Appearances

I can argue the rising Chaplain issue both ways.

First off, CrossCyed has a nice summation of the issue, and an interesting interview witht he Chaplain at Georgia. Like him, if the Chaplain-To-Be-Named-Later takes a similar role, I'm cool with it.

I also understand that Gene comes from The South, where God and Family and Sports are all kind of swirled together, much more so than up here. That's what Gene is used to, and he probably finds the unswirled environment of Ames as foreign as I might find the swirled world of Central Texas. Fine.

I imagine that many of the homes Gene is recruiting in would be comforted knowing there is a Chaplain on staff, even in unswirled Iowa. Familiarity breeds comfort, which may bring linebackers who can run like the wind. Super.

The problem comes in the appearances to Joe Civilian. You and I understand that the Chaplain, like the Head Coach, are not paid with tax or tuition dollars. The track coach might be, but that's a discussion for another day. Joe Civilian can't separate the Private and Public monies when it comes to college athletics, and just as Joe hates seeing a coach make seven figures while he takes a second job to pay for his kid's tuition, he also won't understand why a "Religious Ambassador" is on the football team's dime. Not to mention the question about the swim team's Chaplain, or lack thereof, that will eventually be brought into the discussion. Just imagine the stink when someone points out that the football Chaplain makes x times what a prison Chaplain makes. I can see the reference in The Paper Younkers Depends On now- "The State's Highest Paid Clergy"- ugh.

Hopefully Gene understands that this is one part of his program that will have to be sold to unswirled Iowans, especially if wins come slower than people expect.

Peterclone