When I first decided to register www.airhearn.com I had a vision. I wanted to have my own website where my friends and I could be creative and (hopefully) entertaining. House and I always kicked the idea of a podcast around, usually after a multi-hour phone conversation we deemed worthy of publication. I've always loved writing, but as the years have worn on, I've found that love to be based in romantic fantasy, not reality. I've had projects, quasi-projects, notes, ideas, lists, clips, brainstorms, brainfarts, dreams, etc., so I figured that the ease and accessibility of a simpler Blogger blog would be a great place to unload it all. I never really intended for much else (sure, I hoped for a possibly secondary income and fantasized about airhearn.com becoming the gateway to my future, but I never really set them as tangible goals) beyond having a fun project to work on with my friends. And while the site drifts back and forth between focus and obscurity (I swear it's about to come back again), all I really wanted in the first place was space to take in the work of my very talented friends.
I think Bill Simmons wanted the same thing. Read the second half of the last sentence of the previous paragraph again. "All I really wanted was space for my talented friends". So he created Grantland.com, which may well be the best thing since the best thing since sliced bread. Seriously. I can't stop reading it. Simmons has drafted a big bullpen of talent to write freely about the NBA, professional wrestling, the history of hockey, pop culture, classic bourbon, and god knows what else (BTW, it's only been two weeks since it launched). It's like my id blew up all over the internet in the form of a daily periodical. You can take any cliche about 'love at first sight', envy, admiration, inspiration, or anything else, and it describes how I feel about Grantland. I love it like it's mine. I wish it was mine. Even though it isn't mine, I feel attached to it. It's already really important to me.
Go read it. Now. They haven't posted anything yet that isn't worth at least a heavy skim. There's even a few articles that are "pull up on your cell phone and take it to the bathroom" good (the successor to Bill Simmons' own "print it out and take it to the bathroom" meme). Bill has been my favorite writer of the last 7 years or so, and it's so nice to see a favorite succeed after early success, instead of blow up. It's still early, but Grantland might be the crowning achievement of his career (even better than the Book of Basketball). Thanks for executing the fantasy of every sports-loving, college-educated male under 40.
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