<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I loved everyone I worked with at G and loved what we built. Watching good/kind/talented people get treated so callously = simply appalling.</p>— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) <a href="https://twitter.com/BillSimmons/status/660163657460875265">October 30, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Now we have morons like this: <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Grantland got shut down today. <a href="https://t.co/brCyO3wZ8u">https://t.co/brCyO3wZ8u</a></p>— Ken Tremendous (@KenTremendous) <a href="https://twitter.com/KenTremendous/status/660162838766354432">October 30, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Grantland was a vanity project that wasn't generating revenue. They need to get over themselves. ESPN is not a charity.
Lowe USED to be excellent. His ability to review and analyze a game the day after was his strength. Then came a persona that he built up out of something other than necessity that didn't sit well with me. It didn't help that he started to join the Houston Sucks! ESPN bandwagon either. Maybe that's why I enjoy Kirk more as his shot charts and data analysis presents little bias.
They probably just weren't generating revenue. Most people's attention span is short. Most people don't want to read those long articles. Bleacher Report is going to win. People just don't want to pay for anything.
I'd call it a brand equity play. It showed that ESPN had expertise in sports that was not easily replicable by competitors. Maybe they can still do that by increasing the overall average quality of ESPN-branded content. Either way, some functions are worthwhile even if it doesn't generate revenue. Your public relations department is a cost center, but that doesn't mean you should get rid of it.
I don't know about that - he just wrote an article putting them in the top tier of championship contender. He's one of the only national sports writers who goes on record to say that. He's harsh on Houston at times for sure, but he's mostly been pretty fair considering this team does have some flaws.
See Commodore's post above yours. That's pretty much what it boils down to. Just going to similarweb.com and you can see that they've lost about 25% of their traffic since April. Plus this was always a Simmons project. ESPN is just trimming the fat.
Lowe has never said the Rockets were terrible. He has said they are not that fun to watch and at some points, I can't really blame him. But continue to irrationally hate anyone that has anything constructive to say against them.
I read the article and it was more of a backhanded compliment than anything in my opinion. My opinion of Lowe also stems from a time when readers could comment on his articles and I fact checked the numbers he was using for the Rockets' salary cap only to have him dismiss what I was saying without actually looking to see if I was, in fact, correct (which I was).
I read somewhere that it wasn't profitable, got pretty low traffic and apparently paid their writers (who were good, I agree) way above market.
Thanks for giving me the permission to have my own opinion. I've criticized the Rockets on this board as much as any non-homer fan and I don't think I said I hated him either. But, again, thanks for giving me your blessing to formulate my own opinion which, btw, didn't have your usual "He suuuuuucks!!!" comment that lacks any reasoning.
Lowe said in his podcast that he is on the fence on picking Houston as his favourite to win the championship. (not just a contender, his pick to win it all). And we have people calling him a Rockets "hater" lol.
That's true. All writers are under pressure to present a persona, and that doesn't seem to be his strength. I would have been happy if he stuck to the stat and strat geekery as well. I saw him once at a sports/stats conference. As you'd guess, he's calm -- not a showbiz type.
He's definitely not a Rockets hater. He hates watching them, but he respects Harden's game. Now, there are a half dozen other knuckleheads on that site and ESPN that genuinely hate the Rockets. But not Lowe. (He just doesn't want to watch them).
This legitimately ruined my day haha. I love reading all their episode recaps on game of thrones/ walking dead/mr robot etc.
Probably true. ESPN, after all, is the way it is because they always think of the bottom line. I don't think anyone is arguing Grantland should have been kept alive. But aside from them, there is so little good sports reporting. Hopefully something arises to fill the void. SI's NBA site may gain some traction because of this. They are not as good as Grantland but certainly way better than regular ESPN.
I'm assuming this shade was thrown at me. Be that as it may I presented a reason why I don't like Lowe as much as I used to when all he concentrated on was post-game analysis and not try to create a schtick for himself. I know I'm not the only one that has a less than average opinion of Lowe and his writings over the past few years.
Well you did say he was on the "Houston Sucks! ESPN bandwagon" which I just wanted to say is patently untrue. And then I was being condescending because I personally like Lowe's writing.
