Gridiron Grumblings
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Gridiron Grumblings(R) was first launched in 1995 and instantly became the model for future fantasy sports e-zines.
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[edit] History
Capitalizing on the new medium and the public's thirst for NFL commentary that was not watered down, Gridiron Grumblings quickly built a loyal following-- winning several awards along the way for journalistic excellence.
As the internet advertising bubble burst in 1998, Gridiron Grumblings took note of the changing landscape and decided to concentrate not on NFL commentary, but to shift its resources into what it perceived as a growing trend: fantasy football predictions and analysis.
Unlike other sites which were dispensing "Start 'em, Sit 'em" advice, Gridiron Grumblings decided to remain true to its journalistic roots; instead of simple lists and fan forums, Gridiron Grumblings produced first-rate strategy pieces. Each article was written with the express purpose of spurring the reader to draw his own conclusions about the best players to draft, how to handle league controversies, the best way to run an auction draft, etc. As founder John Georgopoulos noted, the site had become "Socratic" in nature.
[edit] Innovation
Gridiron Grumblings has become synonymous with fantasy football innovation. Among some of its pioneering concepts:
Internet Audio Broadcasts as early as 1996, Gridiron Grumblings was producing one-hour audio broadcasts, which were made available to its readers. Dubbed "WGRD Radio", there were 117 episodes recorded through September 2001-- including owner John Georgopoulos' emotional first-person account of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. It would be the final broadcast of WGRD Radio.
In 1994, WGRD Radio was reincarnated as Gridiron Grumblings Live!, a two-hour live broadcast covering fantasy football,the NFL and other topical events.
Individual Defensive Players (IDPs) in standard fantasy football leagues. While a staple of fantasy football drafts today, the inclusion of IDPs in 1996-97 was considered FFL heresy.
Fantasy Forecast (R) Rating System was the first system to be used across all positions, enabling the absolute valuation of players. The FFRS has been used to rank offensive, defensive and special teams players.
Consistency Rankings was a metric designed to describe the degree to which a set of player performance varied-- either over the course of a season or a career. In essence, Gridiron Grumblings was able to apply a Coefficient of Variance to fantasy play.
Age Variance, a metric to define the statistical effect of player age on performance, by position.
[edit] Future Expectations
Into its second decade of continuous publication (a rarity for small, independent sites), Gridiron Grumblings continues to innovate. Intent on being part of the Web 2.0 movement by increasingly pushing control and customization of its content to its users, Gridiron Grumblings has begun building its user community and social elements.
In January of 2007, Gridiron Grumblings became Sports Grumblings to better reflect its coverage of all the major fantasy sports categories.
[edit] Sources
net.people: The People and Passions behind the Web Sites, by Thomas E. Bleier and Eric C. Steinert (May 2000)
Yahoo! Internet Life, November 1999
Internet Underground, Vol. 2, Issue 2, Jan. 1997
Wikipedia Fantasy Football Entry[1]
