Football fans love to flex their mental muscle, come up with opinion, and fiercely defend their corner. It is one of life's delights, the perfect time filler between matches.
The pub, a pint or a nice glass of chilled white, a few mates, and The Great Debate is underway. I'm no different to any other Toonie so when I was asked to pick my 10 best Newcastle United goals for the latest episode of Gibbo's Corner via The Everything is Black and White Podcast, I was in my element.
I had a wide-open expanse of canvas on which to paint my picture with extravagant brush strokes. The first rule I implemented was I had to have witnessed each goal live which put me at an advantage over younger Newcastle fans because I could go way back as a kid to the fifties when Newcastle United were the country's Cup Kings.
My second rule was that I would pick only one goal from each player otherwise No.9 Legends like Alan Shearer, SuperMac and Wor Jackie could have dominated the list to the exclusion of all other great black and white performers. Still, there was terrific scope and I still shudder at wonder goals I was forced to leave out because of the sheer quantity covering 70 years or so of jam-packed history.
I had to whittle down my memories to only 10 and while the obvious contenders were always going to feature it was which particular goal. With SuperMac for example would I go for United's FA Cup semi-final, a stunning hat-trick against Liverpool on his home debut, away to Bolton, or home to Leicester.
Which one of Big Al's club record 206 strikes could be singled out above all others? And as for Wor Jackie, well another 200 goals were piled up by him including three at Wembley which significantly contributed to United winning the FA Cup three times in five years.
Great goals, of course, can be judged on two levels... the sheer artistry of the strike, maybe the swaying run past stranded defenders, or perhaps its importance in key games which shaped the flight of history. There is another factor too. While strikers are the blue-eyed boys of football, the glory grabbers, not all marvellous goals are scored by them.
Midfielders can net with a swagger and, yes, even defenders. United have enjoyed midfield artists like Gazza, Tony Green, Terry McDermott, Gary Speed, Kieron Dyer, Jermaine Jenas and Georginio Wijnaldum. Defenders who can also strike at the other end? Think of Bob Moncur, Jonathan Woodgate, Philippe Albert, and Steve Howey.
Indeed it is a midfielder who has emphasised recently that the shifting sands of time will always change any landscape. Our exhaustively researched podcast was recorded before Bruno Guimaraes struck an audacious backheel flicked winner at Southampton or he would undoubtedly have scattered the pigeons in my final Top Ten.
After a lot of deliberation and the burning of midnight oil, I came up with my 10 to put before Gibbo's Corner host Andrew Musgrove. And hereby begins another debate.
If you accept my 10 as, well, MY 10, the next question is have I got them in the right order in your opinion? Inevitably not, because what is fascinating about such an exercise is that nobody is right or wrong. It is strictly a matter of choice, not fact.
With that in mind please fill in the survey at the bottom of this column or click here , to vote from my Top 10 list. I would still urge you to listen to the episode of course - you can click here to find it - and hear my argument for each and every one of my treasured memories.
We then want you to select the 10 in your order of preference for the sheer fun of it and to trigger debate. I look forward to your thoughts.
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