The question is incomplete. Based on the full question, it is statistical.
This is an excerpt from Stephen Levitt and Stephen Dubner's Freakonomics.
The excerpt gives the statistical data of the wrestlers. The win-loss percentage between 7-7 wrestlers and 8-6 wrestlers is judged when either one of them is in the bubble the next time.
There will not be pressure in the individual match. They win only 40% of the rematches.
The author creates that sense of time and place by using alot of imagery and simile's to allow the reader to imagine what things look like and get a feel for everything. When he goes into the desert, there are uses of similies to say how unpredictable and harsh it can be.
