Well, hell: the hunger for longform sports journalism that made Grantland's debut this summer such a big deal is not satiated yet. A cohort of smart, savvy, well-established writers have launched a Kickstarter campaign for The Classical, a forthcoming daily online magazine modeled on The Awl.
Or, in their -- ahem -- opening pitch:
Every day, The Classical will deliver several regular columns, a host of quick, random goodness, and a fun, smart community for talking about the sports world. There will be long features (a 25,000-word piece on Pete Alexander, say, or introductions to particular niches of sports fandom) and contributions from the world: prizewinning novelists, internet celebrities, guys and girls we went to school with who are unappreciated geniuses, members of the public. There will be theme weeks in the spirit of FreeDarko’s “Dream Week,” on-the-ground reporting when we can, and essays commissioned by you, the readers.
I'm excited about this. I love reading and writing for Grantland, but I hardly feel like there is no more room on the Internet for the unique storytelling possibilities of sports culture. (Which I wrote a bit about here.) Plus, one of the founding editors tells me that the currently all-male line-up is actively recruiting writers who are women. I appreciate that this is an idea that is part of the beginning of the magazine, rather than a post-launch afterthought.
If you're thinking about kicking in some money for this uncommonly reader-supported magazine, know that there are some swell rewards available. $25 gets you "a set of letterpress greeting cards, made by hand, with inspirational quotes from such sporting heroes as Derek Bell ('I'm going into 'Operation Shutdown'') and Metta World Peace, f.k.a. Ron Artest ('I’m a big fan of the Nobel Peace Prize')." A $250 donation gives you the chance to commission an essay on the subject of your choice. You get to edit the magazine for a week for $5,000. So: let's make it happen, folks. The kind of world I want to live in includes The Classical.
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