The GOAT Era

David Rainey • February 10, 2023

        Who is the G.O.A.T?  Who is the greatest player of all time? Who is the greatest athlete of all time? 


        It’s a debate we love to have for every sport.  It’s one of the most popular arguments amongst friends in bars all over the country and the world.  Whenever an all-time great athlete reaches a new milestone, social media is either quick to crown them the greatest of all time or tell you he or she could never reach that status.  It’s a debate that has spanned across generations and will do so until the end of time. 


        Most recently, we all got to witness Lebron become the NBA’s all-time leading scorer.  A feat that many when he came into the league almost 20 years ago thought was unattainable.  However, he surpassed any and all hype and now holds that record which certainly feels unattainable for anyone else.  Naturally, however, Lebron’s accomplishment immediately sparked the G.O.A.T debate between him and Michael Jordan.  We’re not going to get into that here, but it did get me thinking:  Did we just live through the greatest era in sports history?  Did we just live through The GOAT Era?


        I am 29 years old and was born in 1993.  I believe that everyone that is part of my generation or earlier was lucky enough to live through the greatest era in almost every major sport, and at the same time, witness the greatest player of all time in every major sport.  Let’s go sport by sport.


Basketball


         Since the GOAT debate in basketball is so relevant right now, let’s start there.  Let me preface this by saying I know that some people don’t consider Lebron to be in the discussion for the greatest of all time and will even go as far to say that he’s not in their top 5.  To that I say, you’re wrong.  Amongst most fans, the GOAT debate in the NBA is between MJ and Lebron.  But no matter what side of the fence you fall on, if you’ve watched the NBA anytime between 1984 and now, you were able to witness the careers of the two greatest NBA players of all time.  Between the two of them there are 16 Finals appearances, 10 NBA Championships, 9 MVPs, 10 Finals MVPs, and 70,000 points.  Those numbers are otherworldly, and we were lucky enough to witness it all. 

           

I’m going to leave some players out here, but we also had the privilege of watching guys like Kobe, Shaq, Allen Iverson, and Tim Duncan.  Who’s the greatest shooter of all time? Steph Curry? Reggie Miller? Ray Allen? We saw them all.  No doubt the NBA is in good hands going forward, but we witnessed the greatest. 

           

Did you notice I labeled this section “Basketball” and not just “NBA?”  Let me ask you another question: Who’s the greatest WNBA player of all time?  Is it Sue Bird? Is it Diana Taurasi? There are a couple other women that belong in that conversation, but again, it doesn’t matter because we experienced them all.  The greatest era in the history of basketball happened during our lifetimes.


NFL


        Speaking of G.O.A.Ts, Tom Brady finally decided to hang up the cleats.  We’ve had the honor of seeing a lot of great players take the field in the NFL.  For 22 years, Tom Brady was on our televisions winning more Super Bowls than any franchise in the NFL and breaking the following records:

  • Games Started
  • Passing yards 
  • Passing Touchdowns 
  • Wins by a starting QB
  • Completions
  • Division titles
  • And about 30 more 


Numbers that we will likely never see any other player come close to.  We’ve seen a lot of greatness on Sundays in our lifetime, but I want to focus on one position specifically: Quarterback.  With Tom Brady deciding to call it a career, the greatest era of quarterback play in the history of the NFL has come to an end.  Since 1998, Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Eli Manning, and Ben Roethlisberger all graced our TV screens.  It was a truly special time to be a fan of football.


 MLB


 

      Now baseball gets a little tricky, because the GOAT debate is a difficult one to pin down.  There are so many different angles you can take and variables to consider.  So, I’ll just list the players we saw take the diamond.  Barry Bonds, Ken Griffey Jr., Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Pedro Martinez, and that’s just to name a few.  Say what you will about some of those guys and what they may or may not have done but growing up in that era of baseball was a beautiful thing.

       

 We experienced the excitement of McGwire and Sosa’s home run record race in 1998.  We witnessed Bonds break the record in 2001.  Ken Griffey Jr. made me fall in love with baseball and made baseball cool for a generation of kids.  Mariano Rivera was the most dominant closer of all time.  Forget about the steroids and anything else, that was the golden era of baseball. 


Everything Else


        We haven’t just seen the greatest player of all time in the major American sports, this discussion goes much deeper than that. 

           

         Lionel Messi became THE soccer icon and GOAT right before our eyes through the years.  Serena Williams not only became the greatest tennis player of all time, but you could make the argument that she’s possibly the most dominant athlete of our generation. 

           

        And speaking of tennis, the only reason Roger Federer  isn’t unanimously considered the greatest of all time is because he just happened to play in the same era as Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.

