By Peter A. McCullough, MD, MPH
It was a professional highlight for me to sit down with Ms Sage Steele for a long-format in studio conversation.
Sage Steele worked at ESPN from 2007 to 2023 as a prominent sports anchor, becoming best known for hosting SportsCenter, the network’s flagship show. During her tenure, she anchored multiple editions of the program, including the noon broadcast, and was a regular presence at major sporting events such as the Super Bowl, NBA Finals, The Masters, and the World Series. She also served as the lead host of NBA Countdown from 2013 to 2017 and contributed to other ESPN programs like First Take, SportsNation, and Mike & Mike. Overall, she was one of ESPN’s longest-tenured and most recognizable on-air personalities, covering major events and hosting live programming for more than 15 years.
In this segment of The Sage Steele Show, host Sage Steele and guest Dr. Peter McCullough shift away from their usual focus on medical discourse to engage in a spirited, unconventional discussion about the state of professional sports. Both participants express a shared nostalgia for the cultural unifying power of sports, while simultaneously airing frustrations regarding the current state of major leagues.
🏒 Hockey: Improving Pace and Visibility
Dr. McCullough initiates the critique by targeting the pace and scoring challenges in the NHL. His proposed solutions are radical:
Larger Goals: He argues that modern goaltenders have become too large and well-padded, making it difficult to score. He advocates for increasing the size of the net.
Enhanced Puck Visibility: To address the difficulty of tracking the puck at high speeds, he suggests making it larger and embedding internal lighting, similar to children’s toys, to ensure fans can follow the action.
⚾ Baseball: Addressing Slowness and Over-Coaching
Steele and McCullough agree that baseball suffers from a lack of action and an over-reliance on rigid coaching instructions.
The Pitching Distance: McCullough suggests moving the pitcher’s mound back to make hitting less “impossible” and increase ball-in-play frequency.
Over-Coaching: Both express frustration that modern players seem to lack the autonomy to make fundamental in-game decisions, such as stealing a base or selecting a pitch, without constant dugout intervention. It would be reasonable to get rid of first and third base coaches as a starter.
🏀 Basketball: Restoring Physicality, Increasing the Challenge of Making a Shot
The discussion on the NBA centers on the loss of the “old school” style of play that characterized the 1980s and 90s.
The “Soft” Game: Steele laments the modern reliance on three-point shooting and the stringent officiating that has removed physical, “down-low” defensive play.
Basket Height: To counteract the increased athleticism of modern players who find dunking “too easy,” McCullough proposes raising the height of the rim to restore a challenge to the game.
Officiating Consistency: Both criticize the inconsistent calling of traveling violations—specifically the “Euro step”—and the tendency for officiating standards to shift between the first and fourth quarters. Any move to the basket should be limited to one- two-step and up. Beyond that traveling should be called on drives to the basket.
🏈 Football: The AI Solution for Pass Interference
The segment concludes with a deep dive into the NFL, where McCullough identifies pass interference as the most problematic, subjective call in the sport that decides the fate of far too many games.
AI Integration: McCullough proposes a futuristic solution: running real-time AI algorithms on every play to measure physical interactions. He envisions AI providing instant, objective data into the referee’s headset to support—or replace—the current subjective decision-making process.
Throughout the conversation, Steele reflects on her transition from an ESPN legend to her current media role, noting that while she once had to be an expert on every stat, she now finds it liberating to step back from the grind of live sports. The exchange serves as a therapeutic outlet for both, allowing them to vent about the frustrations of being a modern fan while maintaining their mutual respect for the role of sports in American life.
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Peter A. McCullough, MD, MPH
President, McCullough Foundation
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