Bruins' Tim Thomas skips White House visit because he disagrees with Obama

Typical of the fawning jock-sniffing bullshit he (or any POTUS) should never ever spend even one single second on.

Tough shit. He's an employee of the citzens. He should act like one.

 

Considering Thomas is the primary reason any of them got to meet Obama anyway, plus the fact he's a grown-ass man, he can decide for himself whether to go.

 

Absolutely the decision to go or not go is an exercise of free speech, but if he really wanted to make a point, he should have ramped it up and pulled the walk-off routine I describe above.

If Thomas doesn't show up, there can be hedging, waffling and ambiguity about schedule conflicts, team and league PR flunkies spinning partial apologies, etc etc.

If you leave him grasping for air, wheel on your heels and stalk out the door in front of all the cameras, there's not the slightest bit of ambiguity whatsoever.

 

Is Thomas American?

 

Yes, he's from Michigan ... went to UVM. He released a statement:

http://www1.whdh.com/news/articles/sports/bruins/12006505555628/thomas-a-no-show-at-white-house-releases-statement/

 

Thomas is one of two Americans on the team.

The biggest problem with all of this is it gives the dumbshits of the world the impression that someone gives a shit about their political beliefs. It's like post-9/11 when any baseball player with a microphone in front of him was asked to expound on the meaning of it all. It does a disservice to the jocks and to the people forced to listen to them.

 

The NHLPA should hit the freaking roof if there is any attempt by the league or team to "explain" or apologize in any way for Thomas's actions -- or especially to penalize him.

 

Well, at least he didn't say anything really stupid, like Luke Scott did.

 

It's funny this should come up now. Just last week I read a story about Greg Norman. Clinton, at the time he was still in the White House, contacted Norman and asked him if they could play a round of golf together when Clinton was visiting Australia. It was the same time Norman (who lives most of the time in Florida) was going to be in Sydney for a tournament.
Norman said he was going to decline the invitation because he had mostly Republican views and did not care for Clinton's politics.
But Norman was also friends with the elder Bush and called him to ask his opinion on what he should do. Bush told him that regardless of your political views, you should respect the position of President of the United States, and most definitely accept the invitation.
Norman did and has developed a true friendship with Clinton. This story was in regard to last weekend's golf tournament, the Humana in Palm Springs, which is taking the place of the Bob Hope Desert Classic. Clinton's charitable foundation is involved and he called several prominent pro golfers to ask them to participate in this fading event, which he is trying to build up again. Norman played, so did Mickelson. Most of the big names do not.

 

Maybe his only shoes were flip flops.

 

James Harrison approves.

 

He's a hockey player. WGASA what he thinks.