Gone Too Soon: A Farewell Love Letter to Grantland

ESPN announced on Oct. 30 it shutdown its popular highbrow-sports coverage and pop culture website Grantland. The move came months after a tumultuous and very public breakup with the site's founder and editor-in-chief, sports writer Bill Simmons.

Though no one was too surprised to read ESPN pulled the plug on Grantland last month (the writing was on the wall as soon as Simmons announced his departure to HBO in July), the website will nevertheless be a huge loss to those who sought after a single space that was full of well-crafted think pieces on a myriad of topics.

Over its short existence, Grantland covered everything from the MTV's "The Challenge," Lana Del Rey, prestige TV, "The Fast and the Furious" franchise, haunted houses, and countless other niche subjects. (I should note, like many fans, I did not go to Grantland for its sports coverage, and mostly read the site's pop culture pieces under the section The Hollywood Prospectus.) Grantland offered something for everyone - even my mom was addicted to the site's "The Bachelor" and "The Bachelorette" coverage. What separated Grantland from similar pop culture sites, was not only variety, but also quality and branding.

Unlike other websites, Grantland felt like a place where best friends worked. It was a network of interesting people who had intelligent things to say about albums, movies, books and TV shows you loved. In a way, it was like a mid-00s message board transformed into a blog, full of articulated articles. Simmons is said to have hand-picked most of Grantland's writers and editors, many of whom knew each other prior to working at the site.

The personalities and friendships came across strong in not only the website's daily pieces, but also on Grantland's podcasts. The website had a number of different weekly shows that built up a dedicated audience over the years. Perhaps the most successful, at least on the pop culture side of the website, was "The Right Reasons," a podcast hosted by Juliet Litman and David Jacoby. The duo, who were both so affable; relatable and enthusiastic, covered reality TV: Their favorites were "The Bachelor" and "The Bachelorette" franchises, MTV's "The Real World" and "The Challenge," "Survivor" and the offering of trashy programing from Bravo, especially "Vanderpump Rules."

The conversations between Litman, who announced along with three other writers that she would join Simmons at HBO, and Jacoby were energetic and hypnotic. Even if you didn't watch the program they were discussing, the pair did such an amazing job at breaking down plots, characters and the bizarre idiosyncrasies that draw someone to a car-crash reality show. Litman and Jacoby eventually created a podcast spinoff called "Food News," where they highlighted strange food related stories as well as industry news and epic taste tests.

"The Right Reasons" was a lighthearted joy; something I looked forward to every Friday. On Mondays, "The Hollywood Prospectus" podcast uploaded new episodes, featuring best buds, Andy Greenwald and Chris Ryan. They mostly focused on TV, intelligently dissecting "True Detective," "The Leftovers," "Homeland," and "Game of Thrones." Their discussions about the HBO fantasy drama became so popular, they also created their own spinoff podcast, which was called "Watch the Thrones." "Do You Like Prince Movies?," a film podcast with hosts Alex Pappademas and Pulitzer Prize winner Wesley Morris (who have been friends for years), was equally as entertaining as the men delved into what they loved about the "Mission Impossible," Anne Hathaway, and forgotten 80s jams.

The banter between the writers (along with Molly Lambert, Emily Yoshida and Tess Lynch of "Girls in Hoodies" podcast, which ended about a year before Grantland shuttered) was something that can't be replicated. Often times, I caught myself trying to jump into the pre-recorded conversations: "YES! Carrie Coon is amazing on 'The Leftovers'," I'd say out loud on the subway while listening to Greenwald and Ryan. More than once, a stranger has shot me a weird look while I'm giggling to myself while Jacoby pokes fun of Litman's obsession for Ben H., the soon-to-be Bachelor.

Over the years, Grantland became more than just a website; it was a community. A community inhabited by like-minded people who were excellent writers, thinkers and talkers.

Grantland's enviable demise was played out online; in the media and on the social web. When ESPN announced it was cutting the site loose, stating they hoped to keep the site's sports writers but were getting out of the pop culture game (Grantland was also nixed because of ESPN's reported financial woes), some publications wondered what would become of the site's archives. There are thousands of brilliant pieces on sports and pop culture currently being hosted by ESPN's servers, but how long will that last?

Grantland has already taken all of its podcast, both audio and visual, content off YouTube (though you can find episodes through the site's podcast tab). It would be a shame to lose a majority of the pieces currently on Grantland, but anything can happen: Last month, Pitchfork deleted all of its reviews by disgruntled ex-critic Chris Ott, after Conde Nast purchased the influential music website. Though Ott often took to social media to complain about Pitchfork, he did create some of its best reviews, including reviews for albums by Radiohead, Cat Power and Sigur Ros.

Losing Grantland is a total bummer, especially for those who love to nerd out about music, TV, movies, books, sports and things IRL friends don't care about. There's a black hole in online media right now; a gap that will probably not be replaced in some time. Simmons, who courted Litman, Ryan and two other Grantland employees to HBO (weeks before the site shutdown) and is said to have allegedly orchestrated the coup to inflect maximum damage on ESPN, seems to be trying to launch a Grantland 2.0 at the cable network. Litman and Ryan have already done a podcast on Simmons' channel, recreating their "NBA After Dark" (a gossipy show about NBA's biggest names), and more recently Greenwald joined Ryan and Simmons on a "Hollywood Prospectus"-esque podcast about the biggest TV shows currently airing.

Maybe all hope isn't lost and Simmons can recreate a new network and site with HBO, cultivating it with smart writers who have a vision and strong voices. But it probably won't be the same. There was something special about Grantland; it was like stumbling on a place full of secret friends who had the same passions as I do. But the site's staff not only entertained me but also inspired me to be a better writer and critical thinker. Simply put: there will never be another Grantland.