The 27 Must-Read BuzzFeed Sports Articles Of 2012

The best of the sports GIFs, essays, photos, and inspiring stories BuzzFeed brought you this year.

Olympics:

1. The Most Bizarre Moments Of The Olympic Opening Ceremony

The Olympics happened this year! Which means we got another bizarre Olympic opening ceremony. Relive the madness.

2. Queen Elizabeth's 16 Most Excited Faces Of The Olympic Opening Ceremony

Queen Elizabeth was pumped for the Olympics. Like super pumped.

3. A Chinese Hurdler Falls Clutching His Achilles, Refuses To Quit

China's Liu Xiang gave us what may have been the 2012 Olympics' most powerful moment after he suffered a terrible injury.

4. South Korean Fencer Refuses To Leave The Floor After Getting Screwed

South Korea's Shin A Lam became an inspiration to millions when she made a courageous stand after being screwed over by a judge.

5. The Most Inspiring Paralympic Photos

Eddie Keogh / Reuters

If you have a heart, this will get it going.

6. McKayla Maroney's (Literally) Jaw-Dropping Vault

McKayla Maroney became a breakout star at the London Olympics thanks in part to her magnificent vault that helped lead the US Women to team gymnastics gold

7. McKayla Maroney Is Not Impressed

The other reason she became a breakout star was the memetastic stinkface she made when she didn't win individual gold.

8. Why Do We Need A Bronze Medal?

Streeter Lecka / Getty Images

Ben Mathis-Lilley explored a question that many have wondered: Why does third place matter?

Twitter Spotlights:

9. The Goofiest Basketball Player On Twitter: JaVale McGee

JaVale McGee is the patron saint of BuzzFeed Sports. This is why.

10. The Goofiest Baseball Player On Twitter: Logan Morrison

If Logan Morrison were as good at baseball as he is at Twitter, he would be a perennial All-Star.

11. Twitter Theorizes Why Anthony Davis Has A Unibrow

No one knows what possessed Anthony Davis to grow his now-signature unibrow, but Twitter had some ideas.

Inspiring Stories:

12. A 7-Year-Old With Cancer Gets To Beat Up His Favorite Pro Wrestler

WXPI

If this story doesn't get you choked up then you should probably go to the doctor. Living without a pulse is bad for you.

13. High School Football Star Runs Out Of Bounds So Freshman Whose Dad Just Died Could Score

Jeff Stewart

It was stories like this that made "Friday Night Lights a beloved television show. Only the story of Michael Ferns and Logan Thompson is better, because it actually happened.

14. An Autistic High School Football Kicker Leads His Team To A Dramatic Upset

Anthony Starego turned a disability into an assetand got to live his dream. How's that for impressive?

Nostalgia:

15. 33 Reasons Why "The Mighty Ducks" Is The Greatest Movie Franchise Ever

We all intuitively know that The Mighty Ducks is the pinnacle of all film franchises, but it's still nice to have the proof all laid out like this.

16. The Sandlot: Where Are They Now?

The kids from The Sandlot aren't kids anymore (you know, what with time and everything). See where everybody ended up. It's just like the last scene of the movie, but you know, real.

17. How To Take An Awesome Yearbook Photo: A Guide By Famous Athletes

There's an art to taking the perfect yearbook photo. These famous athletes want to help. Let them.

Funny:

18. If NBA Draft Evaluations Had Been Accurate

This post proved that scouting would be way more accurate if scouts had access to a time machine. Now I guess we just have to build one.

19. The 25 Faces Fans Make Right Before Getting Hit With A Foul Ball

Humanity is never in a purer form than right before a foul ball gets somebody.

20. 66 TV Shows That Had Better Ratings Than The Stanley Cup Finals

Remember hockey? It was a sport played on ice with sticks and a puck. No? Well its championship series didn't do too great on TV.

21. German Man Tries To Cannonball Into Frozen Pool, Fails

This is the most important GIF of the year. Watch the video that birthed it.

22. The 21 Greatest Unrequited High Fives In Basketball History

Kevin Lincoln assembled the greatest collection of derp that the high five game has ever seen. Enjoy it.

Essays:

23. We Need To Stop Wasting Usain Bolt

David Gray / Reuters

Jack Moore argued that sprinting should become a bigger thing. Why? Because Usain Bolt is the greatest athlete alive and we're wasting his prime.

24. A Two-Man Oral History Of The "Princess Bride" Episode of "ESPN NFL Kickoff"

ESPN's Trey Wingo and Mark Schlereth sat down with BuzzFeed Sports to talk about their love of The Princess Bride and how they let it take over an episode of their NFL news show.

25. How To Lose A Lot Of Money Winning At Online Poker

Michael Kaplan explained how poker fortunes are being sold online for pennies on the dollar in hopes that one day they might get paid out. Gambling begets gambling.

26. How The NFL Will Destroy RGIII And Andrew Luck's Lives

Reuters

Former Denver Bronco Nate Jackson wrote about how the NFL crushes your innocence.

27. The 15 Worst Types Of Sports Fans

We're all these people. We all hate these people. Hating these people and being these people are what makes sports fun.