The World Health Oraginzation has a neat little chart called "Pandemic Influenza Phases." It tracks the spread of disease around the globe and emphasizes the level of preparedness necessary to combat global influenza.
The highest level is Phases 5-6, where influenza has developed into a full blown pandemic. Currently the alert levels are at its highest - Phase 6 - due to the increasing risk to human health posed by swine flu, or H1N1, with sensitivity to our friends in the hog industry. We are well past Phases 1-3 where there are "few human infections" and in a globalized world, we humans are far too social to only stop at Phase 4, "sustained human to human transmission." This is illustrated below:
<p style="font-size:10px; margin:0 auto;">Current state of World Health Organization Pandemic alert (courtesy: World Health Organization)</p> |
The reader might ask how this relates to football.
As we once again witnessed a late defensive breakdown on way to Toronto FC conceding its 15th goal in the final 15 minutes of the game this season on Saturday, it occurred to me that the Reds' plight can also be broken down in phases.
In short, there is a 75th minute pandemic devastating Toronto's playoff chances. With apologies to the World Health Organization, I modified the WHO chart to reflect Toronto's reality and discovered the following:
<p style="font-size:10px; margin:0 auto;">The 75th minute pandemic at a glance.</p> |
What we see above is not a sustainable formula for Toronto to make the playoffs. The 75th minute influenza has been offset by "favourable results elsewhere" which has proved to be a potent antibody helping to keep the Reds' playoff chances alive.
But with just two matches remaining in the season Toronto is running short of its allotment of "favourable results elsewhere." Major League Soccer simply can-not keep up with Toronto's demands for favourable results and the Reds could soon be facing a catastrophic league-wide shortage in this area.
A new plan calls for an aggressive approach to eliminating the virus that ails Toronto as noted in my final modified chart:
<p style="font-size:10px; margin:0 auto;">Key to pandemic elimination.</p> |
We must now wait for the next two Saturdays to have this final plan to be set in motion. We know the players and coaches have been working tirelessly to end this 75th minute pandemic. Now, more than ever, the results must follow.
