We can say, though, in no vainglorious way that there is indeed a case that they are the most riveting ever staged, that at the end they nosed ahead of the style and flamenco snap of Barcelona in 1992 and the wonderful swagger of Sydney eight years later.
Last words were the most riveting, and after a little digging I was appalled to find no modern study of last words.
But it was the testimony of Ms. Lee, a former press secretary for Mr. Liu who now works for his mayoral campaign, that was the most riveting.
Still, it said something about a repressed feeling and was the most riveting European moment in a long time.
On excellent play alone, the match was the most riveting of the United States Open, which has lacked on-court intrigue.
But the specimen of which I am most proud must be a 1lb rivet from the Forth rail bridge, capped with a dome of red oxide oil paint.
The great paradox of the age is that Barack Obama, the most riveting of recent presidents, is leading us into an era of Congressional dominance.
Tottenham had not been at their most riveting.
Most riveting is Miriam Schapiro's "Fanfare," a vividly hued gestural abstraction from 1958; it reminds you that Ms. Schapiro was an accomplished member of the Cedar Tavern gang before she rejected abstract painting in favor of fabric "femmages".
