The Twelve Days of Gheorghemas: Day 5

On the fifth day of Gheorghemas, Big Gheorghe gave to me:

Five Lasting Images
Four Things to Think About
Three catastrophe staches
The Finest Holiday Duet in History
And One Hell of a bloggy Par-ty

Making a list of the best sports pictures of 2012 is a bit of a quixotic task. Do you go for action, for amazing moments of physical achievement? Is emotion more your thing - do you focus on those instants of joy or despair or rage or inspiration? Does size and scale matter - is an Olympic gold-winning moment more important than a youth soccer match? It's truly in the eye of the beholder, at the end.

And so we give you one blog's interpretation. Here are five sports photos that mattered to us in 2012. Ours are heavy on individuals and emotion, light on action. If we did this again in a week, we might well find five different ones (well, four - our favorite photo of the year is indelible). Happy Gheorghemas.

British Prime Minister David Cameron reacts after Chelsea's Didier Drogba scored late in regulation to tie Bayern Munich in the Champions League final. Chelsea would go on to stun heavily favored Bayern in penalty kicks to win the Champions League. We love the juxtaposition between the reactions of Cameron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. U.S. President Barack Obama seems to be getting into it, as well, which is just more fuel on the fire for those who think he's not an American.

Sure, Linsanity rapidly became overplayed, overcovered, and over. But we loved Jeremy Lin's perspective on the whole thing, and we really identified with the amount of joy he seemed to get from the game.

U.S. gymnast McKayla Maroney wasn't thrilled (or impressed) when she failed to win gold at the 2012 London Olympics in the vault, an event in which she was an overwhelming favorite. What we most loved about this photo was her reaction to the internet meme that quickly went plaid. A moment that might have been one of the worst in her sporting career became a lesson in the power of humility and sense of humor. Gheorghe: The Blog is impressed

Washington Nationals' outfielder Jayson Werth celebrates the team's improbable National League East title. As a (mostly) DC-based blog, G:TB couldn't help but get caught up in the Nats' worst-to-first run. The team's youthful goofiness played a substantial role in their appeal - and with a roster that remains nearly intact, the Nationals are poised to stay relevant for years to come.

Without question, this photo of Mo Farah capturing the 5000m gold medal in the London Games is our favorite sports photo of 2012. Farah's win was his second of the 2012 Olympics, coming after his victory in the 10000m. Our second favorite sports photo of the year may well be one of Farah and Galen Rupp of the U.S. embracing after the close friends and training partners finished 1-2 in the 10000. For a blog that celebrates the joyous in life along with the silly, it doesn't get much better than this.

BONUS ACTION SHOT

A pair of unidentified badasses complete a Super Spartan obstacle race in Leesburg, VA. Giggling helped the runner in the back make it through the grueling 10-mile, 75-obstacle event.