Can help make one person's life better then that's worth more than a National Championship. The program has made many peoples lives better. And it's not just by winning games.

So what's more likely to have a positive impact on the young players and young fans? Attending a fireside together or the players eating hamburgers and watching a movie or having team meetings?

The team is there to play a football game and do everything they can to win it. But life is a lot more than a football game. If, in the process of playing football, activities such as the firesides can make a difference to players and fans then it's well worth it. A fireside isn't going to detract from the on-field performance of any player. If anything, the interaction with teammates and fans enhances their desire to perform well in the game.

A few claim that attending and participating in a fireside the night before a game will hurt a player's performance in the game because the spiritual experience doesn't prepare the players well for playing football. What? Then we better quit recruiting guys who are going on missions because two years of that kind of activity and they'll never be able to compete again.

If I had to choose between the two, winning football games or improving lives, it would be an easy choice. Thankfully, I'm sure that missions, church activities and firesides have a positive impact on players lives. BYU players and fans are very lucky to have firesides, they get a spiritual experience and football.