It’s been a tough week for sports media in Washington, D.C. — first, the loss of one of the region’s pioneering newsmen, and now, the rumored demise of the Washington Times sports desk appears to be at hand at last, possibly as early as Friday. News of the closing really began to spread over the last 48 hours, and this morning, the Post reports that the Times’ beat writers for the Capitals and Redskins did not travel to away games this week, a sure sign that reporters and editors are assuming they won’t be employed through the weekend.

News that the paper is cutting an entire section is sad, but shouldn’t come as much of a shock, considering the current financial state of the paper and the sweeping editorial shake-up back in November. The Times also announced in early December that they would be laying off about 40 percent of its staff as part of a shift to a new distribution model — cutting 25 sports staffers will certainly help meet that goal.

Dan Steinberg (who gets his checks from the rival Post, mind you), has the day’s finest eulogy, rightly praising the paper’s reporters for their enthusiasm and stating, accurately, that the death of the section “hurts D.C. as a sports town.” For all its foibles as a news organization, the Times’ sports section was probably one of the best in the country. Its reporters (including luminaries like Caps whiz Corey Masisak, college sports reporter Patrick Stevens, a collaboration of decades of Redskins’ experience and the Times’ much-lauded Nationals team) were quick to break hard news, offered insight to and challenged readers, embraced blogs, Twitter and other alternative means of information dissemination, and often beat the Post’s writers to the punch. Even coaches, who normally spend every waking minute trying to duck the media’s various inquisitions, found the Times coverage exceptional — Caps boss Bruce Boudreau personally thanked Masisak for his coverage in his press conference on Monday night.

Here’s hoping that the Times’ reporters land on their feet. Until then, there will certainly be a big hole in sports coverage around this town.