Oh, goodie: Grantland for geezers. Way to go, Joe!

They have Mike Tanier on football and will have Will Leitch as ombudsman. I'm cautiously optimistic.

Poz is only like 5 years older than Simmons (if that) ... of course, probably a couple decades older in maturity.

I feel bad for Poz here, this whole book project has blown up in his face in a way I'm sure he was incapable of fathoming. Now he finds himself in a real no-win situation with the publisher pushing his book up by a lot so it comes hot on the heels of the Freeh report and the removal of the Paterno statue. Ideally, he (and everyone else) would take an extra year to process everything that's happened in the last 8 months and come out with the book then, but apparently his publisher doesn't see the eminent good sense of that - instead, they're going to let him get creamed for writing a book nobody wants to read, and that's a shame.

It's hard to imagine a better situation for a sportswriter: he had done all his research and had direct access to the subject just before the subject became the most interesting sports story of the year.

It sounds like Posnanski just wrote the wrong book. Of course, maybe all the advance press is wrong and this will be a book people want to read.

Aw, man. First Hitler hosts the Olympics, and now the Hitler of our time, Joe Posnanski, is given a press pass.

where's Jesse Owens when you need him?

where's Jesse Owens when you need him?

The Soul of Track.

Now he finds himself in a real no-win situation with the publisher pushing his book up by a lot so it comes hot on the heels of the Freeh report and the removal of the Paterno statue. Ideally, he (and everyone else) would take an extra year to process everything that's happened in the last 8 months and come out with the book then, but apparently his publisher doesn't see the eminent good sense of that - instead, they're going to let him get creamed for writing a book nobody wants to read

Well, they didn't push it up because they think nobody wants to read it, right?

As for Poz' new project... Shaun Powell seems to just be a guy who moves around between various beat writer jobs. Calling him "amazing" is like calling Geoff Blum amazing. I believe Tommy Tomlinson was the Governor of Wisconsin. I don't know these other guys. Of course, that doesn't mean they're no good.

Poz > Simmons, so you'd figure his Grantland would be better than Simmons'. There's a disadvantage, though, in being second to market. I also get the impression that ESPN is very hands-off with respect to letting Simmons run Grantland. I dunno if USA Today and MLB Advanced Media (BTW, really?) will be the same.

Posnanski, even with the Paterno situation taken into account, is still a good writer.

Tanier might be my favorite writer working right now. His farewell piece at FO was wonderful.

I am looking forward to SoE.

Speaking of sites like SoE and Grantland, what's happening with Tim Marchman's "The Classical". I think it's up, but I hear nothing about it and it's never linked here.

The publisher is looking out for its interests and could not care less what happens to Joe Posnanski. And the publisher believes it is very much in its best interests, financially, to have this book out yesterday, while Paterno is still sitting atop the news cycle.

Well, they didn't push it up because they think nobody wants to read it, right?

Yeah, but it will be judged very harshly because the tone in which Poz wrote is probably about 180 from the tenor of public opinion at the moment, and there will be piling on - even if the news cycle/controversy help it sell. It would be best for the book to let Poz work with the material for longer in light of recent revelations and to let the surreal shock and outrage of this moment pass - they really are putting his head on the chopping block to advance their own interests here.

It would be best for the book to let Poz work with the material for longer in light of recent revelations and to let the surreal shock and outrage of this moment pass - they really are putting his head on the chopping block to advance their own interests here.

But the publisher's goal is not to make the book as thoughtful and factually correct as possible. The publisher's goal is to maximize revenue from the book. The publisher is probably, at least in the narrow, correct in its belief that publishing the book now will get the most revenue from it.

Poz > Simmons, so you'd figure his Grantland would be better than Simmons'.

It's not "his Grantland." Simmons is the editor in chief of Grantland, Posnanski is just a full time writer for SoE.

The publisher is probably, at least in the narrow, correct in its belief that publishing the book now will get the most revenue from it.

While there are always going to be obvious and notorious exceptions, in general it's smart money to assume that professional specialists working in an industry know what they're doing.

While there are always going to be obvious and notorious exceptions, in general it's smart money to assume that professional specialists working in an industry know what they're doing.

True, but the smartest money finds industries whose professional specialists, for all their sound and fury, haven't a clue what they're doing. They're certainly around to be found, if you know where and how to look. (Baseball up until about fifteen years ago, for instance, and lingering in some places to this day.)

True, but the smartest money finds industries whose professional specialists, for all their sound and fury, haven't a clue what they're doing.

