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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. Top 5 highlights, heartbreaks of Caps’ past postseasons Oh, the Caps. Hopefully one of these years the “highlights” half of this list will get far more updates than the “heartbreaks” part. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
AP Photo/Julio Cortez
19. 2016 Super Bowl ad sneak peeks and previews 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. Final 2016 MLB MVP, Cy Young Award predictions 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. Vote: Huge showdowns between high school football powers up for Game of the Week Don’t let anyone tell you that high school football isn’t a big deal in these parts. With over 36,000 votes in the poll, this was our most hotly contested vote of the year. (WTOP/Noah Frank)
WTOP/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. Local swimming contingent strong for Rio Olympics The Baltimore-Washington area truly is the swimming capital of the world, a fact that was only cemented with Michael Phelps’ and Katie Ledecky’s dominance in Rio. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill
15. NBA jersey sponsor suggestions This summer, sponsorship will hit the jerseys of Big 4 American sports teams for the first time. We’ll see if any companies or teams take our suggestions. (NBA.com/Edited by Noah Frank)
NBA.com/Edited by Noah Frank
14. Field, odds and predictions for the 142nd Kentucky Derby 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. (WTOP/Noah Frank)
13. How US Soccer’s new deadline is disrupting youth soccer A shortsighted change in the way age groups are split up sent youth soccer clubs locally and across the country into upheaval this year. (WTOP/Noah Frank)
WTOP/Noah Frank
Nationals Park before first pitch on Friday, Oct. 7, 2016. (WTOP/George Wallace)
12. Seven naming rights sponsor suggestions for Nationals Park Nats Park is still without a naming rights sponsor, which means there’s still time for the club to work something out with one of the names on this list. (WTOP/George Wallace)
WTOP/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. District leaders reveal concepts for future of RFK Stadium site What Washington decides to do with the RFK Stadium site will affect the city and its taxpayers for decades, so it’s no surprise there’s plenty of interest in what happens. (Copyright OMA/Rendering by Robota)
Copyright OMA/Rendering by Robota
10. Nationals star Bryce Harper married over weekend 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. Photos: Boomer Phelps wins hearts at Olympics 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. How the Redskins could make it to the playoffs The most recent piece on the list, this helps you make sense of all the contingencies in play that will determine Washington’s possible playoff future (updated for Week 17). (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)
AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File
7. How well have NFL teams drafted quarterbacks since 2000? 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. Final 2016 College Football Playoff ranking predictor 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. Ranking the new NFL hashtags from first to worst There’s a hashtag for everything these days, but that doesn’t mean there should be. We took on all 32 NFL team hashtags and ranked them from top to bottom. (Twitter/@GMA)
Twitter/@GMA
4. DC-area athletes compete in Rio Olympics: Events and results It’s 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. Best D.C. area sports bar bracket If there was any doubt how loyal people are to their neighborhood sports bars, this should end that. We’re looking forward to an expanded field next March as Mason Inn looks to defend its title. (WTOP/Noah Frank)
WTOP/Noah Frank
2. Pregame to postgame: Super Bowl 50 highlights There’s 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. 2016 fantasy football team name suggestions People love them some fantasy football, but the search for a creative name is always a challenge. Based on the interest this year, we’ll 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. (WTOP/Noah Frank)
Nationals Park before first pitch on Friday, Oct. 7, 2016. (WTOP/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’t 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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