The articles at Grantland have been solid so far, but something's gone wrong at the site:



It's certainly being noticed at Twitter:



But the people running the site don't seem to have noticed yet.

READ MORE - Grantland already down

1. GQ has a lengthy excerpt from a new book about ESPN. The excerpt is all about what a talented jerk Keith Olbermann was:

Suzy Kolber
SportsNight co-anchor

The night before we went on the air, they were still making major, major changes. We were all in this giant room while they were doing it, and I vaguely remember Keith sitting on the floor in the corner. I just felt that Keith was an unhappy person. He made a lot of people unhappy around him. I'm sure he made me unhappy.

Those Guys Have All the Fun: Inside the World of ESPN is half off at Amazon.

2. From an interview with NBA Jam creator Mark Turmell:

Yeah. I was really a pyromaniac. My buddy Elmer and I would walk through autumn, and we had matches. We’d flick matches into the leaves and then walk away for a certain amount of time before we’d turn around. Then we’d have to run back and put it out. We’d do this in the middle of the night, and we were always starting fires.

3. How to make a Tardis Murphy bed. Relatedly, this video shows how CalTech students put a Tardis on a building at MIT.

READ MORE - Link roundup

1. From an article about Donald Trump's unusual manner of commenting on blog posts:

One of my favourite passages in Nicole LaPorte’s DreamWorks biopic, The Men Who Would Be King, describes how Jeffrey Katzenberg had an intern carry out Internet searches on his behalf, videotaping the results so he could watch them later.

2. Trash talk in the NBA:

The Lakers aren't as good at it, but the defending champs have an edge over most other teams because Kobe can talk with the best of them while he lights you up and Ron Artest is just weird. One reason he's a great defender is he'll get way too close and whisper in your ear.

3. Interesting observation from a long article about the government's action against poker sites:

Another concern is that poker coverage on television could significantly decrease, since it relies heavily on advertisements placed by companies like PokerStars — in some cases being tantamount to infomercials. ESPN, which has been responsible for much of the coverage but tends to be very cautious about how it applies its brand, has pulled PokerStars advertisements from its Web site, and is reviewing whether to continue poker programming at all, although there are indications that they will continue to broadcast the World Series of Poker. Some smaller tournaments have already been cancelled.

READ MORE - Link roundup

Alvin Lee of Udon created several illustrations for ESPN's magazine about high school athletes - ESPN Rise:



Illustration of Michael Gilchrist, top high school prospect out of St. Patrick, NJ.



Illustration of Daniel Norris, who has already pitched a perfect game.



Illustration of Jadeveon Clowney, a defensive lineman who will play for South Carolina (and who told ESPN that Nick Saban is short and boring).



Illustration of Nick Vena, shot put champion.


And speaking of ESPN Rise, right now they have a article about Chance Anthony, a one-armed high school football receiver. Here's a great video about him:

READ MORE - Super athletes by UDON for ESPN Rise