McBoog Posted January 17, 2008 Share Posted January 17, 2008 The San Diego Chargers will travel east three time zones to take on the Patriots. That happened 17 times in the regular season with the Chargers, Seahawks, Raiders, 49ers and Cardinals (Arizona is in the Mountain Time Zone but does not use Daylight Savings Time). The combined record of the teams traveling from the Pacific Time Zone to the Eastern Time Zone was 3-14. Surprisingly, the Raiders traveled to Miami and won. The Seahawks defeated the Eagles in Philadelphia. The Chargers, meanwhile, came east twice and lost to New England and Jacksonville, although they did beat Indianapolis in the playoffs last week. West-to-east travel across the country is not a good thing for most football teams. Why is it so hard for the NFL to schedule these games in the later time slot? Start the game at 4 p.m.? It would be a credible move for the league and remove the potential claims of "east coast bias". These guys starting a game at 1 est, is like 10 a.m. When you consider getting taped, warmups, eating, getting to the stadium from the hotel etc. the body time for these players has their day starting at about 3-4 a.m. This subject has died a fast death befor, but every time I see something that proves the point further, you can bet I'll post it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
untateve Posted January 17, 2008 Share Posted January 17, 2008 Surprisingly, the Raiders traveled to Miami and won. Really. This was surprising. Did the writer watch much dolphin football this year? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
isleseeya Posted January 17, 2008 Share Posted January 17, 2008 Sunday game between bolts and pats is 3 pm est ..not 1 pm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperCharger Posted January 17, 2008 Share Posted January 17, 2008 I'm kinda dissapointed that the game is so late (3 PM EST). I have no idea what I'm going to for 3 hours between the time I get up and kickoff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
isleseeya Posted January 17, 2008 Share Posted January 17, 2008 Plus this is afc championship game I am sure all the chargers will be pumped up , wide awake and ready to play Add in the fact that I am sure they are arriving to new england days before the game ( do not know exact itinerary as they may be there already ) and should have more than enough time to adjust to the hour difference I don't think it will be a factor My two cents Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bronco Billy Posted January 17, 2008 Share Posted January 17, 2008 Why is it so hard for the NFL to schedule these games in the later time slot? Start the game at 4 p.m.? It would be a credible move for the league and remove the potential claims of "east coast bias". You want a time slot favorable to your team? Finish with a better record. Playoffs conditions aren't supposed to be fair until teams reach the championship game. It's the whole reason for playing the regular season - to get what can be a very distinctive home field advantage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charty Posted January 17, 2008 Share Posted January 17, 2008 Why is it so hard for the NFL to schedule these games in the later time slot? Start the game at 4 p.m.? It would be a credible move for the league and remove the potential claims of "east coast bias". These guys starting a game at 1 est, is like 10 a.m. When you consider getting taped, warmups, eating, getting to the stadium from the hotel etc. the body time for these players has their day starting at about 3-4 a.m. This subject has died a fast death befor, but every time I see something that proves the point further, you can bet I'll post it! As far as this playoff game, the 3PM time slot for AFC and 6:30PM for NFC was already determined 2 or so weeks ago. As far as West Coast teams having to travel more, well, if there are only 4 west coast teams, 2 in each conference, isn't that expected? Cities in the west are spread further apart than cities in the east, must have something to do with the Lousiana Purchase thing, I don't know. The fact that Football's roots are in the Ohio area, you end up with teams close together, like Cleveland, Cincy, Pittsburgh, Indy, etc. Every Sunday, there are more 1PM games than 4PM games, for the most part, east coast games start at 1 and west coast games start at 1 (your time). When people start asking the Chargers to kickoff at 10AM local time so games can be shown at 1PM eastern, then you have a beef. As it is now, deal with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McBoog Posted January 18, 2008 Author Share Posted January 18, 2008 This and I was talking about the REGULAR SEASON! Yes, I know the game is at three and I think that is more reasonable. Nobody has answered the question. SO few West Coast teams, why would it be a problem to have them play in the later time slot. We see East coast games start at 4 quite often. (I live in VA now). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
