East Coast/West Coast Bias a Bunch of Hogwash

A lot of "insightful" commentators on the pregame shows or on talk radio programs around the nation (think Mike Greenberg of ESPN) have been making a big stink about how West Coast teams have a disadvantage when they travel to play a 1 PM ET game against an Eastern Time Zone team. This has given rise to much talk that the East Coast teams get an unfair advantage, because the West Coast team is having to adjust to a time zone change, and they wind up playing a game at 10 AM their local time. This year, both West divisions are playing both East divisions, so there are a lot of instances where West Coast teams are traveling to play a team on the East Coast, and vice versa. Talk of a bias is total hogwash. They are overlooking a couple of important facts: First and foremost, the four West Coast teams (San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle and Oakland) are all pretty much a joke. Seattle and San Diego each had high expectations, but they've both been ravaged by injuries, although the Chargers have made a ... (link)