           

        While we’re on the topic of individual sports, let’s talk about golf.  Tiger Woods.  The greatest, most dominant, and most influential golfer of all time.  Most of the people in my generation are only fans of golf because of what Tiger Woods accomplished while we were growing up. 

           

       Finally, here’s some lagniappe.  Wrestling.  This may not apply to everyone, as everyone isn’t a fan of wrestling.  However, if you were a fan of the WWE between the years 1997 and 2002, you experienced the single greatest era of sports entertainment to date.  The Attitude Era.  The Rock, Stone Cold, The Undertaker, Kane, Mankind, D-Generation X.  The list goes on.  Wrestling has never, and likely will never, be that great ever again. 


        So, have your GOAT debates if you want to, but I’m going to choose to just be appreciative.  I’m choosing to be thankful that when my sons grow up and ask me about Brady, Manning, Brees, Jordan, Lebron, Tiger, Bonds, Griffey, Serena, and anyone else I may have neglected to mention, I’ll be able to say I saw them all.  I experienced all the highs and all the lows, but mostly, I experienced all the greatness.  WE experienced it all together.  We should be thankful because we lived the Greatest Sports Era of All Time.



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Saints Week 1 Postgame Guide: Lions

By Kaden Arkeder • September 13, 2026
Well what a wild game. The game was certainly there for the taking and I’m sure the team will look back and see all the missed opportunities they failed to capitalize on. The first half was, how would I put it, leaving a lot to be desired on offense. However the defense on the other hand did their job to keep the game close as long as they did. The missed fumble call could have been the difference in this one but that’s easy to say with hindsight. I’ll be curious if the league reviews and comments on that specific call this week. The slow start on offense though looked like the culmination of starters not playing at all during the preseason and still being rusty. Kellen Moore had an even slower start to the season last year with much more sloppy play but this felt very avoidable had the strategy been different in the preseason. Even so the Saints were only down seven at the half which felt like a miracle given the circumstance. The second half was where it all changed for the Saints. But not until the slow start on offense continued into the start of the third quarter where the Lions were finally able to capitalize on the Saints mistakes to take a twenty one point lead. You couldn’t fault the defense at that point because of the spot they were repeatedly put in because of the offense. But with their backs against the wall the offense finally shook off the rust and got to work. Shough and company stormed back to tie the game in the fourth quarter as the offense quickly down the field multiple times finishing drives in the end zone. The defense was the unsung hero in the comeback attempt as they kept the Lions offense off the field and only allowing one field goal in the fourth quarter. The Saints had a chance to win the game at the end of regulation but the 62 yard field goal attempt was missed by Carlson. Onto overtime. In overtime the Lions answered first with a touchdown to St Brown which would force the Saints to respond in turn. The Saints answered with a touchdown of their own before deciding to play for the win instead of a potential tie situation. They failed on the two point conversion to fall to the Lions 31-30 in overtime. The two point conversion was right call by Kellen Moore and company in my eyes. The Saints had the momentum almost the whole second half, were playing on the road in a game where they were down multiple scores while also knowing the rest of the division had already lost. So no harm done if they didn’t convert, they’d have the same record as everyone else if it didn’t work. It was the right type of aggression you like to see as a fan even if the end result wasn’t what you wanted. Overall I thought this game was going to be a good litmus test for the Saints and after the first half I would have said they failed the test. But the second half showed me what the team is capable of moving forward. They hung tough and made plays when they needed to and almost came back against a really good Lions team who have been playoff contenders the past few years. So although they didn’t get the win the Saints passed the litmus test in my eyes. If the Saints can consistently play like they did in the second half moving forward there’s no telling what their ceiling could be this year.