What's the evidence that the people who publish high-profile titles at Simon & Schuster haven't a clue what they're doing?

tanier has developed a cult following so when jp's ill-fated confluence of events leads to him being excoriated again only this time by those of greater influence of bbtf at least tanier can leverage his devotees into at minimum his old job.

or maybe joe gets the boot and mike is the lead name on the masthead. that works

on a side note i am really disappointed jim had to accept these ads pimping females. if he needs more donations just say so for crissakes.

on a side note i am really disappointed jim had to accept these ads pimping females. if he needs more donations just say so for crissakes.

Pretty sure that's not the way it works with the ads. Jim doesn't choose the specific ads that get shown on BBTF, he's part of an ad network, and the ads rotate around, often at random, but also sometimes based on your personal internet usage habits (e.g. I surf a lot of political sites so I get tons of Obama/Romney webads.)

Therefore LOOK WITHIN, MY FRIEND. :-)

esoteric

give me a break

and yes i have seen all the political ads but figured that was a given in an election year

esoteric

give me a break

Heh, couldn't help it. Actually I'm pretty sure in this case it's just about what's on the ad network BBTF is part of. I agree, it's a little seedy -- I'm seeing them too.

All I'm getting is orange juice and cell phones. HOW DO I GET THE SEEDY LADIES?

What's the evidence that the people who publish high-profile titles at Simon & Schuster haven't a clue what they're doing?

There is none and I don't suggest there is any. I was changing the subject.

but also sometimes based on your personal internet usage habits

Google once decided that I needed to marry a virtuous muslim girl and hounded me with ads for matchmaking services for a month. I'd really like to know what triggered that.

tanier has developed a cult following so when jp's ill-fated confluence of events leads to him being excoriated again only this time by those of greater influence of bbtf at least tanier can leverage his devotees into at minimum his old job.

I realize that a lot of people seem to like Tanier, but I don't get it. He makes a lot of lame jokes and offers relatively boring analysis. He's also a bit of a fanboy.

There is none and I don't suggest there is any. I was changing the subject.

OK, got it. My bad.

I realize that a lot of people seem to like Tanier, but I don't get it. He makes a lot of lame jokes and offers relatively boring analysis. He's also a bit of a fanboy.

It's the total vacuum-like absence of informative and entertaining football commentary in the world. YMMV but I think Tanier's humor and style hit more than they miss, and the analysis is usually at least worth reading. It could be done better, perhaps... but it's not. Not to my knowledge.

on a side note i am really disappointed jim had to accept these ads pimping females. if he needs more donations just say so for crissakes.

Not sure how it works for BBTF but awhile back I was getting condom ads on BBRef that were not particularly ideal for work. I submitted a request and they were able to get those ads removed. Not sure if Jim has that ability with his ad provider here or how easy a process that is.

you have to be at least moderately educated to get some of tanier's references. that has its place.

Which one was Tanier? I used to read FO when I had more time. There was something about Barnwell that rubbed me the wrong way, but I don't really know who the other writers were by their writing.

It's the total vacuum-like absence of informative and entertaining football commentary in the world. YMMV but I think Tanier's humor and style hit more than they miss, and the analysis is usually at least worth reading. It could be done better, perhaps... but it's not. Not to my knowledge.

I agree with most of this. Much of the humor, like any humor, is taste-driven, as well.

Personally, I enjoy his analysis and general NFL commentary because he's the most level-headed, yet opinionated, writer I've ever read. By that, I mean he doesn't take stances without first putting a great deal of thought behind them, but he's also not too hesitant to call something good or bad, or right or wrong.

A good example is his thoughts on Mike Smith's decisions to go for it on fourth down in last year's wild card game against the Giants.

Which one was Tanier? I used to read FO when I had more time. There was something about Barnwell that rubbed me the wrong way, but I don't really know who the other writers were by their writing.

Tanier wrote the "Walkthrough" column weekly, and also wrote matchup columns (and other miscellaneous columns) for the New York Times.

Barnwell's not bad; but yes, he has rubbed me the wrong way at times. I get the impression he tries to write like Bill Simmons, so he makes too many snarky comments that aren't really backed up by facts. And he does this too often in his harder analysis columns.

barnwell is your standard internet produced jerk. a fat white kid who is given a voice and abuses the privilege.

its one of the downsides of the internet age. but like all things this too shall pass.

and will have Will Leitch as ombudsman. I'm cautiously optimistic.

I don't see how having the person who inflicted Deadspin, a site with questionable (or non-existent) journalistic ethics that's basically US Weekly for sports, on the internet as ombudsman is something to make you optimistic.

Tanier is what Gregg Easterbrook thinks himself to be.

Leitch's Deadspin was better than it was ever given credit for. If you want to blame someone for the decline and fall of whatever quality Gawker Media ever had, that's AJ Daulerio. Who was brought in by Leitch, which is not a good mark on his record.

Barnwell wasn't missed when he left Football Outsiders. Doug Farrar was pretty good but then he fell victim to the Yahoo blog content machine. Such a pity. Their recent hires are hit or miss. I find myself going back there less and less.

