S11M31: Shake Up

The thing about numbers, right, is that they're both beautiful and terrifying. Numbers are unarguable. but we aren't computers, and human brains are developed to think in terms of narratives, which by definition require arguments. This means you end up with numbers crowbarred into spaces they don't want to be, if you were to anthropomorphasise [sic] them, which of course is a narrative structure rather than a mathematical one. You see my point.

Someone - usually thought to be Disraeli, although of course, with rudimentary research, that apocryphal tale can be put to bed -  mentioned this of course with the maxim "Lies, damn lies & statistics" - we know of countless examples of this from our everyday lives, but it obviously extends to the footballing arena, because...well....why wouldn't it? It's microcosmic of everything else human.

I speak, of course, of Punditry. Talking heads. Ex-pros. Grizzled visages replacing fresh-faced football stickers. Except Alan Hansen who somehow got younger and younger until he retired, like some sort of Caledonian Benjamin Button.

Now Punditry has its place. As above, we are a narrative species. Only the very few of us would prefer to spend halftime and fulltime watching tables of numbers and graphics scroll through the screen like a videogames sans the soundtrack. The art of Punditry is to make sense of the noise and succinctly explain themes and events, offering insight that the layman may not have appreciated. It is not to sit back as if in the clubhouse and jocularly backslap and espouse lazy guff based on prejudicial opinion. In that case, the numbers are used without context, without framing and selectively to further reinforce a false narrative, and because, we are ultimately sheeple (or being kind, busy and disinterested in forensic interrogation), the false narrative becomes the prevailing narrative even though it is built on the foul-smelling exhaust gases from a dinosaur.

So, with that in mind, Wayne Rooney was surprisingly impressive this week. He has got a disturbingly large head these days though. But without measuring it, that's probably narrative, not data.

Let's get statty

This week, 16 people played
Most popular predicted results: Chelsea, Liverpool & Man City WINS (16/16)
Most disputed prediction: Wolves vs Aston Villa (7-6-3 split)

Highest/Lowest Odds: Steven Daniels (569/1)

Best predictors: AFM & Raffi Kleiman (7/10)
Worst predictor: Zoe Daniels (2/10)
Average odds: 4.88/5

Best predicted results: Liverpool & Man City WINS (16/16)
Worst predicted results: Brentford, Crystal Palace WINS (0/16)

Everyone's results:



Leaderboard (>2/3; 21/30)

 This week's predos

Good luck everyone!