Can our team overcome the massive amounts of travel?

[HawkWow]

I've often wondered about how luxurious team travel is. I would think comfort would be paramount if not mandatory. Certainly there is a good share of large men aching in pain on any given flight. With that, I had pictured a 757 (or so) with those great, international first class seats that recline into a bed. Especially the Hawks plane considering the wealth (and generosity) of our beloved owner. I googled seahawk team plane....and there must be a mistake. All images suggested the plane is just a regular plane. Inclusive of coach seats and a MALE flight attendant (looked like Joey Galloway). I find this hard to believe. I understand Mr Allen is a businessman and even with his wealth, he don't just throw money around but...Unsure if this link will work, but this is what I found....and I found it disturbing considering the time and miles that must be traveled by the team.. http://blog.seahawks.com/tag/travel/

They used to use Paul Allen's customized 757, but I believe he sold it 4-5 years ago. They chartered through Hawaiian Airlines for a few years and now use Delta - so they are flying regular commercial airliners. The difference is, they drive right up to the plane on the tarmac and don't have to deal with checking in, security lines, waiting for baggage, etc. They get off the plane and take buses right to the nice team hotels they stay in. All in all, it's much better than what the normal traveler experiences.

FYI, I was flying back from Martha's Vineyard and followed the old Seahawks 757 into T.F. Green Airport in Providence, R.I. -- they were flying in for a game against the Patriots during the 2004 season. It was pretty cool... I taxied right past the plane, parked and secured my plane at the general aviation ramp, and kind of mosied on over to get close to the team loading up on buses.

That must have been way cool. Not as cool as you flying your own plane..but still very cool. I fly to Asia frequently and it seems to me there is only like 20 1st class seats (JAL). Do you think some of the players actually fly coach then? Seems barbaric, all things considered. Mr. Allen should make this announcement half way to Atlanta "Win the superbowl and next year your seats recline all the way back". I would play my ass off.

 

[FlyingGreg]

I've often wondered about how luxurious team travel is. I would think comfort would be paramount if not mandatory. Certainly there is a good share of large men aching in pain on any given flight. With that, I had pictured a 757 (or so) with those great, international first class seats that recline into a bed. Especially the Hawks plane considering the wealth (and generosity) of our beloved owner. I googled seahawk team plane....and there must be a mistake. All images suggested the plane is just a regular plane. Inclusive of coach seats and a MALE flight attendant (looked like Joey Galloway). I find this hard to believe. I understand Mr Allen is a businessman and even with his wealth, he don't just throw money around but...Unsure if this link will work, but this is what I found....and I found it disturbing considering the time and miles that must be traveled by the team.. http://blog.seahawks.com/tag/travel/

They used to use Paul Allen's customized 757, but I believe he sold it 4-5 years ago. They chartered through Hawaiian Airlines for a few years and now use Delta - so they are flying regular commercial airliners. The difference is, they drive right up to the plane on the tarmac and don't have to deal with checking in, security lines, waiting for baggage, etc. They get off the plane and take buses right to the nice team hotels they stay in. All in all, it's much better than what the normal traveler experiences.

FYI, I was flying back from Martha's Vineyard and followed the old Seahawks 757 into T.F. Green Airport in Providence, R.I. -- they were flying in for a game against the Patriots during the 2004 season. It was pretty cool... I taxied right past the plane, parked and secured my plane at the general aviation ramp, and kind of mosied on over to get close to the team loading up on buses.

That must have been way cool. Not as cool as you flying your own plane..but still very cool. I fly to Asia frequently and it seems to me there is only like 20 1st class seats (JAL). Do you think some of the players actually fly coach then? Seems barbaric, all things considered. Mr. Allen should make this announcement half way to Atlanta "Win the superbowl and next year your seats recline all the way back". I would play my ass off.

It was very cool....

I think the coaches/team execs sit in 1st Class and the players are in "gen pop". But there is plenty of room on the Airbus or 767 models they usually fly so they all can have their own row of seats if they want.

 

[HawkWow]

Are you a commercial pilot Greg? (if you don't mind me asking).

 

[Renohawk]

I would have been worried, but this team just erased 30 yrs worth of losing playoff games on the road, so I'm banking on this very young team to overcome it. You have to remember our team is very very young and the trip shouldn't effect much.

 

[falcongoggles]

10am games, regardless of where they are played, are more of an issue than any amount of travel. Not everyone is an early riser. Seriously, why do some people find long flights within the continental U.S. to be stressful? Give me a break, you sit in your chair at home for 7 hours on a Sunday watching football, you can get up and walk to the bathroom and back as often as you want on a flight to stretch your legs.

