I'm impressed that the MLB, with ~2X the number of games, manages to travel less than the NBA. I wonder if it's a venue availability issue or a better traveling salesman algorithm.
The game-day caffeine routine that powers the NBA's most frequent flyers
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Re: The game-day caffeine routine that powers the NBA's most frequent flyers
#12I'm impressed that the MLB, with ~2X the number of games, manages to travel less than the NBA. I wonder if it's a venue availability issue or a better traveling salesman algorithm.
Baseball teams tend to play multiple games in a row against the same team--I'm guessing this is why they travel fewer miles.
Re: The game-day caffeine routine that powers the NBA's most frequent flyers
#13I'm impressed that the MLB, with ~2X the number of games, manages to travel less than the NBA. I wonder if it's a venue availability issue or a better traveling salesman algorithm.
Mostly just that the MLB plays series of games.
Re: The game-day caffeine routine that powers the NBA's most frequent flyers
#14> "WHEN IT COMES to the toll of travel, the NBA is in a league all its own. NBA teams, according to ESPN Stats & Information's Vincent Johnson, average 43,534 miles per season, nearly 7 percent more than..."
Not to get too far off topic but couldn't it be possible for the NBA (or any league) to optimize for this?
Along the same lines, I have to wonder if there's a way to incorporate such signals into a betting algorithm. That is, once you get past home team advantage, perhaps stops / miles in the previous week is worth +/- X points.
Re: The game-day caffeine routine that powers the NBA's most frequent flyers
#15I'm impressed that the MLB, with ~2X the number of games, manages to travel less than the NBA. I wonder if it's a venue availability issue or a better traveling salesman algorithm.
Well off the top of my head, most of the time baseball teams play 3-4 games in a series in the same place.
In basketball, lets say you're an east coast team, they'll usually schedule a tour of all 4 LA teams, but you have to play every Western team once, but not all at once.
Re: The game-day caffeine routine that powers the NBA's most frequent flyers
#16> Office workers, sleepy truckers, hospital nurses on 10-hour shifts, cabbies, students, cops? They're not the only ones who benefit from a cup, or a few, Harkless pointed out. Don't get me wrong, I love coffee. However, it may be more accurate to say that all of these people (including the athletes) are using caffeine to medicate their chronic sleep deprivation, which may be at least partly caused in the first place…
You make a good point. Sure, caffeine provides a quick, easy and relatively safe (and legal) boost. But ultimately, you have to balance that short term solution with a slightly longer term view of sleep quality and other recovery efforts. For example, what do they eat / drink as soon as the game is over to optimize recovery (so caffeine is less necessary the following night).
Put another way, you can alert the body and the mind but that doesn't necessarily lead to a high quality performance. Feel better is not the same as scoring more points.
Re: The game-day caffeine routine that powers the NBA's most frequent flyers
#17> "WHEN IT COMES to the toll of travel, the NBA is in a league all its own. NBA teams, according to ESPN Stats & Information's Vincent Johnson, average 43,534 miles per season, nearly 7 percent more than..." Not to get too far off topic but couldn't it be possible for the NBA (or any league) to optimize for this? Along the same lines, I have to wonder if there's a way to incorporate such signals into a betting algori…
I would guess player travel is a bit low in the schedule makers priorities. They have a lot to account for with arena availability as they often share with concerts/events and even a handful share with professional NHL teams and their own 40+ home game schedules.
Re: The game-day caffeine routine that powers the NBA's most frequent flyers
#18> "WHEN IT COMES to the toll of travel, the NBA is in a league all its own. NBA teams, according to ESPN Stats & Information's Vincent Johnson, average 43,534 miles per season, nearly 7 percent more than..." Not to get too far off topic but couldn't it be possible for the NBA (or any league) to optimize for this? Along the same lines, I have to wonder if there's a way to incorporate such signals into a betting algori…
I'd also guess that east/west miles traveled are more of a disadvantage than north/south miles. Flying sucks, but messing with your circadian sucks even more.
The league also semi-optimizes for this with divisions/conferences.
Re: The game-day caffeine routine that powers the NBA's most frequent flyers
#19> "WHEN IT COMES to the toll of travel, the NBA is in a league all its own. NBA teams, according to ESPN Stats & Information's Vincent Johnson, average 43,534 miles per season, nearly 7 percent more than..." Not to get too far off topic but couldn't it be possible for the NBA (or any league) to optimize for this? Along the same lines, I have to wonder if there's a way to incorporate such signals into a betting algori…
> Along the same lines, I have to wonder if there's a way to incorporate such signals into a betting algorithm
That is already done. Vegas accounts for every conceivable variable under the sun.
Re: The game-day caffeine routine that powers the NBA's most frequent flyers
#20While teams in the NFL only play one game per week, there are a few games played in England each year. That can be an 8 hour time difference for west coast teams.