Paleoeco

It doesn't matter if God cares if there's a Chaplain in the room; what matters is that it's a coercive environment, and by it's religion-specific focus, exclusionary. Also, the owner of Sanford Stadium and Butts-Mehre is the University of Georgia. Just as we don't allow the County High School to hire a Chaplain and hold prayer service in the library, we shouldn't allow it in the locker room in any official capacity.

Yes, they can. Will they, though? My Magic 8 Ball says "Outlook Not So Good".

There's no claim here that secular humanist morality is "superior". This isn't an argument about what's better or worse. But you're wrong about the "public funds", part. By offering a chaplain a facility, be it an office space, a conference room or whatever, to engage in religious worship, that is offering public funds. Those facilities are paid for by public funds. As for the voluntary participation, that's only true in a nominal sense. Young men, living away from home for the first time, engaged in a team sport....voluntary participation is not truly "voluntary". There's a VERY strong sense in a locker room to be a part of the team, and if the team is going having prayer or going to church, there's a VERY strong pressure to conform and participate. That's not genuinely voluntary. I am not saying that Richt or any of the other coaches hold it against any young man that doesn't participate. We don't see it; we don't hear about it; we genuinely don't know. But let's be honest, God doesn't care if UGA wins the SEC or the Dak Prescott runs for 12 touchdowns in a game. God doesn't take sides in football. Religion can be a personal thing and teammates can collectively huddle and pray together; I have no problem with that. The problem, IMO, is when the university provides a chaplain of a particular faith to be a part of the circle. Paid or unpaid, voluntary or not, that creates an improper use of public facilities to evangelize and worship for a particular faith. How many of those defending the chaplains would be OK with an Imam leading a Muslim prayer in the locker room? Why wouldn't we want young men in college to be exposed to a full breadth of religious and spiritual experiences? And for those of you who haven't read the ESPN article on Arian Foster, please do so. It gives an interesting insight into just how "one-sided" the faith presented in the locker room really is.

I'm not suggesting that he not be punished. But if UGA felt that his "crime" was worthy of two games and filed for reinstatement, then the NCAA says, "nope, there's $3,000 worth of materials, so that's 4 games," then the burden of proof is on the NCAA to show their cards. On what evidence do they believe that 4 games is required, when UGA looked at the same evidence and said "the rules would indicate 2".

What evidence does the NCAA have that the UGA investigation didn't find?

If that's the case, then the fans should still demand transparency and see it for themselves. Because if that's the case, then it's all kabuki theater out of the UGAAA and that's entirely unacceptable.

This is unreal. There is no way UGA would have moved forward with a reinstatement request if there was evidence of $3,000 over multiple years. The NCAA didn't investigate and discover this. So, what the NCAA is saying is that UGA did a commendable investigation, but the NCAA's non-investigation revealed "evidence" leading to a 4 game suspension. I say UGA should demand to see the NCAA's "evidence" and should publicly release both - demand transparency and expose the NCAA for the spineless punks they are.