Tasser’s Take: Bruins’ goalie is a distraction

This week, Tim Thomas made headlines when he became the latest athlete to express his… This week, Tim Thomas made headlines when he became the latest athlete to express his political views and decline the prize of all prizes, an invitation to meet the president of the United States at the White House.

While sport is often said to hold political weight (see Mandela, Nelson; Ali, Muhammad; and U.S. Hockey Team, 1980 for examples), few individual athletes (save for “The Greatest”) have held enough political sway that it mattered. Thomas, the feisty, mustachioed, brick wall of a goalie of the Stanley Cup Champion Boston Bruins (he became only the second American to win the Conn Smythe Trophy for NHL Playoff MVP) was the only player that did not show up to the annual meet-and-greet with the president that is afforded every championship team in major American sports.

Athletes today are more heavily scrutinized than ever, be it their own fault — via one ridiculous and grammatically incorrect tweet after another — or the fault of the media (the ever-present eye of the camera builds them up and illuminates them like few others in this culture). Thomas is a particular athlete whose political affiliation is rather well known — he is a conservative and has stated that he aspires to meet Glenn Beck (no comment on this).

Thomas listed on his Facebook page his reasoning for not attending the meeting — because after all, where else is a better place to state your political beliefs? Perhaps on his hockey mask, where he has the symbol of the Gadsden flag (a coiled rattlesnake accompanied by the words, “Don’t Tread on Me”). On said Facebook page, Thomas stated,

“I believe the Federal government has grown out of control, threatening the Rights, Liberties, and Property of the People. This is being done at the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial level. This is in direct opposition to the Constitution and the Founding Fathers vision for the Federal government. Because I believe this, today I exercised my right as a Free Citizen, and did not visit the White House. This was not about politics or party, as in my opinion both parties are responsible for the situation we are in as a country. This was about a choice I had to make as an INDIVIDUAL. This is the only public statement I will be making on this topic. TT.”

I’m not at all sure if Thomas is trying to prove something or just express his opinion. Either way, at least he actually had a reason for skipping the White House visit, unlike Pittsburgh Steeler James Harrison, who snubbed former President George W. Bush in 2006 and President Barack Obama in 2009. Harrison’s reasoning was much more, uh … well, you decide. About his skipping the trip, he said, “If you want to see the Pittsburgh Steelers, invite us when we don’t win the Super Bowl. So as far as I’m concerned [Obama] would have invited Arizona if they won [the Super Bowl].” Yes James, that’s how this thing works.

However, if I were one of Thomas’ teammates, I would have told him to suck it up and be with his team. Trying to make a point with an absence and a Facebook post only becomes a distraction. Not everybody gets to meet the president, after all. If Thomas wanted to make a point, he should have gone and talked to the guy and maybe even aired his grievances.

I’m not saying that this route would work any better than the player’s chosen one. But really, discussion has to be better than a Facebook post, right?