What better topic than food as we prepare to feast on Thursday?

Star-Advertiser videographer Kim Yuen and I recently visited the University of Hawaii to check out the expanded training table breakfast fare, since the NCAA now allows "unlimited food and snacks."

Well, unfortunately for schools with money woes like UH, unlimited is limited by what you can afford. In the competitive picture, the NCAA’s good intention of leveling the dining table has further tilted the playing field.

"I thought the food would be fancier because it’s for athletes," said Yuen, a fairly recent college graduate. "But it’s kind of what you normally would get with your meal plan at the regular cafeteria."

Yes, we’re definitely not talking omelettes made to order, eggs Benedict and mimosas.

But the athletes in the so-called "minor" sports are getting some things they really need … convenience and calories. And the fact that they have a training table for the first time provides a measure of respect.

"It’s fair," said Rachel Toliver, a sophomore triple-jumper and sprinter. "I think I can speak for every athlete when I say we’re grateful."

Folks might think a fourth meal is a luxury, but it really is important for athletes … especially those who burn massive numbers of calories with twice-a-day workouts, like swimmers and runners.

This time of year, senior Jasmine Alkhaldi and other swimmers are in the pool four hours a day, six days a week.

"When you’re training that much you really have to replace the energy," she said.

Prior to the training tables making food available at different times, many athletes just skipped meals because of workout, class and dining hall schedule conflicts.

It’s one less expense for student-athletes who don’t have a lot of money as it is. Let’s just say 99.9 percent of college athletes can’t surreptitiously sell their autographs for a little spending cash, and I’ve never encountered one that fortunate at UH (although Colt Brennan probably could have).

And that brings us back to how the new NCAA rule is at once a blessing and a curse for schools like UH.

The new training table meals will cost UH between $300,000 and $375,000 this year, athletic director Ben Jay said. If they were done year-round for all teams it would be close to $1 million, he added.

"And that’s with Sodexo (the company that handles UH’s food service) helping us keep the costs down," Jay said. 

This is just part of the reality of being a Division I athletics program now. Many mid-major programs like Hawaii are trying to figure out how they are going to be able to pay for such items, especially cost-of-attendance stipends.

UH can’t provide steak and lobster for its athletes, like what football strength and conditioning coach Gary Beemer said was offered up when he played football at Florida. (As a walk-on, though, the rules then didn’t allow for Beemer to have training-table status.)

"We know all about the deficit … maybe we can’t compete with the Big Five (conferences, in spending)," said women’s basketball coach Laura Beeman, a former USC assistant. "But we’re headed in the right direction."

Reach Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com or 529-4783. His blog is at hawaiiwarriorworld.com/quick-reads.