The Class of 2000, IMG founder Mark McCormack (far left) and ESPN’s Robin Roberts pose for a group photo at Sports Business Journal’s first Forty Under 40 awards gala.andrew french
Sometimes, it takes a photo to jog your memory.
The “team photo” taken at the first Sports Business Journal Forty Under 40 event, held at the Waldorf Astoria’s famed Starlight Roof on Nov. 15, 2000, includes the long and narrow face of the tallest member of the class poking up from the back row.
Yes, that’s Adam Silver, who would be named NBA commissioner 14 years later.
A few faces to his right, also peering through from the back, is Mark Lazarus, named president of Turner Sports that year at age 36 and chairman of NBCUniversal Media Group last year.
A bit farther down the row and somewhat obscured is Steve Phelps, who made the list as vice president of corporate sponsorships at the NFL and since 2018 has served as president of NASCAR.
Tony Pettiti, named Big Ten commissioner last year after six years as deputy commissioner at MLB and six launching and running MLB Network, is in here. He was GM of the CBS affiliate in New York the first time we selected him. So is Mike Dee, who ran corporate sales for the San Diego Padres back then and went on to be COO of the Red Sox and CEO of the Dolphins and Padres. And Jon Litner, who moved from ABC to the NHL shortly before we selected him, then got back into TV and now is in his second stint at YES Network, this time as CEO.
Katie Blackburn has the same title today that she did when when this photo was taken, executive vice president of the Cincinnati Bengals. But she runs the team now and her influence on league matters has mushroomed. Two years ago, she became the first woman to sit on the NFL’s competition committee.
Blackburn was one of four in team ownership selected that year, joining Pirates owner Kevin McClatchy, Penguins owner Mario Lemieux and Redskins owner Dan Snyder.
Among the notable attendees not pictured are two honorees and a guest with ties to both of them: New York Yankees GM Brian Cashman, baseball agent Casey Close and Close’s most prominent client, Derek Jeter, who all exited after the pre-ceremony cocktail hour.
A few photos snapped during the reception are reflective of one of the things that has come to make the night special for many: A chance to share the moment with colleagues and mentors. Mark McCormack, the famed IMG founder, was there to share the night with Mark Steinberg, then best known as Tiger Woods’ agent and now managing partner of Excel Sports Management, which he joined with fellow honoree Close.
“The [selection] process was important to us, but my memories and anecdotes relate more to people,” SBJ’s founding editor John Genzale wrote when asked for his reflections. “David Stern and Adam Silver; Heidi Ueberroth and Gregg Winik; Jerry Colangelo and his son Bryan. Robert Wuhl, Bob Costas, Robin Roberts. Yes, I know I ought to be convicted and sentenced for dropping names, but they and many more encapsulate my memories and were all instrumental to the success that astonished all of us.
“We learned who we were.”
McCormack and actor Robert Wuhl of “Arli$$” fame were among the guests at the gala.Andrew French
