sycasey;842256811 said:
It just seems stupid to me. Not the idea of believing in God, but the idea that if there is a God he is out there deciding who wins football games. If that's the case, why even play the game? Why even take the interview? Obviously you had nothing to do with it. What about the other team? Did God just put them there in order to crush their dreams? (Well, in the case of Cal football that last one might actually be true.)
That's not to say I dislike any and all invocations of God in post-game conversation. Players from both teams getting together for a quick post-game prayer? No problem with that. Players thanking God for giving them the physical gifts to succeed in their sport? No problem with that either.
Players claiming God wanted them to win the game? Yeah, I've got a problem with that. I think Winston's comments are more along those lines, but I will grant that he just might have phrased things awkwardly in the heat of the moment.
You raise an interesting Theological issue of "Pre-determination" (also known as "Pre-destination".
FYI, Many Christians do not believe in Pre-determination for the reasons you mention. It takes away all Free Will. How can God condemn a person to Hell or allow a person into Heaven for what he/she has done, if that person had no Free Will to choose to do good or evil.
Which leads to my pet peeve by ostensibly religious persons asking after some horrific event: "How could God allow such a tragedy to occur".
God must allow it, so that we can express our Free Will.
Bringing this back to Cal: Imagine Sandy hiring Sonny Dykes and micro-managing his choice of recruits, his selection of the starting line up, his substitutions, play selection, and even the use of time-outs and challenges to calls by the referees. Then firing Sonny after a terrible season.
Why Sandy would be just like, like ....... Al Davis.