Arthur Martone, the Providence Journal's well-respected longtime sports editor, is leaving the newspaper to take a job at Comcast New England, the cable channel that broadcasts Boston Celtics games and is expanding its sports web site coverage.

Martone's departure is a big blow to the Journal. The Cranston native was the heart and soul of the sports department for many years. He is one of the few Journal editors who has the affection and respect of all of his reporters. Plus, unlike many editors still left on Fountain Street, Art could do it all -- write columns, cover stories, edit, layout pages, assign reporters and massage their egos. Plus, he was fluent with the new web-based world of sports journalism. He listened to his reporters and they listened to him.

Martone was a very hard-worker, always on the job when big sports news was breaking or events were on.

There is no word on a replacement. Martone is especially good on baseball in general and the Boston Red Sox in particular. He knows as much about the Sawx and the team's history as any daily sports journalist in New England, with the possible exception of the Globe's Dan Shaughnessy and the Herald's Sean McAdam, a close friend of Martone's.

In recent years, as the sports coverage at the Journal was cut back (no game coverage of college hockey, the Providence Bruins or staff coverage of some away URI football and hoop games and even some PC basketball games), Arthur was the anchor of preserving what was once a great sports page for a paper the Journal's size.

"This a huge loss for us,'' said Red Sox beat writer Joe McDonald.

For Martone, the new post is a good opportunity. Reportedly joining Martone in the new venture is Globe hockey sportswriter Kevin Paul DuPont, McAdam and former Journal sportswriter and football beat guy Tom Curran.