STEELE Takes Her Solid Work To ESPN

(From The Baltimore Sun -- By Ray Frager)

SAGE STEELE has been one of the faces of COMCAST SPORTSNET since the channel began, but she's going nationwide.

Steele will be leaving after February 2nd to join ESPNEWS
as an anchor. Her first day on the air at the new job is
February 20th, she said.

ESPN, which made the announcement yesterday, said she also will get some anchoring spots on SPORTSCENTER.

"There's so many opportunities there," said Steele, a fixture on COMCAST SPORTSNET's SPORTSRISE and SPORTSNITE.

At CSN, which she joined the day it went on the air in April 2001, "I've grown tremendously, but I don't know what else I can do here."

ESPN had approached her three years ago, she said, just before the birth of her second child -- she now has three, ages 4, 2 and 9 months -- but the timing didn't seem right. But now...

"There's a time in your career when you make a commitment to your career," said STEELE, 34.

Making the decision easier -- her parents live in Connecticut, 45 minutes from ESPN's Bristol headquarters.

Still, she said she will "miss Comcast SportsNet tremendously" and got choked up when one of her bosses announced her coming departure during a meeting yesterday.

Steele became a presence in Baltimore as Comcast SportsNet's Ravens reporter. During the 2005 season, she had a dust-up with coach BRIAN BILLICK during a post-game interview. Billick told her he didn't like some comments she had made on the radio the previous week, and she and the coach ended up in an extended debate on the matter. It all blew over quickly, but for many Ravens fans, that will be their enduring memory of Steele.

Too bad. As a reporter and anchor, Steele consistently turned in solid work.