Louisiana Falls Short to 14th-Ranked USC in Los Angeles

By Abdul Abusada • September 13, 2026
The Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns are now 1-1 after falling to the 14th-ranked USC Trojans 49-30 in Los Angeles. USC quarterback Jayden Maiava continued his impressive start to the season, throwing for 261 yards and five touchdowns against UL. Running back King Miller also had a big night for the Trojans, carrying the ball 18 times for 128 yards and a touchdown. That offensive production helped USC create separation from the Cajuns throughout the game. For Louisiana, the strong ground attack and short passing game that worked against Lamar carried over into Saturday’s matchup. Quarterback Lunch Winfield was a name many people across the country heard plenty of on the Big Ten Network, running the ball 14 times for 91 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He also went 16-of-22 for 212 yards through the air and threw UL’s first passing touchdown of the season. Redshirt freshman slot receiver Russell Babineaux quickly became Winfield’s go-to target, catching passes on a variety of short routes and using his speed to create yards after the catch. It paid off, as Babineaux finished with 91 receiving yards and the Cajuns’ lone touchdown reception. What Went Right It might not necessarily be what the Cajuns coaching staff wanted out of him this season, but Lunch Winfield being his true self with his running capabilities was a big reason why Louisiana was able to put up 30 points against USC. He accounted for 85% of UL’s total offensive yards. Winfield had 91 yards and two touchdowns on the ground through 14 carries, one of them including a 32 yard run score. He also went an impressive 16/22 through the air and threw for 212 yards. On top of that, he threw the Cajuns’ first and only touchdown pass of the season, connecting with Russell Babineaux on a corner route toward the sideline in the end zone that couldn’t have been placed any better. Speaking of Babineaux, he led all receivers Saturday with 91 yards on six receptions. The slot receiver made his presence felt throughout the game as Winfield’s most reliable target. No other wide receiver finished with more than 11 receiving yards. Tight end Brock Chappell, who stepped in for the injured Caden Jensen after Jensen did not play Saturday, also had a productive game with three receptions for 47 yards. It’s also worth mentioning the interception by redshirt sophomore cornerback Avery Demery in plus territory on the opening drive of the game. Maiava threw a questionable and inaccurate pass that went directly to Demery, giving Louisiana possession at the USC 39-yard line. UL capitalized by putting the first points of the game on the board with a 47-yard field goal from Tony Sterner. That sequence gave the team an early wake-up call and helped the Cajuns keep things close for most of the first half. And finally, I would be remiss not to mention that UL came out of this game relatively healthy with very few injuries, at least as far as we know right now. That was probably one of the most important things everyone wanted to see coming out of this game. What Went Wrong Outside of Lunch Winfield’s scrambles, Louisiana’s running game was basically nonexistent. JJ Garner, Anthony Reagan Jr. and Steven Blanco combined for only 55 yards on the ground. We knew UL had a tall task going up against this USC defensive front, so that wasn’t necessarily unexpected. After last week’s win over Lamar, one of the biggest takeaways from the offense was that Louisiana would rely heavily on its running game and short screen-passing attack. With top receivers like Shelton Sampson Jr. and Trenton Chaney being out on Saturday for injury, that once again appeared to be the case. Lunch had to either rely on Babineaux, tight end Brock Chappell, or himself to gain significant yards. Then there were the quite a few opportunities that the Cajuns simply missed out on. The most notable came when Maiava threw a pass to Kayden Dixon-Wyatt in the end zone that went right through the hands of senior cornerback Maurion Eleam. Instead of an interception, USC came away with a touchdown and a 21-10 lead late in the second quarter. That was around the point when the Trojans began to really separate themselves. Not long after, Louisiana punted on its next possession, and multiple missed tackle opportunities allowed USC to take the return 86 yards for a touchdown that gave them a 28-10 lead going into halftime. Missed tackles became a big issue for a big part of the game for the Cajuns. Then there were the plays where Maiava threw absolute dots to his receivers in the end zone in very tight spaces, and I mean very tight that they could’ve easily been picked off. It was little mistakes and missed opportunities like those all throughout the game that made the final score look a little wider than it probably needed to be. Final Takeaways Louisiana played hard all game and, honestly, did better than most people, including myself, expected against such a high-powered USC team. Lunch Winfield played his heart out, and as he said after the game, he was willing to “lay it all on the line” for his team. Russell Babineaux also proved that he can be a big part of this offense moving forward. At 5’9” and 178 pounds, he isn’t a big receiver by any means, but he is shifty, quick and knows how to use his speed to pick up yards. Now, it becomes a matter of getting Shelton Sampson Jr. and Trenton Chaney healthy so Louisiana can have a deeper wide receiver room and start to develop more of a vertical threat in the passing game. Brock Chappell also showed that being down one tight end isn’t going to be the end of the world for this offense. The Cajuns through two games have showed that they have a deep tight end group who have proven to be one of Winfield’s most reliable options when Louisiana needs to move the ball vertically downfield. Louisiana didn’t leave Los Angeles with a win, but the Cajuns should have plenty of confidence moving forward after a hard-fought performance against one of the best teams in the country. They also went home $1.3 million richer as part of the contract between UL and USC for playing the game. The Cajuns will now turn their attention to the UAB Blazers, who come to Lafayette for a 7 p.m. kickoff Saturday. UAB enters the matchup with a win over ULM and a loss to Illinois. Louisiana is currently a 9.5-point favorite in the matchup. 
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