The Washington Post Has No Swagger

Splice Today ^ | 20 Feb 2026 | Mark Judge

[Rummyfan]

The Sally Jenkins meltdown.

Taking things particularly hard has been sportswriter Sally Jenkins, publishing a piece called “You Can’t Kill Swagger” in The Atlantic. “The Post Sports section is, was, no ordinary section, in heritage or in coverage,” Jenkins wrote. “It was habitually young, because it required hiring people with no sense of off-the-clockness. We moved in a close group… We came from all over, competed desperately to outwrite one another, teased one another mercilessly, loved one another.” The Post’s sportswriters were trained “to grab the pen and go, and to regard sportswriting as merely another portal through which to report on the broadest subjects: labor issues, performance enhancement, domestic violence, racism, sexism, terrorism, global corruptions such as vote-buying in the Olympics.”

Jenkins then went over Jeff Bezos and Matt Murray, the owner and editor of the Post: “Usually, when people in an office distrust feckless leaders, when they are subjected to corporate verbiage that bounces off the face and leaves a rage headache behind, they will subtly gear down their efforts,” Jenkins writes. “But my former colleagues do the opposite. For every half-wit decision by a poseur in a 42-long, slim-fit suit, they report even harder. This ethic has been especially true in the renowned Sports section, which was killed in a Zoom announcement.”

Jenkins is puffing herself up for doing the job of any journalist. She makes reporting sound like some kind of brutal triathlon. Swagger? Most of the Posties rending their garments on social media over getting kicked out couldn’t do a push-up.

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TOPICS: Miscellaneous; Politics; Society
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[Rummyfan]

The Post’s sportswriters were trained “to grab the pen and go, and to regard sportswriting as merely another portal through which to report on the broadest subjects: labor issues, performance enhancement, domestic violence, racism, sexism, terrorism, global corruptions such as vote-buying in the Olympics.”

Which was exactly the problem. Readers turn to the Sports Section for SPORTS!

Loved Dan Jenkins the writer and read just about everything he ever wrote. His daughter Sally... not so much.

[Bob434]

They print their words, so stiff and cold,
No flair, no edge, no stories bold.
No swagger in their quiet game,
Devoid of facts, They’re really lame
No Swagger No Swagger, what a shame!

[KevinB]

The Post’s sportswriters were trained “to grab the pen and go, and to regard sportswriting as merely another portal through which to report on the broadest subjects: labor issues, performance enhancement, domestic violence, racism, sexism, terrorism ...”

Perhaps that is/was the problem, dear.

[MIchaelTArchangel]

Real men swagger. Poofter “men” mince.

The Washington Post should rename itself the Mincer Post.

[Paladin2]

Start a blog.....

[Bigg Red]

I don’t follow any sports writers, so I have never heard of Sally or any others. But my impression here is just another loud-mouthed, pushy lesbian.

[spintreebob]

Currently Stephen A Smith is using his big megaphone as ESPN to emerge as the front runner for the Democrat Presidential nomination in 2028.

Politics is just another sport, my team vs your team...and sometimes players or fans of one team jump to the other team.

[alternatives?]

I always inwardly laugh when someone says my team unless they are someone like Jerry Jones.

[MinorityRepublican]

There used to be a time that the sports page covered sports. And when we used to watch ESPN, we were watching *gasps* sports.

But it doesn't matter.

Gambling and analytics have destroyed professional sports in America.

[Rummyfan]

I don’t follow any sports writers, so I have never heard of Sally or any others. But my impression here is just another loud-mouthed, pushy lesbian.

Her father Dan was widely acknowledged as one of the best sportswriters of the second half of the twentieth century. Sally is of course of her time and IMHO not near as gifted as her father was. Could she be described as a nepotism baby? Maybe.

[Rummyfan]

But my former colleagues do the opposite. For every half-wit decision by a poseur in a 42-long, slim-fit suit, they report even harder.

LOL! Like the actor character from TEAM AMERICA..... Act, Gary, act! Report harder, journos!

[Wally_Kalbacken]

My recollection is that Bezos paid $250M for the Post properties, which included several television and radio stations, and the newspaper. The analysis I read at the time was that if you subtracted the value of the non-newspaper assets from the $250M purchase price, he got the Washington Post for $0. He has sustained losses of $50-70M/year during the time he has owned it. What do these folks think shareholders (in this case, Bezos) are obligated to do, continue hemorrhaging $ ad infinitum so they have a playground to report to? I love it when they say he should sell it to someone who would run it the way they prefer. There are a few people (n=4, or 5, maybe) who can afford to burn that kind of money as a hobby. I don’t think there is any market for the Washington Post at present. Good Luck!

[MinorityRepublican]

Jeff Bezos bought the WaPo in order to gain some influence in DC. At the time, there were antitrust concerns with Amazon.

Now that he's no longer worried about antitrust, he may get rid of it.

[DCPatriot]

The only sportswriter who was a cut-above was Tom Boswell, who retired from the WASH POST in 2021. His baseball columns were required reading.

[Wally_Kalbacken]

My recollection is that Bezos paid $250M for the Post properties, which included several television and radio stations, and the newspaper. The analysis I read at the time was that if you subtracted the value of the non-newspaper assets from the $250M purchase price, he got the Washington Post for $0. He has sustained losses of $50-70M/year during the time he has owned it. What do these folks think shareholders (in this case, Bezos) are obligated to do, continue hemorrhaging $ ad infinitum so they have a playground to report to? I love it when they say he should sell it to someone who would run it the way they prefer. There are a few people (n=4, or 5, maybe) who can afford to burn that kind of money as a hobby. I don’t think there is any market for the Washington Post at present. Good Luck!