayne. It stopped in the middle of a cornfield. Then you had to walk to the middle of this town and you had to stand in front of the Green Parrot Inn and thumb a ride from some high school kid and give him $10 to take you to Fort Wayne.

 

[Conigliaro's Potential]

FANTASTIC oral history of the 2003 World Series of Poker:
 
http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/9286395/view/full/the-oral-history-2003-world-series-poker-which-chris-moneymaker-turned-39-25-million

 

[Fishercat]

FANTASTIC oral history of the 2003 World Series of Poker:
 
http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/9286395/view/full/the-oral-history-2003-world-series-poker-which-chris-moneymaker-turned-39-25-million

 
Sure, they had in-house info to compose a lot of it, but it was fascinating to read that. A few things stand out
 
A. Farha's just a tad bit delusional. And by a tad, I mean a ton. And somewhat crazy.
B. I never realized how many times Moneymaker almost never made it. Between signing up for the wrong online tournament, trying to throw the main satellite, and considering playing to simply make the money, it's pretty incredible.
C. The players I imagined having nutso fantasies are exactly the ones who put them out there, which made me happy. The ones I imagined being more down to earth were too.
D. Nice bookends of "I'm an idiot" between Annie Duke and Norman Chad near the beginning and end of the article.

 

[HillysLastWalk]

FANTASTIC oral history of the 2003 World Series of Poker:
 
http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/9286395/view/full/the-oral-history-2003-world-series-poker-which-chris-moneymaker-turned-39-25-million

 
Man that was awesome.  Thanks for linking to that.

 

[DJnVa]

I think Dutch Boyd (and remembering back, I remember thinking this back then) could come off more like a douche, but not sure how.
 
How's that "next big thing in poker" working out for you?

 

[shlincoln]

FANTASTIC oral history of the 2003 World Series of Poker:
 
http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/9286395/view/full/the-oral-history-2003-world-series-poker-which-chris-moneymaker-turned-39-25-million

It was interesting in a "too impossible to be a movie" way, but as someone who knows nothing about poker the descriptions of specific hands, strategy, etc. made my eyes glaze over.

 

[JimBoSox9]

It was interesting in a "too impossible to be a movie" way, but as someone who knows nothing about poker the descriptions of specific hands, strategy, etc. made my eyes glaze over.

 
 
Funny you say that...when I was reading the (excellent) piece, my feeling was "it's 2013 and we really still need footnotes explaining basic Texas Hold'em rules?"

 

[Zomp]

I never knew Moneymaker was actually his real last name.
 
Farha comes off as nuts, but I think thats how he wants to come off.

 

[ifmanis5]

I can't believe that was TEN years ago. Feels like yesterday.

 

[Clears Cleaver]

That was a great frickin read. Made me want to play poker again for the first time in like six years

 

[HillysLastWalk]

That was a great frickin read. Made me want to play poker again for the first time in like six years

 
I don't know if people know this, but you can still play online poker for real money.  Go to cardplayer.com and you can find quite a few that allow USA players.

 

[Bergs]

I've always loved Sammy Farha, and usually err on the side of paying to see the flop in large part because of him. But yeah, he's nuts.

 

[JimBoSox9]

A SoSH reference in yesterday's Derek Jeter Diary from Lisanti:
 

And there is quite clearly a leaguewide conspiracy to kill every vulnerable Yankee while I'm sidelined. Think about it. Grandy twice now. Teixeira. A-Rod. Cervelli. Nuney. Nova. Joba. Kuroda got hit on Wednesday, the Phelps kid today. I'm pretty sure Youkilis is involved in the plot somehow, because it's just way too convenient that he got sent to Tampa just as $90 million in payroll was shifted there. My initial suspicions about him have only intensified. You never want to place a teammate under 24-hour surveillance, but his car has been LoJacked and his phone bugged. So far that hasn't turned up anything more solid than a couple of unauthorized trips to The Daughters of Sam Horny, a terrible strip club near the Sox training camp in Fort Myers, which keeps getting shut down for health-code violations. But eventually he'll slip and we'll have some answers. This can't continue.

 
Sons of Sam Horny would make a great P&G thread title

 

[shlincoln]

Sean McIndoe for best Grantland MVP? His weekly grab bag is always phenomenal, and the piece linked about the players responsible for catastrophic injuries is a stunning good read.

 

[Rudi Fingers]

Jonah Keri is also typically excellent.  http://www.grantland.com/blog/the-triangle/post/_/id/63987/getting-lost-in-the-mlb-com-classics-channel-on-youtube]His article[/url] on http://www.youtube.com/user/MLBClassics?feature=watch]Youtube's MLB.com Classics Channel[/url] just completely blew my mind...

