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Who you got?

Robbie Lawler (26-10 MMA, 11-4 UFC) defends his #welterweight championship title against Carlos Condit​ (30-8 MMA, 7-4 UFC)

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“Don’t dream of winning, train for it.” – Mo Farah

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Happy 2016! Thanks for your support through 2015.

Heading into 2016 we look forward to:

• focusing more on the sports quotes, the bread and butter of AP • unveiling the AP Content Timeline (coming in January), a tool to help navigate through all sports history posts we've featured throughout the year • open AP to guest blog posts. If you're passionate about a certain sports phenomenon or want to write a blog post dedicated to the genius of a coach, awesomeness of an athlete, or simply want to talk about the importance of a certain moment in sports then you should reach out to us and get involved... • build upon categories such as #MJMondays and #MotivationalMondays • further develop the AP clothing

Wishing you a happy and healthy 2016!

AP -- [email protected]

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TOP 10 Sports Quotes Posted on Athletic Poetics in 2015

These are the top 10 sports quotes posts featured on Athletic Poetics in 2015. Click name if you'd like to see and share each image.

“Some people like to call me arrogant or cocky, but I just think, ‘how dare you assume I should think less of myself.’” – Ronda Rousey

“Blood, sweat, tears. No practice tomorrow ’cause there’s no one left to beat.” – Bobby Orr

“I’ve never been afraid of big moments. I get butterflies. I get nervous and anxious, but I think those are all good signs that I’m ready for the moment.” – Stephen Curry

“Humility forms the basis of honor, just as the low ground forms the foundation of a high elevation.” – Bruce Lee

“I’m cocky in prediction. I’m confident in preparation, but I am always humble in victory or defeat.” – Conor McGregor

“There are no shortcuts. I have always believed in leading with action, not words.” – Michael Jordan

“A champion has to have the skill, and the will. But the will must be stronger than the skill.” – Muhammad Ali

“When you die, it does not mean you lose to cancer. You beat cancer by how you live, why you live, and the manner in which you live. So live. Live. Fight like hell, and when you get too tired to fight, then lay down and rest and let somebody else fight for you.” – Stuart Scott

“For it is easy to criticize and break down the spirit of others, but to know yourself takes maybe a lifetime.” – Bruce Lee

“If you’re going to be a leader, you’re not going to please everybody. You’ve got to hold people accountable. Even if you have that moment of being uncomfortable.” – Kobe Bryant

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Dec. 31, 1988 - Mario Lemieux scored five goals in five different ways in a single game

The defining moment of Mario Lemieux‘s 1988 season was on New Years eve, in a game against the New Jersey Devils. In that game, a 23 year-old Lemieux scored eight points and became the only player in NHL history to score a goal in all five possible game situations in the same game: even-strength, power-play, shorthanded, penalty shot, and empty-net.

Lemieux had another five-goal, eight-point performance in a 10-7 victory during the postseason against the Philadelphia Flyers on April 25, 1989. He tied the NHL record for most goals and points in a postseason game, most goals in a postseason period (four in the first), and most assists in a postseason period (three in the second). However, the Pittsburgh Penguins lost the series 4–3.

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Dec. 30, 1962 - The Packers win their second straight NFL championship

The defending champions, Green Bay Packers, started the 1962 season jumping out to a 10–0 start, on their way to a 13–1 season. This consistent level of success would lead to Vince Lombardi‘s Packers becoming one of the most prominent teams of their era, and even to their being featured as the face of the NFL on the cover of Time on December 21, 1962, as part of the magazine’s cover story on “The Sport of the ’60s”. Shortly after Time’s article, the Packers faced the New York Giants in a much more brutal championship game than the previous year where they beat the Giants 37-0.

The 1962 NFL championship game was the 30th NFL title game. The attendance for the game was 64,892. The weather during the game was so cold that television crews used bonfires to thaw out their cameras, and one cameraman suffered frostbite. The conditions also made throwing the ball difficult. Green Bay won 16–7 behind the performances of game Most Valuable Player linebacker Ray Nitschke, and fullback Jim Taylor. Green Bay right guard Jerry Kramer kicked three field goals.

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Dec. 29, 2007 - The Patriots become the first team to finish the regular season with a 16–0 record

The 2007 New England Patriots season was the 38th season for the team in the NFL and franchise’s 48th season overall. The Patriots were looking to improve on their 12-4 record from 2006 and win the AFC East for the sixth time in seven years. During the final week of the NFL regular season, the Patriots defeated the New York Giants, 38–35, at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. In what became a preview of Super Bowl XLII, the game was a close comeback win for the Patriots, giving them the first undefeated regular season since the 1972 Miami Dolphins and the only undefeated regular season since the league expanded to 16 games. The Patriots perfect season broke the record for victories in a single season that had been shared by the 1984 San Francisco 49ers, the 1985 Chicago Bears, the 1998 Minnesota Vikings, and the 2004 Pittsburgh Steelers who each finished with fifteen victories against one defeat.

In spite of this, the Patriots could not complete what would have been a historic 19-0 undefeated season with their fourth Super Bowl victory, which would have made them the fourth team to accomplish such a feat (joining the 49ers, Steelers, and Dallas Cowboys, each of whom had won five at the time). In Super Bowl XLII, the New York Giants upset the Patriots 17-14 to hand the team its third defeat in a Super Bowl.

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Dec. 28, 2003 - Priest Holmes set an NFL record with his 27th TD of the season

Despite missing the final two games in the 2002 NFL season because of a hip injury, Priest Holmes rushed for 1,615 yards with 21 touchdowns. In the 2003 season, Holmes broke Marshall Faulk’s NFL record for total touchdowns in a season with 27, which was subsequently broken by Shaun Alexander with 28 total touchdowns in 2005 and later broken by LaDainian Tomlinson with 31 total touchdowns in 2006. Holmes and Emmitt Smith are the only two running backs in NFL history to have back to back seasons with 20 or more rushing touchdowns. On a pace to repeat the feat in 2004, he suffered an injury that ended his season with 14 touchdowns.

