S8M11: Reflection

I'm going to make an assumption that everyone still playing this game has more than a casual interest in football. There will be varying levels of devotion, but I'd wager more than my standard accumulator stake that everyone here spends more than a few seconds each week on football-related past times - reading about, playing, watching, thinking etc.

So you're all probably aware of Bill Shankly's famous, tongue-in-cheek line that "Some people think football is a matter of life & death...it's much more important than that". It can be read into in a variety of ways, not least of which being the positive force that football can be (It's coming home....) but the straightest meaning is clearly untrue. In fact, arguably football is at it's best when  this epithet is demonstrably untrue - the football "family" to use FIFA-speak comes together beautifully at times of great emotion.

This week, unfortunately was one of those times. A blogpost 6 days later isn't going to shine any new light on the tragedy at the King Power Stadium but this is a topic that was too strong to minimise in favour of the usual blog structure.

Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha and 4 others lost their lives in a silly, Dream Team-esque story which has touched so many people. I don't know what's the key ingredient here. The title win? The embedding into the local community? The ambitious, hands on, positive chair? The senselessness of it all?

It just struck me that I'm not sure of another comparable figure in the league who'd have the same reaction come their way. He clearly touched a lot of people, and nobody seemed to have a bad word to say. It's events like this, or the Stade de France attacks or any of the numerous stadium tragedies from history that just recentre you slightly; that tear away fragments of the child's wonder and commitment and just that bit more phlegmatic about the overhit pass, or the missed penalty. It's a huge part of my, and I'm sure your life and I love the emotional rollercoaster - it adds to my existence...but at the end of the day, it's just football.

Let's get statty:

This week, 26 people played
Most popular predicted results: Liverpool & Arsenal WINS (25/26)
Most disputed result: Brighton vs Wolves (8-8-10 split)

Highest/Lowest odds: Steven Daniels 480/1
Average odds: 480/1

Best predictor: Joe Abbott (8/10)
Worst predictor: Josh Gaon (3/10)
Average score: 5.73/10

Best predicted result: Liverpool WIN (25/26)
Worst predicted result: Crystal Palace vs Arsenal DRAW (1/26 - Lawro)

Everyone's results:

Leaderboard (>2/3 weeks; 7/10)

This week's predos:

Bournemouth vs Man Utd - DRAW

Cardiff vs Leicester - LEICESTER

Everton vs Brighton - EVERTON

Newcastle vs Watford - WATFORD

West ham vs Burnley - WEST HAM

Arsenal vs Liverpool - DRAW

Wolves vs Spurs - SPURS

Man City vs Southampton - MAN CITY

Chelsea vs Crystal Palace - CHELSEA

Huddersfield vs Fulham - DRAW

Good luck guys