 

[soxfan121]

Sean McIndoe for best Grantland MVP? His weekly grab bag is always phenomenal, and the piece linked about the players responsible for catastrophic injuries is a stunning good read.

 
Agreed. That is an emotional, well written piece that really made me think about the way guys like Tuttle and Therien carry it with them forever.

 

[shlincoln]

And of course this week's Grab Bag Youtube clip is one of my all time favorite moments in hockey, the March 26, 1997 brawl at the Joe.

 

[LondonSox]

Jonah Keri is also typically excellent.  http://www.grantland.com/blog/the-triangle/post/_/id/63987/getting-lost-in-the-mlb-com-classics-channel-on-youtube]His article[/url] on http://www.youtube.com/user/MLBClassics?feature=watch]Youtube's MLB.com Classics Channel[/url] just completely blew my mind...

I liked him more before I sent him a tweet questioning if it was appropriate to be suggesting investment strategy solely as a lead in to discussing baseball, with no waiver or boilerplate "this should not be considered investment advice"
He was kind of a douche back, saying he worked for as a financial magazine for a long time so he felt it was appropriate
I said in that case he should know better than to throw out broad based advice (specifically suggesting people should invest in single stocks instead of diversifying).
He then basically told me to poke it. I mean I was perfectly friendly and I've checked with journalists I know and then all say even bank advice has warning waivers now, and that he was risking a big lawsuit by being lazy.

 

[Kenny F'ing Powers]

Jonah Keri is also typically excellent.  http://www.grantland.com/blog/the-triangle/post/_/id/63987/getting-lost-in-the-mlb-com-classics-channel-on-youtube]His article[/url] on http://www.youtube.com/user/MLBClassics?feature=watch]Youtube's MLB.com Classics Channel[/url] just completely blew my mind...



I liked him more before I sent him a tweet questioning if it was appropriate to be suggesting investment strategy solely as a lead in to discussing baseball, with no waiver or boilerplate "this should not be considered investment advice"

He was kind of a douche back, saying he worked for as a financial magazine for a long time so he felt it was appropriate

I said in that case he should know better than to throw out broad based advice (specifically suggesting people should invest in single stocks instead of diversifying).

He then basically told me to poke it. I mean I was perfectly friendly and I've checked with journalists I know and then all say even bank advice has warning waivers now, and that he was risking a big lawsuit by being lazy.

I agree...at least one of you went out of your way to be a douche.

 

[LondonSox]

It's irresponsible.
I asked him in a friendly way, while saying I enjoy his work.
He did something irresponsible, reckless and that could significantly hurt people if they listened, with no warning stating it as fact.

If you think that's appropriate for an entertainment/ sports journalist then you probably take investment advice from jim cramer too.

I don't see why he gets to ignore the rules and give dangerous financial advice personally

Edit: I dug up the article
http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/9069744/jonah-keri-heads-vegas-place-some-bets-baseball-season

See what you think, I know some the people he's quoting and I've been a partner at a hedge fund, I can guarantee you that what he says is reckless, hedge funds spread their risk and diversify in different ways, but they don't put it all in one place on one bet either.
You think what you want, I think that's no place for half assed investment advice, and more importantly it puts him and grant land in a dangerous place. You don't screw around with this stuff.

 

[Spacemans Bong]

Who gives a fuck? If you're taking investment advice from fucking Grantland you deserve to lose your money.

 

[ForKeeps]

You're upset because he didn't genuflect to you on twitter. When can we expect that big lawsuit btw? lol

 

[DJnVa]

Eh, he didn't say you shouldn't do it (diversify).
 
He said doing it spreads out the risk.  Which, by logical extension, means that not doing it is a lot riskier.
 
It's a stretch to me to say he's really giving advice as opposed to more a theory. 
 
Also, what Bonger said.

 

[LondonSox]

I don't really care, I was actually trying to be helpful, that saying that kind of stuff is very regulated.
My personal view is you're a journalist or you're not, I don't get why you get to ignore the rules because you write for grant land not the wall street journal.
You choose you speak about it you follow the rules. I also agree I doubt many people base investment strategy off grant land but that doesn't mean you can do whatever the hell you want.

Investing is hard and confusing for many, a half assed poorly expressed view suggesting concentrating your risk is a better policy without any "this is not investment advice" or "I'm not a professional investor" comment IMO is inappropriate. You guys think that it is, go for it, but note that in the sosh threads people voicing opinions etc usually bother saying, this is an opinion not investment advice etc.
If most bother doing it on this forum with anonymous handles, it's pretty ingrained as required.