Sorry, but I don't find firesides a comparable to any other teams down time. It's counter productive.
BYU's basketball and football teams often have a problem with being mentally prepared for games, having attitude, etc. You have seen plenty of athletes return from missions and lack the drive to play like they used to. As sad as it is, I've seen it enough to believe it's a real problem for our sports teams.
This seriously compounds the problem.
I'm glad you don't know if they are detrimental or not, but if I believed they compound the problem I'd be upset.