For some reason, the common answer to “which time zone is the best for sports” is the central time zone….but forget that, it’s easily the West Coast.
In case anyone questions my qualifications on this matter, I grew up in Jersey and Boston and currently live in Phoenix…a state that for some reason doesn’t observe daylights savings which means we are both Mountain and Pacific time zones. So I think I know what I’m talking about.
Let’s forget that NFL fans on the East Coast have to stay up past 11pm for primetime football, NBA playoff games, and the World Series. The benefit of the West Coast is that March Madness and NFL Sundays start in the early AM.
March Madness is the most highly anticipated sports event of the year and for those on the East Coast…you have to wait until 12pm for the first game. Us on the West Coast, we wake up, kill a couple hours…and boom, breakfast and basketball. And the fact the last game ends around 9pm PST makes it that much better.
Now let’s talk NFL Sunday, when fans on the East Coast have to kill an entire morning waiting for games to start. Instead, we get to wake up, run a couple errands and boom, football kicks off at 10am. Our “sports Sunday” runs 10am to 8pm rather than 1pm to 11pm. I can actually get a good nights sleep before work on Monday.
Beyond that, come baseball season, we can actually enjoy both the East Coast games and the West Coast. I’m a diehard Red Sox fan (welcome back Alex Cora) and my wife is a S.F. Giants fan. We love getting home in time for the last couple innings for the Sox (usually start at 4pm) and then transitioning into the 7pm first pitch of the Giants.
So is here is why the West Coast is the best coast when it comes to sports….we don’t have to stay up until midnight for games. I don’t mind my “sports watching day” getting an early start if it means I don’t have to stay up late. Especially since I enjoy a Bloody Mary or two on Sundays.
