Chew on This: Who are the Husky GOATs or Goats?

When did we go from goats to GOATs? When did we starting using this barnyard word to describe something immortal than inept at the UW and elsewhere?

A goat eats straw, emits a strange odor and is notoriously grumpy.

A GOAT likely chews on whatever he or she wants at a trendy restaurant, smells like money and is overwhelmingly successful.

In a huge moment, a goat did something considered absolute bonehead.

Over time, a GOAT pulled off something wondrous and previously unmatched.

How did one become the other? 

Switch from bad to good?

From uncomfortable and forgettable to forever memorable.

As Sports Illustrated's Michael Rosenberg so eloquently unravels, it was a matter of attitude treated differently, a newfound fascination with acronyms and, thanks to LL Cool J, something hip in another medium.

GOAT or goat?

We use the past history of University of Washington athletics, one encompassing 130 years of recorded competition, to put this word play to the test.

GOAT team of all time? 

Who would you pick team-wise?

1) Husky football, 1992 co-national championship

2) UW men's crew, 1936 Olympic gold medalists

3) Husky softball, 2009 national championship

Now let's flip it around, removing the capital letters from the equation and remind you of times otherwise best left undisturbed.

Who among the following fits the bill as a goat?

1) UW football, 0-12 in 2008

2) UW football, 1-10 in 2004

3) UW men's basketball, 5-22 in 1994

Keeping the discussion going, who among all of the male athletes to show up in Mountlake would rate as the greatest of all time?

1) Steve Emtman, UW football, 1991

2) Brandon Roy, UW basketball, 2006

3) Tim Lincecum, UW baseball, 2006

And who among the women who have pulled on a Husky uniform would fit the bill as the greatest of all time?

1) Danielle Lawrie, UW softball, 2009

2) Kelsey Plum, UW women's basketball, 2017

3) Krista Vansant, UW volleyball, 2015

And how about individual Husky goats? There has got to be plenty of those grazing in the memory banks.

Well, out of respect to those dealing with unfortunate days gone by, we'll let you research that one. 

Off hand, we can't think of anyone who let a ball go through his or her legs (Bill Buckner) or a catchable foul ball (Steve Bartman) being stolen away and falling in untouched with everything on the line.