This Week's Newsmakers: Yankees Keep HOPE Alive With Initiative

THE DAILY each Friday offers our take on the performances over the past week of people and entities in sports business. Here are this week’s newsmakers:

WIN: YANKEES -- The Bronx Bombers go out of their way this week to honor heroes within the community, as players, coaches and many front-office execs take part in HOPE Week, a recognition of individuals that have inspired them. The initiative, the creation of Yankees Dir of Media Relations JASON ZILLO, is drawing all kinds of goodwill for the team, as both the local and national media are picking up the story. As P CC SABATHIA said earlier this week on NBC's "Today" show, it is important to "come out and ... give back to the community as much as possible."

LOSE: SPRING TRAINING IN SOUTH FLORIDA -- For decades, the top baseball players every February reported to camps in such locales as Miami, Ft. Lauderdale and West Palm Beach. However, the Orioles' move to Sarasota for Spring Training next year leaves the region devoid of the tradition for the first time in over 50 years. Generations of fans who have flocked to South Florida for spring baseball now will have to look elsewhere -- Jupiter, the southern-most Spring Training stop along the Atlantic, is almost two hours away from Miami.

DRAW: ESPN -- The Worldwide Leader takes some serious heat this week for waiting 48 hours to report the accusations of sexual assault against Steelers QB BEN ROETHLISBERGER. ESPN also finds itself on the defensive by issuing a "Do Not Report" memo. But the network is steadfast in stating it did not rush to judgment and waited for the story to play out. As JOHN WALSH indicated when asked if the net should have reported the story sooner, "I don’t think that question should be answered until we see how the news story unfolds."