Say it with me, everyone; jet lag or "long flights" within the continental United States being an issue is psychosomatic. The players fly on Friday, and have two nights of sleep before their east coast games. Whatever issues this team has on the road or on the east coast, spending an extra few hours in a first-class seat on an airplane isn't one of them.

Okay, because you're not affected by it, it doesn't exist. Thanks for clarifying.

 

[RolandDeschain]

Okay, because you're not affected by it, it doesn't exist. Thanks for clarifying.

No, that's not what I'm saying at all. I'm saying it's psychosomatic. You think there is no correlation between the Seahawks being a tougher team and playing better on the road? It's all in the head. This is referring to travelling within the continental United States only, by the way. You definitely get affected whether or not you want to if you're flying from Seattle to London, or something. 3 hours is just not a difference that makes a difference unless you let it.

Think of it as being the same phenomenon with that one person at work we all have that manages to call in sick every single month of the year, and they'll go home early because they're getting sick yet they sound completely normal and have no sniffles, and they're back at work the next day, perfectly fine. Hypochondriac...Psychosomatic "jet lag" on a 3-hour difference...Same thing. I'm not saying it doesn't affect you, (you in a plurality sense, not you specifically) I'm saying it if does affect you, it's because you let it.

Mind over matter.

 

[VivaEfrenHerrera]

...3 hours is just not a difference that makes a difference unless you let it.

That's just simply untrue. Sorry, it just is. Hell, there's plenty of information out there showing that just the one-hour switch to daylight savings time has a negative effect on productivity, traffic accidents, etc. Is it the end of the world or the most important factor governing behavior? No. But it is a factor.

 

[CallMeADawg]

Its playoff football. They are football players in the NFL. If you think for one second that an airplane ride actually changes anything...

 

[RolandDeschain]

...3 hours is just not a difference that makes a difference unless you let it.

That's just simply untrue. Sorry, it just is. Hell, there's plenty of information out there showing that just the one-hour switch to daylight savings time has a negative effect on productivity, traffic accidents, etc. Is it the end of the world or the most important factor governing behavior? No. But it is a factor.

Productivity is also affected by the number of people that are hypochondriacs in this country. That doesn't mean it's real.

 

[scipiobronze]

I think our road woes have more to do with our players partying until the wee hours of the morning the night before, than it does with an actual inability to play football on the road. Hopefully they learned their lesson in Miami.

I could see how that happened in Miami, but how about Detroit and St. Louis?

When I look at how we lost the Mia, Det, and Stl games, I can't help but think there is a fatigue factor involved. In the Mia and Det games, our offense showed up and got us the lead in the 4th quarter. Our defense showed up too and stifled the opponent for most of the game, only to give up multiple scoring drives in the 4th quarter.

 

[themunn]

...3 hours is just not a difference that makes a difference unless you let it.

That's just simply untrue. Sorry, it just is. Hell, there's plenty of information out there showing that just the one-hour switch to daylight savings time has a negative effect on productivity, traffic accidents, etc. Is it the end of the world or the most important factor governing behavior? No. But it is a factor.

Yes, but you're missing the key point.
It's not the actual travel that's the issue, but the change in body clock.
If teleportation existed and you could travel from Seattle to Miami in 5 seconds flat, those problems would still exist.

 

[scipiobronze]

You might say that we overcame our morning game woes somewhat in the Chicago game.

Yet even in that game, we had an inexplicable lapse on defense after RW's go-ahead drive at the end of the 4th quarter. With less than 30 seconds left, Cutler throws a hail mary to Brandon Marshall while our defense is in Prevent and Richard Sherman tries to intercept the ball instead of bat it down!!!

That could have easily resulted in another morning road game Loss and would have extended the pattern established in the Mia and Det games.

 

[mikeak]

It is not the 24 hours total that is an issue in my mind. It is loosing two days...... So they traveled home late Sunday night. Probably very tired Monday - not very productive. Must affect the coaching staff as well.

Then they fly to Atlanta on Friday - there goes that day. It is what 6 hour flight time or something like that. It is getting to the airport, hotel, unpacking etc - no matter how you cut it there goes a day of practice and focusing on the game. Sure the coaches can continue to work pretty much the same way and RW for that matter.......

Meanwhile Atlanta coaches turned off the games on their TV turned around in their plush chairs and had another pot of coffee served up as they cleaned off half the table and threw away all the redskins game and really started focusing on the Seahawks. If players were off Monday / Tuesday at least several of them were able to focus on the team at hand instead of dragging themselves out of bed. On Friday they will have a great day of practice and mentally focus on the game.