isleseeya Posted January 18, 2008 Share Posted January 18, 2008 Puddy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randall Posted January 18, 2008 Share Posted January 18, 2008 As far as this playoff game, the 3PM time slot for AFC and 6:30PM for NFC was already determined 2 or so weeks ago. So? Switch the games. They have flexible scheduling during the year and can now too. Starting the Frozen Tundra game at 5:30 is just as dumb. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bronco Billy Posted January 18, 2008 Share Posted January 18, 2008 (edited) So? Switch the games. They have flexible scheduling during the year and can now too. Starting the Frozen Tundra game at 5:30 is just as dumb. First off, anyone who understands winter weather in Wisconsin also understands that the nights can actually be warmer than the days, depending upon cloud cover or lack thereof. So the starting time appreciably affecting the ambient temperature is a matter of pure speculation and not a matter of what part of the day the game is played in. Secondly, with temps in NE expected to be around 20, and winds over 20 mph (and from what I gather, crosswinds no less), the conditions stand a decent chance of actually being worse at the AFC game than the NFC game, regardless of what time it is. Edited January 18, 2008 by Bronco Billy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charty Posted January 18, 2008 Share Posted January 18, 2008 So? Switch the games. They have flexible scheduling during the year and can now too. Starting the Frozen Tundra game at 5:30 is just as dumb. I wasn't sure if the complaint was the 1 o'clock games during the season, or because the article was written about the Chargers having to come to NE this weekend, if the complaint was about the the Chargers having the early slot this week. The poster cleared up the the complaint was that when east coast teams host west coast teams, the east coast games should be at 4PM eastern to accomodate the west coast teams. Not sure if I agree, it's all about the networks and the NFL. I prefer 1PM games here in NE, and the Pats didn't have many of them this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caveman_Nick Posted January 18, 2008 Share Posted January 18, 2008 This and I was talking about the REGULAR SEASON! Yes, I know the game is at three and I think that is more reasonable. Nobody has answered the question. SO few West Coast teams, why would it be a problem to have them play in the later time slot. We see East coast games start at 4 quite often. (I live in VA now). It happens to everyone. You think East Coast teams liked kicking off at 9:15 PM on Monday nights for all those years? It's all about the TV revenue....the hardship on the team is meaningless. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
isleseeya Posted January 18, 2008 Share Posted January 18, 2008 It happens to everyone. You think East Coast teams liked kicking off at 9:15 PM on Monday nights for all those years? It's all about the TV revenue....the hardship on the team is meaningless. agreed but how much hardship on the players are we talking about ? these guys fly in class , sleep in nice hotel rooms with full amenities and services , they arrive in most cases if not all days before the game is played and have plenty of time to adjust to hour change while i am sure its not comfortable i do not view it as a hardship either Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McBoog Posted January 18, 2008 Author Share Posted January 18, 2008 agreed but how much hardship on the players are we talking about ? these guys fly in class , sleep in nice hotel rooms with full amenities and services , they arrive in most cases if not all days before the game is played and have plenty of time to adjust to hour change while i am sure its not comfortable i do not view it as a hardship either I don't know how much you travel, but going form West to East is a much tougher transition. Their "body" clock is not adjusted in one night in a classy hotel. When it is 9 p.m. EST (6 p.m. PST) and the players should be hittin the sack to get up at about 6 (3 PST) ( to get breakfast/packed and then bussed to the stadium, treated/taped, warmed up, dressed out then the secon warm up in pads) it is hard to go to sleep when your internal time says it is 6 (add the tension of the game the following day). SO, lets say they do get to sleep, body time wise at about 10 (that would be 1 a.m.). If you knew your hometown team players were not hittin' the hay until 1 a.m. on game day, you would be pissed! Now, in order to do all that is required just to get the team on the field, The visiting players get up at about 6 a.m. out of neccessity to be on time for a 1 p.m. start! That my friend is 3 a.m. body clock time. You don't "adjust" in a comfy bed in a cushy hotel in one night or in a cheap fleabag. You need at least three to four days to adjust to the new time zone. Starting these games at 4 p.m. would at least put the West Coast teams on a "normal body time" schedule and would minimally effect NFL scheduling! Hey! The studies and stats for years show a clear disadvantage, to not act on it is as blatent bias as you can get, IMO. Teams going East to West Gain time. They are tired at 8 pm local and can sleep in and still have plenty of time to get the pre-game crap done without the cobwebs. Travelling on ANY team is tough, but when you have a clear issue that can be easily fixed I don't know about you, but if I have to get my a$$ out of bed at 3 a.m. for ANYTHING, my day is pretty much a zombie blurr. Even back when I was playing college ball, in my youth, this was a big factor in performance. The first half of the game you feel like you are pushing yourself through invisible jello. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sturphy Posted January 18, 2008 Share Posted January 18, 2008 Puddy Puddy appears to be the answer to so many things on these boards. He must be miraculous. "I do not think it means what you think it means". - I. Montoya Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kid Cid Posted January 18, 2008 Share Posted January 18, 2008 Shine a light on the back of your knees and you can reset your internal clock in about 12 hours. I read that somewhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skinpig Posted January 20, 2008 Share Posted January 20, 2008 this isn't rocket science... TV calls the shots... TV pays big money to broadcast the games...and they'll pay more to hit their biggest target audience... they charge their sponsors $XX based on expected audience... more watching = more revenue... this will NEVER change... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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