The GOAT Flu

There is an epidemic killing what is left of my respect for sports journalism and reporting. Let’s call it The GOAT Flu.

When a sports fan, reporter, or anylist comes down with GOAT flu they typically first lose perspective on what they are talking about.  They develop long term amnesia and cannot remember anything that happened more than a few years back.    Next they develop an irrational love-affair for the first thing they see.  It’s a lot like on cartoons when someone drinks a love potion and chases everything around with hearts for eye-balls.  The final result is the victim going off on irrational tangents that are not based on any reality and thus eliminating what may be left of his or her respectability.

You can find cases of GOAT flu everywhere.  (See: Zenyatta)

I read one today on Fanhouse.  A writer went on an on deeming that Cam Newton’s season is not just good, but The Greatest of All-Time (G.O.A.T) in college football.  He compares Cam Newton to watching Montana in the 80’s and Dan Marino. He says this season is better than any college season of O.J., Tebow, or Barry Sanders.  Classic case of GOAT flu.

I won’t go as far as saying Newton’s season is not good.  No, it’s great.  Truly amazing.  But remember after 6 weeks of this season Denard Robinson in Michigan was being named the Heisman Trophy run-away winner?   Well, with only the bowl games left Robinson has more rushing yards and only 85 fewer passing yards.  Yes, Newton has more TDs, but if Robinson didn’t play on a team with absolutely no defense and won more games he could be the Heisman favorite.   My point is you could argue that Newton didn’t even have the best season this year, not to mention all time.

For argument sake, I will concede he had the best season this year.  But is it greater than the 1988 season Barry Sanders put up?  His NCAA record 2,628 rushing yards is more yards than Newton threw for this year.  He had a ridiculous 37 rushing TDs, a punt return TD, and a kick return for a TD.  What’s more is Sanders played back when many fewer players left college for a big payday in the NFL so the competition, one would think, was much better.

Everyone wants to say “what I saw was the greatest”, or “I was there”.   That’s why Newton gets these high praises.  In 1988 there was no 24/7 sports outlet with 6 channels showing highlights of every play in every game.  When O.J. was running at USC every game was not nationally televised.  And unless you bought a ticket in 1924 to witness Red Grange you never saw the Galloping Ghost play.   Just because we are all watching Newton play now does not make it greater or better.  It just makes it more current.

Before the G.O.A.T label gets assigned to anything, please just show some integrity and perspective. Think not just about what you yourself have seen, but what has happened before TV and before radio and even before any of us were born.  All-Time didn’t start when ESPN came on the air.  All-Time started long before any of us were even alive.