It matters - question will be how much

 

[falcongoggles]

I'm banking on the fact that we are fresh and in game form and the week off will bite Atlanta like it bit us. No one has mentioned it yet, but there are definitely advantages to staying in game mode/form. Atlanta finished with a subpar game and then took a week off. That should count for something.

 

[RolandDeschain]

It's not the actual travel that's the issue, but the change in body clock.
If teleportation existed and you could travel from Seattle to Miami in 5 seconds flat, those problems would still exist.

Psh. I bet if you flew people in circles over eastern Washington for 6 hours under the guise of travelling to the east coast, most of the people that have "jet lag" normally would still have it there, if you successfully masked the fact that you landed in WA somewhere rather than the east coast. It's totally psychosomatic.

 

[Sarlacc83]

It's not the actual travel that's the issue, but the change in body clock.
If teleportation existed and you could travel from Seattle to Miami in 5 seconds flat, those problems would still exist.

Psh. I bet if you flew people in circles over eastern Washington for 6 hours under the guise of travelling to the east coast, most of the people that have "jet lag" normally would still have it there, if you successfully masked the fact that you landed in WA somewhere rather than the east coast. It's totally psychosomatic.

It's psychosomatic in the sense you have an internal clock. This is why if you go to a different time zone, you're going to be hungry at a different hour, usually the one which corresponds to your normal eating time back home. In the same way, your sleep schedule gets disrupted, which is why when I go back to the Midwest I generally am really awake at 11PM. Because my normal bedtime is 10PM PST, so I'm not sleepy for another 2 hours. However, it's a real thing and it's not just mind over matter. Your body is 'tuned' and all the more for an athlete.

 

[keepertd]

Heres my crazy worry though...... FACT: Atlanta does have a lot of strip clubs with attractive females.... I would definitely be enticed if I was a player... lol

Just ask former choir boy Eugene Robinson... :shock:

I think they call the area buckethead or something along those lines. The best one was called the Gold club. We were in there one nite (years ago) and Dennis Rodman and several other high profile playas were in there. It was clearly mob owned and most of the girls were Playboy /Penthouse models. It got closed for being...uh, Mob owned. Cheatah was another good one if anyone is headed that way.

buckhead...and be careful in buckhead...its not exactly the nicest part of town..and on a serious note to anyone coming in town for the game, if your looking for a place to stay, look at staying in conyers (like $40 a night hotels), you hop on 20W for a few hit 285 and get off at indian creek and just ride MARTA ($5 round trip and free parking) into the city and you get off right next to the dome

 

[mikeak]

buckhead...and be careful in buckhead...its not exactly the nicest part of town..and on a serious note to anyone coming in town for the game, if your looking for a place to stay, look at staying in conyers (like $40 a night hotels), you hop on 20W for a few hit 285 and get off at indian creek and just ride MARTA ($5 round trip and free parking) into the city and you get off right next to the dome

retweet that to RW so he doesn't get lost partying the night before........

Stayed at the Hyatt down the street cab to bars, cab back - wasted at the bars buckhead was good times. walked around a bit been in worse places for sure

 

[RolandDeschain]

It's psychosomatic in the sense you have an internal clock. This is why if you go to a different time zone, you're going to be hungry at a different hour, usually the one which corresponds to your normal eating time back home. In the same way, your sleep schedule gets disrupted, which is why when I go back to the Midwest I generally am really awake at 11PM. Because my normal bedtime is 10PM PST, so I'm not sleepy for another 2 hours. However, it's a real thing and it's not just mind over matter. Your body is 'tuned' and all the more for an athlete.

Different from staying up until 1am instead of 10pm on a Friday night and sleeping in Saturday morning how?

 

[keepertd]

buckhead...and be careful in buckhead...its not exactly the nicest part of town..and on a serious note to anyone coming in town for the game, if your looking for a place to stay, look at staying in conyers (like $40 a night hotels), you hop on 20W for a few hit 285 and get off at indian creek and just ride MARTA ($5 round trip and free parking) into the city and you get off right next to the dome

retweet that to RW so he doesn't get lost partying the night before........

Stayed at the Hyatt down the street cab to bars, cab back - wasted at the bars buckhead was good times. walked around a bit been in worse places for sure

bah we'll make sure to get him back on sunday by about 4pm :th2thumbs: Buckhead isn't the worst place in GA but there is alot better places to be, GA has changed quite a bit in the past couple years