No sooner had the winning penalty kick hit the back of the net in last Sunday's A-League Grand Final, than a colleague Tweeted "This is the only code of football that can produce such drama and tension."

I was tempted to Tweet back something like "Did you watch last year's drawn AFL Grand Final?" or "Can I send you a DVD of Super Bowl 42 where the Giants upset the Patriots?"

Then I took a breath and remembered the crowded landscape of Australian sport and how it drives media members to continually go over the top in praise of the code they follow.

It's silly one-upmanship and it runs especially rampant in the football codes.

Watch Warren Smith on Fox Sports' new NRL show The League Lounge and you'll be told that rugby league is the greatest game in the world.

Listen to 3AW or SEN, and they'll be sure to remind you that Aussie Rules is the greatest game in the world.

And of course, tune in to any discussing featuring Craig Foster of SBS and you'll be treated to a spirited sermon as to why HIS game - soccer, er football - is the world's best.

I've got no problem with people being so passionate about their sport that they believe it's the best on the planet. I'm sure Dutch korfball players and oiled-up Turkish wrestlers think their endeavours are the ultimate in sporting prowess.

But I find it amusing that media members have to continually spruik for their sports in public. It's at best embarrassing, at worst paranoid.

I've never heard Joe Buck pump up American football by comparing it to other sports. I've never heard Martin Tyler or Murray Mexted do it with their respective games. And, I may be wrong, but I don't believe I've ever heard the legendary Richie Benaud call cricket the greatest game in the world although he may believe that it is.

No, I think this is a direct reflection of the fact that there is such a schism in football codes that it cuts through all aspects of Australian culture. Footy in Melbourne is different from footy in Sydney. The movers and shakers in Australia's two biggest, most famous cities approach their sport from completely different angles.

And while those two giants battle for hearts and minds and TV ratings, soccer and rugby union fight their own wars. It's all one big competition between different shaped footballs.

What's my point? Simple. Any one of these great (and they are great) games might be the world's best. I'm not sure how you actually measure it, but if fans want to think that, more power to them. They pay their memberships and they come to the park.

What I don't need is well-paid carnival barkers shoving it down my throat every week. Let your game take care of itself and let people make their own decisions. You're not going to convince them simply by telling them.

Now excuse me while I go watch a tractor pull on ESPN. I'm sure somewhere in Iowa a guy thinks THAT'S the best sport in the world.