A couple things on Forde:
- His kids were all NCAA Division I swimmers and he has real soft spot in his heart for non-revenue sports and it shows in many of his columns.
- He went to Mizzou school of journalism, a top level program known for its progressive views.
SI was recently purchased and is trying to position its self as more of a "new" progressive leaning digital media resource similar to millennial focused juggernauts like Daily Beast, Politico, Salon, etc... The old SI of Frank Deford is long gone to the point the Swimsuit issue has fat girls in the spread to show inclusion. The columnist now tend to lean young and they have added a bit more personnel bias to their work. Believe it or not Forde is not the worst of the lot, that goes to MLB writer Stephanie Apstein who editorializes every story and when possible inserts herself into the story. Kind of a shame as the brand name is now worth chit and sports was one of he last things devoid of polarization yet guys like Pat Forde have made it so sports journalism now a liberal profession.