Stop The Presses - Biggest Sports Stories of 2014
LeBron goes home, Mo'ne runs the world and more.
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A Look Back at The Biggest Stories in Sports For The Year - What a year for sports this has been. From LeBron James returning home to Ohio and the Cleveland Cavaliers to Mo'ne Davis making Little League World Series history and Derek Jeter's retirement, 2014 was an incredible year for sports. Here, BET.com takes a look back at the most attention-grabbing sports stories of the year.(photos from Left: Elsa/Getty Images, Rob Carr/Getty Images, Al Bello/Getty Images)
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The Homecoming - It was the story that not only stopped the presses, but transcended past the sports world—LeBron James leaving the Miami Heat and returning home to Ohio to once again play for the Cleveland Cavaliers. After originally leaving Cleveland via his televised “Decision” broadcast in July 2010, King James tastefully announced his return to the city four years later on July 11th with a written piece for Sports Illustrated, entitled “I’m Coming Home.” (Photo: Jason Miller/Getty Images)
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Capo Calls It Quits - Five World Series championships and 14 All-Star appearances. Yes, Derek Jeter accomplished everything a Major League Baseball player could ever want to. In February, the Hall of Fame-bound shortstop took to his Facebook page to announce that the 2014 season, his 20th, would be the last of his celebrated career. What ensued was a season-long farewell tour for The Captain. Whoever the New York Yankees were playing, they paid tribute to Jeter with gifts. Fittingly, Jeter closed out his great career at Yankee Stadium with a walk-off single and also an RBI single in his last at-bat ever at Fenway Park three days later. Classic material. (Photo: Al Bello/Getty Images)
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Winston You Lose Some - An up-and-down year filled with highs and lows. That’s the best way to describe the 2014 that Jameis Winston had. After his name was involved and cleared in a sexual-assault allegation a month prior, the Florida State University quarterback led the Seminoles to victory in the BCS National Championship game on January 6th. Months later in April, Winston was issued a citation for shoplifting crab legs from a supermarket, making for embarrassing national headlines. In September, Winston was suspended for the first half of FSU’s game against Clemson for using a derogatory phrase on campus. The year ended with the school holding a student conduct code hearing with Winston.(Photos from Left: Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images, Don Juan Moore/AP Photo)
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Stronger - Heading into this year’s Super Bowl XLVIII at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, fans were expecting a competitive matchup between Peyton Manning and his high-powered Denver Broncos against the vaunted defense of the Seattle Seahawks. What transpired, though, was an absolute drubbing. The Seahawks literally beat up the Broncos en route to a 43-8 win. (Photo: Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
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Clipped - A released audio recording of Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling making racist remarks against African Americans, including Magic Johnson, sent shockwaves through the sports world and society itself this past April. The Clippers players responded by turning their shirts inside-out in protest, but that was light in comparison for what newly-appointed NBA commissioner Adam Silver had in store for Sterling. Silver emphatically banned Sterling for life and saw to it that his Clippers franchise was sold the very next month to ex-Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer for $2 billion. (Photo: Danny Moloshok, File/AP Photo)
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Unsportsmanlike Conduct - It was a year of turmoil for the NFL. The league was dragged over the coals for its poor handling of the Ray Rice’s domestic violence incident. Initially, the league suspended the Baltimore Ravens running back for two games for hitting his then-fiancée, now-wife Janay Rice. However, just two months later in September, when footage of Rice knocking Janay surfaced, the Ravens cut him and the NFL went back and suspended him indefinitely. Rice’s case marked one of several NFL players to be involved in domestic violence this year. Rice later won his appeal in late November and was reinstated to the NFL. (Photo: Andrew Burton/Getty Images)
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Illegal Contact - Ray Rice had some company the NFL's doghouse. Adrian Peterson was charged with child abuse for disciplining his four-year-old son with a switch in September. The news set off discourse about whether it was okay to discipline a child that way or did the Minnesota Vikings running back go too far. In November, he accepted a plea agreement in the case to avoid jail time. Two weeks later, he was suspended for the remainder of the 2014 season. Like with the Rice situation, the only silver lining to this incident is that is sparked conversation. (Photo: Bob Levey/Getty Images)
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Same Damn Time - Can you say clean sweep? The University of Connecticut’s men’s and women’s basketball teams both won their respective NCAA Tournaments this year. Shabazz Napier led the Huskies to victory over Kentucky in the men’s final on April 7th, while the Lady Huskies defeated Notre Dame a night later to complete their stellar 40-0 season. Hungry, hungry Huskies. (Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images)
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Age Old Truth - What can you say about the San Antonio Spurs that hasn’t been said? The Spurs captured their franchise’s fifth NBA championship by convincingly defeating LeBron James and the Miami Heat in five games in the Finals. The emphatic victory avenged their heartbreaking seven-game series loss to the Heat in the 2013 NBA Finals. It also gave Tim Duncan the distinction of winning an NBA title in three different decades. Greatness. (Photo: Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
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Girl On Fire - There was a moment in time this past August when 13-year-old little league pitcher Mo’ne Davis absolutely ran the sports world. The pint-sized phenom became the first girl in Little League World Series history to pitch a shutout for her Taney Dragons (Philadelphia), earning social media praise from the likes of Magic Johnson and Lil Wayne to name a few. She even graced the cover of Sports Illustrated during the summer. Impressive young lady with a bright future.(Photo: Gene J. Puskar/AP Photo)
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Just Kickin' It - On the world’s biggest sports stage, Germany reigned supreme. After scoring a 7-1 rout of host Brazil in the semifinals, Germany edged Argentina, 1-0 after extra time, to capture the country’s fourth World Cup title. With the victory, Germany became the first European club to win a World Cup on the soil of the Americas. History made. (Photo: Matthias Hangst/Getty Images)
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Royal Treatment - The Kansas City Royals returned to their first World Series since 1985, capturing the hearts of the nation and briefly becoming America’s favorite underdogs. Although they lost the World Series in seven games to the San Francisco Giants, the Royals’ 2014 run was as memorable of a run as it gets. (Photo: Ed Zurga/Getty Images)
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San Francisco Giants Win Another World Series - The San Francisco Giants won their third World Series title in five years behind a masterful pitching performance from Madison Bumgarner. The southpaw pitcher led the Giants to a Game 1 victory, before tossing a four-hit, complete game shutout in Game 5. Then, on two days rest, Bumgarner returned to the mound and pitched five scoreless innings in relief in Game 7 to defeat the Kansas City Royals and clinch another World Series crown for the Giants. He was named World Series MVP. (Photo: Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)
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A-Waste - Before the 2014 Major League Baseball season began, the league slapped Alex Rodriguez with a full-season suspension for his involvement in the MLB’s Biogenesis scandal. Some people never learn. (Photo: Kathy Willens/AP Photo)
Photo By Kathy Willens/AP Photo
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