Over the weekend, ESPN shut down Grantland, a site created by Bill Simmons and written by a phalanx of wordsmiths. It was my favorite site for four years and for many days, my only source of information.

There were too many amazing articles to list, too many talented writers to mention all of them, but the site warped around an orbit of - gasp - journalism. It was journalism, not click bait, not profits, not sex and skinniness, that provided substance in a universe of trolls and tirades.

Writers like Zach Lowe, Jonah Keri, Katie Baker, Brian Phillips, and Bill Barnwell clearly analyzed the statistical and abstract in their respective fields, basketball, baseball, hockey, soccer, and football. I didn't need to go anywhere else - these were the best in their sport.

Jonathan Abrams excelled at the long form providing humanity to superhumans, Andy Greenwald reinvigorated TV, Shea Serrano did Shea Serrano things, Amos Barshad interviewed the world, and Molly Lambert wrote introspectively, thoughts spinning down the wormhole of every topic from porn conventions to Julia Roberts. Rembert Browne was the site's Zeitgeist, tuning us into LEONARD, opening up musicians like Childish Gambino and Mac Miller, interviewing the POTUS, and providing a needed voice in times when America was blind.

And to think I haven't even mentioned Charles Pierce, Wesley Morris, and Chuck Klosterman! But this site wasn't really about them. After reading many obits and Bill Simmons' own words (after he provided a link to a specific blog post on his Facebook page), the site was created to inspire the young. It was created to breed writers and provide a lens into what driven, brilliant, and hard working people can accomplish.

I don't know if I would have started this blog without Grantland's push. I don't know if I would have started writing like a layman without Simmons' journey from stoner to savant. But I know it helped.

One of the first things I read on Grantland was the Oral History - "The Greatest Paper That Ever Died" - on The National, one of the most infamous newspaper flameouts in history. The newspaper had a legendary cast, including Frank Deford, Norman Chad, and Grantland's very own, Charles Pierce.

In my mind, this story meant the world to Simmons. It represented the brashness of these individuals to take a risk and just fuckin' run. Each individual interviewed in the Oral History waxed nostalgic on those days. They were the best of the best, and they knew it. So Simmons took the playbook and ran.

The difference with Grantland was many of these young writers weren't anywhere near the stature of a Frank Deford. But Simmons saw something great in each one of them.

I have a feeling years down this windy web, we'll get another oral history. We'll get the insides and outs of this remarkable four year run from the individuals who knew it best. And then we'll all look back at the productive and inspiring things each one of these writers went on to do.

In the meantime, I'll keep reading wherever you are.

Thank you so much, all of you, for your words.

RIP Grantland.

-David