The past year was a wild one in the sports world, full of salacious scandals, poignant moments, new records, the passing of old legends and the forging of new ones.
But digital and social media also shaped — and were shaped by — some of the year's biggest moments in the NBA, NFL, international soccer, college football and nearly every other sport humans play. Sometimes the stories were inspiring. Sometimes they were sad, or repugnant. Sometimes they were funny. But they were almost always interesting.
Here, we look back at 15 of our most memorable sports moments from the year that was. Scroll through the slideshow below, and let us know what you think in the comments.
What are your favorite stories from this list? What would you have added? What do you predict for 2012?
While pro athletes are used to criticism from fans via social media, digital hate doesn't usually come from fellow players. But that's what happened when Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler missed more than half of a crucial NFL playoff game with an injured knee in January.
As the Bears lost with Culter watching from the sideline, current and former NFL players including Maurice Jones-Drew (left) sounded off on Twitter, eviscerating Cutler for a perceived lack of heart.
February's Super Bowl XLV between the Green Bay Packers and Pittsburgh Steelers was the only sports-related topic among Facebook's top-10 conversation subjects worldwide, ranking ahead of globally noted events including Hurricane Irene, Prince William's royal wedding and the deaths of Steve Jobs and Amy Winehouse.
Check out the Facebook infographic at left to see how the Super Bowl measured up against the online world's other hot topics.
Following the earthquake and tsunami that devastated Japan this March, WNBA player Cappie Pondexter tweeted, "What if God was tired of the way they treated their own people in there own country! Idk guys he makes no mistakes." She later followed that tweet with this gem: "u just never knw! They did pearl harbor so you can't expect anything less."
Pondexter's tweets sparked a vociferous backlash and she soon returned to Twitter to issue an apology (left).
NFL star Rashard Mendenhall poked a hornet's nest in May when he wrote this tweet (left) following the killing of Osama bin Laden by American forces: "What kind of person celebrates death? It's amazing how people can HATE a man they have never even heard speak. We've only heard one side…"
Mendenhall's team, the Pittsburgh Steelers, quickly distanced themselves from his words and athletic apparel company Champion dropped him as a sponsor.
On July 17, the Brazilian men's national team was eliminated from the Copa America. The Twitterverse users worldwide posted about the game at a rate of 7,166 tweets per second. That would have set a new world record for Twitter -- were it not for another international soccer match held the same day.
When Japan beat the United States to win the Women's World Cup, tweeters around the globe posted at a rate of 7,196 messages each second immediately following the shootout finale. The two matches then stood at first and second on Twitter's leader board of all-time service usage.
For supporters of the NHL's Tampa Bay Lighting, hockey season began with a techie twist this October. The team introduced free replica team jerseys (left) for season ticket holders. But the classic staple of fan apparel came with a radio frequency chip embedded in the sleeve.
Each chip gives discounts on in-stadium purchases but also has a unique ID that allows the team to track who buys what, which executives say will allow the organization to analyze the most effective future deals and promotions.
During the NBA lockout, Oklahoma City Thunder star Kevin Durant tweeted on Oct. 31 looking for a local flag football game to join (see left). An Oklahoma State University student responded, inviting Durant to join a fraternity match nearby.
Durant, the NBA's scoring champion, acquitted himself well on the gridiron (see YouTube video) by scoring four touchdowns.
Mississippi State University painted a giantTwitter hashtag (see left), in one of its stadium endzones before the annual college football rivalry game against the University of Mississippi.
Business and marketing types lauded the move as a brilliant conversation-sparking innovation, and it's believed to the first time a social media tag or handle has been incorporated into the actual field of play in any sport.
Philadelphia 76ers fan Jerry Rizzo lived every social media enthusiast's dream in December when he and a friend took it upon themselves to create fictitious Twitter accounts for potential new team mascots in a fan voting contest.
Rizzo later received a call from team CEO Adam Aron and after coming in for an interview was offered an official position as the 76ers' new social media coordinator. Rizzo told Mashable that his new position is "kind of like a dream job for me."
While pro athletes are used to criticism from fans via social media, digital hate doesn't usually come from fellow players. But that's what happened when Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler missed more than half of a crucial NFL playoff game with an injured knee in January.
As the Bears lost with Culter watching from the sideline, current and former NFL players including Maurice Jones-Drew (left) sounded off on Twitter, eviscerating Cutler for a perceived lack of heart.
February's Super Bowl XLV between the Green Bay Packers and Pittsburgh Steelers was the only sports-related topic among Facebook's top-10 conversation subjects worldwide, ranking ahead of globally noted events including Hurricane Irene, Prince William's royal wedding and the deaths of Steve Jobs and Amy Winehouse.
