Earlier quoted context omitted.
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!
That's true, but the same is true for the NBA.
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
#32Caffeine 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…
Starbucks drip coffee contains a lot more caffeine per serving than espresso... I have seen figures that a venti size medium roast can be 280mg total, while single espresso shots might be as little as 70mg.
https://www.kickinghorsecoffee.com/en/blog/caffeine-myths-es...
Re: The game-day caffeine routine that powers the NBA's most frequent flyers
#33I'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.
And when they do have to travel in a way that would impact their performance, it's major news (in the baseball world) for days. I remember when the Detroit Tigers had 4 games within 48 hours in different timezones [1] and the MLB got some serious criticism for it. The Tigers had to pull some of their best (and highest paid) players due to lack of sleep.
[1] https://www.freep.com/story/sports/mlb/tigers/2017/05/26/det...
Re: The game-day caffeine routine that powers the NBA's most frequent flyers
#34> "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…
As others have mentioned, the league optimizes for this somewhat. For instance: East Coast teams often go on a West Coast road trip where they will play in Denver, LA, Portland, Utah, etc. for a stretch. Also, often times West Coast teams play in Brooklyn (Nets) and Manhattan (Knicks) in a short period of time.
Re: The game-day caffeine routine that powers the NBA's most frequent flyers
#35> 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…
I don't think this is the case. I played on a B/C-tier Overwatch team as the main DPS (mostly Tracer) for several months and I can tell you there is a stark difference in snap-reflex between non-caffeinated and caffeinated states, regardless of sleep amount. There were many other things I did to improve my reflexes and rote mechanical skill in general, but none made as much an obvious difference as caffeine.
Re: The game-day caffeine routine that powers the NBA's most frequent flyers
#36Portland travels further than any other team because "Portland is the only team in the Pacific Northwest."
(Geez I'm not a sports fan but who moved the Sonics to Oklahoma without telling me?)
Anyway yeah look at this map and you can see it: Portland is both near the geographic extent (like Boston, Miami & LA), and relatively far away from its adjacent cities (unlike those 3).
Re: The game-day caffeine routine that powers the NBA's most frequent flyers
#37Caffeine 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.
[deleted]
Re: The game-day caffeine routine that powers the NBA's most frequent flyers
#38Portland travels further than any other team because "Portland is the only team in the Pacific Northwest." (Geez I'm not a sports fan but who moved the Sonics to Oklahoma without telling me?) Anyway yeah look at this map and you can see it: Portland is both near the geographic extent (like Boston, Miami & LA), and relatively far away from its adjacent cities (unlike those 3). https://sportemind.files.wordpress.com/20…
Clay Bennett. Over a decade ago.
Re: The game-day caffeine routine that powers the NBA's most frequent flyers
#39> 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…
I don't think this is the case. I played on a B/C-tier Overwatch team as the main DPS (mostly Tracer) for several months and I can tell you there is a stark difference in snap-reflex between non-caffeinated and caffeinated states, regardless of sleep amount. There were many other things I did to improve my reflexes and rote mechanical skill in general, but none made as much an obvious difference as caffeine.
I did competitive fencing and we would chug caffeine during tournaments. Almost moreso for the metabolism boost though.
Because that latter effect you can build a huge tolerance for, you had to stay off of caffeine for everything but tournaments.
Re: The game-day caffeine routine that powers the NBA's most frequent flyers
#40> 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 a…
(gross simplification below)
I've done a little research on caffeine, and as far as wakefulness goes (not touching the other effects here), it works by binding to the same protein receptors the body uses to decide if it is tired. Body unable to get signals that should trigger a feeling of tiredness == Body not conscious of being tired.
BUT the body responds by producing more of those receptors, making it more likely that it will start getting signals of fatigue even when the signaling proteins are at a low concentration. Thus, regular caffeine takers will find they need caffeine to feel a "normal" level of tired. It takes roughly 2 weeks without caffeine for a regular caffeine taker to achieve a no-caffeine level of such receptors.
Now, how much of the above is pseudo-science? Great question. FWIW, when I did the research the sources seemed credible enough (naming actual proteins, referring to actual studies, not just giving me animated drawings and hand-waving details) and it at least correlates with my anecdotal data - I don't use caffeinated drinks or supplements as a normal rule but do use them for special events (unusually late night/early morning) and have found the wakefulness effects to be effective unless I slip up and get too lax in my definition of "unusual". I also never thought caffeine was a big deal ( I never knew withdrawal symptoms, for example ) until I stopped using it as a general rule and my sleep improved notably. That said, my sleep quality is generally terrible so it doesn't take much to improve it.