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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

#21
post #10

> 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…

Most people probably shouldn’t have coffee after 4PM.

Re: The game-day caffeine routine that powers the NBA's most frequent flyers

#22
post #11

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.

Baseball is a very local sport, you play the teams nearby you considerably more than you play any other teams. Also, as others mention, they’ll play multiple games in one location.

Re: The game-day caffeine routine that powers the NBA's most frequent flyers

#23

> "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…

They do. It's rare that there are games across region on close nights. Road trips are usually to a specific region, then the team plays at home a bit.

Re: The game-day caffeine routine that powers the NBA's most frequent flyers

#24

> "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…

The NBA optimizes for this somewhat. Many east coast teams will play all three Texas based teams in a single trip. There are a lot of factors that can get in the way of this, such as concerts, trade shows, or other large events that are booked in large arenas.

For instance, the Spurs are forced to go on 22 day road trip because their home arena is busy hosting the annual San Antonio Stock and Rodeo Show.

There is also a lot of data on team win/loss percentages that I'm sure vegas keeps up on. On average - teams on the 2nd game of a back to back road trip win just 32% of their contests. Also, teams that play one game at home and another on the road the following night only win 37.3% of their contests.

Re: The game-day caffeine routine that powers the NBA's most frequent flyers

#25
Caffeine does wonders when taken in a calculated manner. For some time now I restrict myself to at most 3 cups of coffee a week so I do not build tolerance.

I try to plan those cups ahead of time and always receive a very noticeable boost in energy level and concentration from them.

Re: The game-day caffeine routine that powers the NBA's most frequent flyers

#27

> "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…

If you need extreme data points you should look into the Russian Premier League for Football. While sports in the USA use Eastern/Western Conferences to lower travel requirements, the Football leagues enforces 2 matches per teams regardless of location. In the 2017-2018 season the farthest two teams were 5,000+ miles apart! [1]

[1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017%E2%80%9318_Russian_Premie...

Re: The game-day caffeine routine that powers the NBA's most frequent flyers

#28
post #11

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.

MLB teams generally play three-game series, so for scheduling purposes you have approximately 162/3 = 54 "games".

Re: The game-day caffeine routine that powers the NBA's most frequent flyers

#29
post #25

Caffeine does wonders when taken in a calculated manner. For some time now I restrict myself to at most 3 cups of coffee a week so I do not build tolerance. I try to plan those cups ahead of time and always receive a very noticeable boost in energy level and concentration from them.

The timing can also play into it (not sure if by 'plan' you mean down to the hour as well). https://i.imgur.com/1IyKjSg.jpg

As I get older, my tolerance has lowered. I used to be able to handle a Starbucks 'tall' cup, but now I can only drink two espressos at most, if spaced out by two hours or so. If I go over my limit, it's 7-9 hours of lying still in a dark room with a migraine-like headache.

For more on cortisol and caffeine: https://www.forbes.com/sites/anthonykosner/2014/01/05/why-th...

Chronopharmocology and caffeine: http://neurosciencedc.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-best-time-for...

Re: The game-day caffeine routine that powers the NBA's most frequent flyers

#30
post #11

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.

MLB teams generally play three-game series, so for scheduling purposes you have approximately 162/3 = 54 "games".

And half of those are home matchups with no traveling!
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