Patience. No premature toasting allowed, lest you invoke the wrath of the Toast God and SJ makes the playoffs. (though it would be funny to watch Porter lose his shit and get fired if Portland fails to make the playoffs)
I'm imagining some of you having a dinner conversation with your wife/significant other about Toast, Toast Jesus, Lazarakia, Burnt Toast, Wooden Spoons - animatedly, excitedly telling him/her about the implications and theories, as they sit aghast, open-mouthed, and thinking that they knew some things about you; but not that it had gone this far, now truly concerned about what the future holds for you and considering what steps to take to address the situation.
She knows about the OCD. Not running my own spreadsheet for toast is a success in self-restraint. Today I explained to her just how unusual this year's early toasting pattern is and how fascinating that is.
It's been worse. She's listened to me discuss long-term political trends in the Midwest. That may have been the most patient she's ever been.
Until we get to the end of the season, the standard deviation will be mathematically suppressed. Imagine it this way: In the first week of the season, the maximum and minimum number of points is 3 and 0, respectively. The standard deviation is nowhere close to what it will be by the end of the season. So, until all the points are in, the best teams earned their max and the worst team failed to accumulate much more (we are looking fondly at you DCU and MNU) 2017's SD is not comparable to previous seasons.
My wife is quite aware and finds many of the comments herein amusing when I read them to her. But, she's that amazing woman who first suggested we buy season tickets for RSL back when the team was announced.
This is technically true. But on this back-of-the-envelope thread, do we really care if we're jumping the gun asking about parity? Probably not. Plus, my hunch from watching these numbers in previous seasons is that the measure at the end of the season won't be wildly different from what we're seeing now.
While having a passing interest in the game my soccer fandom didn't really kick in until the lead up to WC '98, which was also the summer I got married. So my wife can quite rightly claim that she didn't know what she was signing up for when she agreed to marry me.
Passive. It's always amazing how little a win helps toasted teams. Who's next in this crowdsourcing grammar endeavour?
It's amazing how DCU is going to blow the spoon with 6 points in their last 2 matches despite not scoring a goal during that time.
The difference between first, second, and third is 0.20 PPG. 0.20 PPG behind that is thirteenth, not even in the playoffs. It really is Toronto, then NYC, and then an indistinguishable field. On the other end, it's a sprint to the finish for the Wooden Spoon. Minnesota, Colorado, Los Angeles, and DC are all legitimate contenders.