(NOT) EXERCISING THE OPTION

Every evening after dinner, Pam Perkins, the team's general manager, slides the next day's schedule under everyone's door. Meal times, departure times, meetings, any media responsibilities ... your basic schedule. Every so often a word appears that brings a smile to the recipients' faces: optional. And when that word optional appears, almost no one chooses to exercise it. So was the case this afternoon for the team lunch, the meal room a virtual ghost town save a few staffers. And what did they choose to do instead? Exit polls indicate most players used the time to catch up on sleep.