Be Angry.
But Be Selective.
. . .
If you haven’t been on Twitter in the past 48 hours, then first: congratulations.
Second: you should know that most of the Olympics gold medal-winning U.S. men’s hockey team appeared at President Trump’s State of the Union address on Tuesday. A great many people are Not Happy about it.
Jerry Brewer’s column for The Athletic voiced the frustration more succinctly than most:
It’s nice, even expected, to be feted as a winner. But who’s celebrating you – and why they’re doing it and how they’re doing it – matters more. Trump, perhaps more than most modern presidents, understands the optics of standing next to winners. It normalizes him. It softens his cruel instincts and crude jokes, recasting them as locker-room banter. It washes his reputation and reduces the impact of polls that indicate a significant majority of Americans disapprove of his second term.
These champions have agency. In the afterglow of triumph, they have more agency than they ever will. They should be wary of giving it away so casually.
Anyone who has read my work for any length of time knows plenty about my politics and my obsession with hockey. Both frequently cause me to rip my hair out by the fistful.
But it’s OK not to be angry about this.
Watching the American team squeak past Canada was one of the most fun sports experiences of my life. When Jack Hughes’ wrister squirted past Canadian goalie Jordan Binnington, my older boy and I both leaped into the air and shared a shouting, bouncing bear hug. It was magic. I felt closer to him. I felt closer to my countrymen. Three days later, I’m still giddy about it.
That feeling belongs to me. And I like it. I choose not to give it away simply because Connor Hellebuyck probably voted for Donald Trump.
I don’t disagree with Jerry Brewer’s point that the Olympians’ presence needlessly lent credibility to the scene. And also, I don’t really care. I’m plenty angry about America’s state of affairs. But I reserve my anger for the cause of those affairs, not for the people who align themselves with that cause. There’s a perfectly good argument to be made that those two things can’t be separated entirely, and maybe that’s right. But I’m gonna separate them as much as possible, as often as possible — not because I’m sticking my head in the sand, but because we’ve gotta stop finding reasons to despise one another.
To be clear: the U.S. women’s team’s decision to decline Trump’s invitation was awesome. (“Sorry, we already have plans” has layers, y’all.) But if they’d made a different decision, I’d still be dead set on finding a Megan Keller jersey ASAP.
There’s already enough to be angry about without finding yet another reason. Be selective. We already have enough reasons to pull out our hair.
. . .
Speaking of women’s hockey: it appears that the PWHL will announce at least one expansion franchise in the next couple of months, and Washington D.C. is a possibility. Washington turned out more than 17,000 fans to see Montreal play New York at Capital One Arena in January, with “we want a team” chants breaking out throughout the third period. There’d never be a bad time for it, but with Alex Ovechkin’s career in its twilight (perhaps in its last two months), a new PWHL team would be a pretty sick way to start a new chapter in the city’s hockey situation.
MLB Opening Day is one month away; my beloved Atlanta Braves open at home against Kansas City four weeks from this Friday. More thoughts about the 2026 season to come.
In the meantime: is Chris Sale on the verge of filling out a Hall of Fame resume’? Earlier this week, Sale signed a one-year extension with Atlanta to cover the 2027 season; the deal includes a team option for 2028. Sale enters the 2026 season with 2,579 strikeouts and a 57.3 career WAR. Only 21 pitchers have ever struck out 2,900 batters in a career; only six of them aren’t in the Hall of Fame, and four of them (Zack Greinke, Justin Verlander, Clayton Kershaw, and Max Scherzer) will be. (The other two are Curt Schilling, who should be in the Hall of Fame, and Roger Clemens, who can suck eggs.) If Sale pitches another three years in relatively good health, then 2,900 Ks is absolutely in reach, as is a 65.0 WAR. (By comparison, CC Sabathia was voted into the Hall on his first ballot with a 61.8 WAR.)
The Elvis movie comes out this weekend. Bar the door. It looks awesome.
. . .