
The game-day caffeine routine that powers the NBA's most frequent flyers - cohaagen
http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/25667397/the-game-day-caffeine-routine-keeps-portland-trail-blazers-nba-most-well-traveled-team-running
======
jly
> 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 by caffeine consumption.

NBA basketball players are in a tough position because they often need to peak
between approx. 7-10pm (local time), and they frequently travel between 4 time
zones. Most individuals would be naturally winding down alertness during those
hours, even with good sleep patterns.

~~~
sov
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.

~~~
thatoneuser
Caffeine is obviously s performance enhancing drug. The ncaa has limits to how
much caffeine you can have in you while performing, I’m sure other entities do
as well.

~~~
dmoy
You need to drink a _lot_ of caffeine (or pills I suppose) to go over the
limits (unless they're a lot lower now?). We're talking like on the order of a
gallon of coffee or something.

------
trynewideas
Lampooned on Deadspin with a headline that won't fly at some workplaces:
[https://deadspin.com/its-fucking-coffee-1831493396](https://deadspin.com/its-
fucking-coffee-1831493396)

I'm mostly amused that anyone thought "people who live and work in Portland
frequently drink coffee" was some sort of revelation.

------
40acres
One of the trainers mentioned in this article, Ben Kenyon, is actually a
neighbor of mine. He lives in the same apartment complex. I haven't seen him
since the season started but when I do he always seems like he's running at
150%. I have no idea how these guys do it.

But I can attest to the benefits of straight black coffee with grass fed
butter, it takes a while to get used too and you can't overdo it (you'll get
the runs) but it provides a noticeable energy boost while also being a bit
satiating from the fat.

------
johnvanommen
When I was a road warrior at Hewlett Packard, one of my coworkers bought me an
aeropress. Kinda changed my life to be honest. Being able to make legitimately
great coffee no matter where I am is fantastic.

Up until that point, I had a lot of weeks where I'd be traveling 20-30 hours a
week, and drinking garbage coffee. Great coffee makes working so much easier,
and an aeropress isn't much larger than a soda can. I basically pack the
aeropress, a few filters, and a canister of freshly ground coffee beans. I'm
able to make coffee that rivals any good coffee shop, and it takes up nearly
no space in my luggage.

------
Scea91
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.

~~~
personlurking
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](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...](https://www.forbes.com/sites/anthonykosner/2014/01/05/why-the-best-
time-to-drink-coffee-is-not-first-thing-in-the-morning/)

Chronopharmocology and caffeine:
[http://neurosciencedc.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-best-time-
for...](http://neurosciencedc.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-best-time-for-your-
coffee.html)

~~~
walrus01
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...](https://www.kickinghorsecoffee.com/en/blog/caffeine-myths-espresso-vs-
drip)

~~~
drcharris
Full details of caffeine amounts are here for those who are interested.

[https://globalassets.starbucks.com/assets/94fbcc2ab1e2435985...](https://globalassets.starbucks.com/assets/94fbcc2ab1e24359850fa1870fc988bc.pdf)

Recommended daily caffeine limit is usually quoted at around 400mg for an
adult, although there's not a lot to back that number up.

~~~
walrus01
Wow, a venti is up to 340mg caffeine. Anecdotal sample size of one, anything
more than 300mg in one serving crosses the threshold from 'super alert and
productive' to 'jittery, nervous and feeling uncomfortable'.

------
rdiddly
Portland 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/2014/05/nba-
map.jpeg](https://sportemind.files.wordpress.com/2014/05/nba-map.jpeg)

~~~
dlgeek
Clay Bennett. Over a decade ago.

~~~
bitdeveloper
Still a contender for History's Greatest Monster 10 years later.

------
vertline3
Dellavedova of the Cavaliers, drank tons of coffee before games during the
finals series against the Warriors when Kyrie was out. He played above his
perceived ability, though the Cavaliers ultimately lost.

~~~
wbronitsky
To add a bit more color to the above thought:

He also collapsed after one of the games from dehydration, had to be taken to
the hospital, and was not effective in any games afterwards. Maybe he had a
little too much energy?

------
chiefalchemist
> "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 algorithm. That is, once you get past home team
advantage, perhaps stops / miles in the previous week is worth +/\- X points.

~~~
jamrawk24
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.

~~~
perl4ever
"teams on the 2nd game of a back to back road trip win just 32% of their
contests"

Well, ok, but since there is presumably an overall home court advantage, 32%
(or 37%) isn't in comparison to a baseline of 50%, but something less. I found
a page that suggests the median NBA team wins a little under 40% of its road
games. There are teams that do fairly good at home that average around 33% on
the road.

------
smarks
How’d they get the water temperature to 220°F? Doubtful the kettle was
pressurized. Were they below sea level?

~~~
treve
Aren't espresso machines pressurized?

~~~
freehunter
Earlier in the article it mentions an electric kettle and a french press. My
guess is the reliability of a thermometer on an electric kettle (especially
one that travels that much) is suspect to begin with, and might read 8F high.

------
rurban
Much better than this coffee routine is an afternoon nap.

My sport has similar playing times as NBA players, our games are 2-3/week from
7pm-11pm, and coffee at 6pm is by far not that good as a nap from 3:30 to 5,
and drinking a lot of water (1-2 liter) with sugar and electrolytes during the
games. Coffee is actually problematic, it causes dehydration. Slightly better
than coffee would be beer for pure endurance sports (running, swimming,
cycling) which don't need much attention.

------
aczerepinski
You can tell these kids aren't serious about coffee yet because they dilute it
with creamer.

------
whalesalad
If you are optimizing for pure caffeine delivery I'm a little surprised that
they go through so many lengths to grind and brew boutique coffee when there
are caffeine pills available. Much easier to deliver a proper dose as well.

------
CaliforniaKarl
I wonder if any of them have experimented with cold brew yet. Personally, my
preference is Funranium Labs'
([http://www.funraniumlabs.com](http://www.funraniumlabs.com)) Black Blood of
The Earth (BBoTE). The upside is that you don't need to carry around alot of
apparatus: You can get a good Americano equivalent with 3:1 or 4:1 BBoTE to
hot water. Or you can have it straight.

One downside is that it's supposed to be stored cold; but it can handle 2 days
of room-temperature (considering how it is shipped), so maybe it's not too big
of an issue. Another downside is most of the BBoTE offerings are single-
origin, so things go out of stock from time to time, but there are some blends
available: Death Wish is one, and the proprietor has been known to do custom
batches of Dunkin Donuts and other blends.

------
bluedino
While teams in the NFL only play one game per week, there are a few games
played in England each year. That can be an 8 hour time difference for west
coast teams.

~~~
CaliforniaKarl
The process of making the NFL schedule has been discussed here before (see
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14192378](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14192378),
for example), and IIRC they do try to give teams some time off after extra-US
games (so they can adjust, time-wise), either on their own or because teams
ask for it.

------
nhebb
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.

~~~
jontas
Baseball teams tend to play multiple games in a row against the same team--I'm
guessing this is why they travel fewer miles.

~~~
freehunter
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...](https://www.freep.com/story/sports/mlb/tigers/2017/05/26/detroit-
tigers-seeking-rest/350757001/)

~~~
masonic
_Twice_ last season, the Giants had to play in Denver (5200 feet altitude)
traveling from other cities with no off day. One of these was a day game
immediately following a night game in Chicago.

