Pregame meals are largely up to the discretion of the coach. When Frank Arnold coached at BYU he was so particular about diet, he ordered water for the players, set at room temperature. If there was ice in the water he would send it back.
Utah Football Coach Jim Fassel once said if a kid is used to burgers and fries, changing his diet on game day won't work. "He'll play better on the stuff he's used to," contended Fassel.Diet has, uh, come up again, thanks to an incident at Weber State in which BYU forward David Wolfe dashed into the locker room and threw up during a game.
The Cougars were on defense when Wolfe began to feel ill. Before you could say "cheeseburger with onions," Wolfe had made a charge up the tunnel. Weber State scored a basket on the play, and ended up winning by just two points.
"He just had a sick stomach. He went into the dressing room and, well, he barfed. It cost us a hoop, at the least. When you get beat by a couple of points, that kind of thing counts big," said BYU Coach Ladell Andersen.
This isn't the first time Wolfe has had problem in that area. Last summer during BYU's European tour he became ill and threw up on the court.
Wolfe's problem, according to the coaches, may not have technically been illness, but rather what, and how, he's been eating before games. "He's got to watch what he eats. We've been letting them eat off the menu. Maybe we'll have to go back to ordering a specific meal for them," said assistant coach Carl Ingersoll.