Holmes holds the Kansas City Chiefs franchise records for: Most career rushing yards (5,933), Most career rushing touchdowns (76), Most career total touchdowns (83). Holmes also holds the NFL record of Most games with 2 or more touchdowns in season: 10 (2003) (tied with LaDainian Tomlinson).

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Dec. 27, 2000 - Mario Lemieux returned to the ice after three years of retirement

Mario Lemieux returned to the ice after missing three years due to Hodgkin’s lymphoma. After already being inducted into the Hall of Fame immediately following his retirement in 1997, Lemieux’s courageous and incredible comeback is legendary. Lemieux had purchased the Pittsburgh Penguins during his retirement from playing and became the first owner-player in the modern era of pro sports.

On December 27, 2000, he returned to the NHL against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Lemieux proved that his scoring touch had not disappeared by scoring a goal and three points, including an assist 33 seconds into the first shift of his return. While Jaromír Jágr remained captain of the Penguins, Lemieux was named captain of the North American All-Stars during the midseason All-Star game in Denver, Colorado. Despite playing in only 43 games in 2000–01, Lemieux scored 76 points to finish 26th in scoring, finishing the season with the highest points-per-game average that season among NHL players. In fact, he had the highest points-per-game average amongst NHL players for the entire period from his 2001 return until his final retirement in 2006.

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Dec. 26, 2001 - Patrick Roy becomes the first goalie to win 500 games

The 2001–02 Colorado Avalanche season was the Avalanche’s seventh season. At the end of the season, Patrick Roy had a Goals Against Average of 1.94 and a Save Percentage of .925. For his efforts, Patrick Roy earned the Jennings Trophy, and was a First Team All-Star for the fourth time in his career.

On December 26, 2001: In a 2-0 shutout over the Dallas Stars, Roy became the first goalie to win 500 games in a career. The Avalanche finished the regular season first overall in goaltending, having allowed just 169 goals. They also led the league in shutouts, with 11. Combined with the 10 games in which the team itself was shutout, 21 of the Avalanche’s 82 regular-season games ended in a shutout.

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Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from Athletic Poetics

from Santa Kemp.

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Dec. 25, 1914 - The Christmas truce

The Christmas truce was a series of widespread, unofficial ceasefires that took place along the Western Front around Christmas 1914, during World War I. Through the week leading up to Christmas, parties of German and British soldiers began to exchange seasonal greetings and songs between their trenches; on occasion, the tension was reduced to the point that individuals would walk across to talk to their opposite numbers bearing gifts. On Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, many soldiers from both sides—as well as, to a lesser degree, from French units—independently ventured into “no man’s land”, where they mingled, exchanging food and souvenirs. As well as joint burial ceremonies, several meetings ended in carol-singing. Troops from both sides were also friendly enough to play games of soccer with one another.

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“If you aren’t going all the way, why go at all?” – Joe Namath

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Dec. 24, 1967 - Joe Namath became the first quarterback to pass for 4,000 yards

The New York Jets finished the 1967 season against the Chargers at San Diego Stadium on December 24, winning 42-31. Joe Namath completed 18 of 26 passes for 343 yards with four touchdowns and no interceptions. With his second consecutive 300-yard passing game (he threw for 370 yards in a loss at Oakland the previous week), he finished the year with 4007 yards.

While his career statistics are not exceptional (e.g.: Career passing percentage 50.1, QB rating 65.5, 50 more interceptions than TD’s), Namath was the game’s first true media superstar, and also the first quarterback to throw for 4,000 yards during the 14-game 1967 season. Nobody achieved this feat again until Dan Fouts in 1979, a year after the NFL adopted a 16-game season format and enacted new rules that gave more protection to quarterbacks and wide receivers. Namath’s style of play in the years before his knees limited his mobility helped evolve the quarterback position in the NFL, and also initiated a gradual change in the typical style of an NFL offense from a run-oriented ball control game to a more open passing style. Hall of Fame coach Bill Walsh stated that Namath was “the most beautiful, accurate, stylish passer with the quickest release [he’d] ever seen.” Hall of Fame coach Don Shula stated that Namath was “one of the three smartest quarterbacks of all time.”

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“Make the present good, and the past will take care of itself.” – Knute Rockne

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Dec. 23, 1972 - Franco Harris’ Immaculate Reception

The Immaculate Reception is the nickname given to one of the most famous plays in the history of American football. It occurred in the AFC divisional playoff game of the NFL, between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Oakland Raiders at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. With the Steelers trailing in the last 30 seconds of the game, Pittsburgh quarterback Terry Bradshaw threw a pass to John Fuqua, who was immediately hit and lost possession of the ball. As the ball fell towards the ground, Steelers fullback Franco Harris scooped it up and ran for a game-winning touchdown. The play has been a source of unresolved controversy and speculation ever since, as many have contested that the ball hit the ground and should have been ruled an incomplete pass.

NFL Films has chosen it as the greatest play of all time, as well as the most controversial. The play was a turning point for the Steelers, who reversed four decades of futility with their first playoff win ever, and went on to win four Super Bowls by the end of the decade. The play’s name is a pun derived from the Immaculate Conception, a dogma in the Roman Catholic Church. The phrase was first used on air by Myron Cope, a Pittsburgh sportscaster who was reporting on the Steelers’ victory.

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“Never underestimate the heart of a champion.” – Rudy Tomjanovich