President Obama Hosts The Bruins At The White House, Minus One Key Player

It's been my experience in life that nothing brings down the mood at a party or during a meal like a discussion of politics or religion. I'm tolerant of any beliefs in either but I have a very short fuse for people that feel the need to inject those subjects in every conversation.

By all accounts, the Boston Bruins had a wonderful day at the White House on Monday as they were hosted by President Barack Obama. They took the tour like every other championship team and got stand on stage while Obama detailed their 2010-11 title run and the good deeds of the franchise in the community. They also presented Obama with a custom Bruins jersey (No. 11 like Gregory Campbell).

Besides the fact of where it was located, it was not a political event, at all. Unfortunately B's goaltender Tim Thomas had another view of the proceedings since he was the only team member not to attend. The lame decision was made even more pathetic when Thomas issued a statement through his Facebook account defending his move. Everybody knows that goalies are naturally flaky, it's a lonely position (like kickers in the NFL) but this is a new low.

Ugh. I don't expect much from professional athletes. I know that most of them are way too self-absorbed and not well-informed to provide any type of interesting commentary on basically anything (look at Twitter every day). This won't make me dislike Thomas or stop rooting for the guy but it certainly doesn't help his cause.

I had a feeling that he was a religious freak since his kids go to a Christian elementary school in Peabody that no normal family would choose. Thomas is awkward in interviews and not well-spoken but I never dreamed that he would make such a dumb decision like this. On a day when it should have been all about the team and what they accomplished, he shifted the focus to himself (for whatever reason). The ironic part is that he's one of only two Americans (Steven Kampfer is the other) on the team; do you think all the Canadien and Europeans care as much about a trip to the White House? Probably not but at least they realized what the day was all about.

Strictly on timing, he's lucky that the Patriots are in the Super Bowl otherwise this story would have a lot more legs. Likewise, he's going to the All-Star game in Ottawa this weekend but if there were a busier schedule this week, I think he'd get grilled more by the media and rightfully so.

Stick to stopping the puck Tim, nobody needs to know your political opinions if they are as poorly constructed as today's fiasco leads one to believe.

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Bruins Scheduled To Visit President Obama At The White House On January 23

One of the cooler things in American sports is when championship teams (college and professional) get to visit the White House sometime in the next year after they win their respective title.

It was announced today that the Boston Bruins will visit Barack Obama at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue on January 23. As you would expect, they'll be in town already since they play the Washington Capitals the next night in DC. It'll be a busy couple days since they play in Philadelphia the day before the ceremony.

Teams usually give the President a personalized jersey (wonder what they do with all of them?) and Obama is expected to talk about the Boston Bruins Foundation which has raised and donated more than $7 million to various charities across the six New England states.

Hopefully NESN or the NHL Network will do some behind the scenes feature on this trip since it should be a memorable one for the Black & Gold. I'm not even sure if it was the custom back in 1972 (the last time the Bruins won a Cup) to visit the White House afterwards. Regardless, it's been a long time coming for them.

Can somebody please make sure that Tyler Seguin isn't late to it and that Brad Marchand is wearing a suit rather than going shirtless or wearing an Affliction shirt? Thanks in advance.

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Obama and Celtics provide great hope for the future

There's a reason I've never written more than a passing joke about politics. Nothing brings down a party like a biased political view. However, last night was a historic moment in American history and it cannot be ignored: Barack Obama, an African-American democrat was elected as the 44th President of the United States. He overwhelmingly defeated republican nominee John McCain (349-163 in the electoral college) to become the first black president in our nation's history.

The Boston Celtics (3-1) also beat the Houston Rockets (3-1), 103-99 at the Toyota Center in a game that will be quickly forgotten.

All five Celtics starters scored in double figures as Boston bounced back from an awful game Saturday night vs. the Pacers and knocked off a team that's getting a lot of undeserved hype.

Ray Allen led the C's with 29 points, five rebounds and five assists. Kendrick Perkins outplayed Yao Ming and posted 15 points, seven rebounds and four blocks. Kevin Garnett had 14 points and 11 rebounds while Paul Pierce added 13 points and nine rebounds. Rajon Rondo notched 10 points, seven rebounds and seven assists.

As it was much of last season, Boston's bench was fantastic last night. Glen Davis scored nine points and Eddie House tossed in eight.

With the addition of possibly the most overrated player in the NBA-Ron Artest-the Rockets have been many experts' pick to make some noise in the West. I guess they've conveniently forgotten that Tracy McGrady has never gotten out of the first round and Yao Ming is injury-prone.

McGrady did his part last night with 26 points and six assists. For one night, Luis Scola was second banana with 21 points and nine rebounds. Artest managed 15 points and seven rebounds while Yao was held to eight points and seven rebounds. Aaron Brooks had 12 off the bench for Houston.

Boston was up 28-22 after the first quarter and 58-53 at the half. The Rockets took the third (25-23) but the Celtics held on in the fourth (22-21) despite Ray Allen fouling out and Tony Allen fouling McGrady taking a three when the Celts were up by four late in the game.

The Green shot 51.9% from the floor and Houston shot 39.1%. Boston also had five more boards (46-41) and four more blocks (5-1).

Boston goes to Oklahoma City tonight to play Kevin Durant and the Thunder. Back-to-back games, especially on the road, are never easy but the Thunder are one of the NBA's worst teams.