Cooped up as we are these days, it’s tempting to chase after distractions with an almost reckless zeal.

Ooh an oral history of the making of a movie I haven’t seen, better read that!!

Twitter tells me to choose three of nine Disney villains to keep: allow me to carefully analyze my options for the next two hours!

Hmm what was the name of that guy in that thing with that hat I liked? Let’s start the googling!!

In this unplanned off=season for sports, those kind of distractions are even more inviting and attention grabbing. Without the steady stream of results and data points to analyze, fans around the world have begun to fixate on debates over who was the Greatest of All Time (or GOAT).

Which triple crown winning horse would beat the others? Which World Cup winners from 2019 would make the legendary 1999 squad (and vice versa)? And, of course, Messi or Ronaldo? Jordan or Kobe or Lebron? Gibson or Maddux? Messi or Kobe or Maddux?

Let’s be clear: GOAT debates are fun, but they are also pointless.

I’m not saying that you should never indulge in a little thought experiment. If you love a sport and it’s history, It’s quite amusing to wonder whether Ruth & Gherig’s Murderer’s Row of the ’27 Yankees could beat Jeter, Clemens, and the ’98 Yankees.

I’m also not saying that you have to eschew these questions in favor of weightier debates over say: universal healthcare, or whether the role of the state can ever be expanded (even temporarily) without impinging on civil liberties.

I’m saying that GOAT debates aren’t the ultimate arbiter of athletic excellence.

I’m saying that fixating on these questions or righteously defending our answers to them is not the fans equivalent of a championship game.

I’m saying subjective evaluations distract us from appreciating accomplishments in and of themselves.

Which was the more monumental accomplishment: Roger Bannister’s 4 Minute Mile, or Nadia Comaneci’s Perfect 10 at the Olympics? Here’s a better question: have you SEEN THESE!?!?

I mean…who cares which I think is better. No offense, but, I don’t care which you think is better. Let’s not compare, let’s just enjoy. Enjoy watching Bannister churn his legs into a sudden burst in the last 300 meters. Enjoy watching his form wobble as he realizes what he’s about to do. Enjoy watching Comaneci’s hands slap and swing and swiftly switch between bars. Enjoy watching her speed and grace and strength beyond what any one else could do.

Sure, it’s fun to debate these things. It is a great distraction. But it doesn’t change the fact that both accomplished incredible things. Nor does it stop us from admiring the athletic skill in each case. Watching those accomplishments its much more fun to relish the moment rather than rehash infinitesimal differences to support an irrelevant argument.

The same is true for all those other questions: which all-time great line up would win a game? Pfft. How much fun would it be watching Gherig stretch at first to get Jeter by a whisker?

Which 2019 star could keep up with the ’99-ers? I have no clue, but man, imagine Rapinoe and Hamm running roughshod over every field between here and the Moon.

We don’t have to live in an either or world: you get to watch Messi ping-pong, and Ronaldo lash thunderous free kicks; you can tremble at Gibson’s fast ball and gawk at Maddux’s control; you can swoon at a Jordan scoop, a Kobe step-back, and a LeBron stuff; and when that’s all done you can also thrill at a triple in Kickball, or shout about a saved slap-shot, or stare in disbelief at any number of lesser-knowns far from the GOAT debate.

You’re going to be pushed in life to pick sides or argue for one thing over another. Sometimes you should, but when it comes to debating “Greatness” remember, everything has a touch of greatness.