Clayton at it again!! - New England Patriots Forums

KDPPatsfan85 · 03-23-2009, 04:33 PM

why is this guy still on the air?

EAST COAST BIAS TO INFLUENCE SCHEDULING?
Posted by Mike Florio on March 23, 2009, 3:36 p.m.

John Clayton of ESPN.com reports that one of the developments possibly emerging from the league meetings could be an alteration to the current scheduling formula.

Per Clayton, the NFL will consider a change that would prevent non-West Coast teams playing the four AFC West teams from having to travel both to Oakland and to San Diego in the same season.

Last year, the Jets and the Patriots were required to play in both of these AFC West cities. Clayton specifically points to a late-season upset of the Jets at Oakland, which supposedly was influenced by the fact that the New York team spent excessive time last season riding in the thing for which it is named.

We’ve previously been told that scheduling falls squarely within the purview of the Commissioner. However, the Commissioner realizes the importance of seeking input on matters of this nature from the 32 people who employ him.

That said, why should East Coast teams get special consideration? West Coast teams routinely have to travel from the Pacific time zone to the Eastern time zone.

Last year, the Raiders had to go to Buffalo, New Orleans, Baltimore, Miami, and Tampa. The Chargers had to do the same, with Pittsburgh in place of Baltimore and London in place of New Orleans.

Are the Raiders or Chargers whining about it?

The move, if it happens, smacks of the East Coast bias that we always claim doesn’t exist. Since we live on the East Coast.

UPDATE: As a reader points out, Clayton’s contention that the Jets lost in Oakland as part of a late-season swoon is flat wrong. Unless October 19 is part of the “late season.”

ProFootballTalk.com - EAST COAST BIAS TO INFLUENCE SCHEDULING?

Pujo · 03-23-2009, 04:51 PM

This has nothing to do with Clayton, those remarks are Florio's. For once, Clayton is just giving us the facts.

Deus Irae · 03-23-2009, 04:59 PM

Quote:

The Jets, meanwhile, played at San Diego and then had to travel to Oakland three weeks later. In December, New York visited San Francisco, returned home to play Buffalo, then went back to the coast to play Seattle. The Jets were upset by the Raiders as part of a late-season swoon that prevented them from making the playoffs.

He's got the relative timing of the games right otherwise, so I suspect it was just a matter of not having an editor to catch the obvious gaffe. It's not as if putting in the wrong team (should have been the 49ers or Seahawks mentioned, but they aren't the subject of the story) really changes the point of the discussion.

ScottieC · 03-23-2009, 05:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KDPPatsfan85

why is this guy still on the air?

EAST COAST BIAS TO INFLUENCE SCHEDULING?
Posted by Mike Florio on March 23, 2009, 3:36 p.m.

John Clayton of ESPN.com reports that one of the developments possibly emerging from the league meetings could be an alteration to the current scheduling formula.

Per Clayton, the NFL will consider a change that would prevent non-West Coast teams playing the four AFC West teams from having to travel both to Oakland and to San Diego in the same season.

Last year, the Jets and the Patriots were required to play in both of these AFC West cities. Clayton specifically points to a late-season upset of the Jets at Oakland, which supposedly was influenced by the fact that the New York team spent excessive time last season riding in the thing for which it is named.

We’ve previously been told that scheduling falls squarely within the purview of the Commissioner. However, the Commissioner realizes the importance of seeking input on matters of this nature from the 32 people who employ him.

That said, why should East Coast teams get special consideration? West Coast teams routinely have to travel from the Pacific time zone to the Eastern time zone.

Last year, the Raiders had to go to Buffalo, New Orleans, Baltimore, Miami, and Tampa. The Chargers had to do the same, with Pittsburgh in place of Baltimore and London in place of New Orleans.

Are the Raiders or Chargers whining about it?

The move, if it happens, smacks of the East Coast bias that we always claim doesn’t exist. Since we live on the East Coast.

UPDATE: As a reader points out, Clayton’s contention that the Jets lost in Oakland as part of a late-season swoon is flat wrong. Unless October 19 is part of the “late season.”

ProFootballTalk.com - EAST COAST BIAS TO INFLUENCE SCHEDULING?

These guys get paid millions of $$'s to play a child's game - Blaming a defeat on ANYTHING other than poor play and execution is whining and should be considered poor sportsmanship.

Unless it's a Patriot game and then it's clearly a conspiracy and probably Goodell's fault.

Oh yea, Clayton's a tool.

***BradyFTW!*** · 03-23-2009, 05:09 PM

Ok, so who wants to explain the concept of "time zones" to Florio? As someone from New England who now lives in Cali, I'm far more experienced in this than I'd like to be, and it's easier to travel east than it is back west.

