Thomas'decision was not wrong
The ceremony at the White House was not mandatoryPublished 2/7/2012
Comments (0)There has been mostly negative press with regard to Tim Thomas and his decision to not attend the White House Cermeony to honor the Bruin's Stanley Cup championship.
I would have to disagree with how the media has been perceiving this decision.
Thomas did not attend the ceremony at the White House for personal reasons, and as long as ceremonies are not mandatory, then Thomas does not have to go. He has the right to exercise his free will to not attend the ceremony.
Some media outlets have regarded this as selfish.
This was not selfish because Thomas chose not attend due to his own principals, based on his opinions of the U.S. government. His teammates understand everyone has their own principals, and if someone sticking to their principals to not do something qualifies as selfish, then I think that would make everyone selfish.
People believe that because Thomas is an American-born player, he had a requirement as a citizen to attend the ceremony.
This argument has no credibility, because being a citizen of a country does not make any person obligated to do anything. With that logic, all Americans are required to vote and all Christians are required to attend church. None of these are mandatory, which is why Thomas did not have an obligation to attend the ceremony.
Thomas even released a statement regarding why he didn't want to attend their ceremony.
“Because I believe this, today I exercised my right …” he said.
Thomas doesn’t need to give any other reason why he didn’t attend the ceremony.
Some analysts believe the backlash will include less public support for the Bruins and the game of hockey all together. This is wrong as well.
Before the 2004-05 NHL lockout, the NHL was in its glory years with Mario Lemieux and Jeremy Roenick dominating the ice. After the lockout, the NHL had some tough times. Now, with the emergence of star players Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin, the league is becoming prosperous, indicated by the $2 billion deal it recently signed with NBC.
If I were Thomas, I would have attended the White House ceremony. I think an invitation to the White House to celebrate a championship would have been a huge honor. Thomas did not because he does not approve of what the government is doing, and who can blame him for thinking that?
This entire issue is based around what people believe in, and all Thomas did was exercise his rights because of his beliefs. There is nothing wrong with his decision, so let’s put this issue to bed and enjoy watching Thomas stop a little black puck.
