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Top sports stories of 2016

Noah Frank | nfrank@wtop.com

December 28, 2016, 5:28 PM

From left to right, former Washington Capitals' Brooks Laich, Eric Fehr and Joel Ward celebrate Laich's open-net goal against the New Jersey Devils during the third period of an NHL hockey game, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2014, in Newark, N.J. The Capitals won 4-1. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
20. Oh, the Caps. Hopefully one of these years the 鈥渉ighlights鈥� half of this list will get far more updates than the 鈥渉eartbreaks鈥� part. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
AP Photo/Julio Cortez
19. Even if the game itself is mediocre, people always get up for Super Bowl ads. That means jumping at the chance for a sneak preview of the commercials themselves. (AP Photo/Arnie Stapleton)
AP Photo/Arnie Stapleton
Washington Nationals starting pitcher Max Scherzer winds up during the first inning in Game 5 of baseball's National League Division Series, against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Nationals Park, Thursday, Oct. 13, 2016, in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
18. A year after going 4-for-4, our MLB awards model missed twice in 2016, though Justin Verlander (and Kate Upton) would no doubt agree with one of the incorrect selections. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais
17. Don鈥檛 let anyone tell you that high school football isn鈥檛 a big deal in these parts. With over 36,000 votes in the poll, this was our most hotly contested vote of the year. (草莓传媒/Noah Frank)
草莓传媒/Noah Frank
Michael Phelps stands with Katie Ledecky, right, during the team introductions at the conclusion of the U.S. Olympic swimming trials, Sunday, July 3, 2016, in Omaha, Neb. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
16. The Baltimore-Washington area truly is the swimming capital of the world, a fact that was only cemented with Michael Phelps鈥� and Katie Ledecky鈥檚 dominance in Rio. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill
15. This summer, sponsorship will hit the jerseys of Big 4 American sports teams for the first time. We鈥檒l see if any companies or teams take our suggestions. (NBA.com/Edited by Noah Frank)
NBA.com/Edited by Noah Frank
14. The general public may only pay attention to horse racing for one to three races per year, but the Derby remains an American institution. (AP Photo/Garry Jones)
AP Photo/Garry Jones
US Soccer's new mandate is designed to help top echelon players, but it is wreaking havoc with the rest of the youth soccer structure. (草莓传媒/Noah Frank)
13. A shortsighted change in the way age groups are split up sent youth soccer clubs locally and across the country into upheaval this year. (草莓传媒/Noah Frank)
草莓传媒/Noah Frank
Nationals Park before first pitch on Friday, Oct. 7, 2016. (草莓传媒/George Wallace)
12. Nats Park is still without a naming rights sponsor, which means there鈥檚 still time for the club to work something out with one of the names on this list. (草莓传媒/George Wallace)
草莓传媒/George Wallace
A rendering of the North-South Axis Plan for the RFK Stadium site in a view from the east. (Copyright OMA/Rendering by Robota)
11. What Washington decides to do with the RFK Stadium site will affect聽the city and its taxpayers for decades, so it鈥檚 no surprise there鈥檚 plenty of interest in what happens. (Copyright OMA/Rendering by Robota)
Copyright OMA/Rendering by Robota
10. Harper married his longtime girlfriend in San Diego earlier this month, generating plenty of fanfare despite the quiet, private ceremony. (Instagram/@indiaearl)
Instagram/@indiaearl
United States' Michael Phelps' son Boomer wears ear protection during the swimming competitions at the 2016 Summer Olympics, Monday, Aug. 8, 2016, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn)
9. The only thing better than photos of famous athletes, apparently, is photos of their cute, little babies. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn)
AP Photo/Michael Sohn
8. The most recent piece on the list, this helps you make sense of all the contingencies in play that will determine Washington鈥檚 possible playoff future (updated for Week 17). (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)
AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File
7. The NFL is a quarterback league, and teams often desperately overpay for signal callers, whether through free agency or in draft stock. We broke down the cost each team has paid. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)
AP Photo/Chris Szagola
Playoff
6. All season long, our CFP model was in line with the panel. Sure enough, the final rankings held up pretty darn well against the eventual selections. (Courtesy: CFP National Championship Game Presented by AT&T)
Courtesy: CFP National Championship Game Presented by AT&T
5. There鈥檚 a hashtag for everything these days, but that doesn鈥檛 mean there should be. We took on all 32 NFL team hashtags and ranked them from top to bottom. (Twitter/@GMA)
Twitter/@GMA
4. It鈥檚 not just Maryland that racked up the gold medals in Rio. Athletes from around the D.C. region took part in a wide range of events, and took home plenty of hardware. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
AP Photo/Hassan Ammar
3. If there was any doubt how loyal people are to their neighborhood sports bars, this should end that. We鈥檙e looking forward to an expanded field next March as Mason Inn looks to defend its title. (草莓传媒/Noah Frank)
草莓传媒/Noah Frank
2. There鈥檚 still no spectacle in American sports or entertainment quite like the Super Bowl, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that this did as well as it did. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File)
AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File
Attendees of the NFL party during NFL Fantasy Draft Week enjoy themselves on August 22, 2013, in New York City. (Brian Ach/AP Images for NFL)
1. People love them some fantasy football, but the search for a creative name is always a challenge. Based on the interest this year, we鈥檒l go ahead and make our suggestions an annual affair. (Brian Ach/AP Images for NFL)
Brian Ach/AP Images for NFL
(1/20)
From left to right, former Washington Capitals' Brooks Laich, Eric Fehr and Joel Ward celebrate Laich's open-net goal against the New Jersey Devils during the third period of an NHL hockey game, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2014, in Newark, N.J. The Capitals won 4-1. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
Washington Nationals starting pitcher Max Scherzer winds up during the first inning in Game 5 of baseball's National League Division Series, against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Nationals Park, Thursday, Oct. 13, 2016, in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
Michael Phelps stands with Katie Ledecky, right, during the team introductions at the conclusion of the U.S. Olympic swimming trials, Sunday, July 3, 2016, in Omaha, Neb. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
US Soccer's new mandate is designed to help top echelon players, but it is wreaking havoc with the rest of the youth soccer structure. (草莓传媒/Noah Frank)
Nationals Park before first pitch on Friday, Oct. 7, 2016. (草莓传媒/George Wallace)
A rendering of the North-South Axis Plan for the RFK Stadium site in a view from the east. (Copyright OMA/Rendering by Robota)
United States' Michael Phelps' son Boomer wears ear protection during the swimming competitions at the 2016 Summer Olympics, Monday, Aug. 8, 2016, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn)
Playoff
Attendees of the NFL party during NFL Fantasy Draft Week enjoy themselves on August 22, 2013, in New York City. (Brian Ach/AP Images for NFL)

These aren鈥檛 necessarily our favorite stories, or the biggest stories of the year, but rather the ones that you, dear readers, read the most this year. Click on the headline on each slide to pull up the full story.

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