Check out the Facebook infographic at left to see how the Super Bowl measured up against the online world's other hot topics.
Following the earthquake and tsunami that devastated Japan this March, WNBA player Cappie Pondexter tweeted, "What if God was tired of the way they treated their own people in there own country! Idk guys he makes no mistakes." She later followed that tweet with this gem: "u just never knw! They did pearl harbor so you can't expect anything less."
Pondexter's tweets sparked a vociferous backlash and she soon returned to Twitter to issue an apology (left).
NFL star Rashard Mendenhall poked a hornet's nest in May when he wrote this tweet (left) following the killing of Osama bin Laden by American forces: "What kind of person celebrates death? It's amazing how people can HATE a man they have never even heard speak. We've only heard one side…"
Mendenhall's team, the Pittsburgh Steelers, quickly distanced themselves from his words and athletic apparel company Champion dropped him as a sponsor.
The Ultimate Fighting Championship is known as one of the most brutal sports around. But in May, the organization decided to pit its fighters against one another digitally as well. The league announced $5,000 bonuses for writing creative tweets, having the most total Twitter followers and gaining followers at the quickest rate.
When sporting legends such as Shaquille O'Neal retire, they usually do so with a lavish press conference amid much pomp and circumstance. But Shaq, an early social media adopter, bucked that tradition in June.
He announced his retirement from the NBA via a a short recording using the social video startup Tout. "I want to thank you very much," he said to fans. "That's why I'm telling you first: I'm about to retire."
On July 17, the Brazilian men's national team was eliminated from the Copa America. The Twitterverse users worldwide posted about the game at a rate of 7,166 tweets per second. That would have set a new world record for Twitter -- were it not for another international soccer match held the same day.
When Japan beat the United States to win the Women's World Cup, tweeters around the globe posted at a rate of 7,196 messages each second immediately following the shootout finale. The two matches then stood at first and second on Twitter's leader board of all-time service usage.
The first tangible casualties of the NBA lockout came in September, when the league canceled a week of preseason games. But, before and after that marker, the lockout played out online in realtime.
Players like Anthony Morrow, left, used Twitter to post defiant public messages to the league's franchise owners and sway fan support. The NBA established an official @NBA_Labor account to help guide the narrative as well. Meanwhile, viral videos of out-of-work NBA players dominating amateur leagues popped up all over YouTube.
For supporters of the NHL's Tampa Bay Lighting, hockey season began with a techie twist this October. The team introduced free replica team jerseys (left) for season ticket holders. But the classic staple of fan apparel came with a radio frequency chip embedded in the sleeve.
Each chip gives discounts on in-stadium purchases but also has a unique ID that allows the team to track who buys what, which executives say will allow the organization to analyze the most effective future deals and promotions.
Following a big win by his hometown Denver Broncos in October, NFL fan Jared Kleinstein photographed himself striking a prayerful pose to honor the signature gesture of the Broncos' unorthodox lightning rod quarterback Tim Tebow.
Kleinstein christened the move "Tebowing" and started a Tebowing.com website to post photos of himself and a few friends dropping to one knee in unexpected places. The joke immediately became a viral meme. Two days later, Kleinstein's website had more than 350,000 unique visitors and he has now received more than 15,000 photo submissions from people Tebowing (see example at left) in more than 75 countries.
During the NBA lockout, Oklahoma City Thunder star Kevin Durant tweeted on Oct. 31 looking for a local flag football game to join (see left). An Oklahoma State University student responded, inviting Durant to join a fraternity match nearby.
Durant, the NBA's scoring champion, acquitted himself well on the gridiron (see YouTube video) by scoring four touchdowns.
Mississippi State University painted a giantTwitter hashtag (see left), in one of its stadium endzones before the annual college football rivalry game against the University of Mississippi.
Business and marketing types lauded the move as a brilliant conversation-sparking innovation, and it's believed to the first time a social media tag or handle has been incorporated into the actual field of play in any sport.
After stomping on an opponent during a game this season, NFL bad boy Ndamukong Suh of the Detroit Lions posted an apologetic message (left) to his Facebook page on Nov. 25. Suh was nonetheless suspended by the league for two games, and his post rekindled a familiar debate about whether celebrities' public social media apologies are gracious public gestures or convenient cop-outs.
Philadelphia 76ers fan Jerry Rizzo lived every social media enthusiast's dream in December when he and a friend took it upon themselves to create fictitious Twitter accounts for potential new team mascots in a fan voting contest.
Rizzo later received a call from team CEO Adam Aron and after coming in for an interview was offered an official position as the 76ers' new social media coordinator. Rizzo told Mashable that his new position is "kind of like a dream job for me."
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