# The Classical > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/The_Classical > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/The_Classical.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Classical > Source revision: 1307703219 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) Former sports website The Classical Site logo, designed by Jacob Weinstein.[1] Type of site Sports, current events, longform Available in English Created by Bethlehem Shoals, Eric Freeman, David Roth[2] URL theclassical.org Launched 2011[3] Current status Inactive **The Classical** was a sports website featuring long-form sports articles. Described as the sports equivalent of *[The Awl](/source/The_Awl)*,[4] the site was launched in December 2011 by several members of the basketball blog *FreeDarko*, including Bethlehem Shoals and Eric Freeman, and featured other writers such as [David Roth](/source/David_Roth_(writer)), Eric Nusbaum, [Tom Scharpling](/source/Tom_Scharpling), Tim Marchman and [Lang Whitaker](/source/Lang_Whitaker).[5] ## History In August 2011, it was announced that Shoals and others would be launching a sports website featuring a prominent collection of writers that had written for *[Sports Illustrated](/source/Sports_Illustrated)*, [ESPN](/source/ESPN), *[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)*, *[The Wall Street Journal](/source/The_Wall_Street_Journal)*, *[The Nation](/source/The_Nation)*, *[Slate](/source/Slate_(magazine))*, *[Deadspin](/source/Deadspin)*, *[GQ](/source/GQ)* and other publications.[5] A [Kickstarter](/source/Kickstarter) page was established by the site's founders, and $50,000 were raised to help maintain the site for its first year.[5] The Classical launched in December 2011.[3] The site's approach to long-form sports writing instantly drew comparisons to *[Grantland](/source/Grantland)*,[3][6] the ESPN-funded website that had been launched by [Bill Simmons](/source/Bill_Simmons) the year before. On the site's Kickstarter page,[5] the founders of The Classical wrote that the intention of the site was to create something completely original, stating: "We will make no attempt to be comprehensive, or even to offer a reliable guide to the world of sport at a given moment. We will not try to be a smarter version of what you can find elsewhere. Instead, The Classical will be a running, wide-ranging conversation between us and our readers about baseball, basketball, soccer, football and fighting, and about things that aren't sports, too. Our model in this regard is *The Awl*, a site for which many of us have written and which all of us love." The website became inactive in 2018, posting a final column in 2019[7] before its hosting lapsed.[8] Its last Facebook post was in 2018.[9] ## Name The name of the site is in reference to the first track of the 1982 album [Hex Enduction Hour](/source/Hex_Enduction_Hour), by the English post-punk band [The Fall](/source/The_Fall_(band)).[1] Pete Beatty, one of the site's founders, said the name was appropriate since "it is probably fair to describe The Classical as post-punk sports journalism."[1] ## References 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-punk_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-punk_1-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-punk_1-2) Stoeffel, Kat (2011-08-16). ["The Classical Will Publish Post-Punk Sports Journalism... If We Kickstart Them"](https://observer.com/2011/08/the-classical-will-publish-post-punk-sports-journalism-if-we-kickstart-them/). [The New York Observer](/source/The_New_York_Observer). Retrieved 2013-01-30. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-grantland_2-0)** Davis, Noah (2011-08-15). ["The Anti-Grantland: The Rest Of The Best In Sportswriting Are Starting A New Site"](http://articles.businessinsider.com/2011-08-15/tech/30064748_1_new-site-sports-outlet-sports-illustrated). [Business Insider](/source/Business_Insider). Retrieved 2013-01-30.{{[cite web](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Cite_web)}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service ([link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:CS1_maint:_deprecated_archival_service)) 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-columbia_3-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-columbia_3-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-columbia_3-2) Shoals, Bethlehem (2011-12-05). ["A DIY Version of a Large-Scale Project"](https://www.cjr.org/the_news_frontier/a_diy_version_of_a_large-scale_project.php). Columbia Journalism Review. Retrieved 2013-01-30. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Stableford, Dylan (2011-08-16). ["The Classical looks to kickstart Awl-inspired sports site"](https://news.yahoo.com/blogs/cutline/classical-looks-kickstart-awl-inspired-sports-215111183.html). Yahoo. Retrieved 2013-01-30. 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-kickstarter_5-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-kickstarter_5-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-kickstarter_5-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-kickstarter_5-3) ["The Classical by The Classical"](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/101341727/the-classical). [Kickstarter](/source/Kickstarter). 2011-08-15. Retrieved 2013-01-30. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** Dickey, Jack (2011-08-15). ["A Gaggle Of Clever Sportswriters Is Starting A Long-Form Web Concern"](https://deadspin.com/5830909/a-gaggle-of-clever-sportswriters-is-starting-a-long+form-web-concern). [Deadspin](/source/Deadspin). Retrieved 2013-01-30. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** ["The Classical"](https://web.archive.org/web/20191031233023/http://theclassical.org/). *theclassical.org*. Archived from [the original](http://theclassical.org/) on 2019-10-31. Retrieved 2025-08-25. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** ["theclassical.org is almost here!"](https://web.archive.org/web/20200415080439/https://theclassical.org/). *theclassical.org*. Archived from [the original](https://theclassical.org/) on 2020-04-15. Retrieved 2025-08-25. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** ["The Classical"](https://web.archive.org/web/20200103051053/https://www.facebook.com/ThisIsTheClassical). *Facebook*. Archived from [the original](https://www.facebook.com/ThisIsTheClassical) on 2020-01-03. Retrieved 2025-08-25. ## External links - [Official website](http://theclassical.org/) --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [The Classical](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Classical) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Classical?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.