Jamie Nye: Penguins White House visit should be respected

Good on Mike Sullivan to stand up for the Pittsburgh Penguins.

The head coach let it be known that he found it unfair, the Penguins accepting Donald Trump’s invite to the White House as Stanley Cup Champions is them making a political statement in support of Trump.

It isn’t.

Democrat or Republican, it hasn’t mattered previous to this president whether NHL, NBA, NFL or MLB or College champs accept this long-time tradition.

Sullivan put it well. That they respect everybody and their view and how they want to express themselves. But he hopes for that same respect.

The Penguins don’t seem to be getting that respect.

And that is the problem right now. The lack of respect for those of differing views. Right now, you are either pro-Trump or anti-Trump and there is no grey area. That is wrong.

The only thing the Penguins did wrong was announcing their intentions on Sunday right in the middle of the furor over Trump’s comments about ‘SOB’ football players needing to be fired.

That was a huge public relations blunder and allowed misunderstanding of their White House visit.

The New England Patriots, Clemson Tigers visited the White House, the NBA and NCAA basketball champs will not.

They should be respected and so to should the Penguins.