Afternoon Head: Grantland has hit the Internetz

Jennifer Love Hewitt is a tennis player. Who knew? Also -- and this is just a rumor that I heard from myself -- that may or may not be the outfit Serena Williams plans to wear when she returns to the tennis court later this month at Wimbledon. It will have to be all white, but still. Stay tuned.

As talk surrounding the release of Grantland.com started a few months ago, I kind of wanted to hate it. I'm a young, small-time writer who thinks he's better than he probably is, so that was human nature. But as it has launched today, I've realized that I really want to love it. It's the kind of writing I love to read the most. Unchained, feature-length pieces on interesting things. Who doesn't like that? It's exactly the kind of thing that I want to be writing but ... (I've writte several things here, all of which could possibly get me fired ... so, moving on). I'm sure there will be pieces that annoy me, and writers that make us all say, "how the fuck does that guy/girl get to write for a site named after one of the greatest of all time?" But I think I'll enjoy it most of the time because I enjoy good writing. I've always been a Bill Simmons fan, even if I don't care for some of his columns, and I'm a big fan of Chris Jones (Klosterman? Eh. Gladwell? No thanks. But I'm willing to have my mind changed there). So I really hope this is good, because it's easier to be a frequent reader than to be a vindictive blogger. (Grantland.com)

There was an NBA Finals game played last night, and LeBron James, um, shrunk form the moment. That's actually not fair to people who have shrunk from moments. LeBron might as well have not showed up for Game 4, a very winnable game for the Heat, who were playing against a fever-ridden Dirk Nowitzki, who was very clearly not himself. Dwyane Wade, as much as I hate him, was unbelievable again. He's a two-way player who, wait for it, asserts himself on both ends of the court. Amazing. What did I say about being a vindictive blogger earlier? I take it all back, this is not only easy, but fun. (Miami Herald)

The Tigers crushed the Rangers again on Tuesday night, moving to within 1.5 games of the Indians and THE BEST RECORD IN THE AMERICAN LEAGUE. Go ahead, read that again. The Tigers, as inconsistent and at times horrible as they have been, have been on enough good streaks to be within a couple of wins of having the best record in the AL. That's amazing to me. I mean, Ryan Raburn is an every day player on this team. Ryan Fucking Raburn. (DetNews)

Kris Draper wants to come back to the Red Wings. A few weeks ago, my response to this would have looked a lot like this. But I've softened in my old age (and with Brian Rafalski's unexpected $6 million salary off the books), and I'm not opposed to Draper coming back. I really don't think having him or not having him is going to make or break this team (especially with the new cap flexibility the Wings have). His on-ice skills are diminished by quite a bit, but he's not totally useless. His leadership skills are excellent, but there are ton of leaders in that locker room. So my new reaction, either way, is, "meh." (DetNews)

This is old news now, but Aaron Rome has justifiably been suspended four games for his cheap hit on Nathan Horton in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final. Keith Ballard will take his place tonight, and I really don't think this is going to have a huge effect on the Canucks. The Bruins, meanwhile, are subbing Tyler Seguin for Horton. He definitely has the skill, but he hasn't registered a point since getting two in the first two games against the Lightning. The more interesting story line, though, is how many players decided to stick their fingers in an opposing player's mouth tonight. (Puck Daddy)

Terrelle Pryor is officially no longer at Ohio State, which surprises absolutely nobody. Like, not a single person. Normally when I say, "this surprises nobody" there is at least one person out there who was surprised by it, mostly because of ignorance. Not in this instance. There is not a single, solitary, fucking person who is surprised by this. (Columbus Dispatch)

Today's YouTube Amazingness is really fucking amazing: