Abdimalik Mohamed, sports editor

If you got the chance to go to the White House to be celebrated for winning a championship, it would feel like a grand honor or a once in a lifetime opportunity. At least that’s how I would feel, but in the past couple of years players have boycotted the ceremony because of one person: Pres. Donald Trump. He is one of the most polarizing political figures in history and has criticized Black athletes like Colin Kaepernick for kneeling during the anthem or, as the president said, “disrespecting the flag,” even though that was not Kaepernick’s intention.

Overall, the White House visit is something that has been a hot button issue in sports recently, with teams asking themselves whether to go or not to go. Here’s the history behind it and why that decision may be a difficult one for a team to make.

CBS News states, “President Andrew Johnson invited amateur baseball teams Brooklyn Atlantics and Washington Nationals on Aug. 30, 1865. Four years later, in 1869, President Ulysses S. Grant invited the first professional sports team, the Cincinnati Red Stockings, to the White House. In 1924, President Calvin Coolidge hosted the Washington Senators, the first MLB team invited to the White House, after the club won the World Series.” The fact that they weren’t inviting teams every year is wild to me because growing up it is something that I was told is an annual tradition — the winning team goes to the White House and for it to be a sporadic thing is interesting. Also in this story, “The first NBA team to visit the White House after winning a championship was the Celtics in 1963 when President John F. Kennedy hosted Boston.” Given that JFK is from Brookline which is close to Boston, it isn’t hard to see why he invited them.

When looking at the subsequent White House visits, a lot of them have the same rhythm. The team stands near the White House lawn, the president gives a speech and then the team hands the president a jersey. Watching one of these ceremonies, it’s easy to wonder why they do it. But remember that these people work all year long to be the best at their profession and then have the opportunity to be recognized as the best and it must feel amazing. However, in recent years like I said earlier, a new president has taken office and has polarized the country. Tom Brady skipped the annual tradition in 2017 after winning the Super Bowl and many people thought that it had something to do with Trump taking office. More recently it was said that the Philadelphia Eagles initially turned down the White House’s invitation and then later on they said they would go. 

All in all, I like the tradition but if you as a team all agree that you don’t want to go to the White House then you shouldn’t have to. This is America and if anyone gets upset about it then they are hypocrites because this is the land of the free and the home of the brave.