Sports photos of the week, Dec. 23 to Dec. 29

The holiday season is as good as it gets for sports nuts and, luckily for you, we've got the best action shots of the week all gathered in the same place.

The NBA is in full flight and Christmas Day saw some of the best action yet. Likewise, the Barclays Premier League gets in on the festivities by laying down a seemingly endless slate of top-level matches.

On the gridiron, the last week of the NFL regular season saw teams desperately scrambling for the final playoff spots, while their collegiate counterparts went "Bowl-ing."

From team competitions to individual events, ice rinks to ski slopes -- and a little Santa-themed fun thrown in -- check out the gallery above to see the coolest and craziest from this week in sports.

And if you missed them, be sure to check out the best photos from the entire year in sports after catching up with last week's collection below.