Tim Thomas, goalie for the NHL’s Boston Bruins and one of only two Americans on the 2011-12 team, chose not to attend the annual White House meet & greet / photo-op / hug fest event for the Stanley Cup Champions, held yesterday (Jan. 23, 2012), stating he believes “…the Federal government has grown out of control, threatening the Rights, Liberties, and Property of the People.”
Although he also states Republicans and Democrats are equally to blame, I’m guessing as a native of economically-depressed, crime-ridden, downtrodden Flint Michigan known to include a variety of patriotic images on his goalie masks (such as the the eagle, various flags, the military, etc.) he probably doesn’t vote Democrat, and certainly didn’t for Obama.
Naturally, there’s been plenty of reaction, both good and bad about a (presumably) politically conservative, widely popular sports figure refusing to visit a radically liberal, losing popularity political figurehead: Within the first 24 hours, the search engine behemoth Google! reported over 320 results. (Personally, I would have gone, if only to snag a souvenir… perhaps a Presidential Seal, or a “W” key from the keyboard).
Frankly, I don’t see what all the fuss is about, as Boston sports fans have experienced this situation before. Remember the Red Sox visiting President George W. Bush at the White House after winning the 2007 World Series? Recall the relentless media firestorm when General Manager Theo Epstein and Left Fielder Manny Ramirez didn’t attend, or visit wounded troops at Walter Reed Medical Center afterward along with the President? (For Manny, it was the second no-show: In true “Manny being Manny” style, he didn’t attend the 2004 celebration either).
Having trouble recalling the media firestorm? Hardly surprising: Google! reports only 16 results published in the 24 hours after Manny’s 2008 no-show.
I’ll reserve my judgment regarding the wide difference in published reactions – but, I’d love to hear yours!
Thanks for reading!
1Google query: +(“tim thomas”) +(whitehouse|”white house”) +(attend|appear|declines|skips|refuses) with date range 1/23/2012 thru 1/24/2012. –> 324 results
2Google query: +(“manny ramirez”) +(whitehouse|”white house”) +(attend|appear|declines|skips|refuses) with date range 2/27/2008 thru 2/28/2008. –> 16 results
