The biggest storyline coming into the NFL’s slate of kickoff games isn’t the Super Bowl rematch on Wednesday. It’s not if A.J. Brown and Drake Maye will kick things up a notch for New England; it’s not if Sam Darnold and the Seattle Seahawks can run it back. It’s not the matchup between the San Francisco 49ers and the heavy-Super Bowl-favorite Los Angeles Rams.
None of that; that’s kid stuff. Instead, we’re talking about time zone adjustment.
Rams and 49ers chose completely opposite Australia travel plans
That’s right, baby. First NFL week in six months and we are talking about the optimal travel schedule for the 49ers and Rams and which team properly managed the time zone change of going to Australia before Week 1 — in short, the 49ers left a week early and have packets of strategy on how to acclimate, while the Rams are just showing up the day before. We’re so back. How could anything be more exciting than this?
We’ve completely jumped the shark on this story. I have articles with sleep doctors commenting on the plans, I’m listening to Bill Simmons and Cousin Sal talk about if they think the differing travel plans have affected the spread … this is like the seventh circle of NFL brain rot hell. I don’t know what’s real anymore, I don’t know if I should change my trip to the Austrian Alps this spring so that I arrive a week before I actually want to be there. Should I just halo jump on top of the mountain and call it a trip?
Literally how is there disagreement on this? I feel like I’m in the 1890s when we weren’t even clear on if germs existed. You’re telling me these billion-dollar franchises all had their best people look into this issue and came away with the complete opposite opinions? This is peak sports media, pure unsubstantiated, illogical disagreement. Everyone thinks they have the answer, yet evidently nobody does.
The Rams-49ers winner will be declared right whether the science agrees or not
So here’s what I, a totally uninformed 23-year-old blogger, think about the matter: I’ve never been to Australia to Asia, but I’ve done a good bit of transatlantic travel, I’ve flown to Hawaii from the east coast, I’ve done the all-nighter 12-hour bus rides. I think time zone shift is very simple: some people can handle it, others can’t. Sometimes the adrenaline keeps you churning on the first day even if you didn’t really sleep the day before, other times you can’t keep your eyes open. Sometimes it’s about will power, sometimes it’s about making sure you eat enough. Ultimately, it just kind of sucks until it doesn’t. Traveling is so worth it, though, so just deal with it.
Now, the important part: I have no idea how any of that applies to a game of American football, an event so packed with adrenaline that I can’t imagine anyone will be falling asleep. If you were blessed with all-knowing powers, would you have to bet on if these two strategies will or will not impact the game? I’d put my house on no.
That doesn’t mean we’re not going to sports media take-culture the living crap out of this afterward, though. Whoever wins, and god forbid someone blows the other team out, will immediately win the time zone strategy war and their tactic will henceforth be adopted by all future American sports teams that have to do this. Does that mean they’re right? Does any of this mean anything whatsoever? No, no and wow, this is all very stupid. And they said analytics had ruined sports debates — ha!
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