Going west-to-east, the only real problem is waking up kinda late, which can be easily solved with an alarm clock. Going east-to-west, everything gets thrown out of whack. You wake up too early, can't get back to sleep, and end up completely out-of-sync and tired by late-afternoon. That said, these are pro athletes, and the 'grueling' travel didn't seem to affect the Pats too much this past season. I don't really see the point in restricting travel to either coast, but if you're going to do it for one, east-to-west is the right one.

FWIW, the jetstream also flows west-to-east, making cross-country flights in that direction considerably faster than the opposite.

BadMoFo · 03-23-2009, 05:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KDPPatsfan85

why is this guy still on the air?

EAST COAST BIAS TO INFLUENCE SCHEDULING?
Posted by Mike Florio on March 23, 2009, 3:36 p.m.

John Clayton of ESPN.com reports that one of the developments possibly emerging from the league meetings could be an alteration to the current scheduling formula.

Per Clayton, the NFL will consider a change that would prevent non-West Coast teams playing the four AFC West teams from having to travel both to Oakland and to San Diego in the same season.

Last year, the Jets and the Patriots were required to play in both of these AFC West cities. Clayton specifically points to a late-season upset of the Jets at Oakland, which supposedly was influenced by the fact that the New York team spent excessive time last season riding in the thing for which it is named.

We’ve previously been told that scheduling falls squarely within the purview of the Commissioner. However, the Commissioner realizes the importance of seeking input on matters of this nature from the 32 people who employ him.

That said, why should East Coast teams get special consideration? West Coast teams routinely have to travel from the Pacific time zone to the Eastern time zone.

Last year, the Raiders had to go to Buffalo, New Orleans, Baltimore, Miami, and Tampa. The Chargers had to do the same, with Pittsburgh in place of Baltimore and London in place of New Orleans.

Are the Raiders or Chargers whining about it?

The move, if it happens, smacks of the East Coast bias that we always claim doesn’t exist. Since we live on the East Coast.

UPDATE: As a reader points out, Clayton’s contention that the Jets lost in Oakland as part of a late-season swoon is flat wrong. Unless October 19 is part of the “late season.”

ProFootballTalk.com - EAST COAST BIAS TO INFLUENCE SCHEDULING?

So what exactly did John Clayton do, smart guy.

***ctpatsfan77*** · 03-23-2009, 05:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KDPPatsfan85

why is this guy still on the air?

EAST COAST BIAS TO INFLUENCE SCHEDULING?
Posted by Mike Florio on March 23, 2009, 3:36 p.m.

John Clayton of ESPN.com reports that one of the developments possibly emerging from the league meetings could be an alteration to the current scheduling formula.

Per Clayton, the NFL will consider a change that would prevent non-West Coast teams playing the four AFC West teams from having to travel both to Oakland and to San Diego in the same season.

Last year, the Jets and the Patriots were required to play in both of these AFC West cities. Clayton specifically points to a late-season upset of the Jets at Oakland, which supposedly was influenced by the fact that the New York team spent excessive time last season riding in the thing for which it is named.

We’ve previously been told that scheduling falls squarely within the purview of the Commissioner. However, the Commissioner realizes the importance of seeking input on matters of this nature from the 32 people who employ him.

That said, why should East Coast teams get special consideration? West Coast teams routinely have to travel from the Pacific time zone to the Eastern time zone.

Last year, the Raiders had to go to Buffalo, New Orleans, Baltimore, Miami, and Tampa. The Chargers had to do the same, with Pittsburgh in place of Baltimore and London in place of New Orleans.

Are the Raiders or Chargers whining about it?

The move, if it happens, smacks of the East Coast bias that we always claim doesn’t exist. Since we live on the East Coast.

UPDATE: As a reader points out, Clayton’s contention that the Jets lost in Oakland as part of a late-season swoon is flat wrong. Unless October 19 is part of the “late season.”

ProFootballTalk.com - EAST COAST BIAS TO INFLUENCE SCHEDULING?

Why not prevent trips to both Seattle and San Francisco as well?

Come to think of it, as I've pointed out before, the four WC trips in one season can only happen once every 24 years under the current schedule. . . .

patsfaninpittsburgh · 03-23-2009, 08:29 PM

The only complaint I have heard is the west coast teams and the 1 pm games. Frankly, scheduling the west coast teams for a late game seem reasonable.

If teams want to "back to back", they should simply ask.

***ALP*** · 03-23-2009, 10:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by patsfaninpittsburgh

The only complaint I have heard is the west coast teams and the 1 pm games. Frankly, scheduling the west coast teams for a late game seem reasonable.

If teams want to "back to back", they should simply ask.

they willl...now that the genius did it last season