The Pittsburgh Penguins have truly made a mess of their White House visit. Sidney Crosby was quoted saying that their attendance was “not about politics”. But the actions— or rather inactions—that took place during their visit seemed to contradict his comments on the situation.
The Pittsburgh Penguins Have Made A Mess of Their White House Visit
The Penguins and Crosby made their visit to the White House Tuesday morning, something many thought they should pass on. Regardless of whether you think that was a wise decision, there were a few moments during their visit that raised eyebrows.
When asked about any political connection regarding the decision to accept the invitation, Crosby was quoted before the visit saying, “From my side of things, there’s absolutely no politics involved. Hopefully it stays that way. It’s a visit we’ve done in the past. It’s been a good experience. It’s not about politics, that’s for sure.”
It seems that Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan shared the same viewpoint as Crosby, saying this: “We’ve stated clearly from the get-go that our visit to the White House is not political. Nobody’s choosing a side. Nobody’s taking a stand. We are simply honoring our championship and the accomplishments of this group of players over this season or the last two seasons.”
Two Glaring Reasons
It doesn’t seem that the hopes of Crosby and Sullivan have come true. With the actions that took place during the visit, it seems to be the opposite.
The first somewhat puzzling occurrence is that Crosby did not pose for photos with President Donald Trump. While some may see this as making a mountain out of a mole hill, it is something every big name athlete on a title-winning team does during their visit to the White House. This doesn’t seem to support Crosby’s stating that the visit was ‘nothing about politics’.
The second was that their was no jersey presentation to President Trump. Once again, this is something that is done during every visit by a title-winning team when visiting the White House.
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Despite the fact that they did not present him with a jersey, they did present President Trump with something more fitting to his personal hobbies and interests—a golf bag.
These two things, while rather small acts alone, raises questions on whether or not this was politically motivated, or whether or not the Penguins are just trying to ‘please everyone’ by staying as neutral as they possibly can.
If they are doing the latter, they have done a terrible job. They have upset some by even visiting the White House—something others have recently turned down. Despite committing to the visit, they will now surely be upsetting some they recently gained praise from by taking the path of inaction in recognizing small acts of tradition.
Regardless of what way you look at it, it has to be said that the Pittsburgh Penguins have made an absolute mess of their visit with President Trump at the White House.
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