It's the total vacuum-like absence of informative and entertaining football commentary in the world.

Agreed. I'd add that football commentary, at least from what I have seen, is much more compartmentalized. Which makes sense since football is much more sectional: you can devote an entire blog just to rushing offense out of the spread, another entirely to pass defense, etc. (Additionally, football fans are much more parochial, reading about their favorite team is much preferred over reading about the league in general.) For example Chris Brown at Smart Football is highly informative, but is light on the humor and creative writing and is heavy on spread offense, because that's who he is. (Why he added Chase Stuart is beyond me, I never thought highly of him at PF-R.) Ditto Blitzology, which is heavy on the 4-2-5 formation, or Advanced NFL Stats, who can have a bug up their ass from time to time. They're really good reads--if you are very interested in the subject. If you're just looking for something to give you the edge in fantasy football, you're probably better off elsewhere. But fantasy football is so popular that if you want to get noticed, being worth your salt in fantasy is a good way to get there.

For example Chris Brown at Smart Football is highly informative, but is light on the humor and creative writing and is heavy on spread offense, because that's who he is.

I have his book on reserve from the library. I like his site and I am an NFL fan, not a college one. If Blitzology is similar, I may check it out.

I have his book on reserve from the library. I like his site and I am an NFL fan, not a college one. If Blitzology is similar, I may check it out.

I can't vouch for all their work, but they had a pretty good breakdown leading into the Super Bowl of why the Patriots defense centers around Vince Wilfork by showing how on one side of Wilfork they play 3-4 and on the other side they play 4-3. Really good read.

20. Esoteric Posted: July 28, 2012 at 05:00 PM (#4194667)

on a side note i am really disappointed jim had to accept these ads pimping females. if he needs more donations just say so for crissakes.

Pretty sure that's not the way it works with the ads. Jim doesn't choose the specific ads that get shown on BBTF, he's part of an ad network, and the ads rotate around, often at random, but also sometimes based on your personal internet usage habits (e.g. I surf a lot of political sites so I get tons of Obama/Romney webads.)

Therefore LOOK WITHIN, MY FRIEND. :-)

excuse you dude

i am getting the stupid sexy asian ladies ad and I AM NOT GAY. i do not wanna see no sexy females of ANY kind!!!

no matter WHAT i look at i never get any ads for hot sexy asian GUYS or hot sexy Black guys or hot sexy White guys or hot sexy males of ANY persuasion. seriously WTF all this sexism. i don't get it - it's not like we don't like looking. or, um, dating

Display ads that you see on the Internet are part random and part cookie-driven. I just booked a room for Labor Day weekend meaning I was on a few hotel sites and trip advisor and now hotel sites and San Francisco info sites are following me around the Internet. He can speak to his network but most of the random ones are those which fit the general demo of the site - males.

Destinee Hooker was a 4-time NCAA high jump champion. When she went to volleyball full time it was a bit of a blow for track enthusiasts.

no matter WHAT i look at i never get any ads for hot sexy asian GUYS or hot sexy Black guys or hot sexy White guys or hot sexy males of ANY persuasion. seriously WTF all this sexism. i don't get it - it's not like we don't like looking. or, um, dating

What's interesting is that I have found not matter what I am actually looking at if the site is housed under a more general adult-website or domain I am likely to get ads aimed at straight males. I've been at gay male sites but since they were part of a general adult site all the ads were about how ugly girls need to get laid too and there were some in your area then needed your loving and they could hook you up for free.

As for this website, no girlie ones for me but frozen-food and high-speed internet happens a lot. Although if they are trying to guess what ads to show you by your cookies or something, then a lot more then adult-sites would trigger those ads. I mean anytime I go to a gaming video site, or streaming T.V site I get lots of "get laid" ads.

Flash Blocker gets rid of many of the display ads and is a free download.

EDIT: According to the static ads, I am interested in consuming crates of red wine alongside my single Asian friends. Hmmm.

I'm glad to hear I'm not only not the only one who was bothered by Barnwell's writing, but not even the only one who was bothered by it for the specific reason that he always seemed to be trying to impersonate Bill Simmons. (It worked for him, though.)

It did. He got hired by Grantland. I once sent something over their transom. They said thanks, but they don't take unsolicited submissions. They just get too many of them.

i don't get it - it's not like we don't like looking. or, um, dating

Silly BBC. Everybody knows there are no women on the Internet.

excuse you dude

i am getting the stupid sexy asian ladies ad and I AM NOT GAY. i do not wanna see no sexy females of ANY kind!!!

Hubby been on your computer again? :)

I feel bad for Poz here, this whole book project has blown up in his face in a way I'm sure he was incapable of fathoming.

He is responsible for his fate here.