Scheduling…
As fans of a sport that takes place almost entirely on a different continent, several time zones removed, it seems churlish to complain about unsociable kick-off times.
In fact, the majority of the games in the NFL take place at times which suit us on the other side of the pond.
The main slate of noon games (CST) kick off at 6pm over here, followed by a few in the later window of 9:05-9:25pm. All of which works for us, we can settle and enjoy the games knowing that even in the case of overtime we will get to bed at a decent hour.
Then, there are Prime Time games, taking place on Thursday, Sunday and Monday nights.
It is a scheduling plan I can only imagine was put in place to cause maximum disruption for non-US fans.
The Thursday night slot is manageable, if you work Monday to Friday you only need to make it through one more day before the respite of the weekend. The Sunday night slot is not disastrous, an afternoon nap on the Sunday can make all the difference.
Then there is Monday, having only just started the working week the decision of whether or not to ruin your sleep schedule for the week is always tough. After the decision has been made, from my experience people fall in to one of two camps.
1. The Alarm Setters
This is the neutral option.
The people who try to get to bed for a decent time and set an alarm in time for kick-off.
From my experience there are two potential issues here.
You will either not sleep at all, which defeats the purpose of going to bed early. Alternatively you will be in such a deep sleep that when your alarm goes off you will be groggy, confused and finally irrationally angry with yourself and the NFL Gods for putting you in this position.
2. The Power-Through Mob
This speaks for itself, rather than trying to get some sleep ahead of the game you simply stay awake until kick-off.
The undoubted biggest perk of this is that when the game starts you will be awake and ready to watch the action unfold.
Unfortunately as Newton’s third law of motion states, “for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction”.
As the game continues and approaches the fourth quarter, the lack of sleep will hit you harder, with every play seemingly taking longer and longer.
Aftermath
Whether you fall into the first or second camp the aftermath is the same.
The ever decreasing moments between the game finishing and your day starting start to cause panic, you will ask yourself if it is even worth going to back to bed.
When you do emerge from your two or three hour slumber the day ahead seems insurmountable.
Whether it is a caffeine boost, a power nap or energy drinks which have been made illegal in some countries you will definitely need a coping mechanism to survive.
On Monday night the Minnesota Vikings play the Chicago Bears. I do not know if I am going to set an alarm or try to power through but one thing is for certain – I would not miss it for anything.
