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Published on Tuesday, 07 August 2012 09:41
Last month, Sarah Kustok informed her employers, co-workers, and friends that she would be
exiting the station and the market as of August 3rd. Yesterday, New York's YES Network announced that they had hired Kustok as their reporter covering the Brooklyn Nets. Along with that good news, she has even more exciting developments in her professional life.
With the NBA's New Jersey Nets becoming the Brooklyn Nets this year and moving to a new home on the opposite side of the Hudson River, the YES Network wanted a fresh face to expertly cover the team. Chicago's Sarah Kustok had been seeking job opportunities outside of Chicago recently and the timing of the two situations turned out to be perfect.
With her new job, Kustok will now serve as a reporter covering the team within each game broadcast, as well be part of the pre-game and post-game shows for the Brooklyn Nets. Kustok will take part in YES Network specials and other Nets programming on the station. The network plans to also use Kustok for some in-studio work and reporting from live remote locations. In addition to all that, Kustok will become a regular contributor to Nets Magazine.
John J. Filippelli, YES Network's President of Production and Programming, said in yesterday's
announcement: "Sarah has proven herself to be extremely versatile throughout her career and has excelled at a wide variety of assignments. Sarah has talent, personality, a love of sports and a quick wit. We have given our viewers yet another reason to tune in to watch the new-look Brooklyn Nets on YES."
Kustok began her media career as a sideline reporter and analyst for ESPN, covering college basketball, along with college & high school football. In 2009, she joined Comcast SportsNet Chicago as a reporter, covering the Chicago Blackhawks, Bulls, White Sox and Cubs. She also did special reports and fill-in anchor duties with CSN Chicago. Recently, she has been doing double duty,
filling in as a sports anchor on Comcast-owned sister-station WMAQ-TV/NBC 5 on Friday and Sunday nights.
Sarah Kustok had also done some work in the past for the cable/satellite sports station Versus (now known as the NBC Sports Network), was an anchor for the online "College Sports Minute," and did freelance sports anchoring/reporting for WFLD-TV.
CSN Chicago has not yet chosen a replacement for Kustok.
For her final night on the air for CSN Chicago last Friday, she was given a stunning send off. After the Chicago White Sox beat the Los Angeles Angels, thanks to a home run by the Sox' Alex Rios, Kustok took to the field to interview the hero of the game. While talking with Rios on camera, the White Sox' A.J. Pierzynski crept up behind Sarah Kustok and slammed her in the face with a "cream pie" (basically a towel filled with shaving cream), covering her with white foam from her forehead to the bottom of her neck. The shocked Kustok then heard the roaring applause of home the crowd and quickly realized what had happened. This was a slapstick farewell from the team she has covered for the last three years. Also making the crowd cheer loudly was Sarah Kustok pointing to Pierzynski and telling the audience "I promise... I will get him back!"
The CSN video of the fun, but messy "goodbye" incident can be seen here:
Sarah Kustok graduated from Chicago's DePaul University in 2004 with a degree in Communication/Media Studies, and received her Master's Degree in Multi-Cultural and Corporate Communication from DePaul in 2005. While at DePaul, she was a standout athlete. She joined DePaul after receiving scholarships for being a star athlete in her high school for volleyball and basketball. During her four-years playing for the DePaul Blue Demons women's basketball team, DePaul reached the NCAA tournament twice and the NIT twice. Sarah Kustok currently ranks fourth in career three-point field goal percentage and tenth in career three-point field goals made for DePaul University. For her senior year at school, she was named captain of the DePaul women's basketball team. She returned the following year to the team as an assistant coach, helping the team advance to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen for the first time in program history.
For her past excellence with DePaul basketball, along with her years at Comcast SportsNet Chicago, Sarak Kustok has been named as part of the "Class of 2012" for the Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame. The 16th Annual Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame Induction Awards Dinner, where Kustok will officially be inducted, will be held on the evening of September 19th in the Gold Cup Dining Room of Hawthorne Race Course (3501 S. Laramie, Cicero). The event will be emceed by WFLD-TV's Corey McPherrin. To purchase tickets or for more details, visit this link
HERE.
Sarah Kustok, the native of Orland Park, IL, ended last year with some deep personal lows (including the death of her mother and her father being accused of the murder). This year has seen her achieve great professional highs. With this new move to television market #1, things are looking up even more for her.
