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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