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SDN_stilldoesnothing t1_j6d59pe wrote

When you have a home game you get the following:

  • You spend the night in your own bed. And you can spend time with your family
  • You can relax and drive yourself to the the arena at your own leisure.
  • Staff and teams are familiar with the souroundings.
  • You are better supported by the extended team staff.
  • Home locker rooms and facilities are well staffed and emanates are everywhere.
  • You will have the support from the home fans.

when you are traveling team.

  • You usually need to travel the day before, sometimes two days before. Planes, trains, buses.
  • You are spending a night in a hotel in places you are unfamiliar with..
  • You are on a strict schedule because you are traveling as a team.
  • you are getting to the stadium where you might not know where everything is.
  • Your locker room is likely the bare minimum the home team needs to provide to you.
  • you have to deal with a hostile crowd.

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A funny story about this was when teams came to play the Boston Celtics or Bruins at the Boston garden. The Boston garden was a dumb, but the visitor locker rooms were apparently disgusting. Mouse and rat traps, filthy and cold. But as the legend goes Boston Garden staff would aways sabotage the hot-water tank so visiting teams had to either have a cold shower or leave the stadium gross and sweaty. And in the middle of a Boston winter that is bad.

Also, in sports like NFL football or European Soccer/football teams usually travel for an away game. Then come straight back home. The follow week they will host.

in sports like Baseball, Hockey and Basketball teams usually go on road-tips where they play at several away stadiums in a row traveling from city to city. Sometimes playing back to back nights. Sometimes a team will have a game that will end at 10pm and they will be going straight to the airport to get the next city.

doing this for days and days on end can be EXHAUSTING when you are playing a rested home team with players that got to sleep in their own bed and eat a home cooked meal.

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