USD Football 1993

TurningThe Tables

"What you eat before the game isn't necessarily what you'll be working off during the game," Arce said. "The most important thing in a pre-game meal is to get enough food so they won't be hungry but not too much so they'll get sick." With a variety of food, there's room to accommodate individual quirks. Rogers, who formerly worked at USC under Larry Smith, said Smith insist- ed the pre-game meal include maca- roni and cheese. "Didn't matter if it was breakfast, lunch or dinner," Rogers said. "He said, 'I can't think of anybody who doesn't like macaroni and cheese."' That, Gilbertson can understand. But, in a sport that popularized the term All-America, the All-America meal of steak and a baked potato dripping with sour cream or butter

has gone the way of the wishbone, and the old-timers wax nostalgic in t he face of progress. The All-

"They may have some big buns," he said. In the Pacific-IO Conference, for instance, schools can provide players with one meal per day. If they don't learn how to eat r ight during that meal, they may eat poorly the rest of the day-if at all. "You have so little contro l over that," Gilbertson said. "Sometimes, th e player who has to balance his meals also has to worry about balanc- ing his budget." College football players require 2- 1/2 times the calories of an average male, and Coleman recommends they eat frequently and simply throughout the day, snack ing on carbohydrates like cereals, bagels, muffins, pretzels, graham crackers, even milk shakes. During training table meals, players can sample foods like pasta, chicken and rice, the foundation for hearty meals cheap to buy and easy to prepare. In outlining a sample week's worth of meals, Rogers says he serves red meat only once, steak or hamburger on Monday. On Tuesday, the entrees could in clude fis h and skin less c hi cken. On Wednesday and Thursday, the team would load up on carbohydrates- pasta, pizza, rice and various casseroles-wi th the meal 48 hours before game time the critical one in building the energy reserve for Saturday's game. On Friday, Rogers might se rve a Thanksgiving dinner starring low-fat turkey. If the pre-game meal includes breakfast meats, they're also low-fat, most likely turkey bacon or turkey sausage. But most schools skip meats entirely, with popular items including pancakes, waffles and French toast, fruits and vegetables, assorted breads and cereals, and milk and juice. For those players too nervous to eat, Rogers wi ll shove a sports drink- a can containing 360 calories worth of carbohydrate-into their hand on the way out the door.

What yo1t eat before thegame im't neces- sarily whatyo1t'll be working offduring thegame. -JohnArce

America meal in 1993? Said Gilbertson, "Pasta and vegeta- bles, wouldn 't you think? I think we're all resigned to that." •• •

Bill Shaikin writes for the Riverside (CA) Press-Enterprise, for which he formerly covered USC and currently covers the California Angels. He's the author of Sport and Politics: The Olympics and the Los Angeles Carnes.

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