Golden Tate's catch against Green Bay ruled SI's top sports moment of 2012

Sports Illustrated named Golden Tate's controversial touchdown catch in the Seattle Seahawks' 14-12 victory over the Green Bay Packers on Sept. 24 as the top sports moment of 2012.

Tate's catch in the waning seconds of the game gave the Seahawks the victory. Or Tate's non-catch with the incorrect call given by the replacement refs gave the Packers the loss. Either way the story is spun, it was a wild moment in a very wild finish.

Fans, players and coaches alike were growing more vocally disappointed with the replacement ref situation in the NFL's first few weeks. But it was the nationally-televised debacle on Monday Night Football that really forced the NFL's hand to resolve the labor dispute with the referees.

The total impact of the call remains to be seen. The Packers sit at 10-4 and an extra win would go a long way in helping trying to maintain home field advantage throughout the playoffs. The Seahawks, meanwhile, are 9-5 and looking good on a path to the playoffs, instead of 8-6 with the Redskins, Cowboys, Giants, Vikings and Bears.

Perhaps the most bizarre side story out of the whole fiasco -- offensive lineman T.J. Lang's Twitter profile shot through the roof. Lang took to Twitter to expletively voice his displeasure in the game's result, and one tweet specifically was the third most re-tweeted tweet of 2012, behind tweets by President Obama and Justin Bieber.