The Grim Reaper comes for yet another sports section

 The Washington Post sports section died on Wednesday February 4th, 2026.

I didn’t read that section of the paper growing up or even for the first part of college, but once I realized I wanted to pursue journalism, it became one of the first places I went to learn how to do this. The archives of Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon became what I aspired to be along with the greats who I grew up reading in the New York papers, Sports Illustrated, ESPN.com, and Grantland. Because of Kornheiser and Wilbon I also started reading the archives of Frank Deford, Shirley Povich, and Bob Ryan to learn from the true greats of this industry.

As I looked around the sports media landscape not only was the writing of Sally Jenkins some of the best in the modern day of journalism—the Washington Post seemed like it was a breeding ground for great talent everywhere. Countless show hosts, writers, podcasters, and personalities got their start in the Washington Post newsroom. PTI was happening for years in the bullpen of the Washington Post before it ever aired on ESPN.  I started to yearn for what it must have been like to work in that environment and how to implement that into the newsroom I was a part of at the end of my college career. But that was then.

In a wonderful piece by Bryan Curtis of The Ringer he wrote “nostalgia is liable to make you wistful.” And he’s right. When I heard that the Washington Post was laying off almost all of it’s sports writers—it did make me immediately look back on a time that I myself only caught the tail end of but wanted to be a part of. A time in which sports journalism was a booming business. It’s not anymore. And that makes me angry. I’m upset at the matter of the journalistic ideals that I learned about are not as popular to the public as they once were. It makes me confused and angry at the direction that the sports media landscape continues to drift towards complete madness. One of the tent poles of the industry is gone. Much like what was the New York Daily News’ sports section in 2017. And like then, now, the impact of what the Washington Post sports section had will be there in spirit alone. The sands of the 24/7 news cycle will wash over and cover it like it was never there. And that to me is heart breaking.

While collectively we should look back fondly and with a note of nostalgia—we also need to learn from the failures, so the past doesn’t continue to repeat itself. Yes, for the most part, the sports section is mostly the candy of the hard-hitting news, it does have its place in journalism. There still needs to be a watchful eye on the leagues, so when things do get serious the corruption that can happen in sports doesn’t completely take over. On every level of the game, so situations like Kawhi Leonard, David Snyder, Donald Sterling, Jerry Sandusky, or George Steinbrenner don’t go unnoticed.

In the player driven era of sports media some places have given the keys to the people in the arena instead of the journalists’ ring side. That does have a place, but it shouldn’t be the end all be all. Because there is a natural bias when telling your own story. Not saying that some writers don’t have their own—but there is still supposed to be the objective median in between the arena and the spectators in the stands. With this news, that appears to be almost completely gone. That is a problem.

I’m not naïve; times have changed. People don’t read the paper anymore physically. Subscription rates across the country have been in decline for over a decade. Entire papers, not just sports sections, have closed their doors because they couldn’t keep up with the 24/7 got to have it now news cycle. And seemingly nobody in what used to be known as print media has been able to truly answer the question of “what do we do now?” That’s not for a lack of trying, just every solution hasn’t worked. And, if you’re looking to me for the answer, well I don’t have one either. But that doesn’t mean we stop trying. Because the principles of journalism practiced at the Washington Post—not just its sports section are instrumental to the way business still needs to operate. The watch dog still needs to be on alert. Reporting still must be done. People in power in both sports and everyday life need to be held accountable for their actions now more than ever. So yes, while you pour one out for one of the best sports sections learn from the mistakes from the leadership of the Washington Post and apply them to the writing that’s still out there. Or democracy will truly die in darkness.