Indiana University has had many great personalities come through Bloomington but maybe none better than Sage Steele. Following her graduation from IU, Steele has gone on to become one of the most recognized faces in sports working for ESPN.
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, sports have taken a back seat to the rest of the world. That doesn't mean Steele and the rest of her co-workers at ESPN have to stop doing their jobs, however.
"It just continues to change because we are trying to fill time since no other shows are on during that time," Steele explained to Indiana Sports Beat. "They [ESPN] are trying to minimize the number of human beings on that campus. Usually there are six to eight people in the studio and now there is one person and he doesn’t really come anywhere near you.. cameras are operated through remote control and tried to simplify everything."
"The set we sit on, it’s all a shared workspace. We sit on the same seats and use the same iPads… Family first, that’s what I chose but then I just felt uncomfortable with someone else there because that means they had to fill in for me. I hate it. I'm a people person.” Steele said about taking the first four weeks off of work before going back last week.
Part of ESPN's coverage around this time would have been geared around the NBA Playoffs and Steele hopes the NBA will return this season.
“I know they still want to... I don’t think they will know anything until early June just to see how this plays out," Steele said of the NBA season. "With the expectation this [coronavirus] comes back in the fall I just don’t know. I’m praying so. Selfishly that is my favorite event to cover. The NBA Finals I love it.”
Like most professionals nowadays, spending more time at home has become the norm. Part of those duties, in turn, are helping their children stay active and engaged with school.
"It's not going well. I’m staying in my land," Steele said. "Here's the thing, I'm not a teacher. Never have been and now I know I never will be...my kids are older so I can’t really help them anymore…. I just try to take their devices away and make sure they are in their zoom meetings and google hangouts on time.”
Sage Steele has never been shy about airing her emotion when it comes to Indiana sports, especially Indiana basketball. Back in Bloomington for Bob Knight's return to Assembly Hall, Steele talked about what a great moment it was for the Hoosiers and even more importantly what lesson we can learn from it.
"I didn’t realize I was caught on camera crying… that was just really really special," Steele said of Bob Knight's return. "I didn’t think it would ever happen. We got close and we thought ‘maybe maybe maybe', but let's take that lesson with Bob Knight and see how it took 20 years and how that legend when he came back and relate it to what we are going through now. Life is short and to hold on to those little things, to be miserable and to think ‘is it worth it'... you can't control what other people do."
Not being able to control what other people do and think is something that Sage Steele loves to live by and it is very rare you see her without a smile on her face despite what's going on. And times like this, her smile shines a little brighter.
"I tell my kids all of the time ‘happiness is a choice’… and sometimes it's very difficult and times like these it stinks," Steele said. "Weather takes a toll so when you are stuck inside for five weeks… okay deep breaths, perspective. I feel like we still have a lot to be thankful for.”
To listen to the rest of the interview and more, check out the tweet below.
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