Newsmakers in 2014

Mo’ne Davis

Photo by: Getty Images

Thanks to Mo’ne Davis, it was cool to throw like a girl. The 13-year-old electrified the Little League World Series, throwing a no-hitter for her Philadelphia team and capturing the heart of the nation along the way. She appeared on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” made the cover of Sports Illustrated, starred in a Chevy ad, and will release her memoir this month. Did we tell you she’s pretty darn good at hoops, too?

Schuerholz (fourth from left), Schiller and Plant react after Cobb County officials approve a deal for the team’s new ballpark. Photo by: AP Images

John Schuerholz, Mike Plant and Derek Schiller

The Atlanta Braves executives put up quite a year. Seemingly overnight, the club advanced its efforts to build a new ballpark and mixed-use development in Cobb County, Ga., pulling together a challenging public-private partnership with the county. The Braves also signed a 25-year naming-rights deal with SunTrust Banks worth in excess of $10 million per year for the ballpark, a deal Plant and Schiller helped engineer in only a few months. Outside the team’s front office, Schuerholz led the MLB subcommittee that engineered this season’s historic expansion of instant replay.

Photo by: NBAE / Getty Images

Considering that Simmons launched his passion project, Grantland, and was intimately involved with his beloved NBA, conventional wisdom was that the blogger-turned-executive would stay at ESPN after his deal ends next year. That’s now an open question, given Simmons’ three-week unpaid suspension in the fall for calling NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell a liar and daring his bosses to reprimand him. Then, the month after he was reinstated, Simmons feuded with ESPN Radio host Mike Golic. The public nature of the dispute suggested that Simmons’ patience with ESPN’s corporate culture is nearing an end.

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Dave Brandon

The former CEO of Domino’s and a former Michigan football player, Brandon was hired to be the Wolverines’ athletic director for his business intellect and ideas for generating revenue. Until he resigned under pressure on Oct. 31, no one could dispute that he delivered in those areas. Somewhere along the way to a $150 million budget, though, Brandon lost his constituency. When the students turned on him, in part for changing the ticket policy, and losses mounted on the football field, there was no going back.

Edens (left) and Lasry Photo by: Getty Images

The investment bankers entered the NBA ownership ranks in May by paying $550 million to buy the Milwaukee Bucks from Herb Kohl. While the massive Clippers sale would later dominate the headlines, the Bucks deal set the floor value for NBA franchises. The deal also included plans for a new mixed-use/arena project in downtown Milwaukee that, if completed, would substantially boost the value of the team.

Kauffman talks with driver Brian Vickers. Photo by: Getty Images

Rob Kauffman

When the biggest teams in NASCAR united to create the Race Team Alliance, they tapped Kauffman as president. While the group’s stated goal so far has been to help teams cut costs and enhance the Sprint Cup Series, the RTA’s moves will be closely watched. Will the RTA transition from cost savings and make bolder moves to challenge how NASCAR operates and distributes its revenue? Kauffman will be leading the way, whatever the mission.

Photo by: Christopher Anderson / Jeter Publishing

Jeter’s retirement after a 20-year career was a big story on and off the field. Baseball fans at stadiums throughout the league paid homage to him; No. 2 became the biggest-selling baseball jersey of all time; and his longtime sponsors, Gatorade and Nike, both filmed 90-second tribute ads that went viral. A few days after his retirement, Jeter launched The Players’ Tribune, a digital platform where athletes, including Russell Wilson, Blake Griffin, Tiger Woods and Danica Patrick, can tell their stories in their own words.

Photo by: Getty Images

Ted Bishop

The PGA of America’s outspoken president went one step too far attempting to insult golfer Ian Poulter by calling him a “lil girl” on social media. Bishop had advocated for a more welcoming golf industry during much of his nearly two years as president, but his comments flew in the face of what the PGA has been working for, especially as it relates to diversity and inclusion, so the PGA removed him from the volunteer position.