Top 5 sports stories of 2012

What do a swimmer, a rookie quarterback, a perfect pitcher and a hedge fund manager have in common?

They're all on KPLU sports commentator Art Thiel's list of the top 5 sports stories of 2012.

You can hear Art's take on each story by listening here.

Art's top 5 sports stories of 2012, listed from No. 5 to No. 1:

• Success of Washington athletes in the Olympics. This was led by the medals (including gold) won by Bremerton swimmer Nathan Adrian and the team gold medals for women's soccer and basketball, led by Washington native Hope Solo at goalie for women's soccer and Seattle Storm star Sue Bird in basketball.
• Controversial touchdown catch by Golden Tate that gave the Seahawks the win over Green Bay in Monday Night Football. It ended the use of replacement referees in the NFL this season.
• The Seahawks making it to the playoffs, led by rookie quarterback Russell Wilson.
• The perfect game pitched by Mariner Felix Hernandez.
• Hedge fund manager and Seattle native Chris Hansen and his effort to return the Sonics to Seattle with a proposed new NBA/NHL arena.

These are five of the sports stories that made big headlines locally in 2012.

There were plenty other stories that Art and I talked about this year. They include the Seattle Sounders FC making it past the first round of the playoffs for the first time ever, the Seattle Storm making it to the playoffs for the ninth consecutive year - a WNBA record - and the Washington Huskies playing in the Maaco Las Vegas Bowl.

You can find Art Thiel's work at Sportspress Northwest.