[talkSAFT]

I think I am missing something here, but what?

We play Arsenal tomorrow and the Sham Tuesday and we hear it's not fair they have an extra days rest.  This is something you hear from every team in the league, but when you look at the reality, is it really that bad?

We currently sit second in the league (after 20 games) for ground covered at 1247 Km  or an average of 124.7 km for each of our 10 outfield players.  This seems accurate if you look at our top individual Rodriguez  who has covered 125 Km (5th in the league).  If you divide the average 124.7 down that comes to 6.235 km per player, per game.

Now I understand that they do this at a high tempo, but something does not feel right when you consider Blind Dave did 7 marathons, on 7 continents, in 7 days, running 295.154 km

If we break that down, Dave ran for 35 hours equating to 5 hours a day or 300 minutes a day. I understand Dave was running non-stop, while "average player" would be stop and start but that does not take away from these figures.

Dave:                           42 km / 300 minutes = 140 metres a minute average
"average player":      6.235 km / 90 minutes = 70 metres a minute average

So not only was Dave covering twice the distance every minute, he was doing it for 300 minutes instead of 90 minutes.  He also did it for 7 days on the trot, on a total of only 20 hours sleep and for all those overseas internationals who have to be rested after playing abroad, he also flew over 35,000 miles over those 7 days.

So what am I missing about these professional athletes being so tired if they have to play 2 games in 3 days?

...and we're talking about a bloke in his 50s! Dave Heeley s/b knighted. When I think of some of the twats who have been knighted (eg our other own Lenny Henry) I really despair.