NHL Hockey (Yes, on the Politics Page)

FWIW I think most of the ire for this needs to be directed at Patel/Trump, not the US men's team. I'm not suggesting that they are blameless, and they have made clear over the last year or so their affinity for Trump. But I'm confident if, say, Barack Obama had asked to come party with the USA Olympic basketball champions in the locker room during his presidency, they would have welcomed him with open arms. The difference is that Obama never would have done something so obviously improper and tacky.

It is an absolute disgrace that Patel treats his job as FBI director as nothing more than a platform for whatever social events he wants to do, and that he seeks to divert attention from his disastrous job performance through the USA hockey team. I don't expect a group of 20somethign hockey players to have astute political takes or to not include a number of right-leaning guys. I do expect the goddamn FBI director to not use taxpayer money so he can live out his fratboy fantasy of being part of the team.
 
FWIW I think most of the ire for this needs to be directed at Patel/Trump, not the US men's team. I'm not suggesting that they are blameless, and they have made clear over the last year or so their affinity for Trump. But I'm confident if, say, Barack Obama had asked to come party with the USA Olympic basketball champions in the locker room during his presidency, they would have welcomed him with open arms. The difference is that Obama never would have done something so obviously improper and tacky.

It is an absolute disgrace that Patel treats his job as FBI director as nothing more than a platform for whatever social events he wants to do, and that he seeks to divert attention from his disastrous job performance through the USA hockey team. I don't expect a group of 20somethign hockey players to have astute political takes or to not include a number of right-leaning guys. I do expect the goddamn FBI director to not use taxpayer money so he can live out his fratboy fantasy of being part of the team.
This all just makes me sad.

Trump ruins so many things. Hard to "stay out of politics" when trump constantly inserts himself into every corner of our lives... so much for "small government" 🙄
 
Be careful assuming donbosco is referring to SOTU. I made that mistake and @finesse got maaaaaaaad!
What a doofus. Is there any language or medium that you actually comprehend? Amazement is not mad. It's amazement that you not only have stupid ideas but you are literally unable to understand a one line post you responded to. That's some serious dumbassery,guy.
 
Yep. I've seen all the coverage of State of the Union violence. :rolleyes:
It is pretty obvious they declined because they were the butt of the President’s sexist joke that men’s team thought was hilarious but also the truth behind the joke - the women had already won the gold and no congrats had come from Trump despite his voluminous posting and no invite had come until after the men’s team also won gold.

Trump and MAGA are delighted the women’s team are no-shows — proves they are snowflakes with no sense of humor. MAGA loves women’s sports to the extent they involve controversies that feed transphobia or offer a great white hope or apparent racial conflict, otherwise women’s sports are the butt of jokes.
 






That’s the most sincere invitation ever! Hard to believe anyone would turn that down. LOL.
 


“… “People are so negative out there and they are trying to find a reason to put people down and make something out of almost nothing,” Jack Hughes told reporters outside a Miami nightclub late Monday night.

“I think everyone in that locker room knows how much we support them, how proud we are of them.”

… “We are sincerely grateful for the invitation extended to our gold medal-winning U.S. Women’s Hockey Team and deeply appreciate the recognition of their extraordinary achievement,” said USA Hockey in a statement to The Athletic. “They were honored to be included and are grateful for the acknowledgment.”

During an interview on “Good Morning America” on Tuesday alongside Jack, his brother Quinn Hughes, a U.S. defenseman, said they were “excited” to go to the State of the Union.

“It’s something you don’t get to do (every) Tuesday,” Quinn Hughes said. “It’s going to be special for us.” He added that that they were “extremely happy” for the American women’s national team while alluding to “a lot going on social media surrounding our team and their team.”

… NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly told The Athletic on Monday that players can decide on an individual basis if they want to accept Trump’s invitation and that it’ll be up to their individual teams whether or not to grant permission.

… In Miami, Jack Hughes said the team is “super excited to go to the White House.”

“Everything is so political, we’re athletes, we’re so proud to represent the U.S.,” he said. “And when you get the chance to go to the White House and meet the President … That’s so patriotic.”…”
 


“… “People are so negative out there and they are trying to find a reason to put people down and make something out of almost nothing,” Jack Hughes told reporters outside a Miami nightclub late Monday night.

“I think everyone in that locker room knows how much we support them, how proud we are of them.”

… “We are sincerely grateful for the invitation extended to our gold medal-winning U.S. Women’s Hockey Team and deeply appreciate the recognition of their extraordinary achievement,” said USA Hockey in a statement to The Athletic. “They were honored to be included and are grateful for the acknowledgment.”

During an interview on “Good Morning America” on Tuesday alongside Jack, his brother Quinn Hughes, a U.S. defenseman, said they were “excited” to go to the State of the Union.

“It’s something you don’t get to do (every) Tuesday,” Quinn Hughes said. “It’s going to be special for us.” He added that that they were “extremely happy” for the American women’s national team while alluding to “a lot going on social media surrounding our team and their team.”

… NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly told The Athletic on Monday that players can decide on an individual basis if they want to accept Trump’s invitation and that it’ll be up to their individual teams whether or not to grant permission.

… In Miami, Jack Hughes said the team is “super excited to go to the White House.”

“Everything is so political, we’re athletes, we’re so proud to represent the U.S.,” he said. “And when you get the chance to go to the White House and meet the President … That’s so patriotic.”…”

This is where the political naivete of the athletes hurts them. There's a big difference between the fairly ordinary "trip to the White House" and being brought to the SOTU as a political prop for the President. They talk about it "not being political" while failing to see that they're being used in a blatantly political way. I'm not really surprised that many of the hockey players don't appreciate the difference, though.
 
I thought about posting this on the Winter Olympics thread, but... nah.
Then thought it should be a Sports-related topic, but... nah.
This is pure T politics. Taken from another source SB Nation:

"There wasn’t much that was normal about Team USA winning gold at the Milan Olympics. It was the first time in over a decade that NHL players competed at the Winter Games, providing the world an opportunity to see how far U.S. hockey had come in development, and how much it had caught up to Canada. That wasn’t normal. The United States beat a loaded Canada team stacked with the world’s best players, primarily by utilizing team play and counter-offense. That wasn’t normal. They partied in the locker room with the director of the FBI after the game, and gleefully giggled at President Trump’s sexist joke. Sadly, that was normal — par for the course for a sport often at odds between the players who compete, and those the NHL is trying to court as fans.
In one fell swoop Team USA managed to alienate a huge portion of the current NHL fanbase in the United States, undermine many of the initiatives the league has been trying to make, and turn off the precise segment of the sports market hockey has been trying so desperately to gain. A potentially legendary bag-fumbling by stars of a sport who have a vested interest in seeing it grow in popularity, increasing reach and revenue in the process.
To be clear: The issue isn’t that Team USA took a celebratory phone call from the President of the United States. That has been happening for decades, and it’s woven into the fabric of the Olympics. Where this all got profoundly bizarre was both the nature of the team’s call with Trump, and their partying with FBI director Kash Patel — who was in the locker room for … reasons?"



Had I known the U.S men's team would be sucking Patel's d**k and laughing at Trump's misogynistic joke over the phone I would have most assuredly been pulling for the Canadians in the Men's Gold Medal round
Im glad I didnt watch.
 
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