It's official. The national champion Baylor University women's basketball team (team celebrates national title in photo) has accepted an invitation to visit the White House, and the media simply couldn't report the story without politicizing, politicizing, politicizing.
Baylor is going, but this team isn't going, that team wasn't invited, women's teams have been repeatedly snubbed by this president and the Virginia men's basketball championship is a reminder of President Donald Trump's ''inappropriate'' remarks after the violence in Charlottesville in 2017. Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Biden did made appropriate comments on Charlottesville. On and on it goes with media using sports to score political points at the Republican president's expense.
A Baylor news release said the Bears will celebrate their recent NCAA title with the president on Monday. Head coach Kim Mulkey previously said she didn't see politics entering into the celebration of her team's championship. The media beg to differ.
The USA Today sports section is a frequent critic of President Trump's, and writer Tom Schad's story on Baylor went heavy on criticism of the commander in chief:
"White House visits have been a long-standing tradition for championship sports teams, but they've become increasingly infrequent under Trump — particularly in basketball and women's sports.
"Neither of the past two WNBA champions — the Seattle Storm and Minnesota Lynx — received invitations to visit the White House, breaking longstanding tradition. The past two NCAA women's basketball champs also did not attend; South Carolina declined to visit the White House alongside other championship teams in 2017, and it is unclear if last year's winner, Notre Dame, received an invitation."
The WNBA is considered one of the most far Left sports associations in the U.S. Many of its athletes support abortion and marched against Trump right after his inauguration.
Schad criticized Trump because female athletes have previously visited him only in settings where they were honored alongside male athletes. That was true of the 2018 U.S. Winter Olympic teams, paralympians in the same year and a group event for NCAA champions in 2017.
"Baylor will also be the first basketball team to visit the White House under Trump," Schad continued. "The Golden State Warriors, who have won each of the past two NBA championships, were disinvited to the White House in 2017 after star Stephen Curry said he would not attend. They were not invited last year, either."
Bleacher Report's Paul Kasabian piled on Trump, too, writing "various athletes have not joined their teams. Most recently, goalie Braden Holtby and forward Brett Connolly did not visit with their Caps teammates, per Kevin Allen of USA Today. Holtby told reporters that he had "to stay true to my values," and Connolly declined because ex-teammate Devante Smith-Pelly did not want to go."
The Washington Post's Gene Wang wrote a story about the University of Virginia men's basketball team, coached by the devouted Christian Tony Bennett, not being able to schedule a White House visit.
“We have received inquiries about a visit to the White House,” Bennett said. “With several players either pursuing pro opportunities or moving on from UVA, it would be difficult, if not impossible, to get everyone back together. We would have to respectfully decline an invitation.”
Wang wrote: "There had been a great deal of intrigue regarding how the Cavaliers would handle a potential White House visit, particularly given Trump’s statements on the heels of a white nationalist rally near the school’s campus in 2017 that resulted in the death of a counter-protester":
"On Friday, Trump said his initial comments about the rally, including indicating there were 'fine people' on both sides, were in reference to supporters of Robert E. Lee, the Confederate general.
“'I have answered that question, and if you look at what I said, you will see that question was answered perfectly,” Trump said outside the White House.
"Trump’s remarks came the day after former vice president Joe Biden included the Charlottesville tragedy in his formal announcement that he would be running for president."
Wang chalked up Virginia as the third straight men's national basketball champion to stay clear of the White House. Villanova didn't go last year, nor did North Carolina go the year before.
